Author Archives: Tanvi

Host Attempted to Kiss Me Despite My Refusal

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I had reached the apartment the afternoon of February 27th, 2019. I had to drag my suitcase up all the way to the third floor having to ask 2-3 people on the way if it was in fact the “F building” as there was hardly any way for newcomers to be able to check if they’re entering the correct building despite the host sending me pictures of the entrance before. The picture doesn’t really help when you’re in the actual situation looking for the entrance.

I had also asked the host in advance – since there was no elevator – if could I pay security to get my suitcase for me. The host seemed really worried about getting in trouble and about how nobody is supposed to know he hosts guests through Airbnb. His secretly hosting guests without having the rest of the residents on board caused me an enormous amount of inconvenience, especially in a building without a lift.

There were security concerns, like the key being left on top of the door so that the host didn’t have to be there to receive anyone. The key was accessible to everyone, though if the host continues to keep it there I am assuming nothing must have happened until now. I didn’t really like that it meant even the maid had access to come in anytime; I needed to know if my own stuff was safe if I decided to leave it behind. Luckily the maid had come by the time I got ready to go out around 3:00 or 4:00 PM and had been asked to not go into my room. She agreed.

There was wifi, hot water in the bathroom, and sufficient space in the guest’s room. What was missing was a proper bed instead of a mattress, a chair, and a table so there was some place for people to relax and to keep their stuff. Not everything can be done lying down or sitting on a mattress at such a low level.

I came back around 10:00 PM and the host returned about an hour later, knocking on the door. I replied and he opened the door and asked if everything was okay several times, so often that I got tired of answering. Then I mistook a bottle of water for alcohol and he said “Why would I keep alcohol just lying around when I have a bar in my cupboard?”

I didn’t know what to answer to that. He asked if I wanted to see it so I just said okay. He asked if I wanted something after revealing his collection to me. I said, “Okay, if it’s okay with you.”

He asked what does that mean and I said, “It’s your alcohol so…”

He said, “Yes, you can have some.”

I know how expensive alcohol can be so I didn’t know if it was okay to ask for some from someone living in a tiny two-bedroom apartment with minimal furniture renting one of the rooms to Airbnb guests. But he seemed more than enthusiastic to show off his Honey Jack Daniels talking about how expensive it is, how he buys them from Abu Dhabi, and how he really wanted me to feel the “luxury” of this drink with every sip.

Then he offered me Old Monk and started talking about the brand and some of the facts. It was so plain and boring. On top of that he asked me to go bottoms up which I couldn’t do because I found it absolutely tasteless and disgusting. However, he insisted and I just finished it in 2-3 sips since very little of it was left. I had no more interest in this intellectual alcohol discussion torture.

He said he would give me the Jack Daniels one now since I liked it better and I said that was enough for now. He asked if I don’t drink often and I confirmed that I don’t. Then the topic of cigarettes came up and he asked if I smoked. I said, “No,” and he asked why. When I said it was for health reasons he started making counterarguments that it’s not as bad as people say it is.

He lit up a cigarette and asked if I wanted to try it. With every drag he took he asked me to try it or made counterarguments about why it’s not that unhealthy or how one cigarette won’t convert me into an addict. None of it really mattered because I had said “no” to every offer and he was trying to lower my inhibitions.

Then he asked me if none of my friends smoke. Some do and some don’t, though I did not want him to try to convince me to smoke anymore. I just said “no” and then he asked the same thing about my boyfriend. I hesitated because I did not have a boyfriend but I did not want to tell him that as I had started to feel scared after he asked this question. After hesitating for a few seconds, I just shook my head to say no.

He asked me again “He doesn’t smoke?” (recognizing my hesitation) and I shook my head to say no again. A few seconds later he asked me what my boyfriend does for work. At that point I confronted him about him wanting to seduce me. He looked at me dumbfounded, asking me why would he want to seduce me in a really slow and soft tone, without breaking eye contact, repeatedly. I asked him if I could just go and sleep in my room. He said “okay” in the same tone, without breaking eye contact like before. I got and left.

