Airbnb Room in Seattle is Anything but Clean

Posted on June 29, 2018

I planned a trip with my daughter and two grandchildren to visit the Seattle Zoo. I went on Airbnb and found a listing advertised as a cozy and clean room in Lynnwood. The communication with the host was very poor. On all occasions, communication stopped between us and the host because the host stopped responding.

First we sent the host a message on Airbnb after completing the booking to confirm that it would be suitable to stay with four people in the room as it was only advertised for three; the host never responded with an answer. Second, the host never messaged us with check in information. We arrived after the scheduled check in time posted on the Airbnb listing not knowing if anyone would be there to meet us, or if we should have been provided with a code for a lockbox for a key to gain entry.

Third, after arriving we went out to dinner to discuss how we felt about the place. We then texted the host to see if she would consider giving us a refund so we could stay somewhere else where we felt more comfortable with two small children. After a couple of texts back and forth the host stopped responding again. With it getting late and needing to get the kids to bed we decided to leave and stay somewhere else that we thought would be a safer and more suitable environment.

The host proceeded to clean the bathroom after we arrived and showed us our room. This should have been completed before we arrived. We used the bathroom right after she cleaned it, and it was still dirty. There was hair and dust on the floor, mold on the tub and a good amount of dust on the cabinets. In the corners of the bathroom floor there was visible dirt buildup. When we mentioned this to the host in our text message she responded with “You only need to share the bathroom with two girls and both are working the whole day. They work in the medical field and are very clean.”

She never addressed the fact that the bathroom was still dirty after she cleaned it when we arrived or making any effort to make it right. When I contacted Airbnb about a refund they said that she was very clear about everything on her site and offered me a $50 discount on my next booking with Airbnb. I have attached photos and also have copies of the texts we sent our host.

Illegal Drugs Found in Airbnb Upon Arrival

Posted on June 28, 2018

These are the facts about what happened upon arrival at an Airbnb residence in London. My partner’s father and grandmother, residents of Germany, were visiting myself and my partner between Sunday, June 17th, 2018 and Friday, June 22nd, 2018. My partner’s grandmother has not visited the UK before and this will be the last time she will travel to there.

Upon arrival in the UK, my partner, my partner’s father, my partner’s grandmother and I went to the Airbnb residence. Upon arrival, we were disgusted with the cleanliness of the apartment, the floors being sticky and with clear connotations that they had not been cleaned in a while. There were also several stains on the coffee table.

This was not the worst part, as upon inspecting the flat my partner’s grandmother (a woman in her 70s) found what she thought to be a transparent sealable spare button bag. While looking at it, the unmistakeable stench of cannabis wafted from within. This was found at the base of the kitchen counter, clearly seen from any place within the room. When investigating further we also found remnants of cannabis cigarettes both in the rear sliding doorframe as well as just outside the door.

We took pictures of the bag as well as one of these used cannabis cigarettes which we placed on the counter to clearly be seen against its black surface. On top of this we have the physical evidence. Immediately we were in touch with the Airbnb team to escalate the matter and ask for a refund. We were directed by the support team towards both the resolution centre and asked for a refund from the owner of the property.

Upon the owner not accepting the terms, we contacted Airbnb customer service directly. This is where the level of service provided to us has been shocking to say the very least. Due to the language barrier, as well as no help from Airbnb to resolve this, the verification stages for me to represent my partner’s father were practically impossible to do until he was asked to call them directly to verify his representation. This was the initial issue that was not resolved in a professional or timely manner by customer service representatives.

After this shocking experience for my partner’s grandmother as well as the terrible customer service my partner’s father and I experienced, I was finally verified to speak on his behalf. My grandmother has not seen or ever come into contact with illegal substances in her entire life. A reminder at this moment that we found illegal drugs in the apartment with photographic evidence as well as physical evidence to support this.

I have called the customer service number multiple times, speaking with several agents that represent Airbnb’s so called ‘service’. They refused to give me their representative ID numbers. Upon asking to escalate this issue several times and asking to speak with either a manager or someone who is more equipped to deal with my service issues, every single representative said that they could not pass me to a manager or an escalation point.

Upon exploring potential options such as transferring me to another agent, to a line manager, to an escalation point, to even physically leaving their desks to walk to a ‘managerial’ department, I was refused service. To help understand what customer service is, here is a definition of “customer service” by Oxford Dictionary:

The help and advice that a company gives people who buy or use its products or services.

