Author Archives: Chiara Franceschini

Can Misogynist Feedback Be Deleted?

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I am an Italian host. You might wonder why I an not reaching out the Italian Airbnb website. I tried but I wasn’t very lucky. I am reaching to the US Airbnb site for two reasons: I have lived for some time in the US and there I got to know the US culture better. And so (second reason) I know people there take discrimination and bias seriously. Honestly after the #metoo movement and all its consequences I would expect some awareness here in Italy too, but unfortunately this doesn’t seem to be the case.

I had a problem with a guest who came to my place for New Year’s Eve. Since I was away for those days I thought it would have been nice to let someone get the chance to stay in my place and, at the same time, get a little extra money. Unfortunately it didn’t turn out as expected. I was unlucky to host a guest who had never used Airbnb before, expected my house to be a hotel, and expected me to be the hotel manager.

When he booked I asked him an approximate check in time. He didn’t answer for ten days and the night before check in he told me that since he already paid for the whole sojourn, he would expect me to be at his complete disposal. As I said, it was New Year’s Eve so I had plans with some friends. I told him that if he would have answered before I would have time to arrange a proper check in.

Anyway I did my best and told him my mum’s address to get the key. He did the check in alone. I left some post-its with important stuff and told him that for any questions he could Whatsapp me. Usually when I check someone in I give more details about where some helpful stuff is but I thought that since he would be staying just a few days we could just communicate via phone.

I checked on him a few times and he always said that everything was okay. He even asked me for the wifi password which is written in the house rules, proving that he had no idea how Airbnb works: he never even read my house rules.

After check out I got a surprise: some misogynist private feedback and a terrible public review. For example, he complained that there wasn’t enough toilet paper and no Schuko adapter but both were in the house. Why hadn’t he asked me for supplies? Just so he could write there weren’t any.

On the one hand I believe some people should just keep booking hotels and, as you can imagine, it is frustrating to deal with people that are not informed to be in the Airbnb community. If things would have been like this I could have let it go, but I am deeply concerned about the direction this world is going. Since I do not like it, I have sworn to myself to always try my best to make this world a better place.

This implies that I cannot let any sort of sexist comment go that attacks based on gender. In the private feedback, this guest insulted me because on my fridge I have a little plate saying “rompicoglioni della vagina!” which was given to me during a theater show of the vagina monologues (a very important show that started off Broadway and initialized the v-day movement).

He complained about the fact that I had my vagina ring (closed in its box of course) in the fridge: the vagina ring is medicinal for me and has to be in the fridge (between 2 to 6 Celsius degree) to be effective. I was told to put it in there by a gynecologist.

Last but not least, I had two used pads in the rubbish bin and of course he complained, claiming my house was dirty. In Reggio Emilia, both the recycling and generic waste (where the pads where) are collected door to door once a week; I really had no other options.

In conclusion, I feel like I am paying with my reputation, the fact that I am a feminist woman. This is wrong and should be stopped by whoever has the power to set a good example, Airbnb. Moreover, I wonder if there are any grounds to sue. Any help would be appreciated.

AirbnBS: Customers Want the Cheapest Option

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I had several listings in central Sydney. The idea was to ‘test’ Airbnb at a few different market levels ranging through cheap, mid-market and high end. My experience has been that the only successful listings are the cheap ones. The reason for this is because Airbnb guests are inherent cheapskates.

Listings at the cheapest end of the market (a share room, backpacker style dorm) show a constant demand and high occupancy and as long as the photos and description are accurate and specific, the guests do not have any grounds for high expectations and, equally, any sustainable grounds for complaint. Alternatively, the opposite is true of mid-market and high end listings.

To attract bookings you have to be highly competitive and provide a full range of amenities, all of which are grounds for some kind of complaint by an asshole cheapskate trying for a free nights accommodation. My advice is keep it cheap and keep it simple and decline any guest who asks any question to which the answer is detailed in the listing preview. The enemy of profitability is time – don’t waste it. Stack ’em high, sell ’em cheap and don’t take any shit from guests or management.

Outrageous Bait & Switch: Airbnb No Help

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Here is the letter I wrote to Airbnb feedback. I’m still in the process of working with a case manager, but I’m not very optimistic.

I’ve been working with someone in Airbnb Support, who has been spectacular. However, she encouraged me to share my feedback with the company, as I feel the policies of Airbnb are having unintended consequences. I’ll start by sharing my most recent experience, and close with a few suggestions based on my number interactions with my host and Airbnb support.

