Unstable Host and Airbnb Turned my Vacation into Hell

Posted on September 2, 2016

My first and last experience with Airbnb pointed out a fundamental flaw in their business model: hotel, motel and even most B&B operators are professionals; Airbnb hosts are amateurs. Because of that, they may not understand they are in the hospitality business, and Airbnb guests can be the unfortunate guinea pigs. As soon as our family arrived at our condo, our host came around and seemed to be spying on us. That evening she chased down a group of us out for a stroll; she asked them how many were staying at the condo told them she suspected more were staying there than she permitted. Later that night she pounded on the door and loudly proclaimed the same accusation. We explained that we had only six staying there (the two-bedroom unit was advertised to sleep six) and two people visiting who were staying elsewhere. She demanded we leave. When we refused, she picked up her phone and dialed 911, claiming she was the victim of assault! When asked if she had been physically assaulted, she replied “no, but I have been verbally assaulted.” When that apparently didn’t impress the operator, she claimed she had “nine drunk tenants and I want them out.”

We told her if she wanted in the unit she would need a warrant. Eventually the police arrived, and she demanded through texting that we come out and meet with the officer. When we didn’t respond, she called Airbnb. To my shock, Airbnb texted me that they had a serious complaint against me and that they had cancelled the reservation and ruled that a refund was not permitted! The next morning, this obviously emotionally unstable host opened the front door and pounded on the wall, shouting: “Your reservation has been cancelled and you need to leave!” We knew she had no legal right to evict us, so we stayed; however, the stress ruined our vacation. And the fact that Airbnb supported her madness only added to the nightmare. Beware of Airbnb… you will be subject to the whims of your host and the company will not have your back!

Airbnb lost my trust. Where do we go from here?

Posted on September 1, 2016

This is a story about an unpleasant experience but more so, the entire loss of trust in a like home sharing platform like Airbnb. To me, it raises questions regarding the future of the sharing economy. My girlfriend and I stayed in a private room in a house in a large southern California city. All names have been changed in this story. Tom was the host. We saw a very well-priced private room available, and pristine and luxurious photos of a beautiful very high dollar home. The pictures included the bedroom, the front of the home, two patio areas, a large kitchen, an entry area room with sofas, and a living room with a sofa and fireplace in the background. They looked like pictures from a realty company. The written content looked like it was promoting a high dollar hotel. He wrote – in my opinion, not very clearly – that the kitchen was not available to guests. But the other areas looked nice, and the place had good reviews. We expected a nice place where we could enjoy some calm comfortable down time in the city for a few nights. We were wrong.

The nice description and pictures of this home were like a nice façade on the scammer’s hotel. We learned that by canceling our stay here, we were not able to write a review to warn others about our experience. This threw all my trust in Airbnb out the door, as people who cancel their stays at questionable places are not represented in the review system, leaving a bias of only good reviews at each home. I’ll never use Airbnb again, and I write here because of how disappointed and frustrated I am that people can take advantage, by taking a cool idea and using it in such a horrible way.

We arrived to find an older man and a kid there, and I guess that they were guests there for a month while their other home was being remodeled. Then later we learned that the man was actually the owner. He was there with his kid for a month. I was a bit confused. He didn’t seem like he wanted to converse at all. In our room there was a welcome book like you would find at a hotel. In the book there was a written introduction to the house, as well as any restrictions – not using the kitchen, no control of the air conditioner (we felt too hot) – and how much they loved their previous guests. I was surprised because the laundry was an amenity listed on Airbnb, but in this book it was written it cost 6 USD. It felt like we couldn’t use as much of the home as we expected. In addition, I thought it was strange that we were only given the contact information of the host, who turned out to be the person in charge of bookings.

There was a noticeable lack of information or even a name of the owner who seemed to be so happy to have all these guests stay at his home. You know that feeling in your gut when something is wrong. I felt that and still do today when I remember this experience. Tom arrived later that day and I talked with him about what we could do and places we could use. From this discussion, we understood that the owner reserved the living room in addition to the kitchen for himself, meaning we were not welcome to use that living room either. This was not understood from the posting. I was surprised as there was a picture of this living room on Airbnb and nothing was written that we couldn’t use it. We learned that the home was for sale, but taken off the market. The owner is moving out, and they plan to turn it into an “Airbnb hotel.”

