Author Archives: Nay Saechao

Don’t Fall for Airbnb Listings like this House

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There were three big issues and a whole lot of headache for nothing in return. We were deceived by Airbnb. A weekend ruined due to this host, her husband, and Airbnb.

A hot tub was listed as part of the home. Five beds for eight people were in the listing. Free wifi was to be included. The supposed “hot tub” is not a hot tub but a container that one would have to actually put water in it and see if it would even get “hot”.

When someone advertises for a hot tub it should be that, and ready to use. Especially because I asked the host prior to booking if she had certain hours on when it is open – is it a community pool/hot tub? She said it was at the house so I could use it any time. Is it not suspicious now looking back that there is hidden fine print that one needs to pay them to use it each time?

If I specifically tell her this is a main amenity I was looking forward to, why would she hide this information? Why would she wait until I arrived to find the tiny one-person plastic/inflatable kiddie pool tub that did not even have water in it, let alone ice? The host said “Well, you know it is cold outside so how do you expect us to keep the hot tub warm?”

Should I send photos of what a hot tub is in the winter? I was just in Washington State with snow outside and 20 degrees with a real hot tub we used outside. It’s not rocket science. Do not advertise for things you do not actually have . Just like if a hotel says there is a pool would they tell customers to go fill up a pool with water? Who the heck in their mind would think this is acceptable, to go skiing all day and then have to do work to put water in a tub outside and see if it would even heat up?

The host is not that bright or they hid this information from me to find out when I arrived. It gets better. As stated above, there were holes all over the walls, and sockets hanging out, like where the TV and electronics were plugged in. Not safe. A fire could have started any time. This is right next to a fireplace. Are they trying to set up a situation for an accidental fire and then take the insurance? I wouldn’t put it past them.

We were so disappointed, but in addition, all of the furniture in the house – especially the living room and dining room – was patio furniture, cheap and wobbly patio furniture. How does anyone feel comfortable with that?

The description had said “five beds” for up to eight people. Before arriving that week, I told the host “I noticed the five beds, and eight people however I only originally planned for five people. Do you mind if I bring one more? There should be plenty of room, right?”

She actually responded saying, “There will be a $20 per person charge if there are more than six people.” Really? I am so glad nobody else came because in reality there were only three beds. The host said there was a futon in the living room. The futon which is the couch we sat on is supposed to just count as two other beds? Where is the fifth bed?

“Well, there is an air mattress that someone would have to blow up.” How do you list five beds but only have three? I am so so glad I did not invite more people. Nobody would have been comfortable sleeping on that futon of wood slats that hardly even passed as a couch, as it was an outdoor style temporary usable chair.

This one takes the cake: The TV is totally internet run. The internet and wifi were not working. We were out in the sticks so we hardly got our own phones to work at all. Without the free wifi/internet as advertised we would not have had anything to do. Not even basic TV channels. There were no board games or cards, nothing.

The place was much smaller than advertised. There were many locks on the kitchen cabinets like they were using most of that for storage. I didn’t even bother to check out if there were pots/pans/dishes so probably plan to bring your own things to cook with. The basement was locked.

Essentially guests would have the three bedrooms, and one open living room with kitchen attached. That is all. Meanwhile it was advertised as the “entire house”.

The host messaged me the wrong address, so it took longer than expected to even find the home. We found this gem of disappointment. I called the host right away. He told me after five minutes of talking and saying he was going to call the cable company to see if the internet could be fixed, that if I was unhappy he would call Airbnb for a refund. I said to refund me now and we would leave.

He told me multiple times that he was on the phone with them and trying to get me a refund/cancellation. He asked if I was leaving the property. It was a decision not so easily made because we just went skiing all day; we were all sweaty and tired. Nobody had changed or showered.

Home was three hours away in the snow that night. We tried to use our phones to find nearby hotels but no wifi was working. Since the host said he would just give me a refund we sucked it up and drove home in the snow, after only 40 minutes of being there on my anniversary celebration weekend. Our weekend was done at that point. Ruined. The snow was heavy; it was not an easy drive.

To make things even worse, the host told Airbnb (I found this out after I got home) that he did not promise me a refund. Well I have all the text messages and witnesses to this fact. I have video of the disappointments. I tried to contact Airbnb many times using many routes. I only got to speak to a live person once. That person said a case manager already looked at the case and said it was closed, that I should not get my money back.

I did not even get to talk to these people. I messaged and emailed Airbnb several times telling them to call me. Why are they not allowing me to talk and state what happened? I have evidence and witnesses. They are not giving me the time of day at all.

So beware folks. This house is a total scam. Nobody would be happy here for $250 a night. The title of the property also listed “free skiing and horse back riding”, yet the host also tried to tell me she charges $50 more if we wanted to use their community hill to ski. What? How does that make any sense? It says right in the title: “free”.