He asked me if I had had dinner when I was near the door. While I was answering, he came closer to the entrance of my room and asked if I have everything I need, like water, etc. He was going to enter my room to “check if I have everything” but I was holding the door towards me and my arm was between him and the room. He changed the topic and went back to asking why would I think he would seduce me in that same manner as before. Then he said “I thought we could kiss.”

I said “I don’t want to.”

A few seconds later after some beating around the bush he asked “Do you want to kiss me? Can we kiss?”

I said, “No.”

He asked, “Why?” and I didn’t know what to say. I just looked away and smiled a little because of my nervousness.

Then I looked at him and he was walking towards me with his arms in the air like he was walking towards a lover or something. I freaked out, brought my arms between us, and pleaded with him to not rape me. He was a little shocked and asked me why would he rape me, and if I was crazy. I said, “Let’s just forget this and go to sleep.”

He said “okay” and I locked the door.

Within an hour, I had packed up everything, called a dormitory hotel and asked them if they had a bed available, that I was trying to escape a dangerous situation so they should write down the address just in case. I even messaged my friend to message me back in ten minutes to ask me what was going on.

I was really grateful to the dormitory hotel who did a really good job of checking on me by calling me twice after I had called and even messaging me a fourth time. They were all expecting me and took my luggage without asking any questions.

They quickly got my check in done and escorted me to my bed, put my suitcase in the storage under the bed and handed me the keys after which I was lying on my bed, and ensured my friend that everything was fine. I had my heart rate go up when everything was over, as it was starting to dawn on me what had just happened. I finally fell asleep and woke up later than I had planned to.

Airbnb refunded the money next morning though they did not give me any confirmation on what they’ll be doing with the host’s account even though I have asked them to ban him. They said they take these issues very seriously and that they will be investigating this issue.

The listing currently seems to be gone but his profile is still there. Here is his Airbnb profile. His Airbnb address is in Sameer Housing Society, Versova, Andheri West. I really hope Airbnb doesn’t let sexual predators have profiles on their website. They’re also not publishing my review of him so future female travelers can’t know about what he did, which I think is a really unethical thing for Airbnb to do.

At least his listing is not available anymore but since his profile is still there who knows? Maybe they’ll bring back his listing hoping I’ll forget about it.

Unhappy About Airbnb’s Refund Policy

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We reserved a place seven months ahead of time and our credit card were charged for half of the total cost. Five months before the original arrival date, we found that we no longer needed the accommodations due to an unexpected medical event, and proceeded to cancel.

To our dismay, we were charged with a service fee of $130. This seems to be exorbitant as there did not seem to be any significant service provided. It was indicated there would be a full refund if you cancelled and we assumed there would be a full refund for such an early cancellation (they will have no trouble whatsoever in getting a new renter).

Needless to say, we are unhappy with Airbnb and will think twice before using them again. The service fees are outrageous.

Mistranslation Concerning a Shared Room

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I offered a so-called “shared room” on the English Airbnb homepage and specified there that it was a “common area”. On the German homepage this was translated by Airbnb to a zimmer, which is actually a “room” in English. A customer misunderstood this; she thought that it was a room. This is understandable because the English homepage and the German homepage differ a lot.

The whole offer is differently (and wrongly) presented on the German homepage than it was originally written. On the English homepage it is possible to specify where the bed is located: in a bedroom or in a common area. This is in actual fact very important information and because it is not possible on the German homepage, Airbnb just changed my offer on the German homepage to a bed in a bedroom.

This was an indication for the customer that she would get a bedroom, which was not intended by me when I wrote my offer (only) on the English homepage, where it could be specified precisely. When the customer complained later, the German staff member of Airbnb decided that I had made a mistake. Airbnb cancelled the reservation early and charged me for the difference, which is against German Law.

Obviously the German staff member was also only looking at the German homepage with the translation error though I pointed out several times that Airbnb made the mistranslation. I am shocked that a company with such extensive experience should make such a fundamental error and blame me (and probably other hosts as well) for it.