We have a group that goes to the Final Four (NCAA Basketball) every year. This year is special as it’s my father’s 60th birthday, so we wanted to make sure we had an upscale Airbnb close to US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

After communicating back and forth with the host about our intent to go to the Final Four, inquiring about how close the house was to the stadium, etc, we decided to book a listing on October 29, 2018 for April 6-9, 2019. We booked well in advance because we know it’s a busy weekend, and we have a large group of nine people to celebrate my father’s birthday. We paid a 50% deposit up front ($1,273 of the $2,547 total), and confirmed our reservation.

Fast forward to December 23rd, when I received an “alteration request” from our host. Our host stated: “We just sent you an alteration for your reservation; it being the final four week we had not updated our price, please let us know if this price works for your group”. The new price was $8,594, an additional $6,046.

As you can imagine, outrage struck me, as this is a classic bait and switch tactic by the host. More disappointing was how unethical and deceitful the host was being, as I clearly stated in my first note to the host before the reservation was confirmed “We are interested in staying for our annual Final Four Trip”.

I spoke with Airbnb support, and they suggested I decline the alteration request, and per Airbnb policies, the host would be required to honor the original reservation. I declined the request, on December 23rd, and the host replied to me on December 28th stating “Unfortunately we will not be able to host those dates, just wanna give you enough time so that you can find a different place, and you are still in the period for no fees on the cancellation!”

The audacity of this host to cancel my reservation because I didn’t want to pay 400% more, and to suggest I should cancel… Despite the host sending me that message, they still have not canceled my reservation as of January 2nd, 2019. As you can imagine, we are very worried that we will show up on April 6th and the house will be occupied or we won’t be able to get in, which would leave us scrambling.

I therefore spoke again with Airbnb support, and they said “don’t worry, you will get a full refund if the host cancels”. Let’s pause here. This is where my frustration with Airbnb policies is at an all time high, and I’d like to explain why:

1) We booked this reservation 2.5 months ago, and of course listing availability has gone down and prices have gone up since then.

2) A refund therefore will not cover any suitable replacement property.

3) Airbnb’s host policy is if they cancel there is a $100 fee and they cannot rent the property that weekend. That is a rather weak deterrent for a host cancelling in the scenario they realize they can rent the property out on a competitive platform (VRBO, Craigslist, etc), pay a small $100 fee, and then be back on the Airbnb platform with no penalty after those dates.

4) As a guest, I am now stuck with my money back, but no reservation, a lack of listings available, and more expensive options. I cannot imagine a scenario where a confirmed, paid hotel booking would be canceled with no replacement room at the same cost.

This is the second time this has happened to us on Airbnb: we book a reservation, the host finds out it’s a more popular weekend than anticipated, they cancel, pay a fee, rent it for higher, and we as guests are stuck high and dry.

Short term solution: We fully expect Airbnb to cover the cost of a comparable listing if it costs more than our initial reservation, which it will. We need to be less than two miles from the stadium, which our existing reservation was, and it needs to be at least six bedrooms and four baths.

Long term solution: Airbnb needs to fix the incentives/punishments in the policy and guidelines, as it is driving bad behavior. In this scenario, the host can rent out for three times that on VRBO, pay a $100 fee to Airbnb, and then have access to Airbnb as soon as the dates we originally reserved have passed. There is a near-zero deterrent for the host to act disingenuously.

On top of that, guests are left with a refund, but no place to stay. It’s very stressful and time consuming to have to search for a new place and correspond with Airbnb support. I’ve spent two hours on the phone with Airbnb support throughout this process and another three hours researching and messaging Airbnb through the platform.

I’m having second thoughts on Airbnb because of this experience, and I can only imagine how many other guests are experiencing this. Please fix your policies so guests aren’t left high and dry in the future. I’d be happy to chat further if anyone is interested in speaking to me.

Airbnb Quick to Charge, Slow to Refund

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I currently live in Australia and made a booking for a property in Somerset West, South Africa From September 28 to October 12, 2018. I paid 50% of the total booking fee, but a month before the check-in date I was informed by the host (who appears to be living in Sydney) that he had to cancel the booking as he was in a dispute with his Body Corporate about using this property for Airbnb accommodation.

I immediately took this up with Airbnb and in the meantime I hastily looked for alternative accommodations for our family reunion, rebooked, and paid the fees as required (again through Airbnb). A few days later Airbnb advised me that they had difficulties in cancelling the reservation – something which I truly do not understand. I was assured, however, that they are looking into my case and that the matter will soon be resolved.

