Hosts take advantage of family w pregnant wife – no refund for simple mistake!

Posted on November 7, 2015

Husband & Pregnant wife +19 month old baby girl look forward to a last holiday before newborn arrives…… WRONG! It was a disaster staying through Airbnb with FABIO & CHRISTINA. Looking at the beautiful photos of Byron Bay & all the options on airbnb, I booked ahead looking forward to a well earned rest before our new born arrives in December. We headed down from Queensland to New South Wales forgetting about the 1 hour time difference(NSW 1 hour ahead). We were asked to let them know when we would be arriving so I said 2 pm, approximately, when we arrived there was no one there as we had the times mixed up! No big deal I thought just an error in judgement. When I called Fabio, I asked when we could be given access, he started getting angry & did not seem to want to remedy a solution. Eventually I passed him onto my wife to let her work out a solution! We managed to get him to agree to come to the houses an hour later. If he had explained/communicated that we had to be there at a specific time as he would be waiting specifically for us, then I could have understood his annoyance, but he did not! His partner I guess, Christina, was there and did all of the talking, he said nothing, not an apology, not a peep, which I did think was odd after he had been so angry on the phone. We all stood in the kitchen, I checked the room out, It was ok, the bathroom was ok, then I thought that I had better check that the bathroom was just for us. The reply was “no it’s a shared house with 4 room”, & the kitchen to was shared. I explained that was not what I was expecting as my understanding was that we had booked a self contained unit!! Christina then offered for us to cancel/ not stay & “she would not be offended” along with the fact that she did not have the money, Airbnb had it, & we could get it back from them if we wanted. I gave my pregnant wife the option to make the decision to stay or not. She chose the latter. We said goodbye & left, trusting what we were told regarding the monies/refund! We were left at 5pm Halloween evening on the side of the street scrambling around frantically to find accommodation, we ended up sleeping in a caravan/ mobile unit, not the holiday we were expecting sadly. Then we moved out and stayed another 2x nights somewhere else. When I returned to Brisbane I followed up with airbnb & Fabio & Christina for our refund…………. We are told by airbnb that Fabio & Christina HAD received the monies in full & they could/would do nothing as they could not force them to give the money back as per verbal agreement…… When I asked the Rude host Fabio he said that it was all our fault & we should have gone online on the day we left to get our monies back!! Fabio & Christina are using airbnb to scam/rip off money out of unsuspecting customers who do not know their rights & are lied to in order to take advantage of in this kind of situation! I wonder how many other people have been caught by this couple & others using the same tactics. In the end I gave them the option to play fair & give the money back or I would have no choice but as my duty to warn there people wanting a cheap holiday NOT TO BOOK THROUGH AIRBNB. “BUYER BEWARE”, THE OLD SAYING GOES! IF SOMETHING SEEMS IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE THEN IS PROBABLY IS! A VERBAL AGREEMENT FROM HOSTS MEANS NOTHING, AND AIRBNB WILL DO NOTHING TO HELP YOU!

Airbnb SuperHost raised price after guest arrived, and Airbnb did nothing!

Posted on November 5, 2015

Airbnb customer service lies to its customers and is useless. I filed a complaint against a host in Oahu because she decided to change the rate after arrival. She wanted $30 more per night saying Airbnb made the mistake. Since Airbnb didn’t accept the price increase, the host demanded I pay in cash for the next 7 nights. I telephoned right away to file a complaint with airbnb. The host violated one of the most critical rules. Her listing was to be removed as Airbnb said as a super host and as a general member. Well it never happened. Her listing is still there and it is still shown as a super host. I visited all the way from Europe and was disappointed that I had to deal with this crazy host and lousy Airbnb customer support. Be careful of some hosts and their listing price. Once you have arrived a host may speak of excuses why the price has gone up and Airbnb couldn’t give a damn.

Arrived in London with No Way to Enter Flat!

Posted on November 4, 2015

We booked a week in London at a flat in Fitzrovia section. By the pictures we weren’t expecting any great shakes, but still, what a disappointment once we were there in person! But that’s not the worst of it. We had been in communication with the host all along that we’d be arriving by noontime from USA and were assured a key would be waiting for us. Well, guess what: no key. So now we’re sitting on a London side street pub bench in the cold wondering what to do next because the host would not answer text, calls or email! We sat there for over an hour without any kind of response from the host about the key situation. This was a Saturday so why wasn’t he answering! We had reservations for a show and wanted to get settled, rested and changed and here we were sitting outside a pub with luggage. I was blowing a gasket. Finally, we decided to go knock on the door hoping someone would answer and have an extra key. Fortunately, one of the tenants answered and was a relative of the host and had an extra key. 90 min wasted in the cold! If we hadn’t thought of blinding knocking on the outside door (5 apartments in the building), we’d have wasted even more time. The host NEVER got back to us with an apology nor to even a reply to our many calls, texts and emails –not the entire week. I’m pretty boiling mad! Now, the flat. Worn, old furniture, saggy bed, one toilet refused to flush right, the other bathroom’s shower head came totally off the wall (!), there was mold on the ceiling, dim lighting and barely any glasses to drink of in the cupboard. Towels were frayed and scratchy. Oh and the best was the 3 story flight of stairs that we had to drag our luggage up. On the upside, it had cable tv and wifi. This was my first Airbnb experience. It will probably be my last, especially overseas! Now I would be forever worried the host wouldn’t leave the key or be accessible to let me in in the future. No thanks, hotel from now on.

