I was going to New Orleans for a work trip and thought I would find a nice Airbnb. I looked around, found one, and made a reservation. Everything was good so far. Then I started working my way through the reasonable verification process. I sent in my drivers license picture and then clicked the Facebook verification tab to complete the process. Despite having had a Facebook account for years, it seemed like Airbnb didn’t think I wasted enough time on it; they rejected my Facebook verification. Then I tried the video verification. The website said that I would get approval from their verification team within a few hours. I recorded the video, and nothing happened. There was no ‘submit’ button and it didn’t seem to submit itself. It just sat there. I figured I would let it do its magic and left for a few hours. When I got back I had an email from Airbnb saying that I only had a couple more hours to do my verification video before my reservation got canceled. I searched all over their website looking for a way to get an answer, but despite the friendly ‘we’re here to help’ messages all over the site I discovered that they were decidedly not here to help. There is absolutely no way to contact Airbnb through their website. I kept going back to the verification page trying to figure out what was wrong. When I did I saw that the Facebook verification option had disappeared and been replaced with an American Express tab. Then the video verification tab disappeared as well. When I originally tried to verify with Facebook there was a page that showed all of the data that they wanted to mine from my profile. That included all of my contacts. I deselected that box because I didn’t want my contacts to start getting hounded by this company. What are the chances that my Facebook profile was rejected because I wouldn’t give them unfettered access to my private data? I’m thinking pretty good. I always had a pretty good opinion of Airbnb and the way that they helped people make a little money. I now have a pretty lousy opinion of the company. They refuse to allow me access if I don’t let them scrape all of my friends’ information and they make it nearly impossible to get any customer service. Shame on Airbnb.
Category Archives: Airbnb Guest Stories
These are real, uncensored stories from Airbnb Guests. We encourage our site visitors to read and share their Airbnb Guest Stories to help warn others of the dangers of using Airbnb, and consider using alternative options in the sharing economy.
Problems at Rental: Private Communication Possible?
Our experiences with Airbnb have been excellent overall. However, the time and effort to get help with problems is a real concern. I believe guests used to get a post-visit email from Airbnb allowing the sharing of problems privately. This no longer appears to be the case. Here is a note I wrote which I could find no way to deliver. Moreover, I waited 25 minutes on the phone waiting to speak with someone.
Dear Airbnb Staff,
A question I have is how to contact you if a problem arises and neither a computer nor cell phone is at hand? We had need of this on our last trip to Pasadena, California. We arrived at 12:00 PM (3:00 AM New York time), in the heavy rain. Fortunately, our taxi driver was able to spot the entrance to the building and call box in the damp and poorly lit area. Our directions had told us to type in the owner’s name and call them to be buzzed in. The directions at the top of the call box sent a fleeting and almost unreadable message regarding entry. It said to type in a number and name. There were no symbols nor letters on the buttons in the call box, making it impossible to do this. I tried many times. Eventually I pushed something on the box and by translating the letters from our TracFone buttons was able to type in the names. The box said access denied.
To continue the saga, by accident I found a way to scroll for names and did manage to call the owner who said she would buzz us in. We lugged all our bags and suitcases through the gate only to find we were trapped between the outer and inner gate! No one had told us to go and open the second gate quickly. This could have meant we had to go in and out again, but my husband rang the door bell of a very helpful neighbor who came to let us in and show us where the elevator was. On getting to the correct floor in the dark – the lights apparently go off at a certain hour – it took another long time and required us to turn a large bench over in order to access the lock box. When we eventually got into the apartment all the clothes in one suitcase were soaked through.
In the apartment, there were no directions regarding the wifi or television use. My husband was able to get the wifi information from a call to the owner, as well as an explanation as to why the bathroom sink was sprinkled with mud… or worse. The owner informed us that sometimes the plumbing backed up. The apartment had no dining room, nor did it have a table or shelf high enough to use for writing or placing a computer. We did not plan to do cooking except for breakfast. Neither the electric oven nor the oven broiler worked. It was not made clear how to lock the doors on departure. Apparently you have to lift up the handle while turning the key, another item that should be in a manual.