Since then I have had four different caseworkers, made numerous phone calls during which I was promised quick action, received generic emails expressing their sympathies and apologies for the inconvenience caused to me, was given a false promise that my refund was processed, received notification that my case was closed, was ignored for weeks on end, and have yet to see my refund…

I am at my wits’ end in dealing with Airbnb. This huge company is so unapproachable and seems to not care one bit about small fish like me. It has cost me way too much time and energy trying to receive fair and just treatment and on top of that it has caused me a great deal of stress. It feels to me that the whole issue is drawn out deliberately to try and force me to just abandon my hopes of receiving my refund. Any ideas how to proceed further will be most welcome.

Australia Airbnb Cancelled the Day of Travel

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I booked a two bedroom apartment in Melbourne for myself and my mother a month before our trip. We were coming from New Zealand for a Bon Jovi concert.

The host had good reviews and several other properties listed with Airbnb so I felt pretty secure with the deal. I did start to wonder though when it got to three days before take off and I hadn’t heard anything from the host. I sent an email asking for directions or some sort of acknowledgment that this was all good to go ahead. There was no reply.

The days ticked by and there was still no communication at all. The anxiety crept in but I thought I had the confirmation, it was all paid, and it was going to happen. We were flying out at 3:30 PM as I was working the early shift from 5 AM.

I woke up at 3:45 AM for work, only to find an email from Airbnb an hour earlier stating that the host had cancelled the booking. This asshat cancelled it literally hours before we were due to leave. No explanation, no personal apology from the host, just a “here are some similar listings”, which were all one bedroom places.

Obviously I was steaming and trying to find a place before my shift started, but here’s the clincher that put me off for life: when I expressed my annoyance (I use the term lightly), the help desk lad replied with “I understand as I have had the same thing happen to me.”

What? So this is a common occurrence? We were flying out in ten hours and eight of those I was working. When I pressed for an explanation, the help desk guy said the host had “trouble getting access to the apartment” and that he would “absolutely be reprimanded” (but only once I asked what action would be taken).

Upon speaking to my sister, she said the same thing had happened to her in Ireland. Luckily I found an awesome apartment on hotels.com, my usual go-to and where I should’ve gone in the first place. Airbnb said they would refund me but it took over a week; lucky I had the funds to book something else. Never again.

Airbnb has been a Huge Disappointment

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Airbnb owners broke their promise to offer us a nice clean place to stay over the winter. The posted reviews on Airbnb for the unit were nice. When we approached the host on June 6, 2018, she asked us to deal with her directly instead of going through Airbnb “to avoid the unneeded formalities.” She repeatedly advised us that “the place is nice, has all the basics and more and she wants us to be happy there.”

We dealt with her and with someone who was introduced to us as her agent. Later we discovered that he was listed as an owner of the place. We wondered if he has a license or not.

We intended to stay in the rented unit for four months. We came from Winnipeg, Manitoba, making 3,060 km during our four days of driving. We arrived in evening of December 8, 2018. The agent met us at the place. During this first meeting he repeatedly posed as an agent for the host by confirming it verbally as well as by calling her several times to get instructions.

We discovered the following shocking deficiencies to the unit: it was dusty and filthy; the carpets were black and dirty; most of the cupboards and drawers were filled in with old useless objects, rubbish, old packaging, all dusty and in disarray; the entire unit was cluttered; all corners and shelves filled with dusty artificial plants; even an old TV was stored on the living room floor.

Please note that the place was small: only 400 square feet. We asked the agent if he could take all that unneeded stuff out of the unit. He said that he would consider taking out only some of it. The bed, pillows and bedding looked dirty and worn out; the bed was not made. The fridge and freezer contained a lot of containers with old food. The fridge was leaking with dirty stale water on the bottom of it. The fridge was producing a very loud uncharacteristic noise.

The hot water tank was not working; there was no hot water in the unit. Later the agent told us that it was fixed. However, we learned from a different source that the tank was leaking, and, if so, it could not be fixed. The agent suggested going to the clubhouse for showering. All the windows had worn out dusty curtains and paper “blinds” that were deteriorating.

The front door lock was not working properly, behaving rather “finicky” as per the agent’s description. We were instructed to use the door leading directly from outside to the bedroom. That door lock was also malfunctioning. The toilet and sink faucet were filthy. One window was not closing as it had a cable wire running through it.

The unit had a bad smell (possibly from the sewer). The parking stall turned out to be small and our truck stuck out on the road. The outdoor furniture was also old and filthy. The whole place was in an unhealthy state of disrepair and disarray: worn out, full of dust and stinky.