Every room was listed on Airbnb, and no rooms had keys, meaning people were coming and going each day. I thought about how safe my belongings were. I felt like the aim and motivation of the host and owner was to get people in and out and collect the money quickly. Normally, Tom said, people come and stay only to sleep. Unfortunately, that was not what we were desiring or expecting. The next morning we packed our things and left. We took a close look at the listing and found several things that we felt misled by. This included the washer and dryer cost, that all the rooms of the house are offered, and guests are coming and going each day; there was nothing mentioned about this in the listing. There were no locks on the bedroom doors, we expected a level of comfort that upon arrival was not available, the noise outside of planes passing by was there even though he wrote that they were quiet and could not be heard, and the feeling of not being welcome in the home all added to our feeling of being misled and used.

I sent a message to Tom telling him about all of this, that we would be cancelling the stay, and requested a refund within 24 hours of arrival. In order to cancel, you have to call Airbnb. I called and told the customer service representative Andy about what happened. He said he would look through my messages to Tom and talk with Tom to see if I was eligible for the refund. It was during this communication with Tom that I learned how little support Airbnb offers to guests. In order to get the refund, they need to verify if there were areas shown to be available to guests that actually were not available. He confirmed that the kitchen was not available. But Andy said that when he talked with Tom, all the other areas were available. This is not what Tom told us. Andy took Tom’s word for it over the phone.

Thus, Airbnb cannot override the host’s cancellation policy, and I only received a refund for Airbnb’s fee, less than 30 USD. This really surprised me: It didn’t matter if I thought the host’s listing was misleading. I told Andy from Airbnb that what Tom said was false. Andy said that I need to provide written documentation evidence that the host told us something different than what he told you. Shall I bring a camera and record the entire experience at each stay? Or am I supposed to communicate only through Airbnb’s messaging system? No verbal communication? How is this even possible when the whole idea is to stay in someone’s home?

This is clearly impracticable. Tom was not interested in the other points where I felt misled either. The fact a host can mislead a perspective guest into booking an experience that the guest finds inaccurate upon arrival has made me loose all trust in the host listing and the Airbnb community. That he can do this while running it as an “Airbnb hotel” scares me even more. And now I have lost trust in Airbnb guest support. Where is the accountability? To add to the frustration, Tom sent a long and very nasty message to me on Airbnb’s message service regarding the entire ordeal. In my opinion, it was very defensive and immature. It seemed like he had a lot to lose. After his rant, and in the end, he did mention that he would not refund the money. But he would offer a refund if the room were rebooked. I have to rely on his good nature to see if this happens. After everything we went through I doubt anything will be refunded.

I didn’t wait around; I canceled my Airbnb account immediately. I am done with them. Where does this lead? In the wider perspective, I can see how there will be more and more hosts like this one, basically offering an “Airbnb hotel”, moving guests in and out, collecting the revenue while Airbnb collects the fees. All the while this leaves hosts unaccountable for poor service and underperforming experiences. From the hosts’ and Airbnb’s perspective, I guess it’s pretty good for them in the short term.

Now that the stay has been canceled, I’ve learned that I cannot leave feedback for future guests! Thus, I lost trust in the entire Airbnb rating system, because poor or negative stays that are cancelled, which would warn perspective guests, cannot be posted. In my eyes, this creates a biased system that favors hosts and Airbnb’s interests.

This system works on perceived trust. I’ve lost all trust in Airbnb. They have just lost a few customers for life. I cannot recommend Airbnb to anyone anymore. “Book homes from local hosts and experience a place like you live there,” Airbnb says in its app: a meaningless, disappointing and misleading statement in my opinion. My experience probably wasn’t a common one, but these little abnormal, extraordinary experiences are what can cause the most frustration, the most interesting stories, and in the end, I hope they will be a force to bring about positive change.

Red Wine Damages in Beautiful Penthouse

Posted on August 31, 2016

We checked in the late morning on April 4th. On April 8th, we checked out early as we all had morning flights. We called the housekeeper to collect the keys from us as the owners were not available. We left everything as we found it but did not take out the rubbish as we weren’t provided with refuse bags or instructions on where it should be left. We personally didn’t think that this was an issue as the property was quite dirty on arrival with sanitary rubbish in the bathroom dustbins, dirt under the beds, old food in the fridge, etc. We left some leftover food and drinks in the fridge and left all the dishes and kitchen clean.