I had intended to write this in a private communication to Airbnb. In the past there has been an option to write to Airbnb with suggestions for improvement that you do not want to communicate directly to the owner. No such email came from you. I have mentioned several problems above but want to reiterate: there was no instruction manual, let alone welcome manual in the house. There were no clear directions about getting into the house. There was no mention of the possibility of plumbing problems. There was neither a working electric oven nor a stove broiler oven. It was not clear how to lock the doors correctly on departure. This is the only time in many years of enjoying Airbnb homes that we have experienced any difficulty. Overall our stay was alright, with a comfortable bed and quiet space. However, I cannot say strongly enough that these problems should be addressed before the apartment is rented again. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Host Cancelled 24 hours Before we Arrived in Paris
We had a last minute cancellation by a host 24 hours before our arrival in Paris because of bed bugs. That reservation was mostly made with Airbnb gift cards and a small charge placed on my credit card. We were contacted by Airbnb via email, (luckily I had connected to wifi while we were having lunch in Brussels) and while we were sent a list of available properties from Airbnb, none met the criteria of our original booking; we were given a one-bedroom unit when we needed a two bedroom for my mother, wife and myself. Our customer service representative told us just to make contact with new hosts directly and book what we wanted. Airbnb offered a 10% refund for our troubles, which sounded good at first.
We found and booked a new property with a host named Adjel, using the Instant Booking feature on the app. The gift card balance from the original cancellation was applied to this new reservation, and we thought we were set. Hours later, though, Adjel informed us that the property we had booked was not actually available, and he shouldn’t have accepted the Instant Booking request because he was having work done on the property. Rather than cancelling immediately, he tried to shift us into another property that simply wouldn’t work for our group of three. We asked several times for him to please just cancel. We notified our customer service representative that this was happening. By this time, it was late in the evening, the night before our arrival in Paris, and we still didn’t have a suitable place to stay. There was no response to our request to cancel the unavailable booking from Adjel, or Airbnb staff.
We found a third property that would work, connected with the host, Justin, and booked it as soon as he verified availability. In the morning, we got word from customer service that Adjel had finally cancelled, and that our gift card balance was refunded to our Airbnb account. We responded that we wanted the gift card balance applied to this new reservation with Justin, not just refunded to our account. I did not want Airbnb “store credit.” That didn’t happen as requested and now we’re struggling to get this settled. We don’t want a $550 Airbnb credit sitting in our account when there is a $600+ Airbnb charge on our credit card. We have called into customer service again this evening, and were promised by the representative with whom we spoke that this could and would be resolved.
That was several weeks ago and I finally received an email from Airbnb saying that they would not do anything. I had spent several hours with their “customer service” department and was hung up, put on hold for an hour, etc. I explained the situation to my credit card company and they made a charge back to Airbnb since they were not willing to help. I have dealt with credit card processing in the past and it really is not that hard to credit an account and charge the correct amount, but apparently Airbnb was not willing to take care of this. My wife and I started using Airbnb back in 2009 and have had great experiences; we’ve never had a problem before. Our third Paris property had a view of Notre Dame, was right on the Seine, and had all the charm of what I expect from an Airbnb property. Over the years I have raved about Airbnb but this event has completely called their business practices into question.
Hell in Apollo Bay: Australian Airbnb Fraud
I purchased accommodation through this host for a property called Diandera Dirrah a in Apollo Bay, Australia from the December 27th to January 2nd. I have confirmation emails from Airbnb confirming these dates. I paid $2617 for six nights’ accommodation and on the second morning the host arrived at the property and told us to “get out or she would call the police” as she had “spies in the neighbourhood who told her we had a party.”
We did no such thing. She was yelling, laughing hysterically and threatening us. I had no leg to stand on and we left. We had to camp at a local football oval and buy tents and yoga mats to sleep on as we were five hours from home; it was horrible. We drove past the property and saw she already had new occupants staying there. This is a scam. She took $2617 from hard working, responsible individuals and threatened us. We should have received a refund but Airbnb did nothing to help. She then illegally altered the receipt to say that we only stayed one night for $2617 which is an absolute joke. Please see the attached documents that prove we were confirmed for six nights and then the altered receipt. Do not stay here; they will steal your money.