To this day, I have received no help, only excuses for how Airbnb is structured into different departments with zero points of escalation. No advice on the next steps, only excuses stating that this ‘ticket’ is with the escalation team, a department that has no customer facing contact point. Finally, there has been no answer as to when this will be finished.

I have been in contact with our professional legal team to settle these matters publicly with the overarching support from the police, who will be notified if we do not get an answer/refund as soon as possible. Having been ten days since originally escalating the issue to the ‘resolution centre’ department, this is unacceptable and we will be taking further action if there is no resolution or response by this Friday (June 29th, 2018). What are everyone else’s thoughts on this? No opinions about illegality/legality of cannabis please – this is a Class B drug in the UK.

Airbnb’s Removed Listings in Japan Complicate Visas

Posted on June 28, 2018

Due to the new Japanese law, all the Airbnb listings without permits have been removed from the site. The place we booked is also one of them. We had two groups booked with the same host on the same date at the same location. After the law passed, they contacted Airbnb and the host, and cancelled it right away so guests could find a new place.

However, when we tried to request a cancellation, they wouldn’t do it. They kept asking me to wait for the host to get the permit. Because I had to apply for a Japanese visa, I was really in a hurry to get a response. No one seemed to care at all. They said that if I wanted to cancel, because it is a long term stay, I would lose the first month’s rent. This is not my fault. Then they said that they only can cancel it ten days before the departure date if the host cannot get the permit… this is ridiculous.

So we have to wait ten days before my trip to know if we have place to stay or not? How they can treat the guests like this? We have to stay in Japan for three months. Not just a few days. This is why my friend wanted to cancel the property for the same dates as us, but we cannot do it. This is a horrible experience. I can’t believe any company would doing this to their guests Can someone give me any suggestions for this? Can I still use the Airbnb confirmation letter to apply for my visa?

First Time Using Airbnb Will Be My Last Time

Posted on June 27, 2018

My childhood friend and I were planning a girls trip to Washington DC. I’m a savvy, frugal traveler and always do very well researching and booking hotels. I suggested a few hotels where I had stayed, but my friend insisted on Airbnb. I should have just said no, but didn’t want to seem bossy and figured it couldn’t be so bad.

She told me she found a small place for $72 per night. I wasn’t impressed with the pictures, but she liked the place. My friend then emailed me and told me that my half for the three nights would be $225. I thought it was $72 per night. I know there are taxes and a cleaning fee, but to double the price seems ridiculous. I had already booked my flight and didn’t want to deal with a confrontation, so I just let it go.

The host sent us a text about an hour before our arrival that the cleaning crew was late or something. No big deal. The unit was in kind of a brownstone on the ground floor. The place was dark, dank and reeked of mold. It was a nasty odor.

The host informed us that the laundry in the dryer was taking a long time and to “throw another 90 minutes on it”. The reason it wasn’t drying was because he had stuffed four towels, washcloths, a hand towel and a set of sheets into the dryer (and these are the small stacking washer/dryer). I took half of it out so that it would dry. The host never came back and took care of the laundry. I had to fold it.

My friend took the bed in the bedroom, which left me on a pullout that looked like it had come out of the dumpster. If you laid back too far on the bed, the bottom would come off the ground. There were also broken springs in the mattress. My friend kept insisting “well, this is ok…”

The next morning, I was trying to dry my hair (thankfully I brought my own hairdryer because the unit didn’t have one, nor did it have an iron). This blew the circuit, which shut off the power in the unit. We sent the host texts and emails. A while later (after we left) he replied and told us how to switch the breaker… seriously. He wanted his paying guests to do it. I refused and told my friend the power would be on or I was going to a hotel.

Our entire trip my friend complained about the rain (it was misty). She complained about the heat outside. She complained we walked too much and her feet hurt. However, she kept trying to convince me that $150 per night for a dump that was out of the way was a good deal.

Shortly after we left, while waiting for our train, the host sent an email asking for a five-star rating and good review. Unfortunately, my friend booked it or I would have blasted the hell out of him. Ironically, the place had good reviews. I’m certain they were fake reviews from his friends because anyone paying $150 per night for that dump wouldn’t be happy. If you can’t afford to stay in a safe, clean place then maybe you shouldn’t travel.