On my return to the office on the 8th I sent a message through Airbnb to the owner, as follows:

Hi Lasse! Thank you very much for having us stay in the penthouse. One of the girls tripped over the sliding door rail when coming in from outside and fell onto the couch with a glass of red wine. Please let us know what the charges are for the cleaning of the couch. I apologize for any inconvenience caused.

The accident happened on the evening of April 7th when we were locking up after dinner, before retiring to bed. Our manager entered from the balcony with a glass of wine in her hand, tripped over the rail of the glass sliding door and fell onto the floor and partially over the couch, spilling her wine on the floor and couch. There is a difference in the height from the floor outside to the inside creating a step, which in the dark is difficult to see. The couch is against the glass door so was in the immediate path to the kitchen from the balcony. We immediately offered to pay for cleaning the couch. If it was immediately handed in for cleaning there may have been a chance of removing the stain but the owner decided to wait almost a month before attending to the stain. I followed up via text messages on a couple of occasions and Lasse claimed that he didn’t have time to look into the cleaning of the couch and that he would do it between the times the penthouse was occupied.

It had been two months since we reported the spill on the couch when we were made aware of the fact that the dry cleaning had been unsuccessful and therefore recovering the couch was required at our expense (close to $1000). Whilst I understand that Lasse feels that the replacement of the fabric is required, I don’t understand that he feels that we should be held responsible for the charges. It was an accident and accidents happen. I would have thought that anybody with expensive furniture or appliances carry enough insurance to be covered for any incidents that could potentially damage or destroy their property. I was surprised at the request for the payment in total of the damages. I feel that Lasse only acknowledged the damages five days after I reported it. If something had been done about the spill immediately, the outcome may have been very different. A dispute was supposedly logged with Airbnb who found in favour of the host, leaving us with a massive bill (deducted off my credit card without my permission).

Be careful staying with Airbnb. Their terms clearly state that no matter what you do you are liable. Even if a property causes your death it is still in some way your own fault!

Reservation Cancelled Last Minute in NYC

Posted on August 31, 2016

So, I had this wonderful, romantic trip planned for my girlfriend and me: tickets to a Broadway show and a “fantastic” room right in Times Square that I booked through Airbnb. However, less than two weeks before our scheduled trip, I received an email from Airbnb that simply said: “Unfortunately, your reservation has been cancelled.”

That’s it! No explanation, nothing except the option to credit my account or receive a refund. There is no option to contact the owner from whom I was renting. This is my first experience with Airbnb and will very likely be my last. How can one make plans under these circumstances? My son has several upcoming Airbnb reservations. I will advise him to cancel and book hotels. I would certainly never recommend Airbnb and have no intention of giving them a second chance. Oh well, back to Hotels.com.

Family Vacation in Airbnb Historic Hell Hole

Posted on August 27, 2016

Our story begins like so many, an innocent Airbnber looking for a place to stay for our six-month working holiday. We made arrangements for what seemed to be a charming cottage with three bedrooms. We are a family of five with a one year old, so having an entire home with three bedrooms appealed to us. Upon our arrival, things weren’t quite so charming. The cottage was more of a hovel. What appeared to be shabby chic online was just shabby. The neighborhood was full of overflowing dumpsters and dilapidated homes and trailers. Everything was padlocked so we were nervous about safety, both personally and for our property. The rental had been advertised as historic and an easy walk to downtown. Unfortunately this walk was in the aforementioned neighborhood, full of traffic, and lacking sidewalks. We were also without Internet, which had been supposedly included. The gas stove was leaky and the smell permeated the utility room as well. The fourth night there the toilet overflowed.

We notified the landlords but an hour later when we heard back I’d fixed it and cleaned the floor. Unfortunately wetness kept seeping up from the floor, which was disgusting. Because the shower floor was spongy we wondered if perhaps the entire bathroom subfloor was rotten? The biggest concern to us wasn’t actually these things (though they did suck). The biggest issue was that the stairs couldn’t be adequately protected for our baby. We notified the landlords about our concerns at the first opportunity available. They were unresponsive and said if we moved out they’d keep our first and last month’s rent and deposit, totaling $4200. We tried to negotiate by paying them a higher daily rate by moving early but they weren’t willing to be flexible. Mind you, we had not signed a lease and the place wasn’t safe! We moved to a hotel and got an email saying they’d contacted an attorney and had property damage from us. Also, they knew we had a cat there because of all the black fur. We don’t have a cat! So now, while I’m sure they can’t do anything to us legally, there’s a definite shadow over what was meant to have been a magical family adventure.