Illegal Scams and Fraud Run by Airbnb Hosts
I am new to Airbnb but my college kid and her friends use it when they travel. I thought I’d give it a try. What I have learned is that as a guest there seems to be a lot of identity validation requested and they ask for a lot of information. At first I took some comfort in this. Then I tried to reserve my first property. The host claimed on the listing that they have trouble updating their calendar so to email them to confirm availability. Not thinking too much of it, I did that and they responded promptly. They then said to get started they would need my name, address, and government-issued ID. I wasn’t sure if they meant put it into the platform or send it directly (which I would never do). Anyway I used the platform to request the reservation and woke up to an automated email from the Airbnb Trust & Safety team saying I should never contact hosts directly off the platform; the host is now being put through a verification process. They said they were suspending the host’s account.
So it doesn’t appear that there is much of a host verification process at all. In fact, this looks like an identity theft scam. I wanted to point out this detail to Airbnb but their automated alerts do not mention any way to discuss this with them. From what I can tell, there is absolutely no way to communicate with the operators of the platform. The way they treat someone using their platform for identity theft, a very serious crime, is to simply remove their account. I’m sure that will really scare them off. Assuming they actually know the identity of these hosts and I could correspond with someone on the platform about this fraud, I would expect them to alert the relevant authorities. Their behavior is both irresponsible and negligent.
I found Airbnb Hell searching for any way to contact Airbnb and I am concluding that it simply does not exist. Not wanting to give up on one bad first impression I went to book a second property. The 24-hour mark has almost passed and I haven’t heard anything from this host either. I guess I’ll take a third swing but then it’s three strikes and I’m off the platform. I know there are many wonderful and responsible hosts on the platform but Airbnb appears to be doing next to nothing to filter the bad and fraudulent ones. It seems you can post listings that you have no legal right to rent out; how can that be their practice? What I have learned is you have to do your own vetting of the host and be very careful. They could be frauds and criminals, and Airbnb does little to prevent them from using the platform. If anything goes wrong you are on your own.
Host Lied and Airbnb Refused to Help with Refund
I booked an apartment for a week in Toronto in December. The listing said it was a two bedroom. However, what the host didn’t disclose was that the second bedroom had an old futon with broken wooden slats (held together with tape). The first night I slept on the old futon and had terrible back pain. The second night the bed broke. I looked under the sheets and found the issue. This wasn’t a mattress; it was a cushion. There was no box spring, just broken wooden slats. I called Airbnb who suggested I get in touch with the host to see if she could help. We emailed her and she didn’t respond for hours, saying she was out of town and could come to the apartment the next day. I called Airbnb expecting them to help. Instead I got the run around. I was told I could go buy an air mattress and they’d give me the money back. Did I mention this was at 5:00 PM over Christmas and I was sick? I was then told they’d give me $150 as a total refund. I explained I still had three nights at the Airbnb and $150 was the price per night for a hotel. They refused to give me any more money even though there was no solution to help me. I have been trying for over a month to get my money back from Airbnb. I filed a formal complaint on Airbnb and received no response for three weeks. I called eight times and was given the run around over and over again. I sent emails, and received no responses. I was promised return phone calls that I never received. I was even hung up on when I asked to speak to a supervisor. I was then sent an email saying there was nothing wrong with the bed even though it was an old futon held together with tape and that I wouldn’t be getting a refund. I am now going to go into arbitration. Airbnb is a horrible company that allows hosts to do anything they want and not support their guests.
Paranoia: How Easy is it for Stalkers to use Airbnb?
I am writing to you to raise an issue about an Airbnb property rental on August 3rd, 2015. After using their service over many years, I only had positive references from hosts, though I did have some odd situations where I felt I was being stalked but nothing serious enough to have my accounts closed. After I began to get stalked when an incident on Twitter got out of hand, these online trolls began to target me on other websites. I still managed to find two great properties and some nice hosts. After being stalked in public unrelated to Airbnb, one host didn’t show up to meet me and his address was incorrect; I had to ask them to help me find a different place at the last minute. I found some lovely places where the hosts immediately offered me accommodation and they had secure references. Unfortunately because of the individuals stalking me, somebody contacted Airbnb and closed down my account, their excuse being because I asked them who exactly was behind messing with me. I was forced to return to the UK as I couldn’t find alternatives that weren’t Airbnbs or hostels.