Airbnb Doesn’t Always Allow Negative Reviews

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We have reviewed our stay at a place in Chamonix, France where we stayed from February 5th until February 19th, 2019. However, it never was published by Airbnb because the guest never wrote a review about us, the guests. This is, in our opinion, an incorrect action on Airbnb’s part.

Because the owner feels that our review would not suit her, our review will not be published so future guests will not have a reference to how we have experienced our stay at her chalet. I see that as a wrong policy from Airbnb and it is, in a way, cheating. Those who look for reviews will not be adequately informed about this accommodation. We all look for reviews and photos because the principle is ‘what you see is what you get’. That is why there is a gap in the reviews of her place between April 2018 and February 2019.

My advice: If there are hardly any reviews or there is a big gap between reviews, especially in areas like Chamonix during the skiing season, don’t take the place because something is wrong. That was our experience as well. The bathroom was dirty, the shower cabin had a sewer smell, the water tap for mixing cold and hot water did not function well, there were a number of things not provided although advertised, and the bedrooms are upstairs, but the shower and toilet downstairs which, for us, was not clear in the pictures, among others.

We still gave it three stars. However, the review was not published. For us this shows the lack of responsibility by Airbnb where it comes to publishing reviews and informing future guests adequately.

Airbnb’s Fake Policies Include Not Paying Hosts

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I’m currently dealing with a broken air conditioner that cost over $5000. Case closed, no reimbursement from Airbnb. I sent in over 15 minutes of video taken as soon as I walked into the home finding all the destruction.

After 11 days, they finally responded to me. They gave me time to send in the evidence – pictures – to find replacements, and send in the receipts. Fine, but I needed more time for the AC since the repairman came and got here by the deadline.

This is what I learned: if they had offered me anything, any amount of money for reimbursement – maybe two dollars? – I would take it and run. Airbnb does nothing to protect properties whatsoever. I also had six people cancel at the last minute who were not entitled to any refund under my strict cancellation policy. Every single one of them made up some story and received a 100% refund.

One girl didn’t receive a refund because I refuse to “authorize“ it. She didn’t deserve it and it would be filing my cancellation policy I protested. The next day Airbnb cancelled the guest whom I had been looking forward to meeting and had a $1001 payout. They cancelled her reservation and told her I canceled it. She got a new place to stay and I completely screwed.

I’m only posting this summer, have received rave reviews from every single guest that stayed here, and I’m currently out over $6000. I counted I bought new towels, sheets, a portable air conditioner, fans, counting on $7000 and payouts that were anticipated due to bookings when I started. I received less than $3000 payout and now, I’ll be lucky if I get $3500.

Airbnb restricted my account weeks ago, because a guest falsely claimed I had a security camera in order to get his refund equal to 100% of the original payment. Ridiculous.

I wish I never did business with Airbnb; they are crooks, and they lie. I’m moving to VRBO.

Hosts: Beware of Airbnb’s fake policies. They will not do what is your best interest even if it goes against their policies. Airbnb caters to the guests, which in my case cost me over $6000.

Our property used as basis for multi-national scam

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My husband and I have a lovely studio apartment in Montenegro, on our own property with our house next to it. It is our only letting property.

Last night we were first puzzled and then amazed and then horrified to get bookings come in for properties in the centre of London, Paris, Amsterdam, Dublin, Barcelona – cities where to have properties in the areas advertised would cost millions. I phoned the Airbnb desk in London (+44 203 318 111 from our Airbnb page) and spoke to a helpful chap who said that he would de-list the properties and pass on the complaint to a higher level. I assume he has done something as some of those properties are in fact de-listed.

However, we are still getting automatic reminders to deal with the 100-odd bookings which have come in since last night. At least the number I phoned seems to be genuine, a worry I had after ending the call. We have still to be contacted by the Airbnb legal team or whoever deals with scams, but I thought a post on this site might help to warn other hosts – and guests – that your site may well be a target for scammers able to bypass Airbnb’s automatic systems.