Clothes Stolen by Host, Airbnb Does Nothing

Posted on June 26, 2018

I have been using Airbnb since 2011 and generally have had good experiences. However, my most horrific experience happened in May in Kiev. I arrived from the airport late, went to the apartment close to the centre, took the keys from below the door mat, and entered the apartment. Five minutes later, the host entered the apartment with knocking saying that he still wanted to clean. Even when I insisted that this was not needed, he said he wanted to do so and also needed to get some stuff. I gave him permission but had to leave the apartment right after to buy some groceries.

The next morning, I had a bad surprise as I could not find half the clothes that I had left in a plastic bag. I called the host, who sounded shocked, saying “Oh man, I did not know these were your clothes!” He told me that he had put my clothes some place in the apartment but did not know where exactly; I should call him in the evening. I waited until the evening, when I received a message from him saying: “The bag of clothes that you left in the apartment – I did not touch it, so try to remember where you left it!”

I got really upset, because it became clear what was happening: he had taken the clothes and was now denying responsibility. I called him and he finally admitted that he had taken the clothes because they were in a plastic bag; he thought that they were from an old guest and thus thrown them away. He had thrown away my clothes, including a jacket, a blazer, shirts, sweater, and a 150-euro anti-radiation underwear. We tried to recover them but they were gone.

I asked for compensation, to the amount of the value of the cloths, that I listed. Not the value of buying them new, but the value taking into account that at least the jacket was over a year old. The total value would have been over 500 euro but I asked for 237 euro, the minimum amount. The host agreed to this compensation. I asked him to pay via PayPal. Airbnb wrote me within minutes saying that I could not ask my host to pay me via PayPal, only the internal payment method. I tried internal payment but that only gave me 70 USD, which was the price of my stay.

I asked Airbnb customer support agents and in fact have talked to five case managers. They still have not answered my question how I can get compensation for the stolen goods. Before leaving the apartment, I wanted to get compensation from the host, but he did not respond. I remained at the apartment, but called Airbnb and was told that I had to leave the apartment right away. I said, “Once I am gone, the host might never compensate me.”

They responded: “Do not worry; we’ll take care of it! You just have to leave the apartment now”.

I left, but when I asked for compensation, neither my host nor Airbnb wanted to pay. I got a new case manager who told me I needed to upload pictures of my clothes, so that they could compensate me. I did that but then the case manager disappeared and I got yet another case manager. That case manager talked to the host and reported he did not want to pay anything in compensation: “I am sorry! There is nothing else I can do.”

In short, my clothes were taken by the host and neither the host nor Airbnb wants to compensate me. I had five case manager changing every few days, none willing to help. I was promised that Airbnb would take care of it, and they did nothing, only assigned it to a new case manager. I was told I could not use PayPal but was never offered a way to get compensation. I was told to leave the apartment and that they would fix it, but they did not do anything. The only thing they did is ask the host if he wanted to compensate me, and if host says no they say, “Sorry, we cannot help you.”

Barcelona High Rise Not Accessible to Handicapped

Posted on June 21, 2018

I booked a room in Barcelona through Airbnb in February, but by the time I traveled in late May, I had developed back and leg problems (sciatica). A couple days before arriving, it occurred to me that I didn’t know whether I would need to climb steps or if there was an elevator.

I contacted the host, who was willing to be helpful, but he was on the third floor without an elevator. I was able to see the building from the outside and could determine I would not be able to climb the stairs, or if I got up there, I would not get back down. The host declined to refund me because I cancelled too late (which I get), and he was generous in offering the same reservation for a future time (I will not get to go back to Barcelona to claim the offer).

At the time of booking, my fee went from the posted $47.00 per night to $125.00 because there was a big music festival in town that weekend. I hoped he would be able to book guests in, but he chose not to open up to a new Airbnb booking. My total fee was $420.00. So far I have received a refund of $18.96.

I contacted Airbnb to request a full refund. I had a case worker who asked for a doctor’s letter by June 14th. On June 10th (I had not yet received the doctor’s letter) I got this email message:

“Thank you for providing me the details. Please feel free to contact us when you have the letter from the doctor and we’ll be happy to analyse it in order to help you. You don’t have a time frame to provide this documentation. However, I’m forced to close this consult for the time being. It will re-open once you provide the doctor’s letter. Keep in mind that the letter is the only way we can help you. Please contact us when you need to. We’ll be glad to help you.”

The next day I sent the doctor’s letter. My case worker had disappeared. All I got were automatic responses saying they received my request. I have complied. Since I have a medical reason for the cancellation, I expect Airbnb to honor my refund request or least to acknowledge and act on it now that the documentation is in place. I have used Airbnb other places and had good experiences. Of course, it just takes one bad meal to keep me out of a restaurant.

