This is a recent story of how Airbnb has gotten too big to care. We have been hosts and guests since 2010 with 213 five-star reviews. We recently had a guest who booked our home through Airbnb for three adults. He never showed up, but 15 other people did. We found out through his secretary that he regularly books Airbnb’s for his crews who are working on homes in our area damaged by Hurricane Sally in September 2020.
I went to the house and found our entire carport was filled with construction materials. Trucks, trailers, generators, and vans were parked around the house and when I went to the back of the house to see what was going on, all but one of the persons ran into the house and shut the door. The other stayed on the deck smoking (prohibited by our rules) and drinking.
Our house was a wreck when we finally got them to leave. They had trashed the house, stolen many items, knocked holes in the walls, broken glasses, clogged the plumbing and literally destroyed our kitchen. I immediately called Airbnb and was told to document all vehicles and construction materials by photo. I did this and sent it directly to Airbnb.
From that point, Airbnb began to ignore my messages and calls. The only way they corresponded was to message and ask for more documentation. I kept being pushed off to yet another ambassador/supervisor all to no avail because no one could (or would) help. Although I did everything Airbnb asked me to do and provided all documentation requested, they called today to let me know they were not going to ask the guest to pay for the additional guests because he didn’t want to pay it.
Okay, so now we get to go to the department store with the intent of buying three items, end up purchasing 15 but then saying we will only pay for three because that’s how many we wanted in the first place? How many customer service persons would let me out of the store with 15 items when I only paid for 3? None. Yet Airbnb has told the guest he only has to pay for the three guests he reserved, even though 15 stayed.
I have been a loyal client of Airbnb since 2010 and this guest just joined during 2020 so he could send his work crews to stay near the hurricane disaster sites without having to pay for hotel fees. His secretary was foolish enough to share this information with me via telephone. Unbelievable. I have filed a complaint with the BBB, sent emails to the CEO, CFO and CSO of Airbnb, and am sending this information on the “real” Airbnb through all the social media resources available to me.
I have a very similar story. Superhost since 2016 with a 4.8-5.0 star rating. I had a recent guest who broke rules, has only 3 verified stays on Airbnb which have yielded her a 3.5 start rating as a guest, and Airbnb has REMOVED my very honest and non-retaliatory review of her yet allowed her mile long Jerry Springer worthy review to remain up AFTER I was told a week ago by Airbnb support that it would be taken down and my rating adjusted. Keep in mind that when this guest checked out late after being told a late check out was not possible, she messaged me stating how much she loved her stay and would definitely be back. I then was contacted by my cleaner, who had to wait for over 30 minutes in her car for this guest to actually check out and was then cursed at, who sent photos of the pet waste and filth left by this guest. I contacted the guest and shared the photos and was then met with absolute insanity, foul language, absurd accusations, etc. who refused to pay the additional cleaning fees that my ad clearly state will be charged if additional cleaning is required. I called customer support over 32 times. I was finally told by a rep that this guests mile long rant of a review would be removed. It wasn’t. Airbnb supposedly records all calls so I asked the 35th representative that I was messaging (after 4.9 hours of repeatedly dropped useless calls to customer support) to pull up the call in which I was told this guests review would be removed. The review was never taken down and Airbnb, after 5 days!!!!!!, just messaged me back saying, ‘thanks for playing’ and “we are sorry to lose you as a customer”. I am sickened by the sheer lack of give a $h!t offered by Airbnb after 5 solid years of me providing them income and striving to maintain Superhost status. This site has become a complete joke. Airbnb doesn’t care about hosts, uphold any form of accountability for guests, and can quite literally kiss my @$$ at this point. AIRBNB IS A JOKE!!!!!
I hate that you were scammed. In hindsight I wonder if any of the following would have made a difference
1. Airbnb terms of service prohibits third party bookings meaning the person booking must be a staying guest. This guest broke Airbnb’s rules-not yours
2. At the time send a rate adjustment to reflect the current number of guests —meaning he booked for 3, 15 stayed, increase bill 5 fold.
3. None were registered guests. Notify booking party unless the booking is done properly, you would have no choice but to have the group arrested for trespassing
4. File a complaint with the BBB in the contractors home city
As a host I had a similar situation in what was supposed to be a booking for the owner of a construction company became a crash pad for him plus 3 workers; fortunately not all were there at once. Nothing was terribly damaged but my utility bills were out the roof and the place was filthy beyond belief. I did manage to collect a $200 fee for excessive cleaning.
I will never rent to a contractor again.. Their construction quotes include housing and they can stay at a hotel. Live & learn.
Thanks for sharing. I was looking for reviews to make a decision to rent our property from them. Your review and comments have help me decide not to trust them and I hope they read this so they know the owners do have power and they are losing business do to their own business practices.
correct. Moreover, their “contact airbnb” for help is answered by a robot who clearly can do nothing in case of issues that have to be resolved. I am glad that I paid via visa and paypal because if airbnb has illegal demands I can have some recourse. thanks for posting. I will never become a host and right now I am not inclined to use airbnb even again although I am sure that many hosts are excellent and caring.
I tried talking to that CEO (Chesky) douche canoe on Twitter. I was polite and he ran for cover. The silly PR pigs tried to run interference and failed. Airbnb is just a sales site like Kijiji in Canada or Gumtree in England. It is caveat emptor because you are on your own if anything goes wrong. Airbnb is nowhere near the after care offered by Ebay or PayPal. Airbnb is a shady outfit that made its money on customers it no longer values. It is too big (and too shady) to care.