Rental Nightmare From Smelly, Dirty Airbnb

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I rented a home for the first time through Airbnb – worst mistake ever. I usually go through HomeAway and never had an issue.

The home I rented, for starters, was in an unsafe neighborhood. Directly across the street was a huge dumpster and alcoholics just doing their thing. The yard had dry weeds in the front.

Upon entering the home there was a foul odor of sewage. I decided to take a look around to see what the place looked like and discovered dirty dishes in the dishwasher. The refrigerator looked as if it should have been in the dumpster across the street. It had some sort of lining inside the refrigerator. It was dirty, not something I wanted to put anything in.

The microwave had food fingerprints as if someone recently had food on their hands and opened the door. The garbage can lid was completely soiled with who knows what. Because I had an event the next morning, I thought it was no biggie, I could take care of that.

I dashed off to Walmart for some cleaning supplies because I didn’t want to seek lodging this late in the game. I came back and proceeded to clean when I discovered there was no hot water. At this point, I realized I could not do anything without hot water.

At 7:41 PM I contacted the host. She messaged back saying she’d be by when she got out of her meeting. 10:00 PM rolled around and I didn’t hear from her. I messaged again. No answer. At 12:00 AM, she messaged saying she had come by, but it was late so she did not want to disturb me. Then she said she would send a plumber in the morning.

Now at this point I was tired and frustrated and just wanted to rest. I was sitting on the couch and one of the throw pillows fell to reveal a large white stain on the sofa.

Trust me; this nightmare wasn’t over. I decided I was not staying here. I messaged her letting her know I was leaving in the morning and I wanted a refund. She then messaged back saying I could change my reservation date… as if I would want to stay there.

I decided I was going to the bedroom. I opened the closet. Because the area was not so savory, I checked all of the closet. I found dirty sheets in a tote with no lid. I was disgusted at this point. I decide to pull back the covers on the bed; there were crumbs in the bed, and one of the pillows had something green on it.

Needless to say, there was no sleeping going on that night. As soon as daylight hit, I was out of there. I informed the host of everything, and requested a refund. She wants to give me $76.48 of my $264. I will never rent from Airbnb again.

Fraudulent Host Sues Guest for $1800

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We thoroughly enjoyed our time at our Airbnb until we received communication from the host wrongfully accusing us of stealing her second-hand sheets. There were far better items to steal if we had been inclined, like the $400 TV to occupy our bored 13-year-old, or the microwave, which would have come in very handy to heat a frozen sausage roll for our screaming and starving 8-year-old, having an emotional meltdown over food at the airport back to Australia from France.

This is how it all started. The apartment looked newly renovated and we did note the tired looking sheets at the time. At first we thought it may be a misunderstanding and the cleaner may have taken them to launder, but as it now turns out, our credit card has been charged. There are many problems with this situation.

To be accused of theft, and then “charged” without sufficient evidence supporting the accusation, highlights one’s true core values and morals in a negative light. After abiding by Airbnb’s terms to resolve the issues, Airbnb has taken the role of “judge, jury, and executioner”, unfairly charging the incorrect credit card in favour of the Host.

This is in breach of their own “Terms of Service”. Airbnb did not charge the credit card on file that was used to make the booking. Instead they chose a different one on file. We used Airbnb for both work and personal use. This was a work trip, and as such we used the work card. This is a definitive breach of their Terms of Service. There is no evidence to suggest we stole the sheets. Airbnb needs evidence before accusing us of theft and charging us.

Other unidentified people had access to the property at the time we were there. They gained access as we were entering the building and did not identify themselves.

The host had accused us of stealing sheets, yet in her claim, she wanted compensation for a brand new unrelated item of significant value. This would suggest she was after money, and not a simple replacement.

As we were attending a surgical conference, there was conference paraphernalia, left in the host’s house. This material may have suggested to a money-hungry host, looking to upgrade their facility at someone else’s cost, that this family could foot the bill for her need for new linen.