$1500 Gift Card Funds in Deactivated Account

Posted on June 20, 2018

This is a copy of the email I finally wrote out of utter desperation to hopefully get the attention of someone with some authority to resolve my issue. The letter is self explanatory. At this time, I haven’t heard anything back. I’ll repost and hopefully have some good information to share whenever I finally get some attention and a resolution. I addressed it to Aisling Hassell and Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb.

Here is my issue in short: Airbnb is holding $1500 from gift cards in my daughter’s disabled account and I have not been able to get these funds transferred to my account after four calls to your customer service reps for over a week. A year and a half ago, my then 15-year-old daughter opened an Airbnb account with my knowledge and permission. She entered her information correctly and accurately, and supplied a picture and information from her passport as her identification.

Nowhere in the process was she eliminated as underage. She was allowed to proceed and went on to make two reservations for trips she and her father, and she and I took. At no time was her age an issue. If it had been, she would have told me and I would have opened an account for us to use.

Last Monday, June 11, she was attempting to make a reservation in Chicago for our trip in July, and entered $1500 in Airbnb gift cards for the planned two-week stay. She was promptly contacted and told her account was deactivated due to her age. The $1500 is locked in this inactivated account.

I immediately called your customer service number on Tuesday and explained the problem. Your rep said she was unable to resolve my issue and I was assured that someone with that level of authority would call to rectify the situation. When no one had contacted me on Friday, I called again that morning and was advised to open an Airbnb account so the funds could be transferred. Again, I was told that the person on the phone had no authority to help. She said another, higher-level person would contact me within the next half-hour and help resolve this problem.

Once again, no call or email came, and I called back Friday afternoon. For the third time, the rep said she had no authority to help, and the situation had been communicated to another department and I had to wait to be contacted. There was no way for me to contact them, and they would contact me at a later undetermined time. I finally called again today, Tuesday, June 19th, and got the same story from yet the fourth customer service rep.

He had me add a payment method to my account. I’m hoping that is only to have a way for the $1500 to be transferred to my account. Beyond that – same song, 4th verse – he cannot help me and has referred my issue to this mysterious department that can resolve my problem, but just never does it. On top of that, he insinuated that my daughter had been dishonest in the information she originally entered to open her account.

This infuriated me; she used her passport information. Airbnb allowed her to open the account and successfully make two different reservations for stays in New York in February and Chicago in April this year. This is due to Airbnb’s oversight in not recognizing her age. Please look into this. I now have had $1500 tied up in an account for over a week that I still cannot access.

It is unbelievable that there is no one in your first line customer service representatives who have the authority to truly help your customers and not just have to pass us along to another, unreachable, unanswering department. I would appreciate any help you can give me in resolving this issue as soon as possible.

Refund of $7.55 for $450+ Airbnb Booking

Posted on June 19, 2018

Planning trips are my absolute favourite and I have loved using Airbnb to do it. At the beginning of May, I started planning a trip to Seattle for a weekend. I decided that I wanted to stay downtown even though it was pricey. I found a cute apartment and booked it.

A few days later reality kicked in and I realized that spending $450 a night wasn’t worth it, so I started looking for a cheaper alternative. Five days after my original booking I cancelled the reservation. However, this booking has a “strict (grace period)” cancellation policy, which apparently means you can only get a full refund if cancelled in 48 hours. On Airbnb’s website it says if the booking is cancelled within 48 hours or 14 days prior to check in you are eligible for a full refund.

A month went by. I checked my visa statement and realized that Airbnb hadn’t refunded me. I contacted them asking why I have only received $7.55 back instead of the full $459 paid. They said, “you only paid half of the full fee so you don’t get any money back because you are only eligible for 50% of the full amount”. This policy would make sense if the host couldn’t rebook the space in time, but she’s already got it rebooked.

Why am I spending $450 when she’s got new guests in the space? She has rejected my request for a partial refund of $309 and a full refund of $459 because “that’s her cancellation policy”. Airbnb has been a nightmare trying to get a hold of to request a refund and I am lost as to what to do. This was a splurge in my budget already and now I’ve wasted $459.

San Diego Airbnb Gem Turns out to be Nasty

Posted on June 19, 2018

The tags more or less say it all. We arrived to an overwhelmingly bad smell, a mixture of body odor and dog pee. It turned out the sheets were dirty – I mean really dirty with hair on the pillowcase and a horrible smell. We contacted the host who sent out her mother (the head of housekeeping) to put on fresh linens.

