Author Archives: Jane Crossman

Avoid Airbnb in Bath That Refuses Refunds

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In January we booked an Airbnb in Bath for two nights. The venue was booked so our family and friends could celebrate an uncle’s 70th birthday. We paid £1,960.85 including an exorbitant service fee of £262.85 (for what we have no idea).

Due to circumstances beyond our control — i.e. COVID-19 — we had to cancel the booking and did so in May. The guest of honour who lives in Ireland was not able to fly to England for the party due to flight restrictions caused by the virus. Consequently, we cancelled when we did in order not to lose the full amount. Had the coronavirus not happened, our party would have carried on with the booking as planned.

We received a refund of only £849.00 from Airbnb (50% minus the service charge). Our party of ten had hoped under these unusual circumstances, the host would have given us a full refund. The owners did say that if their B&B was rented during the weekend we booked, then a refund would be issued. No surprise that this did not happen so we didn’t receive the other 50%.

Losing this amount of money through no fault of our own was devastating for our financial situation which, because of the lockdown, is precarious at best. We appealed twice to the owner’s sense of fairness and compassion by asking them to send the other 50% refund (£849) realising that the hefty service fee Airbnb charges is likely beyond their control. This did not happen nor did we ever hear from them. Consequently, they have £849 of our money for doing absolutely nothing at a time they couldn’t have rented their place anyway.

We also appealed to Airbnb but they were useless in resolving this issue. This Airbnb in Bath did not act in good faith and if you are looking to book this venue in the future, buyer beware – the owners have no scruples and will take your money and run if given the opportunity. Our advice is not to book this place now or ever.

More than $10K in Damages, Airbnb Paid $510

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An Airbnb guest held an unauthorized party during the pandemic lockdown. We never allow parties, even before they became illegal.

This guest said she was coming alone. The police estimated that there were at least 100 people in the two-bedroom home when they arrived. The neighbors told us that there were several fights that spilled into the street before the police arrived. There was a stabbing. The damage to the unit was more than $10,000.

After three weeks of back and forth with Airbnb personnel who changed on a daily basis and would only communicate via email, they paid us $510 for painting and damaged walls and then they went dark. They refused to explain why all the other proof of damage and proof of value of the damages were being declined.

There was no explanation, just an email saying our case was closed and they would not reply again. They were very demanding about proving the value of items damaged and it was so difficult to comply that we did give up on certain items. We still were able to document more than $10,000 and supply the required proof of value. They simply said they would not discuss the reason for the low compensation.

Not Traveling to Hawaii Just to Quarantine

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I rented an Airbnb house in Oahu, Hawaii for 12 days on April 17. Just two weeks ago, the Governor of Hawaii announced that he wants every tourist to keep quarantining for two weeks until at least September and that they might extend this requirement past September.

I contacted the host and explained the situation, and she agreed to cancel my reservation and to authorize a full refund. It has been almost two weeks since she authorized it and Airbnb doesn’t want to refund me or cancel the reservation. The host has explained that they have the money and not her and that she authorized it.

I have called Airbnb multiple times and messaged them multiple times. Their response each time is that they will transfer my case to someone that can help me and no one does. I am at my wits’ end. I do not know what to do with them anymore besides dispute the charge with my bank. I can not travel with my two kids and husband for 12 hours on a plane to stay locked up in an apartment for 12 days.

Airbnb Party House not Complying with Lockdown

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We are renting a terraced property in the greater Manchester area and the property next door to ours has been an Airbnb host for a few months. This was a problem before lockdown started in the UK but has been exacerbated significantly since then.

Since the start of lockdown, the Airbnb next door has been occupied by multiple separate groups of adults for short-term stays, with gatherings of up to 20 people staying in the property. Every single group booking has used the Airbnb for non-essential travel to host house parties. It is clear the Airbnb listing has been listed as a “party house” because every group of adults that has stayed there has purely booked to host parties until 3:00-4:00 AM playing loud music, shouting in the street and other associated antisocial behaviour.

This is incredibly frustrating as we are a house of key workers, working in a hospital for the NHS, so we have to continue to work during the pandemic. However, nearly every night we are being woken up by the loud music and shouting impacting our work. This had been a less serious problem prior to lockdown but since the majority of people are furloughed or working from home these flexible hours have enabled these individuals booking the Airbnb to have mid-week parties. They have chosen to book a property away from their home to have a party breaking lockdown with the assumption that they do not want to do this in their local area as it clearly breaks government guidelines for non-essential travel.

We have made a complaint to Airbnb against the anti-social behaviour in the neighbourhood and have complained to our local council, but were wondering if anyone else has had similar issues or has any advice moving forwards. We have attempted to contact the host but received no reply.

Airbnb Party House Makes Resident Consider Moving

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I live in a relatively quiet, residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C. Unfortunately, the house next to me is a year-round property used for rentals that caters to groups of 15+. Oddly enough, this is illegal in D.C., and the absent owner advertises how they use a legal loophole to get past this. The owner proudly states that you can sleep in”peace and quiet” in their rental, and “no parties or events” are allowed.