I had reserved another place in advance through Airbnb. My account was reopened but after I asked them for clarification through a polite email if a third party had been behind what happened abroad, they canceled my reservation and closed my account permanently with no explanation. My solicitor tried to get them to provide a legal reason, and their response was: “We as Airbnb have the right to cancel anyone’s account without providing a valid explanation.” Since then, we haven’t had any further clarification. It’s been three years and I have been struggling to find another rental. My previous references from people I rented from were on Airbnb, so if I find a property they will ask me to provide a reference from a previous rental. I can’t do this since my account was closed down and I have no access to any of these hosts I rented from. They shouldn’t allow third party individuals or companies to manipulate their organization on whether I can or can’t use their service, or to spy on users. Support guests as much as hosts who are being troubled by online trolls or stalking problems that weren’t their fault.
The consequences of having my rentals closed had an extremely negative effect on my future travel plans in 2015. A guest’s personal possessions are not insured but of course, the host’s are. So if a friend of the host comes along and tries to steal your stuff, it’s gone. For a laugh, the corrupt company has even added a woman to their homepage that resembles me, as a piss take on me. This is how extremely arrogant they are; this wrecked three years of my life. Not only did they cause severe grievances that were a consequence of what happened thereafter, they have been arrogant to use a member as their “theme” on their site, instead of being professional and keeping quiet about what they participated in – discriminant and illegal. They are absolute hypocrites. They don’t seem to have any respect for users’ privacy so I most likely will never be able to use them again.
Somebody had told me a media production might have been stalking me through this rental service. I didn’t think that was possible until I noted recently they have even posted three film directors on their front page that have no relevance to renting. What are they doing? Hiding cameras in people’s bedrooms as part of a snuff film? They are the typical silicon valley “we’re nice hipsters but secretly we’re planing on using you, ruining your life and future plans, and closing all your rentals and accounts. We are millionaires and you’re an insignificant guest; we can do what we want.”
If you look at all the other rental providers, they have struggled to offer nice properties because Airbnb has been hogging all the best available short-term sublets. At least that’s what one rental company told me when I was struggling to find a place: they said they didn’t stand a chance in offering a lot of available places as Airbnb was taking all of them.
So if your account gets unfairly closed down, you need a flexible rental service that doesn’t ask for rental guarantors and other references, if you’re worried about your safety and are in need of finding a rental that shows exactly with whom you’re sharing and that they have been securely verified, there are very few platforms like Airbnb offering those. I tried Spareroom and Gumtree and got messed about by weirdos and trolling kids. I am desperate to find a nice home. The last time I tried to get in touch they refused to reply to my emails. Are there any other similar alternatives for rentals in the EU if not the USA, that show with whom you will be sharing the property, with profiles and verifications?
Airbnb Nightmare in Tokyo: Hotel was Necessary
We booked a place in Tokyo only to arrive after 4:00 PM to a dirty room with soiled sheets, pubes all over the bathroom, scum on all the mirrors, dirty glasses and stovetop, and reversed sheets to try and hide the stains. We couldn’t stay there. We tried to contact hosts as we were tired and just wanted to shower and rest but didn’t receive any replies. We had to find a hotel. We found a reasonably affordable one, a little more expensive than the Airbnb but we weren’t going to look or travel far as we had already had enough. Finally, the hosts contacted us after a few hours when we were already in a hotel, saying they were sorry: the place had been cleaned but the quality was not so good. They didn’t check. After a while they offered a refund, minus the cleaning fee. They had to be kidding. There was no offer to cover the extra expense of our simple hotel costs. I’m hoping Airbnb can help us out?
Scammed Because Airbnb Really Doesn’t Care
I admit there are numerous statements across the Airbnb website stating do not book outside the site. Being a new user, when faced with a message on a listing to contact the host directly, I did. In all innocence, I actually thought that the listing had been validated by Airbnb prior to uploading and that no changes could be made once live. Therefore if the listing had a request to contact them directly I would assume that Airbnb had approved it. Logical, not stupid. However, we all know that’s not true. Airbnb has no security measures, procedures, responsibility or morals. Apparently you can easily create a bogus host, draft up something pretty, wait for it to go live, and falsify it as much as you like, including adding and amending details. Then if they are unfortunate to be flagged or worse still, have been successful in their scam (as in my case) they take the listing down and Airbnb has no way of tracking them. It’s an absolute playground for scammers.