Fortunately, we lived close (long story) so we went and brought our own bedding. After removing all of the bedding the whole house smelled better – except the dog pee – so we sort of got used to it. The bath linens were dirty too. The towels smelled of mildew but the hand towel smelled of ass, literally. I found out the hard way after washing my face. Looking closely anywhere showed a lot of dirt including dust, stains, grime, hair, spider webs, spider shit, rat shit, mildew, and more.

The filth kicker was the cabinet above the kitchen sink. There was an opening to the outside and rats have been coming into the house. Two un-set rat traps still with peanut butter residue sat patiently waiting to be used again and were peppered with rat shit. Another cabinet had three other rat traps in it as well.

The amenities consisted of a used roll of paper towel, a nearly empty bottle of dish soap, a mishmash of silverware not even making up a full complement, some pots and pans but no colander for making spaghetti, and just random barely acceptable $1 store plastic ware. I mean it has some charm, but this crap sets the stage for a lovely four-night stay.

During the stay we discovered the casita next door had a couple in it on a vacation where they never left their unit, talked and laughed loudly all day and night with their windows open we think on a recreational weed holiday. On the other side the neighbors had a nest cam pointed out their window at the Airbnb unit looking past a fence cut down low for visibility and peering into the bathroom and kitchen windows. With no fan in the bathroom you open the window only to be filmed while showering.

When you go to write a bad review and you dispute the $85 cleaning fee, this is the response you might get: “We have to keep traps because of the surrounding fruits trees. I’m sorry that you experienced uncleanliness. I will bring this to the cleaners attention. I just ask you to not write me an awful review. Thank you for your understanding.”

Fortunately they refunded that fee. I am absolutely stunned that anyone recently even wrote a positive review.

Wasted a Week Moving from Airbnb to Airbnb

Posted on June 18, 2018

I want to follow up regarding our cancelled booking. I want to explain that a 10% credit is completely insufficient for the problems this cancellation caused. We had been traveling all day in a rental car with a four-year-old child and a car full of our life’s belongings – to be precise, over 170 kgs of luggage including a bicycle in a box. I can send a picture of the loaded car if you like?

We had booked into the apartment because it was on the ground floor and near the center. We arrived on time – exactly. After being given so many warnings by the host about being on time exactly and furthermore warning us about providing time for the cleaners (how this could impact us is a complete mystery to me, as guests pay for cleaning). You of course can review all the messages between us.

Anyway we arrived, found it difficult to park, and then called the host as there was no one there at the time agreed upon, 4:30 PM. The host did not answer his phone and a helper answered, telling us the check in time was 5:00 PM not 4:30 PM. They were wrong and then we spent almost an hour waiting in the sun getting conflicting messages from the host via the platform and the helper on the phone number provided. Our daughter was beat and tired and needed to use the bathroom. We did too.

After over an hour we were told the apartment was being cancelled. Finding a new place with a flat mobile battery on the side of the road, in the sun, after driving all day was a nightmare to say the least. We eventually did find a place. It wasn’t ideal, so we booked only for four nights. A two-story place with a four-year-old on a busy street is not what we wanted.

We arrived around 8:00 PM, 3.5 hours after being ready to check in. We could not return our rental car as planned as we were too tired and the rental agency would have been closed by the time we unpacked all the stuff from the car. We didn’t get to have dinner until 9:30 PM, which for all of us was unacceptable, especially for a four year old, and of course we wasted a day as we have to return car today and all of us are too tired to do anything.

In addition, we have to pay Airbnb’s service and cleaning fees twice for organizing one week’s accommodation, as this place is not suitable for the whole week. We also will have to hire another vehicle or moving taxi as we will have to move all the stuff to another accommodation. We will also waste another day moving all our stuff to another location.

This cancellation has ruined our arrival and at least a few days involved in rebooking and moving, which in turn has ruined the week we had planned as now we will not be able to achieve what we had carefully planned to achieve. Not to mention the stress involved for everyone which is a major health concern and one that Airbnb as a provider is responsible for.

For a $30 billion company to offer us a 10% return is pathetic in any sense. The hotel chains that Airbnb competes with would offer a full credit and more. As Airbnb has claimed, it is extremely rare that they could cover all the costs, as it would be such a small expenditure for such a large company for an incident that hardly ever happens. If such incidents of ruining holidays are common then I would think their business model is flawed. Could you let me know ASAP what Airbnb can do to rectify this disaster.