I challenged that before we arrived and only then did she say she would make an exception. I should have known it was a red flag. She is just trying to take money from people. I say “she” because the host is listed as a woman’s name but it was only the husband I spoke with on the phone when we arrived.

Lastly, she asked me if they could allow a realtor to show the home while we were there and it would have been during the time we paid to be there. Who has the nerve to even do that? It’s not like we were booked to stay there for a week. Who would want to buy this place anyway? A lot of work to do and definitely not in shape to be renting out on Airbnb.

The company needs to have reviewers of these places and listen to customers. I am never using Airbnb again. So upset. I have used it five times without issues.

These hosts are not good people and have no integrity. How could they try to keep my money when we left the place after shortly arriving? They made an agreement with me to give a refund, and then did the opposite. They ruined my weekend and what was supposed to be a memorable time with my loved ones. Despicable people.

Scammed by Fake Airbnb Agents in UK

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I was looking to rent a flat on Airbnb. My girlfriend was dealing with the queries which she believed were from Airbnb agents, as the site they were using looked exactly like Airbnb’s. I believed they were genuine users. However, someone had taken details from Airbnb and used them to scam me.

I am so disappointed that this happened to me as that was all the money I had saved to put a deposit on a house to rent. I was living in a room in London and wanted my own place to live. Now I have lost £2,200 and have no choice but to stay in the room until I am able to save for the deposit again.

I am not happy of how this was handled by Airbnb. I have attached everything and you can see that all the invoices and ads had all their information and criteria on them. I have sought advice and understand that this has happened on other occasions on the Airbnb website.

As this is still happening today Airbnb should be doing more to protect genuine users’ names and profiles and also protecting customers like me. I spoke to Airbnb and they told me that the host was a genuine user so I had every confidence that he was one. I never received any warning emails stating any suspicious behaviour. You can also see on the invoices his name as the host and contact details.

I would request that Airbnb refund my £2,200. Otherwise I will have no choice but to post all of my information on social media to warn others not to use Airbnb, i.e. Twitter, Facebook. I will also go to the major newspapers. All I want is my money back.

Trapped inside Airbnb Bedroom at Knifepoint

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Almost a month ago, my boyfriend and I suffered a terrible experience in an Airbnb. On Sunday, September 1st, at 4:00 AM, while we were sleeping, two men entered our Airbnb. They broke the window lock, opened the window, and managed to open the door and get inside the apartment.

We woke up because of the noises, and when I turned on the light one of the men was at the entrance of our room. With much fear, my boyfriend tried to confront them, but he noticed that the second guy had a knife and that to do anything was too risky.

We shut the room door (that didn’t have a lock) and my boyfriend struggled with one of them to prevent him from entering the room and hurting us or stealing more things. We were inside the room for the duration of the robbery, the longest and most frightening six minutes ever. They stole everything but our phones that we managed to hide under the bed. Suspiciously, only our things were taken.

There was some kind of renovation in front of the apartment, and they saw us go in and out everyday. We are concerned that the information that hosts were in the property was passed to the criminals. I will never forget the face of the man, surprised that we were there. The night before we went partying, so at 4:00 AM we were not home.

To this day, the response from the hosts has been as follows:

• Reimbursement of the Airbnb reservation.

• Reimbursement of taxis and a meal.

I am really angry and wanted to share this situation. I accept any advice you can give to try to get compensation from Airbnb and the hosts.

30 Minutes of an Overwhelming Fume Experience for $500

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I found what looked like the perfect Airbnb. It was an automated check-in, but I still reached out to the owners. I didn’t get a response, which I chalked up to it being a business trip and auto check-in/auto accept. The reviews were on point and recent.

I got to the location easily enough and was suddenly overcome with a stench; it was like a toxic fume. My eyes began burning. I thought, “Maybe I just need to give it a few minutes.” In the interim, I speed tested the wifi and it was awesome. I thought “This place could really work.”

Meanwhile, my eyes were on fire and the smell didn’t seem to dissipate. I reached out to the owners and said essentially: “Great place. Thanks for sharing your home with me. The fumes are overwhelming. I’m opening the windows and doors.”

I was super polite in every interaction. There was no response from the owners. I reached out to Airbnb and got a canned reply. Then I was able to chat with a real person who basically said that I need to cancel if it was unbearable.

I reached out to the hosts and said something to the effect: “Thank you, I can’t bear it. I need to cancel”. Again, no response. I canceled… and then the host finally responded with “open the windows and doors” – it was winter time, mind you. Anyway, that was the fastest $500 dollars I ever lost.

Terrible Airbnb in Queens Expected Babysitter

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I had an unfortunate stay with a host who was so nagging and rude. She rarely left the place, and just followed me, criticizing and nitpicking over everything. She also forced me to pay $60 to replace a single sheet. Does that sound right to you?