Horrible Host in Lecce Left us Homeless

Posted on August 27, 2016

After informing our host, Angelo, of our arrival time at his place, 11:30 PM – well in advance of our trip (even in the first message) – we called to check everything was okay and he claimed he was not in the area. We could not access the accommodation until he arrived, four hours after our scheduled arrival time. We were stranded in the middle of the night after a long journey from Rome and effectively homeless. We were forced to find an alternative (and expensive) accommodation, as we were not prepared to sleep in the street until 4:00 AM. Angelo has since claimed this is not grounds for a full refund, and believed that refunding half the money was a “decent” goodwill gesture. In the end, Airbnb refunded the rest after opening a case on the site. Do not plan to stay here. Lecce, however, is lovely, well worth the trip, but find other Airbnb. It turns out that this profile is fake, Sabrina is in fact Angelo.

Lost Everything in Airbnb Theft… Inside Job?

Posted on August 25, 2016

We moved to Southern California on July 15th, 2016 and unfortunately, while staying at an Airbnb in Pasadena and looking for a permanent place, our apartment got broken into and everything we had brought with us including our passports, birth certificates, national ID cards, all our academic diplomas and transcripts, and every single immigration document we had got stolen (including the copies of them). This is in addition to the huge financial loss due to the jewelry, laptops, even specialty contact lenses being stolen. Obviously the police were immediately notified and involved. We are still in shock and I don’t think it’s something we can easily recover from. We’ve compiled the list of the items we remember that have been stolen and every day still remember some new items that are missing and realize they were in our suitcase or backpacks… The truth seems to be far from what the reviews and the Internet suggest!

Unfortunately, some of the documents are irreplaceable such as both of our undergrad and masters original transcripts and diplomas as they are issued only once in our home country. This can have a significantly negative impact on our professional lives and careers. The magnitude of the damage is beyond repair. The host and management company failed to change the lock on the unit, after the previous tenant had not returned the keys. The Airbnb host and the apartment management are telling us conflicting stories. The Airbnb host says he had asked for the locks to be changed but management denies it, as says he only asked for a duplicate key.

The apartment management claims that the security cameras were being serviced exactly in that hour when the burglary happened and thus no footage has been recorded. There was no evidence of forced entry (remember this is a gated apartment complex with a digital entrance, gated parking, and a key to the unit). These all suggest that it was an inside job. Nothing that was originally in the Airbnb property was even touched by the thief, whereas all of the stolen items belonged only to us! The property loss is about $20,000 (jewelry, laptops, bags, clothes, etc.). Financial loss is something that you can forget and recover from, however the loss of all identification documents, educational records, and most importantly the feeling of having been violated this way, is something that will be haunting us for a long time. We firmly believe the people who caused this need to pay for it and make sure this does not happen to anyone else…

We believe Airbnb should have done something to make sure any apartment that is being rented using Airbnb’s name is a safe place and that if a tenant does not return a key, that it is immediately reported, and the unit made unavailable as soon as possible. I hope this will not happen to anyone else!

Airbnb Account Hacked, Booked in China

Posted on August 25, 2016

My Airbnb account was hacked. I received a text message in Chinese from some unknown number, then I received an email from Airbnb confirming a reservation to check in today in China. I live in the US and never made this reservation. I checked my account through the Airbnb app. Indeed, there was reservation showing I needed to check in today in China for $555. I also noted two recent searches on my account for homes in China – that was not me. I called Airbnb immediately to let them know someone had access to my account. They “opened a case.” Over three hours later, I heard nothing. I cancelled my credit card which was charged for the amount. So now some idiot has my account information in addition to my credit card number.

I called Airbnb again and they said there were working on it. While they were working, never once did they suggest I should block my card nor did they seem to care that my account was compromised. I was told they have millions of people with cases open and escalated my request. These people should not be allowed to do business. Now their lack of security is my problem and they could care less. I have never even rented a house through them. I reserved a house a few months back and then cancelled the reservation when my plans changed – I paid a fee for the cancellation. I wish I had closed the account then, since apparently they have no information security standards to protect consumers’ information.

