Category Archives: Airbnb Host Stories

These are real, uncensored stories from Airbnb Hosts.  We encourage our site visitors to read and share their Airbnb Host Stories to help warn others of the dangers of using Airbnb, and consider using alternative options in the sharing economy.

Airbnb Made Me Homeless After Guests Refuse to Leave

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I made a big mistake when I used Airbnb. I have had three tenants staying in my apartment for two months. While I know Airbnb is offering a very bad solution and not protecting its hosts when it comes to actual long stays , I took tenants who I made sure needed to leave the apartment within a time frame.

Towards the end of their stay, I was shocked one day to discover by accident that Airbnb cancelled the reservation and refunded the guests $12,000 without contacting me — not a single email. They gave them back the money for their entire stay, despite the fact that they stayed two months without even approaching me.

I went to the apartment to check what was going on, and I was in shock to discover that the tenants were still in the apartment, despite the fact that the reservation has been cancelled a few days ago. They immediately called the police on me and I was kicked out of my own apartment by a team of the police, a complete shock. I contacted Airbnb and have been on the line for hours. Calls are disconnected, transferring me from one representative to another. I realized it is a s%$t show.

Airbnb created basically a situation where I have people using my apartment for two months without paying a dime. I have no protection from this terrible company and I need to take out of my pocket money for lawyers to evict the tenants and rectify this situation.

Everything That’s Wrong with Airbnb

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What is wrong with Airbnb? As a host, it seems like there is a lot wrong with the company, thus the reason why I have decided to leave their platform. I am throwing in the towel after only three months working with the company. I wish I could point to one issue with the platform, but there are too many. I have outlined them below.

Airbnb does not follow its own guidelines to protect property owners. I had a guest book my home for her wedding and never stayed in the home. Instead, the home was a continual flop house party venue for her friends and family despite a “no party or event rule”. Instead of six guests in the home, most of which were supposed to be “elderly”, my home was a party house for over 25 people and nighttime occupancy was closer to 10-12 instead of 6.

When I confronted the guest about the party on the second night of her reservation and the damages, Airbnb allowed the proxy guest (who never stayed in my home) to give me a bad review even though the company states that it will protect owners from bad reviews from any guests who violate the “no party rule”. According to Airbnb, they are going to “take action” against the “guest” or third party “booker”, but that does nothing to change the revenge review on my profile.

Prior to this Bridezilla, I had a 5-star rating. I am eating my property damages because according to the Airbnb community forum, the company’s damages clause does not cover cases when the property was rented on behalf of other people. Only the guest who booked the property is responsible and since she did not stay in the home there is nothing I can do.

Before renting my home through Airbnb I had a gorgeous newly remodeled home that I purchased furnished from a builder owner in April. At least 20% of my guests have caused some damage to my property. We have had multiple guests smoke, despite a no smoking policy, and the marijuana and cigarette smoke smells seem to keep creeping back into the house no matter what we do. I have had broken bar stools and cabinet doors, a damaged kitchen island, multiple gate repairs, and a cracked panel in a Murphy Bed that I do not know how I am going to fix without replacing the entire front with matching wood. I also seem to have to continually replace ruined towels and sheets.

These joyous issues have happened with just over eight guests. Hosts have no access to the security deposit and the time for reporting damages ends when the next guest checks in. Upon making a claim, Airbnb asks to see receipts for the damaged item, a receipt for the replacement item, and repair estimates and receipts. How can any owner be expected to get a repair estimate from a contractor in four hours’ time to comply to with Airbnb’s short window for submitting claims if you have another guest checking in?

In my case, the furniture and much of the personal property within the home came when I purchased the house. I have no access to the original receipt for the Murphy Bed or some of the furniture. Airbnb allows owners to ask for a security deposit, but the reality is that hosts have no access to the funds in the event of a claim. In fact, the security deposit and host damages guarantee seems to be a ruse to placate unsuspecting hosts to list their home with the platform.

When considering an Airbnb or short-term rental, the numbers seem to be attractive. The reality is that damages, wear and tear, and the incredible amount of time dealing with the property and multiple guests eliminate much of the profit. Instead of renting my home on short term rental sites I have turned it into a monthly or seasonal rental, with more profit and less headaches. Plus, the United States has a significant nationwide rental shortage, and it makes sense to help everyday people with a place to live rather than trying to deal with a revolving door of vacationers. In my case I am focusing on traveling contract professionals in the medical field which offers me a lot more satisfaction too.

