Penthouse from Airbnb Hell in Puerto Rico

Posted on August 27, 2022

I have used Airbnb for several years now and it’s always disappointing. The pictures never reflect the actual unit and they are always enhanced. Most of the time there are always problems with the unit and it takes several days to have them fixed if the host ever fixes them.

I rented a unit that was advertised as a penthouse for two months, paying almost $3,000 for each month in Puerto Rico in a supposedly nice area. Well, the unit was in the outskirts of the nice area. The building was almost falling apart, the actual apartment had been renovated but with so many faults, and it had a tiny bathroom. The shower did not have a door like some hotels but it was so small that the entire bathroom got wet. On top of that, there was a very slow drain and it flooded if I showered for more than five minutes.

There was no hot water for the first 1.5 weeks. Even though I notified the host the first day, she did not send someone until one week later and I was not notified I had to be in the unit. He had to come back one week later and arrived 40 minutes late. Later when I tried to used the washer it was not working and I figured out by myself that there was only one plug for the washer and dryer and the water heater. I had to disconnect the water heater in order to use the washer and dryer. Something so simple that the man that came to fix it could have told me.

When I used the washer, the hose did not drain and it was loose and flooded the entire apartment. Every time it rained there were multiple leaks around the unit. The past few days there has been heavy rain and again the apartment has flooded every day.

The kitchen shelves were not properly secured. When I went to grab a glass they fell on top of me, breaking all the glasses and I got multiple cuts on my hands. On top of it all, there was an uncovered electrical panel in the laundry area; every time I used the washer, it splashed water near the panel. The AC unit made very loud noises making it impossible to sleep at night. I informed the host of all of these problems. She said she would send someone and never did.

I could not sleep in the living room since there were no blinds and the sun rose early in the morning, making the living room very hot. For my entire stay I did not have one good night of sleep. I have waited four weeks for all of these problems to be resolved because to book a hotel or another Airbnb with such short notice the price was three times more and there were not many options available.

I finally had enough and told the host I needed to check out early since I could not take it anymore. I did not want to spend my vacation unclogging showers and cleaning a flooded apartment every two days, or not being able to sleep well at night with loud noises waking me up all night. The host refused to refund me for the nights I did not stay and contacted Airbnb support. Airbnb told me that since I did not report the problems with customer support within 24 hours it was at the host’s discretion to give me a refund.

This is so unfair since I tried to solve the problems with the host and some of the problems I was not aware until days later. Airbnb needs to have their own inspectors to go and look for safety hazards and verify the unit is in the conditions the hosts advertises. This host is charging $3,000 for a unit plus the cleaning fees. I asked the neighbors how much the rent was in a similar unit and they told me $400-$600 .

Airbnb Denies Refund for Hotel and Laundry Expenses as Promised

Posted on August 27, 2022

I booked a hostel on Airbnb in June 2022. It was my first experience at a hostel and I did not know Airbnb allowed hostels on their website. Based on the number of good reviews of the place and the high prices of the city I was traveling to (Copenhagen), I decided to give it a try. My travel there was in August and just as I checked in I was offered a shared room with a pretty bad smell. I went straight to the reception, without even bothering to contact Airbnb about it, and they manage to change me and all seemed fine.

My plan was not to spend that much time at this hostel as I was taking an intensive summer course there. I am a person who can easily fall asleep even if there’s noise around so in that respect the hostel did not represent a bad deal for me. During my second night, I encountered some small bugs running around on the bed sheets and bed cover. I could grab one and after googling and asking people I realized they were bed bugs. Immediately I panicked and because it was quite late in the night I decided to call Airbnb.

The person who I talked to was really friendly and seemed they had the intention to help with my case. The different people I talked to asked me for photos and videos of the bed bugs, which I provided. They told me they would help me as in I could not continue to sleep in that place and it was important for me to sleep to continue attending my course.

After a night without sleep and just waiting until it was 8:00 AM I called again Airbnb just to see how they would help me. I also contacted the hostel reception and they just told me: “Oh, sorry for that. Send us an email and we can help you with a refund.” They also offered to launder my clothes but I did not want to give them my clothes thinking that whatever they have will just make it worse.