I am so fed up with the constant parties: the blaring music at 3:00 AM, the fighting, the screaming, and the disgusting lack of respect guests have towards their neighbors. Just last night in the midst of stay at home orders, a group took the liberty of renting the unit for a party and turned the music up. I’ve had to call the police numerous times; they are always prompt, courteous, and handle the situation.

Last night’s group decided to retaliate and begin screaming that the police can’t quiet them down. I’ve had to go to the patio numerous times to politely ask guests to quiet down over the last year. I’ve been cursed at, had beer cans thrown at me, and told that I’m inconsiderate because it’s 2:00 AM on a Monday and their group paid “good money” to be there.

The owner doesn’t care whatsoever. I realize that it was probably of no use, but I called the phone number for Airbnb, and the rep had to ask me multiple times to either move away from people in the room or turn down my music. I was in my bedroom with the windows shut and white noise machine running; it was the partygoers next door. I’m sad that it’s come to this, but I will most likely have to move from the home and neighborhood I’ve loved so dearly.

Airbnb Not Allowing Some Guests to Book?

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A guest who is trying to book my listing is getting the following message from Airbnb when she reaches the stage of entering credit card information in the booking process:

“Choose another place to stay. Airbnb prevents reservations for entire homes when a pattern of factors (like location or reservation time) suggests the booking may be unsafe. This restriction is not related to the coronavirus. For resources on coronavirus, see airbnb.com/covid. Please try a hotel room instead.”

My listing is not unsafe. It is perfectly clean and safe. I called Airbnb Support and they told me that this is some issue with the guest’s account. But then, the guest’s co-staying guest tried booking my listing using their Airbnb account and their credit card. The Airbnb system responded with the exact same message.

I’m not sure I really believe that this is a problem with the guest’s account. Is anyone else experiencing this phenomenon? If so, please share any information with me that you can.

Scammer Stayed 24 Nights but only Paid for One

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A guest booked a 30-day stay and claimed to Airbnb that he moved out after one night but actually ended up staying 24 nights. Airbnb mishandled the situation and now refuse to correct their mistake.

We are in one of the ten largest cities in the US. The place is very economic ($400/month, average monthly rent for a 1-bedroom-apartment here is $1350). It’s a shared room (3-4 people per bedroom, 10 people in the apartment) and he complained about cleanliness issues within 24 hours.

I do month-to-month rentals and usually have 100 guests at the same time across several location. Over 1000 guests in the last five years. 80% of our ratings are five stars, 90% are four or five stars. Nobody else in the apartment complained about the cleanliness issue. The guest didn’t have a single review.

Airbnb didn’t reach out to me until 14 days after move-in. I pointed out to Airbnb that the guest still lives there. 20 days after move-in they made the decision to refund him all the money besides the first night, because he told them that he moved out, even though he didn’t move out.

I have been chasing them ever since, telling them that he still lives there but they didn’t do anything about it. Everyone saw him and other Airbnb guests also confirmed to Airbnb that he lives there. They slow-walked the case and never asked me for any photo or video evidence that he still lives there.

After he moved out (after 24 days when an Airbnb rep called him and urged him to move out) they suddenly asked me to provide photo evidence that he actually lived there. Now they won’t issue his payout because they say that without video or photo evidence they cannot issue it.

Airbnb made a wrong decision regarding the cleanliness issue given that there were 20 other Airbnb guests living at this location (spread across multiple units) on the same day as the guest but none of them had any complaints. Furthermore, when they first reached out I told them that the guest still lives there and it took them almost a week to come to a decision. When they made their decision, they forgot that he actually still lives there. Now they don’t acknowledge that mistake.

I have attached the four pictures that were presented as evidence by the guest that there was a cleanliness issue. Those are the only pictures that Airbnb showed him. I would like to take them to arbitration and I am seeking an experienced attorney to represent me. Here is a detailed complaint that I sent to Airbnb.

I am challenging the decision that there was a cleanliness issue. This decision by Airbnb was wrong and is the reason there is a dispute in the first place. There was no cleanliness issue. Here is a list of all the Airbnb guests that stayed at this location on March 9 (the day of move-in); none of these people reported an issue. That’s 20 happy Airbnb guests vs. this guy, who doesn’t have a single Airbnb review.

I included the booking code so you can look up the address. The pictures you sent don’t show any cleanliness issues:

1st picture: burned stove counter. There are ten people living in the apartment and most are cooking. Sometimes they will burn a stove top burner and sometimes they don’t clean up right away. Once a week our cleaners come to make sure everything is spotless. It cannot be 100% clean in a shared room environment. You can expect that at a entire place at move-in but not in a shared space.

2nd picture: dirty toilet seat. There are three bathrooms in each apartment. Ten people use those bathrooms and so they get dirty. Once a week they are cleaned spotless but during the week one toilet can be a bit more dirty. There are two other ones where it’s not like that. Again, this is normal in a place where ten people live together and cleaners come once a week.

3rd picture: a kitchen table that’s not 100% clean when ten people live in an apartment to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner there. This is normal,

4th picture: a vegetable outside the fridge. There are ten people living there and they are cooking. When you cook sometimes a vegetable falls on the floor. That’s how every kitchen everywhere looks. I am sure that vegetable was picked up minutes after the picture was taken.

