Host Lied About Cleaning Filthy Airbnb During Pandemic

I have used Airbnb for years but never again. My pictures will show that this new host had no concept of what was clean and had not cleaned let alone touched high contact areas. It appears a long-term renter had been there as we were unfortunately the first guests in what they say was a newly refurbished property. They had painted bedrooms but left the kitchen and washing machine cupboard untouched: door handles were sticky, light switches filthy, dirt built up deep and when you opened the fridge door you could see the dirt build up.

The kitchen stank so badly of cat spraying and wee, it also smelt like something dead like a mouse. I told them and sent pictures. They blamed a cleaner but wouldn’t tell me who that was so I could raise a complaint and they said they would clean the next day, a day into our trip. We stayed out all day in the hole so they could do a deep clean. We couldn’t find anywhere else to stay.

We got there late the first night with our son who has Crohn’s and is a higher risk. We couldn’t get anywhere else as everything was booked and we were complying with Airbnb and giving them and the host a right to respond. Airbnb said not to cancel — it had to be done by the host. Anyway, we got back and found that only superficial cleaning had been done: no hoovering the dirt in cupboards, no cleaning next to the washing machine or the machine.

I had such a bad night with my severe cat allergy and knew something was really bad in the kitchen so I tried to find the issue. The photos of the fridge, floors, washing machine, and cupboard are after they had the chance to clean. I was fuming and told the host I sent photos to Airbnb. The host said they would refund me but are now refusing and changing their story because I left an honest review. I am still waiting for Airbnb and I will be taking legal action. The host has now posted defamatory statements about me in their reply to my feedback.

I am at a loss how people can be like this and rip people off and lie so blatantly. I have photos, I have their emails admitting they didn’t clean, admitting it’s wrong, admitting they would refund me and now because I didn’t play the game and lie on my feedback they are refusing. Had I lied I think they would have still refused, and they would have said my feedback showed I’m happy. The biggest issue for me is Airbnb and this is not fit for an enhanced cleaning program. A host gets a badge and is shown to be COVID safe when they are not even doing basic cleaning. I would love to do a class action on Airbnb to look at this and the facts.