Airbnb finally called me and accepted the photos and videos I sent (they even asked me for photos of bites on me and bed bug blood on the bedsheets). Eventually, I asked them what I could do now. As in, they promised to help me find a new place and would take care of it, but that wasn’t the case. They just said to go to a hotel and stay there. They were aware I had four more nights but their policy only allowed them to refund three, so I should book a hotel and they will reimburse me, same with the laundry expenses.

As I had to attend the course I just checked out from that horrible place and went back to my course with all my luggage and hoping Airbnb will refund me as they promised. When I was booking that afternoon I realized there were almost no hotels available, except for expensive hotels and really expensive hotels. I wrote them a message asking for the price, waited couple of hours, and without anything else to stay I just decided to book.

I am aware the hotel I booked was more expensive than what I paid but also I was promised I would get a refund and they did not tell me they could only refund a certain amount or anything. If I had known about it, it probably would have been better for me to have returned home on a last-minute flight as I could not afford this. I am a student.

Airbnb customer service replied just after that day, meaning that no matter if I would’ve waited I wouldn’t gotten an answer, and unfortunately I did not have enough credit to call them again one more time to check if that was alright. When they replied they told me the price of the hotel was too high and they would only refund 50% of my original reservation. Meaning, literally nothing. If they were to refund so little then why they would tell me they will refund hotel and laundry expenses? Obviously, last minute hotels don’t come cheap and adding laundry will never be the amount that someone going for that bad experience expects.

I am beyond sad that I had to experience this situation with Airbnb. I’ve been staying at their listings in many cities since 2014 and had always good reviews and experiences but this was really bad. I can’t see myself trusting Airbnb because not only did they fail to put a listing up that was not up to okay standards but they failed me as a platform and promised something that later was denied.

It’s been two weeks since that happened. I am broke and have literally no way to get this to court as I don’t know who I can go to and if that will just cost me more money. I am a student in Norway who went on a study trip to Denmark and Airbnb is an American company so I really don’t know what the process is here. I just saw few posts of Airbnb customers who had similar experiences as I did and I really wish this would stop. Hope no one had to live through what I experienced with them.

Airbnb Service the Last Two Years has Gotten Very Bad

Posted on August 27, 2022

I am a long time Airbnb user and for the past two years the quality of service with Airbnb has gone completely downhill. I have many experiences to share.

Since March 2021, the quality of hosts’ service has gotten very bad and at the same time Airbnb has raised its service fees and rental rates. I have stayed in several Airbnbs where the linens weren’t washed and the hosts had ample time to wash the linens or could have used a different set of linens. I was still charged a cleaning fee. One host refused to provide a space heater (she kept the thermostat at 65 degrees F) in the winter time when the temps got below freezing that night. I told her I have a disability and my muscles lock up when they are cold. She got very angry when I told her that.

Another host turned off the heat when the temp that night was 32 degrees and the space heater they provided was over 20 years old (I saw the manufacture date on the sticker). It broke during the night and I woke up frozen stiff. I asked them earlier that evening if they could turn the heat up because the house was too cold for me but they refused and wouldn’t spend the $1 or $2 or $3 for that one night on their heating bill.

When I started using Airbnb, the service I got for the value was top notch. I rarely had issues like the ones I have been having over the past two years. If I did they were isolated incidents, but now it’s a pattern. I have to say for the record I am very grateful to Airbnb because I have a disability and I struggled a lot to live independently (I lived with my parents most of my life) because I couldn’t find quality affordable rooms to rent and apartments that was not moldy or smokey, that wasn’t in a basement and were the neighbors were quiet and not smoking.

Airbnb has helped me with my independence but since March 2021 I feel I have been scammed multiple time by paying higher rental rates than other tenants, and been scammed into paying cleaning fees for unclean rooms and linens. I have been denied a lot of bookings in the past year and a half too, something that very rarely happened to me before March 2021. I definitely feel taken advantage of because of my disability. I have more stories to share and I will be sharing them in the future.

Host Harassment After Five-Star Stay in Quebec

Posted on August 18, 2022

This is not a horror story but a cautionary tale. Hosts should be held accountable for their conduct, don’t you think?

My first experience with Airbnb was great until it wasn’t. My friend and I took a weekend trip to Mont Tremblant in Québec. Things were great. It was a sunny day and the drive was decent. When we arrived we parked and started to unload our belongings and groceries.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t pack light. We had a fair amount of stuff to carry and we knew this would take several trips. The host wasn’t lying when he said there were stairs. The apartment was built on a hillside and there were stairs to get down to the main door and two flights of stairs to navigate inside.