We were supposed to pay $1090/month for that place… we were shocked. We had no choice but to stay there overnight. We were tired and afraid that it might be difficult to find a hotel room on a Saturday night. We spent all evening behind the computer looking for an alternative accommodation and moved to a hotel the next day.

We stayed there for a week before finding a place to settle for the remaining term. Please note that there were five reviews that were very nice referring to the place as being nice and clean. We realize that one review was probably referring to a different place as those guests were staying over a weekend and the place “was located walking distance from a festival ground.”

In fact, the location of the subject property is quite remote and renting for a period shorter than one month term is not permitted by the Almar Acres Association. We consider those nice reviews as fraudulent misrepresentation. We consider the whole situation as a fraud. We were tricked by the sweet promises.

In fact the unit has deteriorated far beyond a quick clean or quick fix. The owners are not considerate or trustworthy people. They lied to us about the place and about their own status in respect to the ownership. It feels sneaky and it is not acceptable. They inconvenienced us and made us pay for a hotel. It is so unfortunate that our vacation started with a huge disappointment.

Airbnb Closing my Account after Fake Review

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“In my experience communication with the host tends to be limited.”

What do other hosts think about? Would you allow someone into your house who doesn’t communicate? Even Airbnb encourages hosts to prepare a set of questions for the guest asking about their arrival time, reason for visiting, number of guests, luggage, house rules, etc. I literally copied and pasted the questions from the Airbnb site, but this guest used it against me.

I moved to a freshly renovated luxury apartment a month before this guest’s arrival and asked him to take care of it like his own home. I mentioned I had a guest who painted her hair black in my brand new white bathroom – leaving black stains – and told the guest I’m not into drama. This means if he doesn’t feel comfortable with my cleanliness he’s free to book other accommodations.

I spent too much money on this apartment and couldn’t afford further damages in my first month. I’d rather cancel and was open about it. I was sure I was polite and professional with my communications, therefore I didn’t understand this guest’s aggression towards me and it really upset me.

“Upon arrival in the city I reached out to the host to arrange a meet (something I’ve never had to do with any other host)”

Let me specify ‘the meet’ in the apartment. The correct term would be “meet and greet.” What do you think, hosts? Is it bad thing to meet your guest in person? Even Airbnb commercials shows hosts and guests meeting. Again, I didn’t understand my mistake.

“She provided me with a different address to the apartment.”

My building has two entrances: the north and south side. You are allowed to put only one address on the listing. Therefore I always ask my guests which side they’re coming from to give them a better address. I even send the map to Airbnb team showing it was the same place. This was ignored.

“I think she could tell by my facial expression, I knew something was not accurate.”

Well, what a politically correct way to cover the fact he looked at me with disgust, assuming I’m Russian upon first meeting face to face. I felt horrible and very uncomfortable, but couldn’t identify the feeling. I was thinking the guest thought I was from a third-world country and he was concern about the cleanliness.

I reassured him everything was clean and showed multiple cleaning supplies. I encouraged him to feel free to use them during his stay – whenever he wants. He attacked me again, saying I asked him to clean.

The apartment was sparkling clean; I put a lot of effort and heart in my new home. I’d never expect someone would want to clean it. Therefore I admit I left only one (thick ) roll of paper towels alongside several different types of clothes, but I didn’t expect guests would want to clean the whole apartment.

I felt like he wanted to clean after me… clean out my presence. If he asked about paper towels, I would have simply bought them, but he didn’t.

Finally, he complained about the ‘sparsely’ furnished apartment. Before I moved in, I checked approximately thirty luxury apartments with a real estate agent. I took pictures of furnished model apartments, I was collecting catalogs with recent home decor trends.

My style would have been named ‘urban minimalistic’ by an agent, but not the guest, who used it as another occasion to attack me, suggesting I was poor minded, maybe even mentally challenged (as he mentioned in further conversations due to my origin) and couldn’t afford furniture? Obviously he didn’t expect I would know any trends; he prejudged me and my place. This was a disgusting experience, but that was just the beginning.

Host Taking Deposits Outside of Airbnb

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Be very careful if staying in an apartment in Copenhagen with some Airbnb hosts. One is asking people to pay her a significant deposit outside of the Airbnb website. I made the mistake of trusting her and doing this. I am aware Airbnb’s website says not to do it… my mistake and stupidity.

Since she is a Superhost, I trusted her and she told me she had done it before. I paid her $2500 since she said she has very expensive furniture. I stayed in the apartment for a month for work after staying at another Airbnb for three months in Copenhagen.