Airbnb uses foreign customer service employees that respond to host concerns at odd hours (usually in the middle of the night) to coincide with their workday. Additionally, hosts get passed around to different departments on a continual basis. Airbnb and hosts would benefit from U.S.-based customer service professionals. When you can finally reach a real employee, I have found that the Airbnb customer service department is not equipped to handle most issues and honestly seems to be uneducated with Airbnb’s policies and guidelines. Perhaps they need to stop using “bots” and artificial intelligence and invest in real employees that are knowledgeable?

If you are looking for a passive real estate investment, Airbnb and short-term vacation rentals are not for you. Being a host is a job, and I do not need another job. I have gotten calls at all hours of the night for various issues, including guests not understanding how to use the lockbox to access the property and noise complaints.

Let us all be honest, no one wants to live next door to an Airbnb and having a revolving door of vacationers in residential neighbors is bad for values and the neighborhood culture. Despite Airbnb’s media campaign regarding a global ban on parties, it seems to be nothing but rhetoric. Guests rent homes with the intent of throwing a party and entertaining and Airbnb does little or nothing to help hosts deal with problem guests. Airbnb and their business model might be the reason that the values in many communities and neighborhoods start to decline.

If you have any other reasons to stop working with Airbnb that I have not yet listed, please feel free to chime in. Best of luck to all my fellow real estate investors.

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Airbnb Made Me Feel Homeless — Never Again

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This is my story. Without many guests because of the pandemic I decided to use the coupon Airbnb sent me for being a Superhost for two years in a row, and booked a stay in the Canary Islands which I paid for with this coupon.

My host sent me a warm message saying he was expecting me, which I answered. After landing in Gran Canaria last, still in the airport I checked the app for the address but the host cancelled and I wasn’t notified at all. Quickly I sent a message to the host but there was no answer. I took a bus to the center of Gran Canaria where I landed in a square. I found a restaurant with wifi from where I sent another desperate message to the host but yet got no answer at all.

I felt bad. I was alone and didn’t know any one there. I picked my backpack and went back to the square. From under a tree I called Airbnb and explained what happened. Someone apologized and told me they would call me back with another place for me. I waited… half an hour… an hour… an hour and a half… but nobody called me.

I called Airbnb again and again received another apology from another person, but without a solution. After two hours of feeling homeless, restless, known to none, I talked with a taxi driver who talked to another taxi driver who finally got a room for me in a family house, from where I am writing now. I was very lucky for landing in the morning, otherwise I could have stay in the square the whole night.

Already in the room, I wrote about this experience to Airbnb. Again someone apologized but that was all. I wasn’t even offered a refund for the coupon. I was ready to come back home and host again. Which I will do, but not through Airbnb. I will not even use Airbnb as a guest. Never again.

Airbnb Guests Wanted Champagne Holiday on Beer Budget

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This guest and their family arrived very late and then proceeded to cook outside of the designated hours. They booked for three people and four people arrived. Just about every rule was broken by the family. There was not supposed to be eating in the bedrooms; the extra guest did so. We have a policy of no air conditioning on in the daytime and these are specifically written in a set of do’s and don’ts in each room. The option is to pay additional money during the daytime if air conditioning is required. We did not charge despite the violations.

What alarmed us most was the number of cartons of beers that were brought into the property, filling my spare fridge completely. I could tell we were in for a champagne holiday on a beer budget. We are a no-smoking home. The guest’s parents said they only smoke a couple a day, so I allowed them to smoke on the deck. Biggest mistake ever because a couple means two packs a day where they are from and I spent days trying to rid the house of the awful smell.

The rental was for two rooms, a bathroom, and toilet. They received use of the kitchen and other areas at our discretion. The problem was the guest’s party considered the whole house their domain: like I said, champagne holiday on a beer budget. This culminated on the next to last night when the guests decided to turn my entertainment deck area into their very own ‘footie pub.’ This started at 5:00 PM and went on well past midnight. No consideration was given as to whether I wanted to use the deck or watch anything myself. They were watching footie and b*** the rest was the attitude. By now they must have thought they owned the deck.

There I was thinking my home had been invaded; these people are unreal. They went out the following day and upon their return, they expected a repeat performance of Footie Pub 2. I told them that the deck was for my and our family friends’ exclusive use that night. This outraged them and they said “but you haven’t booked the deck!”

I almost fell over laughing and informed them that I don’t book any areas of my home ever and that as guests they fit in around what we are doing, not vice versa. Undeterred, a contingent of them marched out onto the deck and sparked up the ciggies and glared at me. They then asked that I watch something different outside so that they could watch their footie inside in the lounge. I said they had individual TV’s in their rooms they could use to watch there.