Airbnb Theft: Montreal Penthouse Hell

Posted on August 24, 2016

Guests beware: you are not protected by Airbnb if your host enters unannounced and without consent. I had the left the residence for a few hours only to return to find out the host had entered the property while we were away and had gone through our belongings and left a visibly noticeable mess. My first reaction was to take photos of everything, email Airbnb and then text our host to notify him of what we had occurred. The reaction from our host was blasé; he had forgotten some of his belongings and was in a hurry so he came back to his apartment to find them. After confronting him about why this was unacceptable, he tried to justify his actions by telling us that he also came home to give us quilts…. the weather for that scorching July summer day was 33 degrees Celsius without considering the humidity and the lack of any central air conditioning.

We were robbed of our money and a few pairs of ladies underwear according to my female friend. What did Airbnb do? Nothing! I consider myself to be fairly progressive with my use of user driven business applications such as Uber, eBay, and Stubhub, and for the most part have had extremely positive experiences. However, in the rare case when I, the consumer, have needed assistance to protect my well being, they have always been incredibly responsive and empathetic to my customer experience. I have yet to hear from Airbnb, and its been three weeks and counting.

Traumatic Airbnb Experience in Philadelphia

Posted on August 23, 2016

I stayed in an apartment that Airbnb found for me in Philadelphia. It is in the Rittenhouse area and is listed by Andrea. I requested to stay with my wife and three children, ages 6, 4, and 5 months, for five weeks. I traveled all the way from Europe. I was in constant contact with the host before arriving and read all the comments about the location. I am a Veteran in the US forces and have been overseas for 10+ years. I wanted to show my family where I am from because they have never been here. My parents left the city a long time ago. After an eight and a half hour plane ride we arrived to a dirty apartment. We told the host there was leftover food in the cabinets and refrigerator and she suggested we eat it. My wife and I decided to clean the apartment because, where else were we going to go?

Cleaning consisted of swiping down the microwave, and finding bedsheets with human hair all over them. After vacuuming everything, we found more things wrong within the first 24 hours of staying. The apartment was infested with ants and large roaches, the kind that are as large as your thumb. One flew across the room onto my daughter’s bed. The host said, “we are in the city and you should expect roaches and mice.” The host did offer to spray the place with pesticides but told me I had to find out if they would be safe for children as the problem occurred after the first 24 hours. I spoke with the exterminator and he sent me a write-up of his poisons. It said that if any were inhaled to go to the emergency room. Needless to say, I told them they could not use it around my children. I was told that was all they could do. My 4-year-old daughter stepped on a piece of glass in the apartment and punctured her foot. The roaches are a constant problem. I brushed my teeth and found ants in my mouth because I forgot to check my tooth brush.

The listed washer and dryer was coin operated next door, shared between the tenants of two fully occupied buildings. The host does not supply quarters and I was told to go to a bank and get them (not mentioned in the listing). The ceiling began to leak on the outlet in the living room where the air conditioner is plugged in. The host never came by to check and told me if I wanted to move, I should contact Airbnb, as she is not responsible for the problems. I contacted Airbnb several times and the people I spoke with sympathized with me and my family. Airbnb offered me these options: refund what is left of my money from the stay and send me on my way; or refund what is left of my money and coordinate a stay somewhere else that is smaller, has fewer amenities than this place was supposed to have, and costs over $1000 dollars more.

They also sent me a $75 gift certificate for a five-star restaurant that would cost over $100 for the evening. I didn’t have the money to move out or buy a ticket home, so my family and I were stuck in an apartment with roaches, ants, and a ceiling leaking on electrical outlets. The apartment smelled of sewage because of the water leak, and more rain was projected. The host, Andrea, has her money, Airbnb has their money, and my family and I were stuck. Airbnb did send a cleaning crew by, which helped. Then less than 24 hours later it rained again so the place still smelled like sewage. The bugs never left. If anyone would like to see pictures I would be happy to provide them.

Be aware if you are in a situation where Airbnb cannot find something for the price they deem is appropriate they will let you rot in a location that has been proven to be vermin infested and dangerous. Because I could not leave I was told I wouldn’t be reimbursed for anything when we left. God help you if you have children and use Airbnb.

UPDATE: After posting this on Facebook Airbnb did pay to move me for my last eight days out of a 38-day stay (all it took was me letting the world know what was going on). Both Airbnb and Andrea refuse to discuss or pay for the damage to my property that occurred during the stay. They also told me if I wanted to write a review of the property I had to send them the review so they could screen it first. The property still listed on their site. They never pulled it.