The apartment itself was fine and there was an excellent view of the ski hills and lake. On first inspection we found some laundry left in one of the closet’s which was quickly taken away after the host was notified.

I know you are probably wondering: when does this turn ugly? Well, there were two kids’ beds which I knew about. I kindly offered my friend the master which looked cozy. We agreed on switching sleeping arrangements but that never happened. When it came time to leave we packed our things and went home. We enjoyed our stay for the most part.

This was my first time writing a review so I pointed out the things I didn’t enjoy. I gave the host a five-star rating and I stated that the only drawbacks to the apartment were the stairs and the kids’ beds. This seemed to really piss off the host. After the review was posted I received text messages. The host proceeded to insult my intelligence and basically said his “four year old” was smarter than me. That statement may or may not be true but it’s bad practice to insult guests in my opinion.

This was my first experience with Airbnb and it was now tarnished. I was really shocked that this happened so I called Airbnb that night. The employee I spoke with brushed it off by saying maybe he didn’t mean it? I’m pretty sure he did. Nothing was done about it in the end and this guy continues to profit from Airbnb.

I deleted my account after that one experience. I realized that Airbnb does not hold its hosts accountable for such incidents. My review is still up for all the world to see and the host’s snarky comment along with it. It just angers me that people like this get away with harassing clients. If you plan on staying at this apartment then be sure to leave a good review or you may be subject to his wrath.

Airbnb Business Model: Profit Over Human Safety

Posted on August 15, 2022

I just had the worst travel experience of my life at this Airbnb. This company is deplorable and has put profit over human life. I would like to share my story because I hope no one will ever have to go through what I am currently going through with them.

My family (nine adults and two young children) and I planned a trip down to Valle De Guadelupe in Mexico for this weekend with a tour company that would take us from San Diego down to Mexico Saturday morning and would take us back on Sunday morning. I booked an Airbnb for Saturday night and intended on going there until I received a call early Saturday morning from my tour company. They called because they needed to cancel my family’s trip.

Their vendors were warning them that it was unsafe for anyone to go to Mexico right now because of sudden cartel violence in and around the area of Ensenada and Tijuana the night before where cars were set on fire throughout the city and U.S. citizens were being asked to shelter in place. In order to travel to Valle De Guadelupe, we would have to travel through the border and the city of Ensenada and Tijuana so our tour company did not think it was safe given what their vendors were telling them. This made sense and we were appreciative that they cancelled and refunded our trip.

However, when we went to try and cancel our Airbnb with our host, we did not receive any empathy regarding the situation we were placed in. Instead, we were told that the situation was safe without any evidence that was true and that we had a choice in coming. We had two young children with us. We did not have a choice. We did not want to endanger their lives by going to our Airbnb with active threats of violence in the area we would have to cross through. Airbnb then proceeded to go back and forth with us and at one point even called to say we would be receiving a refund to only send a message 30 minutes later saying they would not be able to because the host denied the refund stating the area was safe. If it was safe, why was everything we were reading about Baja telling us not to go and that the cartels in the area were threatening violence over the weekend?

Airbnb, you should be ashamed of yourselves for running a company that doesn’t care about people’s safety. I am livid that my family was told by your customer service team to travel to an actively unsafe area and put all of our lives at risk.

We called today to see if there were further updates on our request to escalate our inquiry. Airbnb sent a message 30 minutes after our call stating that they were closing our case despite not responding to our request to show us evidence that the area we would be traveling through was safe.

Discrimination by Airbnb Host over Service Dog

Posted on August 6, 2022

After carefully searching for two weeks, I finally decided on an Airbnb to book for a month, while I was new to the Los Angeles area. It was a decent commute for me, and the price was good. Most importantly, it allowed pets. I have a service dog, so legally through both Airbnb and laws in the state of California, the dog is not declared as a pet, is not subject to pet fees or rent — unless there’s damage caused by the animal — and the service animal does not need to be disclosed until after the booking. A host cannot legally refuse to rent to a person who has a service dog; it is discriminatory.

