My boyfriend and I are currently looking for a long-term rental in Milan, and we have already come across three scammers. The most significant one we have experienced was for a huge flat right in the centre, that was advertised on Bakeca. It was for just 940 Euros a month (very cheap for Milan)! The flat was beautiful, but we couldn’t see it in advance because (like I’m seeing with many stories here) he was supposedly out of the country. We exchanged a few emails and he said that he used Airbnb because it was the safest option. It was clear that it was an email he had copied time and time again because he never answered any of the questions I asked and he never addressed me by my name. Nevertheless, I trust Airbnb because I have always had good experiences, so I asked him to send the link to the flat. The site looked normal, the reviews were incredible, and yet something seemed off… then I noticed that the usual padlock that marks that you can pay securely wasn’t in the address bar like it is on the real Airbnb website, and if you tried to click on any of the links they didn’t work… apart from payment of course! Anyway, although I noticed before it was too late, I very nearly went through with it. DO NOT FALL FOR THIS SCAM!
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.
Threatened by Host in Asheville
On a recent stay at what appeared to be a great space with overwhelmingly positive reviews, we had the bad luck of encountering a plumbing issue (the handle for the toilet straight up fell off), leaving us without a functioning toilet for almost a whole day (this was the only bathroom in the unit). The host never replied to our message regarding the maintenance issue, so we decided to cut our losses and leave (Hotel Indigo is very nice, by the way). While we were packing up, the host came over totally unannounced, pounded on the door, and threatened us for leaving early. We finished packing up, completely terrified, and got out as quickly as possible, trying not to escalate the situation. Once we made it to safety, I called Airbnb to report the incident.
The customer service rep, “Josh,” said that because there was no evidence of what happened, we were basically out of luck (side note: I did have my unanswered messages to the host about the problem and a witness to the harassment – the other guest – which judge Josh apparently didn’t think counted as evidence). I was eventually refunded for one night, but was told that because the host has a strict cancellation policy, and the incident occurred more than 24 hours after check-in, no additional money would be refunded. This seems like a less-than-sound refund policy to say the least. I mean, what if the place burned to the ground more than 24 hours after check-in? Does the host still get to keep the money if he wants? The most troubling part of this whole incident is Airbnb’s nonchalant attitude when it comes to women being threatened by their male hosts.
Moral of the story: an unstable, violent host can intimidate you into leaving (read: escaping) early and then keep your money because you “canceled” the reservation early.
Airbnb Cancellation Costs Guests Time and Money
I booked an Airbnb two months before a business trip with my children. The Airbnb host cancelled my reservation less than five days before my trip. I spent a full workday investigating alternative accommodations and communicating with Airbnb. The only available hotel room I could find was three times the price of my Airbnb property but without the amenities of my previously reserved (and paid for!) accommodations. Airbnb refused to compensate me for the full additional cost I incurred because of the host’s unprofessional cancellation. Customer service was slow and borderline rude. This organization clearly is not interested in customer satisfaction or host accountability. I will never use their services in the future.
No Country for Apartments: Airbnb in Berlin
My 13-year-old son and I had the trip of a lifetime planned to Germany and Austria. I travel to Germany often so I know my way around. We stayed in Hilton hotels in most of the cities in which we only stayed for three or four days before going to Berlin. We both love Berlin and stayed in apartments the last two times we were there. Unfortunately, the company I used to use to book the apartments has gone out of business due to a new law in Germany restricting the renting of apartments due to tax issues. I decided to book through Airbnb and found a great apartment for 16 days. I booked with the owner and paid for the apartment several months ahead of time. I printed the instructions from the owners a week before the trip and started our trip to Germany on June 15th, 2016.
We were having an enjoyable time until we showed up to pick up the keys from a bar in Prinzlauerberg after a nine-hour train ride from Vienna. It seems that Germany, or at least Berlin, has just enacted a law that doesn’t allow people to rent apartments using any service like Airbnb legally for less than 30 days. Now, any company that truly cares about its customers would make sure it notifies you about a cancellation with more than an email to your account… which went straight to my spam folder. They would call to notify you of such a problem or at least make sure you got an email. Airbnb did nothing more than send an email, so my son and I were stuck in Berlin for 16 days with no apartment.
I want to be fair to Airbnb and say when I called them they tried to help and offered to pay for two nights here in Berlin up to $200. They offered to try to get us another place here but every listing that was available online was not able to take us. We tried eight new ones. They were sorry about the fact that I did not get notification of the cancellation but would not take responsibility for not making sure I got the notification. I had printed the instructions a week before I left and therefore thought everything was ok. The money was refunded but not until a month later and my wife just got our statement with the credit yesterday.
Luckily, I am a seasoned traveler and was able to get us in to a Hampton Inn for the last two nights and was able to book the same hotel for all but the next three days here. My problem with Airbnb is that they did not make sure I got the notification of the cancellation in the first place. This is my first and last experience with Airbnb. A company as large as this should make sure that customers get notification of cancellations and not blame it all on the customer. A phone call would have solved the entire problem. I will never use Airbnb again. They have ruined the experience that they so want you to have as advertised online and on TV. We were so looking forward to staying in that apartment in Berlin.