The week after I moved out, I got a series of texts from her claiming I had broken her glassware, broken the plug in the bathroom sink, and stained the walls and doors. She also accused me of having other people stay. I do not recall breaking glasses but since it was a chip maybe it happened unintentionally. I definitely did not break the plug in the sink and the marks on the walls and door could have been from blue dye from my jeans.

It’s been two months since I moved out. In that time, she has apologized for the accusations of having others there, saying she found out it was a different apartment. She did not check her facts prior and should have before laying blame on anyone. She delayed getting me quotes for the other claimed damages and now says I will not get anything back since its costing over $2500 for all these repairs.

I ended up taking the matter to Airbnb, who finally came back and said they can’t do anything since I paid her outside of the website. What shocks me is Airbnb is still allowing her to list her apartment and potentially do this to other people. She even went as far as lying to Airbnb customer support, claiming I wanted to pay her a deposit outside of the website. She then apparently retracted this once I submitted email proof of her asking me.

I have full proof of all our communications over the past two months of my attempts to get my deposit back and happy to submit that to anyone who needs it. I will not be using Airbnb again and certainly will not stay at any apartment from this host. I am very professional and was staying in Copenhagen on a four-month work assignment, so I would not be so stupid to lie about everything that happened, risking my reputation and potentially my job.

Airbnb Ruined Holidays with Poor Customer Service

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We recently booked a long haul xmas holiday with a stopover in Hong Kong. We booked two-night stay in a place advertised as an “arty, bright and quiet oasis in trendy Sheung Wan” by the host. The photos looked perfect.

When we arrived, the flat did not match the photos. It was filthy and disgusting. The bed sheets and pillow cases had not been changed from when previous guests stayed; there was hair and oil.

There were food scraps and hair everywhere. The shower door was broken and the toilet seat was loose. The listing said it accommodated three people, but there was only a double bed and a small two-seat sofa. We could not sleep a third person in the flat.

The location is twenty minutes from the MRT station, up several slopes from the street to the building, The flat is on the fourth floor with no lift; there were many stairs to climb. None of this was mentioned in the listing.

We contacted Airbnb immediately and told them we could not trust the hygiene standard the host kept and would like to change to a hotel. We asked Airbnb to recommend another place for us to stay. The agent said she could not and insisted we send her photos. We sent the photos as she instructed.

It was very stressful as we had a long haul flight – over ten hours – and arrived in Hong Kong in the early morning. This was already in the evening. We were very exhausted. The Airbnb agent did not seem to understand this.

We told Airbnb we preferred to stay in another place. This place was dirty and the listing was dishonest. They admitted there were cleaning issues but insisted we work it out with the host. We could not sleep in such a flat and had no clue when the issue would be solved. We left the flat and found a hotel.

When contacting Airbnb for a full refund, the agent said we should contact the host ourselves. We did contact the host. He tried to bully us to shut us up. The host insisted his flat was clean and refused to provide a full refund. He told us a negative review on Airbnb would harm his business. The host did not care about his guests and was dishonest about the listing. It is only money. Airbnb encourages that.

Hours and days spent communicating with the host and Airbnb agent. To say the least, we feel humiliated by both. It’s end of our Airbnb experience. We had to cancel our two other Airbnb reservations for our holidays. It is loss for us. We feel sorry for those honest hosts who do care about their guests, but the experience we had was so bad. We cannot risk having any more.

Fatal Fall from Airbnb Illegal Hotel

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On October 28th, 2018, my son was a guest in a New Orleans Airbnb. He was only there for a few hours after work and before another early morning shift as a chef at Commander’s Palace. It’s been two months and the NOPD are still “investigating” his unexplainable fall through a solid 3’x 4’ window positioned over a sofa.

In my attempts to contact Airbnb, they offered their sorrow that since our son was not the one who rented the room there was nothing they could do. They did offer to cancel any future bookings so he did not get charged for future trips.

I explained that, along with endless questions and frustrations, I expected to get my son’s possessions that were left in the room. Airbnb stated that they could not require the host to get in touch with me. Apparently I put some pressure on him and suddenly the other guest later returned my son’s phone, shoes and shirt. I’m still asking for my son’s backpack and chef’s knife kit, which he took to and from work every day.

Airbnb “closed their case with me” after asking me four times if the host had contacted me, which he hadn’t. I messaged the host on Facebook messenger and then called the host on his Facebook messenger app. Nada. The host had five listings on Airbnb that I found and now I see that four of them have been removed. I reached out again to Airbnb yesterday via Twitter and they said they were “escalating the case” (which I heard before they closed it last time), which have not heard from Airbnb.

These photos show the mysteriously single pane window in a building renovated in 2011 after the for windows requires hurricane-proof glass.