I didn’t have time to go through the Resolution Center, as I was traveling. This was very inconvenient, as I am not wealthy. It seems like the host just wanted to make money, charging for ridiculous little things. The best day of my stay was the day I wasn’t there. She then claimed I “kept to myself.” Well, would you want to hang out with such a negative nagging person?

I didn’t think I was staying there to babysit her. The host is very insecure. I think she was mad because I offered her some of my yogurt, and then she said she couldn’t have it because of her diet. I did not know about her diet. In general, she seemed like a very touchy person, who thought she could take advantage of me.

Airbnb Already Ruined Christmas, Waiting for Payout

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I spent a lot of money redecorating a room in my home to have a new listing. A guest rented my place under false pretenses. I had to ask Airbnb to move them. When I did, I had the right to kick them out and keep the money but I did not.

I told Airbnb the woman could keep her next two future payments for the month of December and part of January. So, the agreement was that she would move out on November 30th and we would be done with each other. The last payment I received was on October 29th for the month of November. After all of this was arranged and decided in early November, I moved on.

December rolled around and two charges totaling nearly 1400 were removed from my payout. It said they were for “adjustments”. This happened late in the evening of the 23rd/early morning of the 24th/Christmas Eve. I had three guests at the time but for some reason the payment was late and not in full. I only received $136 for three guests?

I still had presents to pick up and had to travel out of state. I was depending on those funds to get me through the end of the month. I contacted Airbnb and they said the removal of funds was for the woman who moved out on November 30th.

I spent my Christmas Eve contacting family to help me financially to get to my destination and pick up the rest of my gifts – humiliating to say the least. I spend hours on the phone with Airbnb, and twice was told I would get called back immediately because they agreed with me, but only a supervisor could return the funds. Each time I did not get called back.

On Christmas Day I was contacted by Airbnb. A guest in my home had complaints and wanted to cancel and leave. He also wanted to talk to me in person. I then had to travel back home to NYC on Christmas Day to handle it.

Dealing with this literally ruined my holiday. I spent hours on the phone being put on hold and transferred instead of spending times with the kids. I had to leave the festivities and go home, only to have the guest tell me he was leaving because there was now room in his friend’s hotel. This is after him requesting the three most expensive nights of the year in NYC at a discount and after demanding I return home from out of state, to tell me he is leaving because he doesn’t want to pay.

The Airbnb supervisor told me they would fix the situation and call me in a few days. They were clearly working on Christmas, but made no attempt to fix the situation. A few days later they did not call during our scheduled time. I then spent over an hour on hold and then an hour and a half on the phone with people getting redirected.

I got another guy on the phone who agreed I should not have had the 1400 removed because I never received money for December and January from the woman. I have contacted Airbnb through Facebook and sent them all of my information twice. I have phoned people every other day. I have written within their app to customer service. Every single time they say they are still investigating. It is now 21 days later and they have admitted several times I am right but they claim to be investigating further and have not paid me out.

This is not the first time Airbnb has made “adjustments” and removed money from a listing for a previous one. I have also had guests come and ruin furniture, linens, and property only to receive nothing for damages in return. I provided photographic proof of a guest who wrote in sharpie on my walls, furniture and bed spreads. The same guest also caused a flood and damage to the basement apartment that are yet to be fixed.

I filed two complaints with Airbnb, provided proof, and they did not bother to contact me. Because of all this, I am constantly earning hand to mouth with Airbnb. At this rate, I am not really making a profit because I have not made back the money from fixing up the room and I have not made back the money from all the damage a guest caused in the other. Airbnb takes security deposits but what do they do with them?

Getting Evicted While Staying at Airbnb

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This is my recent nightmare. I woke up around 11:00 AM to the maintenance man knocking on my unit stating he was looking for a water leak. He then informed me that the unit I was in was up for eviction.

I contacted Airbnb and then the host. I explained to Airbnb that I was pregnant and management was only giving me twenty minutes to vacate the premises. Airbnb asked me to work it out with the host. I called my husband because I was having a panic attack.

When the host arrived she went to the leasing office because she has three other units for rent and wanted to move us to another illegal unit. From noon to 10:00 PM I was in my car and on the phone with Airbnb. During this chaos I was humiliated by the manager who insulted me and belittled me in front of other tenants and the host.

The manager told my wife she had five minutes to vacate the premises or the sheriff would be escorting her out without being at fault. The host lied to her and pretty much stole my money and anyone before me because she knew she was being evicted.

Airbnb didn’t accommodate me or give me the sense they were here to help me. I felt alone and kept hoping Airbnb would find me a replacement house for the time being. Keep in mind I’m pregnant and with all the stress, sitting in the car for almost 11 hours with nowhere to go, Airbnb reps telling me they had to go home (sounds nice to say “I’m going home”), and the next agent helping me until she also had to go home, this left me with no choice but to pay for a hotel with my property in the car.