So how does Airbnb deal with this? Do they install preventative measures to stop this happening? Scrutinize and have more background checks on hosts before uploading? Do they ensure no changes can be made once the listing is live or they are only managed through administrators at Airbnb?
Don’t be silly. That would be taking responsibility and accepting that when you start a business providing a service you do so accepting an obligation to ensure the security and safety of every single user. But wait: I hear you say they have disclaimers, so this excuses them for not taking responsibility for investing in the site. They can continue to scrape as much profit as possible while hiding behind these warnings. Basically Airbnb are giving scammers carte blanche to take advantage of the site, targeting the vulnerable and naïve.
Can you talk to anyone about this? Absolutely not. I did manage to get a lovely superhost representing Airbnb who was understanding, but in his words:
“I do understand that this does happen often and we do have security measures. For these scam listings, they are fine when they set up their listing but then they change the information or add a picture with a number and then remove it quickly or remove the listing before we can get the ID. I can assure you than once we find these listings; we do notify our Trust and Safety Team to remove the listing and the host.”
I am sure that more can be done as well. So come on, Brian Chesky, be a man and face up to your responsibilities; stop hiding behind disclaimers or warnings. Create a site where every user feels safe and secure using it. Limit the possibility of scamming and fraud. Have some human contact – a customer phone line so if there are any issues they can be resolved quickly, professionally, and without the need to find these websites.
Host Asks me to Leave Early, Stabs me in the Back
I would like to briefly highlight one issue here. When I reported to my host that some things were not good at her apartment, the very next day she asked me to leave, which was alarming to me. She agreed to refund me the pending payment for one night which had not yet gone through and also the Airbnb service charges. Upon asking why she was doing this she said she was getting a potential long-term client from February 1st and after that her offer changed into request mode. When I found that she was requesting me to leave so she would not incur a loss by losing a long-term client, I agreed on one condition: that I wouldn’t pay more for one night’s rate at her property at another place.
The next day upon searching jointly we found a place next to her apartment which had a bit of a high rate. I negotiated further with that host and brought down the rate further. Later she jumped into my negotiation and tried to spoil it. Earlier she asked me to leave on Friday January 27th, so I negotiated with the guy accordingly. Later she confused him and said that I would come to his apartment on Monday January 30th, without even informing me. That guy shouted at me but somehow I managed to control the situation. Afterward, I told my host very clearly that I didn’t want to leave the apartment because of how she wasted my time but I would on humanitarian grounds, her having a potential long-term client.
The last evening at her place I was informed that the apartment where she was transferring me was asking for a R1000 security deposit. I told Annette that I helped her but didn’t means that she could force me into paying R1000 extra. I am comfortable blocking payment to a big company like Airbnb but I wouldn’t try to do so to a random person. I also asked her that in case that guy wouldn’t pay me back my R1000 for whatever reason, then she had to take responsibility if I didn’t do anything wrong… which she denied. Finally she showed her true colors and said that she didn’t ask me to leave; it was me who wanted to leave. When I told her that I have everything in writing as well as her call recording too then she got afraid and backpedaled, saying that I was threatening her. She made a Whatsapp call (because they can’t be recorded) and said so many things to me, including:
1. If she reports me to Airbnb then they will charge 300USD to my account.
2. As I have no reviews on Airbnb then my case is weak.
3. I wrote so many messages to her, she got fed up (I can show who has written more messages, me or her).
4. I bring negative energy to her flat and she wanted me to leave.
I told my host that if she filed a complaint with Airbnb then I would do the same, with all the messages and voice recordings, letting Airbnb decide who is right or wrong. Then she got offended.
This was my first time booking through Airbnb and I landed in a heap of trouble by helping my host on humanitarian grounds. I have documentation of our exchange of messages and voice recordings, which can provide a clear picture as to who is right and wrong. My only mistake is I helped that lady without informing Airbnb because my parents always taught me to help everyone until my last breath. My last concern is that I am leaving her apartment on Monday January 30th and I told her (through Airbnb message and Whatsapp) that I wanted a thorough check of everything and needed a clear signal from her that everything was in order before I left. I am afraid now because if she can change her statement in front of me (when I have all the proof), someone who helped her, then god knows what will happen when I turn my back.