The original suggestion of two sheet sets stolen has now been extended to include a whole range of items, not even available to us at the time of our stay. The host originally requested compensation for $1800 to replace two sheet sets. Had we known, I would have driven 120 km to the closest Walmart and back and bought two new sets for $40. The sizes of the sheet sets apparently stolen do not even fit our beds at home. No use to us there.

We had no room in our luggage anyway. I generally overpack (my vanity bag usually takes up most of my carry on anyway). With three kids and their electronic gadgets stuffed toys, and ski gear for five, there was no room in our bags for: a complete set bed €170, depreciated for two years = €136; another complete set €120 depreciated for two years = €96; a third complete set €160 * two years = €128; towels €50 * two years = €30; other towels €28 * two years = €16.80; DH 140, €75 * two years = €45: To 56+56= €112 * two years = €67.20. They’ve even depreciated the secondhand assets.

Apparently, the host has provided “valid documentation supporting the damage and repair cost”. I don’t believe screenshots of luxury branded sheets on online shopping sites is evidence that we stole the inventory list above.

Disgusting host behaviour. Disgusting Airbnb behaviour. This behaviour highlights the ease in which an opportunistic host can profit from guests, for the purpose of updating, renovating, or simply cashing in on the unassuming guest. There are many Airbnb guests who cannot afford to be falsely accused of theft, sued, and then have their moral character questioned. It seems the question of morality lies with the host here. And they get away with it.

Never stay here – it will cost you!

Interracial Discrimination From Airbnb Rampant?

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After I was banned for life from Airbnb for absolutely no reason (booked twice, great reviews from my hosts, paid on time, went to book a third trip but was locked out), I went to try to contact them through Facebook and found a pattern: they are banning interracial couples for no reason.

They have us sign in through Facebook and most of us have photos with our partners. Then through a quick Google search I found out they’re being sued for discrimination at the moment. I ended up booking with HomeAway instead and highly recommend you do the same.

What do you guys think of this?

Single Female Stranded Day One in Rome

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It was my first day in Italy. My Superhost dropped me at a train station to get the fast train to Pompeii and said he would send me directions to return to his home. He helped me book my ticket with my EU rail pass so he knew my return time.

He sent the train and the bus information but never mentioned what stop to get off at. An hour and a half later, now after 11:00 PM at night, I sent another text letting him know I was stranded. 35 minutes later he responded with his address that I already had from my pre-approved booking.

I finally found my way after almost two hours, two buses and walking around with very few people to help at that late hour at night. I never saw my Superhost again until the day of my departure. I stayed there five nights and six days.

The next day at the metro, the staff informed me the bus he had recommended was not the most direct route to get to his home. Where he suggested I catch the bus was a poorly lit area with vandalized cars and a construction area about a 5-minute walk from the train station he recommended. They advised me to get off one more stop, the last stop on the line, where there was a bus terminal, well lit and had both police and soldiers present.

The bus the metro staff suggested placed me, right around the corner, approximately a 10-minute walk from his home. The bus stop my Superhost recommended was on the main road with many different streets to navigate and approximately a 20-minute walk to his home.

After two weeks of emailing Brian Chesky and then Chip Conley with no reply, I filed a Resolution Case. A Senior Escalation Supervisor suggested “a Superhost is not required to help you navigate the city.” He also replied, “a Superhost has 24 hours to reply to a host.”

Let me get this straight: giving precise and complete directions to get back to a host’s home on the first day of your stay in a foreign country is “navigating the city.” Secondly, by being stranded at night on your first day in a foreign country, he is suggesting “wait 24 hours for your host to contact you”?

Folks as I read CEO Brian Chesky doesn’t care about guests, only hosts. Obviously his staff are trained to do the same. I tried calling, spoke to three staff members, and told my story three times until I requested a manager and refused to tell it again. The Senior Escalation Supervisor concluded “it seems like your Superhost tried to help.” He signed off and closed my case.

Airbnb can go to hell and burn there. Karma is a sure thing. Avoid Airbnb at all costs. Decrease guests booking means more hosts without reservations and hopefully then Airbnb will change their bottom line.