WARNING: If you are trying to reserve anything in Germany from Airbnb, don’t! The laws here have basically made it illegal to rent through Airbnb unless the stay is over 30 days. GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER Airbnb or you will soon be the next Internet company to go bankrupt!
Currently Stuck in an Airbnb Nightmare
Unfortunately, we are still here and too scared to give the full story until we are a safe distance away from our host’s seriously mentally deranged mother. We are desperate to escape from this nightmare Airbnb stay but our house is still being repaired. If our host’s mother were to find out that we had spilled the beans about her she would lock us out as she has done on several occasions. My partner and I have extensive careers with the Met Police Constabulary – we have both worked with some of the UK’s nastiest criminals – but our host’s mother is, without a doubt, the most cunning, sly, compulsive liar that either of us has ever met. Please hold our ‘comments’ until we are in a safe location – which is in less than a week’s time. We need to warn people about this particular Airbnb accommodation in St Leonards Hastings UK.
Tokyo Host Never Responded, Then Cancelled
On May 1st I made a reservation and paid $1,920. I left numerous emails using the Airbnb website email but didn’t get an answer. Then I emailed the host from my regular email and still didn’t get an answer. Less than two days before my departure, the host cancelled with no explanation. My biggest beef is that I can’t even give a poor review because the website doesn’t allow me to post unless I have actually gone through with the stay. That doesn’t seem fair or democratic. If the business revolves around trust, then we should be able to leave both good and bad feedback. At the very least, that host should have been barred and immediately suspended from renting to anyone. But Airbnb said they won’t do that.
Lying Airbnb Host in Monument Valley
I manage Airbnb properties in Edinburgh but have never stayed in an Airbnb property myself until I went to the States recently and stayed in a trailer in Monument Valley, which just happens to be on the Navajo reservation. In fact, the trailer was owned and run by a Navajo indian and his wife, who was a white American. Now a bit about myself: I have travelled extensively all over the world and love experiencing different cultures, and don’t for one minute consider myself superior to cultures that are not westernised, but obviously this host thought differently.
The trailer we were staying in had no water; we were told that on the listing, so it wasn’t a problem. We also knew the toilet facilities were not in the trailer. Again, no problem; we were were expecting relatively basic conditions. The problems began with the directions. They were more than useless, a fact a few of the guests had noted before. We got lost then lost again. Eventually, the host’s wife came out to meet us as it got dark.
The trailer itself was very basic, with no lock on the door, rusty cutlery and thin torn plastic acting as windows which would flap violently in the wind. There were one pan, broken cupboard doors, and bare electric wire hanging down from the lamps. The water was kept in a large plastic water container which was fine for us. There was a shower a few metres away but we were told that it may be difficult to get going and to go to the husband’s relatives in the trailer next door and ask if we could use their shower if we couldn’t get this one to work. Needless to say I had no intention of doing that.
It was not what we were expecting and we were very disappointed. We sat late into the night humming and arguing whether we should go or stay. The next morning we left but not before I tried the shower – which of course wouldn’t work – so I washed my hair outside the trailer as my friend poured water over my head. I then used one of two hand towels to dry my hair. We left and sent a text voicing our disappointment and suggesting ways of improving a guest’s experience… well, what I got back was nothing short of insulting. The host’s wife said that not only was I a habitual complainer (I met her for ten minutes and never stayed in an Airbnb property before), I was culturally insensitive and what’s more I had lied about having a shower.
To cut a long story short, I was determined that my review was factually both positive and negative (there were positive points, such as location), but the review written by the host that appeared on the site was appalling: it was nothing but a rant insulting me (bearing in mind I had never spoken to nor seen the host). He basically wrote what she had put in the texts to me but doubled the insulting bits and telling other hosts never to have me stay. At no point did I ask for a refund. In fact, initially, the host’s wife suggested she would give me a refund, but it wasn’t about money. Not only did he call me a liar, saying the towel was wet therefore I had taken a shower, but to personally attack me was appalling. I asked for the review either to be edited or taken down as it wasn’t a review but a personal attack on someone he had never met, and some of it totally irrelevant to the actual review.
Airbnb of course did nothing and basically said just forget about it and move on. Dare I say this, but they don’t want to upset their indigenous host by taking it down and be accused of favouring the white person. In the meantime, it is there for all my clients both old and new to see, which doesn’t do my business any favours. I am now debating to take it further and put in a complaint to the top guy. Maybe if we all did that something would change.
What gets me are the reviews; on the whole they are all five star although sometimes there is a thread of discontent. But what is it with people? Were they so glad to be staying in Monument valley for cheap it didn’t matter where they lived? Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn’t an Airbnb property have to meet certain criteria: a lockable door, clean (which it wasn’t), safe. Bare wires aren’t safe and suitable for accommodation. We weren’t expecting the Hilton but we did expect a clean safe place with serviceable cutlery and more than one pan and a door to lock that would protect our belongings.