I was very disappointed that Airbnb was concerned about me wanting to get money back. I clearly told them I didn’t want my money back; I just needed a place to rest as I was extremely tired and depressed at this point.

The house I picked was a little more expensive. I paid the difference and still had nowhere to go. Not only did Airbnb not want to work with me but their only concern was how they didn’t go out of their way to really get us into anything that was not in our budget, considering I got evicted and humiliated and they just put me in a house.

Airbnb finally put someone on the line who was helpful but she had no authorization to make any major decisions. She gave us a $29 dollar credit then a $59 one for the only two days the host was refunding after Airbnb knew she was getting evicted and running her listing illegally.

My husband went to the leasing office and recorded the host telling the manager, who was her cousin, what was not true and also discussed our situation. The manager told the host that was not allowed. The host told the manager everything was okay. It wasn’t, because the manager came back to the apartment and told her she had to leave now.

That host is a fraud and Airbnb knows it. I’m going to small claims court and suing them for pain and suffering along with fraud. All I ask for is for Airbnb to take responsibility. As it is, Airbnb is advertising the homes and not really checking if the place is legal to use as an Airbnb. I blame Airbnb for everything that happened to my wife yesterday knowing she was stressed and could have affected the baby.

Creepy London Accommodation Above Indian Restaurant

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I am basically a new user of Airbnb and beginning to have trust in their booking system. This is my fourth booking. I would like to bring to your attention what I experienced. I have no issue for Kuala Lumpur, Paris and Manchester. However, Airbnb in London was the nightmare which almost cost me my holiday.

It was a Europe and UK adventure which started in Paris. I stayed using Airbnb for five days (December 16-20). Continuing the journey to Manchester, I trusted Airbnb (December 20-22) then went down to London (December 22-29) via Airbnb too.

My nightmare started when I booked a place in Hammersmith (London). The whole family was moody when we checked into the Airbnb The place was old and gloomy: creaky floor panels, faulty locks, and lighting. The pots and utensils were dirty. Just imagine bringing a family to London and checking into this old creepy house. Even the backyard balcony made me shiver.

You may not understand the feeling until you have to experience it yourself. Even reaching Tesco was a big problem. We were hardly in the mood to eat at night after having to walk for 25 minutes to the nearest Tesco at Hammersmith Station on a cold winter night with young children. The description in the listing was deceiving.

As it was getting dark and everyone was moody and tired, we reluctantly stayed for the night. The following morning, we called Airbnb and relayed our concerns. We were answered by one of their case managers. We told her about our uncomfortable stay here in the apartment and that we were planning to move out and book another apartment.

She was helpful and I also told her about the next Airbnb host who didn’t respond. She tried calling but up until noon there was no reply. She managed to cancel the booking while we looked for another apartment.

We manage to secure a place in Shoreditch. She advised us to forward all the photos of the apartment in Hammersmith, which I left in the message section before she went on leave. We stayed at the place in Shoreditch from Decemeber 23-28. It was a nice duplex apartment near town.

When we came back home to Singapore, there was still no reply from Airbnb. She wrote that she would be on leave during the holidays. When we checked the Airbnb messages, the case was closed and resolved. To our dismay, there was no follow up from her.

We had to call the Airbnb team and explain the whole story again. We were guided on how we could click on the “Request Refund” option. We had to wait for the host to respond within 72 hours. The weekend passed, and the host did not respond.

We called into Airbnb and were guided to click on the “Involve Airbnb” option. It was too much hassle. After a frantic nightmare in London, we had to go through the process again. A case manager contacted us via email asking for details. It’s really frustrating having to attach photos again and again. After reviewing them, he claimed we were not entitled for a refund following the terms and conditions.

I guess he wasn’t tactful in addressing the case. If you put yourself in our shoes – staying in a foreign land where the house is not in a liveable condition; no lifts, faulty locks, dirty and old premises, and heating elements and lights not working – what would you do? Bearing in mind the mood of the holidays were all down because of this apartment?

We were not cancelling for fun. We paid for it; however, the apartment turned out otherwise. Airbnb should somehow provide exceptions for this kind of case. We are traveling with a family of five with young children. Safety, comfortability and convenience are definitely our top priority. Airbnb management should take this into consideration and carefully weigh the resolutions, not bluntly say ”no”.

Bear in mind we stayed straight from December 15-28 using Airbnb. We had no problems with our previous bookings before the exception with this property in Hammersmith. Airbnb should pay a site visit to understand more of what I meant. I recommend the listing be taken down until they fix up their filthy apartment. This doesn’t only tarnish the image of London on the whole but Airbnb as the agent to promote such homes.

On a personal note, I am beginning to trust Airbnb more since my last holiday went quite smoothly with the exception of London’s accommodation. This is just my sincere feedback as I do not wish to see other travelers share the same fate as me.