This did not fit the Footie Pub 2 mentalities of booze and ciggies. Realising they were on a losing wicket they staged a walkout (just like small children stomping their feet) at 10:00 PM at night with the mum staying on to say “if you had just let us watch our Footie and use the deck then things would have been fine. Things have been great up until now.” Well of course they had been great because they had full use of the house for a third of what they would have paid for a full house.

I am starting to think the expectations of some Airbnb guests have moved beyond a sharing experience and wanting a full-service hotel or apartment. If you want exclusive time and space then book with the corresponding prices would be my suggestion. I hope people don’t make the same mistake of allowing these people into their home. I tripled my prices and we have a nicer quality of guest staying now.

Horrible Experience Hosting New Age Guru

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I thought setting up an Airbnb account and hosting would be a great way to make some additional money. Unfortunately, it turned into a nightmare. The second guest I ever hosted for turned out to be some weird voodoo shaman who conducted rituals in my home. He booked my home under a fake profile picture of a woman in her 60’s. They were supposedly just coming for some rest and relaxation.

When I arrived home, I found the bathtub with disgusting dirt in it. There were burn marks throughout my home where they had been burning sage throughout the house. I had burn holes in my tile, bathtub and carpet. There were symbols drawn on my mirrors in the house and weird stuff burning in a pot on the stove. they left foreign money on the counter and empty boxes of spirit bathing oils in the bathroom. Needless to say, I felt very uncomfortable in my home after that.

This a$%hole had the audacity to question me about the damage after leaving my home in this condition. After looking him up online, I became aware that he does this as his job. This should not have taken place in my home. I reached out to Airbnb for help. No one helped. They just keep telling you to go online and fill some forms out. I did that and called back several times to ask what was happening. They said it was pending. I received another email stating I had to fill out another form, which appeared to be the same as the first.

After reaching out several times and getting no phone calls or help, I received an email stating they were declining to reimburse me. I have been back and forth with this company. They outsource all their customer service to other countries. There is no way to reach anyone here in the states. I asked for a measly $600 compensation when the damage would cost me upwards of $6000 to repair. Airbnb has policies in place to take advantage of every circumstance so that they do not have to help the renter or the host.

I was scammed. I’d like to know if there are any class action lawsuits currently that I can look into. If not, there needs to be one immediately. User be warned, Airbnb will not help you if your home is damaged.

Airbnb Tries to Rip us Off with Last-Minute Cancellation

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I work at a mid-sized property with many rooms up on Airbnb. Last Friday we had a customer that had a $550 booking for the weekend and they didn’t come. It was University of Virginia graduation weekend and if we had known the guests were not coming we could have rented the cottage in a second. The guest did not let us know they weren’t coming until after the office closed for the night.

On Airbnb we had selected the strict policy for cancellations. The guest had agreed to those terms when they booked so we expected to get paid. The funds for the stay were deposited in our account on Monday so even though we had wasted quite a bit of money on food, flowers and perishable gifts for the guest room we were fine because at least we got paid. Then at 8:00 PM on Monday night we got the following email:

We’re just getting back to you with an update regarding your guest. She gave us documentation to show they did indeed have a valid extenuating circumstance. So, we’ve cleared your calendar for these dates, and refunded your guest in full. This means you won’t get a payout for this reservation. You can review our Extenuating Circumstances Policy and we really do apologize for the inconvenience caused, thanks for understanding. Let me know if you have other questions. 

Do you see the last sentence? “Let me know if you have other questions”. Within a few minutes of receiving this email we responded with questions. Since then we have followed up a dozen times by email and phone (thanks to Airbnb Hell, as even as a Superhost you can’t find a phone number) and never gotten a response from Airbnb. The money was deposited in our account and the Airbnb website shows they are trying to take their money back through EFT.

I have responded that each day we will deactivate one unit and move it to Expedia until we hear from Airbnb customer service. So far they have lost three of 21 listings. I have also told them if they do withdraw any money from our account I will delist every unit permanently. The world is full of bad customer service but with the phone, electric or internet providers at least I can speak to someone and get an answer. With Airbnb there is no customer service at all. Honestly the worst company in the world.

Airbnb Fraud Lets Unsuspecting Guests Access Our Home

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My husband and I own a house out of state that has been vacant and on the market for over a year. The other night our neighbors contacted us to notify us there were multiple cars and motorcycles parked in our driveway with a party going on inside. After an investigation by the police, we found out our house had been listed on Airbnb by a host. We have never rented our home nor given any individual permission to list our home for rent.