However, because I don’t want to impose on a host that does not want animals on their property, I specifically chose a place that allowed pets. My booking was accepted, but as soon as I explained I had a service dog, the host went ballistic sending a series of messages in rapid succession that I could not have the dog there because I didn’t pay a pet fee when I booked and didn’t include the dog as a pet. I explained the legalities of the situation calmly but also said that I didn’t want to stay where we were not welcome, so she could please cancel and I book a stay elsewhere.

She started saying that what I was doing was illegal too and stated how upset she was and that she was on the phone with Airbnb and she couldn’t cancel without a penalty. Honestly, she should have a penalty for her discriminatory actions. She told me I had to cancel. This was two weeks before my stay; this meant I would lose the $2,000 I had just paid. I told her why I wasn’t going to do that, but she then started saying she couldn’t be a Superhost for a year if she cancelled my reservation.

She agreed to refund me, but Airbnb needed to have done more. They need to educate hosts on this type of discrimination and impose penalties on hosts who violate the terms. This was a very frustrating experience and wasted the better part of my day dealing with it. Oh, and on top of that, it can be up to two weeks before the refund arrives, so now I don’t have the funds to even book another place.

Odd Pet Situation: Host Expects Guests to Take Care of Dogs?

Posted on July 21, 2022

I will start off by saying that this Airbnb listing did not mention that pets were in the apartment, so I was both shocked and pleasantly surprised (I like animals) when I saw two small dogs outside on the patio. They were puppies. I don’t mind dogs, and I just thought that they belonged to the owner. It turns out the owner was a live out owner, and no one owned the dogs. There was one guy who (I think) was supposed to look after the flat and the dogs, and serve as the attendant for the Airbnb, but he was gone (sometimes all day and most of the night).

I don’t know if this guy had a job, but while these dogs were getting food and water, they weren’t getting walked, and would constantly cry for attention. The neighbors would knock on the door, and leave notes telling us that the dogs were crying. There were three adults in the apartment who gone for most of the day. These poor dogs were not getting the best care. The other tenant in the apartment and I offered to walk them but they had no leashes.

Cut to later in the week two people came into the flat to adopt one of the dogs. Okay, so the owner breeds dogs, and then dumps them in her Airbnb until they can be adopted? Thats a pretty shitty thing to do to the dogs.

There were some other odd things about the place as well. The place looked like it was being lived in by someone else entirely. The kitchen had random family photos, none of which included the photo of the host. There were boxes full of stuff, and luggage in the closets. The bathrooms were stocked with a whole bunch of half used toiletries. It felt like a dumping ground, which someone never really moved out off.

On top of that, the place was on the bottom of a massive building, which was under construction. I’m sure this isn’t the worst experience, but it was odd, and misleading from the photos and description. There was no transparency, and neither the random guy or the host ever explained what was up with the dog situation.

No Refunds, No Matter What? An Airbnb Guest Weighs in

Posted on July 20, 2022

It was my first time using Airbnb and I was excited. After researching and looking at over 20 places in San Juan, Puerto Rico, I found a place that looked amazing (which it does, in the pictures). But this is not about how amazing the place is or the conditions of the place once I arrived. This is about eight hours later booking the place for a last-minute trip.

Once I booked, a few moments later I got really sick, and it seems I got food poisoning. I’ve traveled around the world for work and always enjoyed using mainstream hotels. Because of this, I never considered that there would be a subjective and erratic refund policy where one place gives you a 48-hour full refund with no questions asked and another just plain no refunds… period.

I was finally able to get a hold of the host, and they advised me to ask Airbnb to resolve this. After finally getting someone with Airbnb they said they couldn’t do anything and the host was the one that could refund me… It turned into a ping pong hot potato game and was getting nowhere. At this point I was vomiting and feverish with a rash all over my body.

They said, “Well, it was on the refund policy when you booked.”

I was confused since I did not see “anything” about this anywhere, so I looked. After running a search on the page in the browser, I found it past “everything” including the reviews at the bottom in the footer area of the page.

At this point I spoke with my business credit card company and will need to wait for the charges to post, so I can submit a claim. This is absolutely unethical and in a world where most services are customer-centric I am baffled. I spent some time reading about nightmare situations from hosts here. Airbnb seems to be based on an overall unethical business model. I’ve had people rent my home and destroy it to the point it cost me $30,000 to repair, so I understand the side of being a host. It seems the business model is focused on a win-win model that only Airbnb can win.

