Tag Archives: airbnb australia

Australia Phone Number for Airbnb Customer Service

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The Australian number I used for Airbnb was 0285203333. From outside of Australia it will be +61285203333. Don’t ask where I found that – my other half, The Fixer, found it; he can find anything.

I’ve not had the pain some have had going by the stories here. However, my login to my account on my phone and laptop became a total nightmare and I couldn’t get in, so I lost our New Zealand stay at the last second, and made a scramble for another stay. My login had me dropping in and out of the site/app which was hugely frustrating. I tried to sort it but couldn’t: even the techs were bewildered. Three months later I took another stab at it and it’s finally resolved.

I just wanted to give a phone number for those that want one. Maybe the Aussie number could direct harried customers to the correct country number.

Airbnb Stealing from my Dying Husband

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Airbnb has stolen money from my dying husband. I will not stop until we speak to the legal department. Airbnb has been totally disgusting in how they’ve handled this simple but now costly and insulting mistake they have made.

We have been loyal and dedicated and successful Superhosts for several years now, with multiple listings and an established tree house retreat. We have provided ample evidence to support our case to show we were in no way near or under threat by bush fires. Airbnb has given nothing to support their mistake to say we were and they only have been secretive with no transparency. They have stolen money from us and hence my darling dying husband right now is in the hospital with brain tumors.

We are so totally upset that we have been treated this way and my husband and I have not been supported as good Superhosts. Airbnb does not want to understand that the whole Hinterland was not on fire and we were not affected. We had two very positive reviews from guests that stayed through that time demonstrated in their positive reviews they loved the stay and showing no fire or smoke in our area. This was brought to Airbnb’s attention; there was still no response from them.

Airbnb has allowed a guest to get a full refund out of our back pocket at the very last minute on a strict cancellation policy. Based on their event being cancelled that was half a day event at best in a totally different area to use with no associations with us or the stay agreement. This basically tells everyone and anyone is entitled to a full refund for any external event or outing that is cancelled no mater how short the event is to the stay, and on a strict policy, on the night before check in are allowed to have a full refund.

Three guests were coming and no doubt were going to enjoy themselves like all the others had been doing so. But no, security for the hosts. No professional process or interactions have been received as of yet. Why risk placing valuable property in their care? If there is support for hosts using this platform, where is it?

Airbnb seems to think they are allowed to pull the rug under hosts’ feet whenever they feel like it, despite host and booking agreements in place. They do this arrogantly without providing any evidence or sharing any professional or appropriate communication to support the decision. They refuse to share what they are looking at, where they are located, and only taking money out of our pockets. It is unacceptable.

We only have received a secretive and uncaring response, and a very unprofessional response. The case manager was aware my husband is dying, and we rely on the rules of this platform for income for his medical bills as he can not work ever again in his life. I juggle everything, giving several years of positive business dealing with Airbnb through our property spaces.

This counts for nothing with Airbnb it seems; they hide and refuse to share a map with us. One employee even said she saw the map Airbnb had and we were nowhere near the fires. So why does the supervisor refuse to show us? They ignore maps that are official and clearly show we were not near the fires at all. No warnings for our area at all. Water is all around us; it’s a huge area, no smoke or anything.

Airbnb needs to compensate us for their mistake. They should have never refunded money out of our account based on incorrect information they refuse to share with us. We do not deserve this treatment or problem at this time of our lives and we have only done everything right towards Airbnb. We have received no support whatsoever and it’s such a disgusting process. There is no excuse or justified reason to receive no explanation of their process.

Airbnb has affected my ability to pay a medical bill. I will not rest until Airbnb looks at this properly and acknowledges they have made a mistake. Just because a small majority of the Gold Coast was effected by bush fires does not mean the whole of the Gold Coast needs to suffer. Through the worst of the hinterland fires, we had fantastic views you could see the water and city views from our hill, and beautiful reviews of guests on the same weekend.

Airbnb gave a full refund to a guest the night before check in on a strict policy booking. Airbnb is hiding and needs to come out and deal with this properly and start appreciating good hosts and what they sacrifice for a successful business partnership. Airbnb is not providing a stable, supportive, intelligent and respectable platform for dedicated hosts who are providing wonderful spaces for them to actually have guests using their site.