There were pictures attached to the Airbnb posting from Zillow as well as cell phone pictures taken from outside our home looking through windows/glass doors to the inside as well as pictures taken from inside of our home. The renters showed the police their rental confirmation. The police were relatively uninterested because they said this happens all the time, that fake listings are put up and people show up and can’t get in. But in this case, these people had been given instructions to access our home.

We have contacted Airbnb through several methods and been told that this will be addressed by the appropriate team. We’ve asked the call center operator to speak with a supervisor and she hung up. Three days later and Airbnb still hasn’t taken down the listing or returned our phone calls. There is clearly no sense of urgency on the part of Airbnb in assisting us with finding the person who is still out there who knows how to access our home.

Airbnb Host Fraud Lets Strangers into our Home

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My husband and I own a house out of state that has been vacant and on the market for over a year. Last night our neighbors contacted us to notify us there were multiple cars and motorcycles parked in our driveway with a party going on inside. After investigation by the police we found out our house had been listed on Airbnb by an unknown host. We have never rented our home nor given any individual permission to list our home for rent.

There were pictures attached to the Airbnb posting from Zillow as well as cell phone pictures taken from outside our home looking through windows and glass doors to the inside as well as pictures taken from inside of our home. The renters showed the police their rental confirmation. The police were relatively uninterested because they said this happens all the time, that fake listings are put up and people show up and can’t get in. In this case, these people had been given instructions to access our home.

We have contacted Airbnb through several methods and been told that this will be addressed by the appropriate team. We’ve asked the call center operator to speak with a supervisor and she hung up. There is clearly no sense of urgency on the part of Airbnb in assisting us with finding the person who is still out there who knows how to access our home.

SuperHost and Five-Star Property Being Banned due to Airbnb’s Policy

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The guests I had the most problems with were from Airbnb. I was protecting my home, property, and neighborhood and there is no age discrimination where there is the potential for an increase to my risk and liability. I have rented to all races, ethnic groups, and religions. I would never discriminate in those case, but maturity and responsibility varies extremely in this age category and is a much different story. I’ve set a 30 year old minimum age for guests since I started four years ago and apparently even if state laws allow it I’m not permitted to do it any longer.

Message from Airbnb:

We received report of discrimination from a user about your listing. We wanted to let you know that after investigation, we have found claim to this report. As a company, we strive to exist to create a world where everyone can belong, we are reaching out to ensure that you are aware of both our nondiscrimination policy and your corresponding duties as a host. Our nondiscrimination policy states that hosts may not impose any different terms or conditions or decline a reservation based on the guest’s age or familial status, where prohibited by law.

After investigation, we, as Airbnb, have required that you go through two procedures: 1) we need your confirmation by reply to this email your acknowledgment of our NDP. 2) Remove the ‘Minimum age requirement: 30’ on your listing description. We have currently blocked you from making any reservations as we need to be assured that you understand our non-discrimination policies and have done the removal of age discrimination on your content.

We look forward to receiving your reply within the next 72 hours, as we will not be able to move forward without your reply. For more information related to the nondiscrimination policy, do not hesitate to familiarize yourself with some frequently asked questions.

My Response:

Good Afternoon. In response to your baseless age discrimination accusation, I am attaching Pennsylvania’s law where I am permitted to require a minimum age requirement at my home. I have been an outstanding host and have a five-star property. I will not permit Airbnb to determine that I may have “children rent my home.” This individual who filed the claim also claimed they lived in Vancouver, can yet claimed they were coming from DC and NY with six other friends. That was a huge red flag.

I will not allow Airbnb to tell me what age group I am permitted to rent my $400,000 home to which could potentially create an extraordinary amount of liability and risk to the property as well as my financial well-being. Please see PA’s laws because that is the law that I follow. A 28-year-old did not get their way and was extremely rude thereafter. I could only imagine how they would have treated my home had I allowed them to rent it. This is why I do not want parties in my home, I do not want underage (21 and under) drinking in my home, or college students throwing parties.

Airbnb needs to take a look at their policy and should be held responsible for all liability that comes along with renting to the majority within these age groups. It specifically states in PA laws that “you may not set age requirements or minimums over the age of 40.” My minimum age is 30 and I didn’t think protecting my home should be considered discrimination. I have never discriminated based on anything. I set a minimum age requirement to reduce risk and liability in my home — not your home — and am not comfortable permitting 18-year-olds rent my home nor college age kids in party mode. I refuse to destroy my home.

The Information on Fair Housing The Pennsylvania Human Relations Act prohibits discrimination in all housing transactions including but not limited to sales, rental, finance, providing reasonable accommodations or modifications to housing or commercial properties based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, disability, and age (over 40 in housing Ancestry Pregnancy).