Airbnb Cancelled due to Higher Bidder?
This was my first time with Airbnb and a bummer of an experience. Several months ago, I reserved a “cabin” in Monterey, California with “Kirk” for eight nights for a retreat I was attending in late July/early August. I received a cancellation notice, with no reason (or compensation) given. However, given the desirability of Monterey, especially in summer, I’d wager the host was offered substantially more than I had paid and cancelled without penalty, as hosts are able to do with Airbnb. (I wonder if he’s done this before – firm reservation vs higher bidder? Hmm…) Now, the inconvenience is on me and I’ll have to cancel my retreat reservations with a penalty as I can’t find anything nearly as nice for twice the price.
Airbnb: Once bitten, NEVER AGAIN. Won’t do it. Beware. Major risk. Apparently, accommodations can be pulled and offered to the highest bidder.
Nonexistent Building and Fraud in NYC
We booked a “charming studio” in Manhattan on 60th street, one block from Central Park. Initial confirmation came back confirming the listing as shown. BUT the week we were leaving we received a second confirmation with a different address. The new address was seven blocks away, under the Queensboro Bridge exit ramps, and adjacent to a strip club. I contacted the host about the discrepancy. I received about 20 automated messages confirming our “charming studio” but not responding to my question. I told her we wanted to keep our original reservation for the charming studio near Central Park and that her other listing showed it as two bedroom units, etc. She said there were also studios in the building. I told her we wanted to keep our original reservation near Central Park. Next, the host claimed it was a typo. WHAT?
I called Airbnb. The nightmare began. Then she claimed it was an administrative error. And finally two days before our departure she disclosed that the original address is for a building which doesn’t exist. Meanwhile Airbnb assured us that they would help me find alternate accommodations for us within our desired area. I explained that we were going to be in NYC for two and a half months and that my son would be receiving medical care and so we needed to be able to walk to his appointments and needed to be close to the original location we reserved. They kept trying to convince me to accept the other reservation. I explained that it would not work and that we would have to rely on cabs and that would add over $400/ week to the total. We were then assigned a case manager (Olivia) but every time I called I had to go through the whole explanation again and got more lip service. I was told our case manager would call us back. This never happened.
I was told our case was now labeled urgent. Still, there was no call back. Then I was told they would provide a list of available places but not necessarily within my desired location and price range. I was also told I would have to contact hosts myself. With a 24-hour turnaround response time and further “no availability” for the “available” listings they provided, I was told I was on my own to find alternative accommodation elsewhere. I was now within 24 hours of our departure, I still had no resolution and no place to stay for my son and I and they were still sitting on over $5,500 of our money. The stress they added to our lives cannot be measured. The experience was not just frustrating, it was unethical, fraudulent and illegal. Having a case manager is a joke if he/she does nothing to help you.
I finally got different case managers (Shawn and Buster) who told me they were going to refund our money. I have to see yet to see a refund. I contacted a friend in Manhattan and put me in touch with her realtor. When I told her what had transpired, she did not bat an eyelash. She said that many of her clients call her because they have rented through Airbnb and that many of the NYC Airbnb listings are illegal and so folks are booted out of their rental midway through their stay. Virtual commerce. Virtual crime. My “host”, Rachel, was actually in London. And the crazy thing is, as of my departure THE LISTING FOR THE NONEXISTENT “charming studio” with the map location on 60th street and one block from Central Park was STILL UP on the Airbnb website. I have not decided how I will proceed. Be careful out there.
Airbnb is a Joke – Worst Experience Ever in DC
I’m still trying to get a refund after an apartment host lied about his listing (in Washington, D.C.) I showed up to this piece of garbage apartment after a coast-to-coast flight (arrived at 9pm). The apartment was filthy, gross, and dirty: garbage overflowing in the kitchen and bathroom, bed sheets dirty and thrown on the floor, dirty socks and tennis shoes on the floor next to the bed, a wet dirty towel hanging sideways off the bathroom towel rack, etc. It was actually frightening.
I was shocked and not sure what to do. So I reached out to the so-called “host”… and never heard back. It took him 30+ minutes to finally contact me and proceeded to call me a “liar”, and that his cleaning lady had just cleaned the place. I sent him photos, and said I was leaving. He said he would like to “work it out” and offered me a $50 refund. I told him it was unacceptable and I needed a place to sleep that night. So I left (returned the keys to the doorman of the building). The “host” then texted me and threatened to sue me (he said he was an attorney) if I posted a negative rating on the Airbnb website. Ha! That’s a good one.
An official complaint (with photos and documentation) was filed May 19th, 2016. AMEX did a conference call with myself and Airbnb as well… to no avail. Anyway, there it is straight up. If you like this kind of treatment, then go for it. If you are a professional and expect good customer service from intelligent human beings, then run. Airbnb does not offer this. They hand you ill-trained customer service reps who lie, coddle you with a lot of false language like “Oh, I am so sorry that happened to you!”, and then NEVER DO ANYTHING to resolve the situation.