Ultimately, if they do not have good listings, they do not get guests and there would be no Airbnb. Let me stress that our property was not affected by any bush fires. Airbnb says they can justify taking a two-night booking away from us; this was a mistake they are refusing to acknowledge. I have sent them photographs and the reviews and official maps clearly demonstrating there was no fire associated near or in our area.

Still, we get nothing back from them on an intellectual or acceptable level. They only write back saying we have reviewed it and we will not be giving money back. This is without showing anything to support their claim or belief. Where is the map they are looking at? Believe me I have asked and demanded to see it, but they refuse to show anything. I now don’t believe they do have a map that is at all relevant to our area or contains anything factual.

Some cock up from an Airbnb international office has circled all of the Gold Coast to be on fire. Ridiculous. We have shared the maps from official authorities of the bush fires of Queensland to demonstrate all the history of the bush fires as we were monitoring them very closely. Still, Airbnb ignores this. It’s bad enough to lose a lot of summer bookings out of the type of fear associated with the word bush fire. Then for Airbnb to take away your bookings for no legitimate reason is inexcusable and they need to compensate us.

I have worked so hard to support my husband and through this livelihood we have been making it with Airbnb. I see no reason to continue my listings with Airbnb if they can not deal with this properly and correct their mistake. There is no real security or support with Airbnb. I will update this if it changes. They are totally incompetent in their due diligence or they are simply hiding a mistake they don’t want seen.

Give us our money back Airbnb. We provided a beautiful space. We will never get that weekend back and there are policies in place for good reasons. Airbnb needs to respect the agreement they had with us. I’m very disappointed to write this. We have a responsibility to the community to tell and warn anyone about Airbnb in how they have been treating us. At no point in time our property was ever listed in a danger zone. We had fantastic views beautiful water views and happy number of guests through that period of time.

Only one guest capitalized on Airbnb’s mistake, an event that was half a day at best in a totally different area. We had a two-night booking on a strict cancellation policy. They were bringing three people around for the stay. On Friday the 13th in the late afternoon Airbnb allowed them to have a full refund. Based on what? Based on an event that had no relevance to us on the property.

Now I believe that if I book or anyone else books a long stay through Airbnb and their event gets rained on, or their bus gets cancelled, or the singer gets sick, they are entitled to a full refund despite any level of cancellation policy. This is what Airbnb has done to us. Now I know If I ever book with Airbnb as a guest, I can cancel for any reasons for extenuating circumstances.

A full refund is expected. I would expect that for any reason I claimed to be my reason for booking I can get out of it, despite the accommodation having no association whatsoever with the excuse. This is absurd and Airbnb should see it to be otherwise. There is no security whatsoever as a host to provide beautiful spaces if there is no support for loyal and long-standing hosts.

Is there anyone in Airbnb who can salvage a long-standing and good business relationship and multiple listings and wants to rectify this accordingly? Refund us the two-night booking that we had secured. Airbnb cancelled a strict cancellation policy booking,taking money from us based on incorrect data without cross referencing information or sharing it. No transparency, nothing to support their actions.

Risks for Hosts and Guests in Unapproved Sublets

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I own approved short-term accommodation in Australia. The state government and the local authority require me, as part of the conditions to operate, to comply with requirements of health, safety, insurance, and local amenity or I can be closed down and/or fined.

For example, doors leading into or out of the accommodation cannot have a lock on the inside requiring a key to be opened in case of fire, the smoke/fire detector system is superior to that required for normal residential use, linen must be washed every three days in at least 90 degrees Celsius (194 degrees F), pests (cockroaches, rodents, flies etc) must be controlled by regular fumigation/baiting/barriers, and pets are not allowed in the kitchen, bedrooms or swimming pool area due to disease.

Very strict rules are in force if I supply any food, e.g. sugar cannot be available in an open container, milk must be date stamped and in an unbroken sealed container and refrigerated below 4 C with logs of purchase and use by date, and the fridge must have a thermometer and be kept below 4 degrees Celsius. Regulations for the swimming pool are horrendous but all for the health and safety of guests. I also have to pay a yearly license fee to operate.