Host from hell

Posted on November 3, 2015

This story has a good outcome… the host got kicked off airbnb! I was her very first victim… I should of known better. Never stay with anyone that isn’t a Superhost. I have used the airbnb site many times and spent over $4,000 so far this year with them. I have an excellent rating as a guest and I have stayed with 5 hosts, one twice already, all have extended a “please come again”.

This host’s place was filthy. She didn’t have sheets or proper pillows, and she expected me to sleep on decor pillows with a pattern. I would of woken up with a nice inlay on my face. I ended up sleeping with two towels as a pillow. I was in her town for business, but she had no closet for me, just a small space to put stuff on the floor. If I had stayed the full time my clothes (for work) would of hung in my car. Airbnb refuses to let me give her a review, as they stated they know I will give her a negative. I am disputing with the credit card to get the extra day back they charged me for. I’ll pay for one night in hell, but no more.

Terrible airbnb in Exeter, uk

Posted on November 2, 2015

So, having booked 3 nights at a higher priced airbnb in Exeter, we arrive to find an old box in the bedroom, not enough towels for the expected guests, a dirty bathroom with no attempt to tidy up, a used old toilet roll in the loo and a stench of what smelt to me like cat piss throughout the property. Host suggested we don’t understand airebnb so it’s out fault! Short version is we didn’t stay, host got paid IN FULL! We got 1 night refunded and airbnb said they wouldn’t penalize the hosts.. the airbnb service is a joke. Avoid at all costs !

Airbnb party nightmare

Posted on October 31, 2015

I live in a block of apartments, of which 50% roughly are rented out through airbnb. We have huge problems with noise. People book in through airbnb and throw massive parties (one so bad that the police couldn’t break up). Airbnb refuse to acknowledge there is a problem. There is nothing legally that can be done about the landlord.

Bad Airbnb customer service – Canceled reservation without asking

Posted on October 30, 2015

I had a really bad experience on Airbnb today. I made a reservation, and 2 days later I realized I couldn’t make the trip, so I told the host that only my friends will stay in his place. (I don’t know if the host told this to Airbnb, or Airbnb is peeking our messages.) And then I got an email from Airbnb telling me I shouldn’t make reservation for others. The staff didn’t ask for my opinions or explanations and canceled my reservation immediately, which was really annoying to me. This cancellation caused me to lose 14 euros in Tax fees. The person cancelling said she will give me a coupon, but I don’t even want to continue using Airbnb after this bad experience, why do I need the coupon? I really hope Airbnb improve their customer service quality.

Crazy Hawaiian Host

Posted on October 29, 2015

How would you like to stay at a home of a major codependent lady host. This host in hawaii was so mentally unstable it was scary for me. She will say things so rude then immediately pull back with something like “i don’t mean it that way or this way”. Ridiculous! Host was always yelling at her child and husband. I also loved all the post notes that were all over my room and bathroom. The notes were reminders to turn off the lights, fan, don’t drop quilt onto the floor, fix your bed, be quiet, and keep door open. One day before checking out, host asked me to leave because I wasn’t respecting her rules. This rule that I broke was coming quietly home at 11PM. A crazy host in hawaii. nightmare!

FRAUD and SCAMMERS INSIDE AIRBNB!!

Posted on October 29, 2015

This is my sad Airbnb story. Me and a group of friends planned a trip to Amsterdam, we found the house we wanted on the site Airbnb, the host was a registered user with good reviews from the apartment, apparently all normal. We contacted the host through the Airbnb site, who responded to our request via email were we exchanging information to confirm the reservation. Back to the site of the apartment, to proceed with the booking, and once again all normal, or the site was a perfect copy of Airbnb, or even was the original, because everything was equal, logos, fonts, layout,etc. I proceeded with the reservation and confirmed the same, then I get an email at the following address airbnb@reply-booking.com (again equal to the sent by airbnb), to pay for the booking to a bank in the UK, Barclays Bank PLC; Payment due: 3 days IBAN: GB73BARC20077473958027; Bank address: 35 Frederick Street, Birmingham B1 3HH, United Kingdom). Unfortunately payment has been made, we received a new email confirming that he had been transferred the money, which the reservation was ready and safe, the host confirmed by email that Airbnb was informed that he had been paid the booking, saying that on the day of our arrival bound us to mark the delivery of house keys. With the approach of the trip, and no Host answers, we began to get suspicious that we were fraud victims. We contacted airbnb, who just informed us that there was no reservation for that number, and asked for payment and other documents, and it was all sent to them. More than 48 hours have passed now and no response from airbnb, which forced me to make a complaint to the facebook page of them, which by sheer miracle, made them immediately send an email, saying it had been a fraud. They apologized but said they can not do anything. It is amazing how a company with the size of airbnb does not help victim users of these crimes and take their responsibility for a scam that happened on their website! with a registered user, using their platform to catch the victims. The first contact of fraud is done on the Airbnb website, they have responsibility for it, I did not ask airbnb to give me back the money I lost, but at least to help me better and provide host information and method that was used in fraud . I believe it is an inside job of someone who works in airbnb along with another person outside the company, because all the initial contact, is always done in the airbnb site, where they “fish” their victims.

Airbnb, never more!

Bad review deleted!

Posted on October 28, 2015

I recently posted some criticism and some compliments on a host I stayed with on Oahu a few months ago. It was deleted within 24 hours of posting without explanation from Airbnb customer service. This host had nothing but odd rules rules rules and more odd rules. I always show respect and follow the rules of the house hence the many good reviews I received from previous hosts. This lady had nothing but complaints from the moment I arrived by taxi. Sounded like all of the guests she had were a bunch of idiots that couldn’t follow a single rule. It’s ok to compliment but not ok to criticize valid points. Shame on Airbnb for deleting reviews that are genuine.