We have been around for over five years and have a great system to make sure people that share a space can live in a clean and healthy environment. We encourage all our guests to clean after themselves and have professional cleaners coming once a week to do the heavy lifting. There is absolutely no cleanliness issue and it was a wrong decision by Airbnb.

Whatever case manager made this decision didn’t look at the satisfaction of other guests staying there nor the fact that this is a shared environment. We are proud of the cleanliness we provide and there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. Neither Airbnb, nor Brian Chesky, nor the guest would be able to provide a cleaner environment in an affordable shared room setting like this one.

The guest moved in on March 9 and it wasn’t until March 22 that I received a message from Airbnb. That’s 14 days after move-in. I wrote back immediately that I didn’t agree to a refund and that as of March 19 he was living in the unit. Airbnb did not ask for video evidence then.

On March 24, Airbnb sent photos (16 days since move-in, no question about video or photo evidence. On March 25, Airbnb said they would follow up the next day (17 days since move-in, no question about video or photo evidence). On March 26, Airbnb said they would follow up the next day (18 days since move-in, no question about video or photo evidence). On March 27, Airbnb said they would follow up the next day (19 days since move-in, no question about video or photo evidence).

On March 28, Airbnb made the decision to refund the guest and there was no word about the fact that he still lives there. No question about video evidence or camera. Airbnb also said that they would not get back to me for three days. It seems that Airbnb just gave the refund at the last minute before the work week was over without double checking if the guest still lives there or not. This is negligence on Airbnb’s part and the reason there is a dispute now.

On March 30 (22 days since he moved-in), I pointed out that the guest still lives there. On April 3, there were no questions asked about video or photo evidence. Someone from the safety team contacted me and then called the guest. Only then did he move out. At no point was video or photo evidence requested.

Airbnb’s Dishonesty Over COVID-19 Cancellation

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In February I booked a house in Manly Sydney for two couples from within Australia and New Zealand. Then came COVID-19 and with border closures flights were cancelled and borders closed.

I contacted the owner and was told cancelling would not be a problem and I would get a refund. I duly did so and it read that I would receive AUD 450.00 which was slightly less than I had paid. Then I received a email from Airbnb informing me that I would get no money as company policy was since I hadn’t paid in full, there would be no refund. I asked about a voucher but the answer was no.

Their blurb said if COVID-19 was the reason for cancelling and a booking had been made prior to shutdown then they would refund but actually that’s a lie. A lot of messaging between myself, the owner and the company was a waste of time. The owner blocked any communication and then Airbnb stated that due to COVID-19, property owners were struggling with their own debt hence the reason for no payment. They too refused to accept any further communication. The host did say that any reimbursement was out of his hands as Airbnb didn’t pay him until the date of the booking.

It is saddening that this company can take money from people and not return it when it’s a genuine reason for cancellation. The airline returned the full cost of tickets without even requesting the same but Airbnb is cheating us of our funds.

Airbnb has lost me as a user and I’ll stay with other honest short-term holiday rental companies that have been reliable in the past. I only used this one as it was exactly what we wanted and located where we wanted but I’ll look elsewhere and trust the company of choice. Use Airbnb at your peril but never again for me.

Cancellation for Employee Working on COVID-19 Response

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Airbnb claims to be compassionate and supportive of people impacted by COVID-19 but my situation is quite the opposite. One of my staff was scheduled to attend the CSTE conference at the end of June in Seattle. However, she was pulled into the public health response to COVID-19 in our county.

We have been fighting with Airbnb for months about this and it’s still not resolved. All over $400+ dollars. Not only have there been numerous communications with Airbnb where they have refused to refund the money but my organization has also spent considerable time trying to resolve the situation. It’s spread like wildfire in our organization and we will no longer be using Airbnb for work and for personal travel.

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Guest Dispute Turns Host off Airbnb for Good

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After holding a room for a month, Airbnb guests arrived far after the check in time. They insisted that they did not want to unload anything for one night. The lady sat on the floor talking to my husband, playing with the dog. Unbeknownst to her, we had a guest.

Ten minutes after my husband left, she and her husband ran in and out of the house. Later I got a text saying it wasn’t a good fit. Airbnb said they would review and handle. Crickets. I left the room as occupied. Then another month was deposited in my account. I had strict cancellation policies and long term cancellation policies. It didn’t matter.

The guests sent a picture of a dog hair in the bed, a rat turd in a chair, a snowman in one of the two master closets and a shower that had fresh, hostess-supplied amenities. None of this was mentioned to my husband during the talk. I objected strongly to the dog hair and rat turd.

My guests staying upstairs verified the room. They left sheets and towels on the floor. The drugs she said she had shipped to our house to arrive the day they arrived mysteriously never came.

I have wonderful reviews and, as I said, witnesses. Airbnb gave me 24 hours to respond. One minute after I submitted a partial response, I got a phone call saying they reviewed my response and were siding with the guests and need the money back. I blocked them from my bank account, my phone and email. They can rot.