The premises are regularly inspected, without notice, by Government Health & Safety Officers. These measures obviously cost more than that of normal residential accommodation as they are over and above the usual requirements. Consequently, I cannot compete in price with an individual who rents out on Airbnb a spare room in their home or the whole of their accommodation when they go on holiday. Airbnb encourages people through incentives to let out their accommodation, with no checks of their legal standing to do so. Unapproved and illegal lets regularly crop up on Airbnb before the authorities shut them down.

People being people seek the cheapest deal and so bypass me in favour of an Airbnb sublet. This causes loss of business for me. It also means guests expose themselves to hazards, disease and financial risks by staying in unapproved accommodation.

For example, a recent newspaper report of an illegal Airbnb property advertised as ‘family friendly’ had a young family as guests over Christmas. The property had swings built by the owner. The father was pushing his two young children on the swing when it toppled over as it was not anchored in the ground. The younger child was crushed and killed on the spot. The other child was admitted to Intensive Care at hospital with life threatening injuries. The owner had invalidated his insurance as he was operating illegally so stands to lose his house in litigation for personal damages/injury. He was also fined by the authorities.

This would not have happened it he had stayed in approved accommodation such as mine. Bear in mind that all insurance is invalidated if not operating legally or to purpose. Most homeowners have residential property and contents insurance. Insurance companies view letting out a room or property to the public as a commercial activity and not residential use by the owner/occupier. Thus any claim for third party liability, damage, loss or injury will be dismissed by the insurer if found the property was not used in accordance with law and insured purpose.

We all know how insurers try to evade paying out if possible. This means a guest must proceed against the host’s personal assets, which may be nil if renting and not an owner or insolvent.

The choice is yours: make some bucks via Airbnb and risk losing your home or being declared bankrupt if things go wrong as well as being prosecuted, or, if a guest, save a few dollars and risk sickness, injury or death without benefit of the host’s insurance, if any, if let out illegally.

Airbnb Property Insurance is Scamming Hosts

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The Airbnb host guarantee is a lie and scam. I can prove this and don’t trust anyone from Airbnb’s response team; they are trained to deny your damage claims.

My house got damaged. I was paid only 30% of my claim and still underpaid by $400. To save themselves more money, they refused to pay me in Australian dollars. My picture frame got damaged and smashed. Airbnb denied my reason was fitting even though I proved I brought it brand new only four months ago. My door handle to the bathroom was broken and bent, the lock broken. Airbnb denied it, stating paint could fix it.

My $500 new coffee table got broken. They denied it and stated it could be salvaged. My marble bench tops got deep scratches. I got a polishing company to repair and state the damages on the receipt. Airbnb denied it, stating general cleaning products could be used to fix it.

For four weeks I complained to Airbnb. No one ever called or emailed me back. I sent 25 emails; they just said they reserve the right to deny claims and basically “sorry, continue being a great host,” etc. These people are trained to deny your claims and Airbnb covered it all up. If they say “contact us”, you’re wasting your time you will never ever get anything.

I’ve spent five weeks calling and emailing. I got no response. They only protect their reputation. People from customer service should be sacked; they lie and commit fraud to deny your claims. I accept I have lost thousands of dollars in damages and I accept Airbnb will never pay me. Be careful of Airbnb Australia.

Beware When Extending Airbnb Bookings

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A while back I went home to Australia for a few months and booked an apartment for my stay. The place I wanted wasn’t available for the last week of my stay but I booked it anyway, thinking I could stay somewhere else for the last week.

During my stay, I went onto the listing and found out the next guests had cancelled and I could book that extra week. Great, except when I went to book, that extra week was going to cost me around $3000. The place was less than $100 a night so I thought it was a glitch and got in touch with Airbnb.

What happened was the host had raised the nightly price on the Airbnb site during my stay and Airbnb wanted to charge me the new price for my entire stay. I had to pay the higher price for the period I’d already stayed, not just the extra week.