Do not use Airbnb unless you are comfortable losing money. Look for the refund policy, which is randomly set by the host. Airbnb is not there to protect you as a consumer. They are there just to make the process easier for you to spend money and not be safer.

If you are a host, you need to be comfortable in being able to resolve issues without Airbnb being involved or have insurance that covers vandalism. You are playing in their sandbox, and they hold all the cards. Unless you are one of those individuals that have the time to go after them and get pleasure out of it… your time on this earth is better spent elsewhere.

To my friends and people in Puerto Rico: you are the reason our reputation at Airbnb has fallen so low. I am deeply disappointed. My time is worth more than your petty no-refund unethical smoke screen expense. As a business owner, I know personally you will pay a hefty price, and it’s not always in money.

Discrimination at Airbnb in the South of France

Posted on July 12, 2022

Eight years ago I rented a studio in Montpellier, France for one month. I prepaid and arrived at the studio at the arranged time. I was told to return the next day. Remember that I had already paid. I stayed one day before the owner asked me to leave.

Why? Who knows?

I am an African American college professor who was planning to write for a month. Last year I rented another studio in Marseille for a month via Airbnb. The owner met me and let me in with no problem. There was an internet issue that was resolved by me purchasing my own service. Suddenly the owner wanted to come by with her boyfriend. She seemed to be uncomfortable. The boyfriend kept talking to me about Africa. I am African American. They asked me to leave although I paid for one month and had been there six days.

I was frustrated as I was at the end of the semester and super busy. I left because I don’t want to stay where I was not wanted. Airbnb kept more than 50% of my money even though I stayed for one week and paid for four. I will never use Airbnb again and the company clearly condones racism. I wanted all of my money refunded as I had to go to a hotel. I still want my money. Never again will I use Airbnb. I tell my friends and everyone I know not to use them. As a U.S. citizen, there is no way in hell that I would rent an Airbnb in the U.S. Never.

Dirty, Disgusting Airbnb Makes Guests Second-Guess Stay

Posted on June 30, 2022

What can I say? Something that should have been a lovely experience turned into a rather unpleasant one. We had seen an Airbnb listing and loved the photos of the fantastic views which persuaded us to book this cottage.
Upon arrival, there was the owner’s car parked on a small driveway so we were unable to park two cars on it and had to leave one of them outside in a narrow lane.

The cottage was unlocked so we were able to walk inside. We then entered and decided to have a look around.
The first thing we spotted was the unclean cooker. The door was covered in fat stains. When we opened the door and looked inside the cooker, this was even worse; it was caked in grime. The baking trays were also filthy. We cannot imagine the last time that this had been cleaned and we proceeded to clean it ourselves so that it would be okay to cook in.

There were cobwebs everywhere: on the walls, furniture and plants. A mountain of rubbish behind the sofa. Stained sheets on both beds which looked like nobody had bothered to change from the previous customers. A stack of bricks on one corner of one of the beds to replace a broken leg. A tea towel hanging on the cooker door which was black with dirt. The owner’s clothes left in the wardrobes and drawers with nowhere to hang our own clothes. Dirty dishes in the sink that had been left there. A filthy toaster. A filthy microwave. Outside in the outhouse there was the washing machine and fridge freezer, plastered in dirt.

We then called customer service at Airbnb to report the property. The girl on the end of the phone said we could stay in a hotel for the night if we wanted to leave and then find us another property the next day and that we would be contacted within two hours with an update. Two hours passed without a call (time now 10:30 PM) so we messaged customer service to be told that another member of the team would be in contact soon.

We heard nothing, so we had to stay at the property overnight. My partner didn’t sleep at all and at 5:15 AM I once again contacted customer services when we eventually were told we could have a full refund. That night we booked a hotel which we had to pay for out of our own money as it would take a few more days for the refund to appear in our account.

This whole episode has been a nightmare from beginning to end. Properties in this condition should not be allowed to feature on the Airbnb listings. The host’s excuse that there must have been a mix up with her cleaner just doesn’t cut it for us. This property had not been cleaned in months and we have the photos to prove it.

It has left us feeling disgusted and very angry, as this should have been a great experience spending time away, only for it to be ruined with state of the property and lack of contact from Airbnb. We will definitely think twice before booking again.