Luckily, in my case I got in touch with the host who was horrified and happily put in special pricing on his end so I could book the extra week at the original price. However, that isn’t always going to happen and if it hadn’t been such a huge difference in the price, I probably wouldn’t even have noticed. I wanted to post this because it’s something people aren’t aware of and could really screw guests over.

AirbnBS: Customers Want the Cheapest Option

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I had several listings in central Sydney. The idea was to ‘test’ Airbnb at a few different market levels ranging through cheap, mid-market and high end. My experience has been that the only successful listings are the cheap ones. The reason for this is because Airbnb guests are inherent cheapskates.

Listings at the cheapest end of the market (a share room, backpacker style dorm) show a constant demand and high occupancy and as long as the photos and description are accurate and specific, the guests do not have any grounds for high expectations and, equally, any sustainable grounds for complaint. Alternatively, the opposite is true of mid-market and high end listings.

To attract bookings you have to be highly competitive and provide a full range of amenities, all of which are grounds for some kind of complaint by an asshole cheapskate trying for a free nights accommodation. My advice is keep it cheap and keep it simple and decline any guest who asks any question to which the answer is detailed in the listing preview. The enemy of profitability is time – don’t waste it. Stack ’em high, sell ’em cheap and don’t take any shit from guests or management.

Australia Airbnb Cancelled the Day of Travel

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I booked a two bedroom apartment in Melbourne for myself and my mother a month before our trip. We were coming from New Zealand for a Bon Jovi concert.

The host had good reviews and several other properties listed with Airbnb so I felt pretty secure with the deal. I did start to wonder though when it got to three days before take off and I hadn’t heard anything from the host. I sent an email asking for directions or some sort of acknowledgment that this was all good to go ahead. There was no reply.

The days ticked by and there was still no communication at all. The anxiety crept in but I thought I had the confirmation, it was all paid, and it was going to happen. We were flying out at 3:30 PM as I was working the early shift from 5 AM.

I woke up at 3:45 AM for work, only to find an email from Airbnb an hour earlier stating that the host had cancelled the booking. This asshat cancelled it literally hours before we were due to leave. No explanation, no personal apology from the host, just a “here are some similar listings”, which were all one bedroom places.

Obviously I was steaming and trying to find a place before my shift started, but here’s the clincher that put me off for life: when I expressed my annoyance (I use the term lightly), the help desk lad replied with “I understand as I have had the same thing happen to me.”

What? So this is a common occurrence? We were flying out in ten hours and eight of those I was working. When I pressed for an explanation, the help desk guy said the host had “trouble getting access to the apartment” and that he would “absolutely be reprimanded” (but only once I asked what action would be taken).

Upon speaking to my sister, she said the same thing had happened to her in Ireland. Luckily I found an awesome apartment on hotels.com, my usual go-to and where I should’ve gone in the first place. Airbnb said they would refund me but it took over a week; lucky I had the funds to book something else. Never again.

Airbnb Makes Fawlty Towers look like the Hilton

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Do not stay at a certain Airbnb property at Newport beach in Sydney. It’s not a house; it’s an apartment in the middle floor of what once was a house. It has the most dangerous flight of stairs leading down to the apartment with no railings, loose pavement, and roots growing across the pathway. The security lights don’t work properly so at night you get halfway down and you are plunged into complete darkness.

It has the most uncomfortable lounges I have ever sat on; a bed of nails would be more comfortable. The place is a bit old and tired. Parking at the place is impossible on the street; it’s a narrow goat track and while she might give you one spot in her driveway, she advertises the property as sleeping nine guests. In reality, there are two bedrooms stuffed full of bunk beds and a master bedroom.

The host is bordering on a psychopath. The cupboards are stuffed full of unsorted junk from cables, broken toys, and scratched CDs. I think she is a hoarder. She seems pleasant at first but if you cross her watch out. One day I was parked illegally because we came out at night and couldn’t see the one rusty, tree-covered sign which had a 4-hour no parking zone on a Wednesday so the garbage trucks can get around the goat track. She was so vindictive she rang the ranger and had me booked; it cost $120, which I am appealing.

She was endlessly complaining about the noise we made but she spent her day dragging something across the floor which we heard in the apartment… probably dead bodies of other complaining guests to bury. She endlessly texted us about the most trivial things but couldn’t come downstairs and tell us to move the car. We couldn’t wait to leave.

The worst is when we left we photographed the entire place and three hours later she hit us up for an extra $360 for extra cleaning. We left it spotless. So I pulled the metadata off her photos and found she had gone in and messed up the place three hours after we left as the metadata has the time in the data. I showed her and Airbnb our photo metadata and hers and thankfully it was dropped.

We left a blender motor there in our rush to get as far away as possible so she said she would mail it back if I sent down a return postage bag. $30 later after saying she had mailed it has never arrived. If you want a holiday from hell, stay here. Airbnb was sympathetic but did nothing in the end. She has all these excellent reviews and I’m sure if you don’t cross her path it might be a reasonably pleasant stay, but don’t complain. The photo she uses on her page of sweeping views of Newport is not the view from the apartment. You’re in a gully with a tree obscuring most of the view; the place is hell. It makes Fawlty Towers look like the Hilton.

Airbnb Host Lied About Refund to Cover up her Mess

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On March 21st this year, my niece, her husband, and I stayed at an Airbnb property in Merimbula NSW, Australia. The three of us were on a road trip taking in parts of NSW and Victoria, and unfortunately our stay there was near the beginning of the trip. This property was not a good introduction to travelling in this country for my relatives who were visiting from the U.K.

On arriving at the property and taking an initial look around, my niece, who was walking upstairs to the main bedroom, could see the side of the bed where the doona was not fully covering the mattress. She was horrified to see a mark on the sheet, and on closer inspection, to realise it was blood.

She then called me and her husband to take a look and we found several more blood stains on the bottom sheet. The doona had obviously been laid on top of the sheet while the blood was fresh as there was a mark on the doona cover directly above one of the blood stains on the sheet.

I immediately rang the host, who sounded genuinely horrified and asked me to send some photos over to her, which I did right away. On receiving them, she rang me straight back and told me that it was the first time she’d used the cleaner (her usual cleaner was away) and was appalled and what we’d found. At the time she couldn’t apologise enough, telling me there was nothing she could do to help as she was on a course in the mountains, but promised me a full refund.

We then spent some time searching the property for clean bed linen (most of the cupboards were locked), only finding two doona covers which were a screwed-up bundle in the bottom of a cupboard. We stripped the stained linen off the bed and replaced it with these two doona covers and as we had no other option, my niece and her husband spent a nervous and uncomfortable night, sleeping on bedding that they didn’t even know whether or not was clean, but felt it was better than sleeping on blood-stained linen.

I declined from writing a negative comment on Airbnb as the host had been so obliging in offering us a full refund for the inconvenience caused. It is a decision I have come to regret, as despite my contacting the host I have received no refund at all. My niece has also sent two emails to her from the U.K. through the Airbnb site, and heard nothing. We are assuming she is totally ignoring us.

The experience we had here was a great disappointment, very unsettling, extremely unhygienic and totally unacceptable. I feel that other people should be made aware of what might await them at this property and that this host should not be permitted to continue to offer it for use. I would also like to add that we stayed at many other Airbnb properties on our trip which were all lovely and restored our confidence in other hosts.

Blood on Sheets Made us Leave Airbnb Early

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On March 21st this year my niece, her husband (visiting from the UK), and I stayed at an Airbnb property in Merimbula NSW. On arrival we were horrified to find blood on the bedding in the main bedroom. I rang the host who sounded genuinely horrified and asked if I could send photos, which I did. She called back and said she was unable to help as she was in the Blue Mountains but said she would give us a full refund.

We spent a very uncomfortable night at the property, as we had no other options. There was no clean bedding in the unit and thus we had to make do by sleeping on a spare doona cover. It was very unhygienic, unsettling and totally unacceptable. Despite both myself and my niece repeatedly trying to contact the host since March by telephone and email, she has not responded and no refund has been received for our stay, as she had promised. This was extremely poor on her part and I would urge anyone considering a stay here to find somewhere else. The host should not be permitted to continue to offer this property for use. Extremely disappointing.