Tag Archives: airbnb bad host

No Toilet, No Concern, Old Plumbing… Our Fault?

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My husband was working in France over the weekend of our anniversary so we decided that I would meet him in Toulouse, a city we previously had enjoyed. I picked <a href=” https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/15017680″>this Airbnb listing</a> because it looked comfortable, had a great location and most importantly, had favourable reviews.

To start: we never met our host. The meeting spot where I was going to pick up the keys from her was vague and I only figured it out the day before I left. I was having travel issues and let her know as it would affect our meeting time. Not only did she not respond to me but she did not call my husband to make sure everything worked out; he had to call her once she arrived. Her brother let my husband inside but gave him no warnings that would have been helpful like: the door is very difficult to lock and you need to jimmy it just so; only one of the windows opens; the plumbing is old and the toilet doesn’t work properly so even though I haven’t included toilet paper, you should probably not use it and not put anything inside of it because it’s due to fail at any moment.

After a weekend of the toilet making strange noises, it finally overflowed our last morning and went immediately into a hole in the floor and flooded the downstairs neighbour’s kitchen. We had a confrontation with her because it was not the first time this has happened. We cleaned up the mess and could see how to fix the toilet but as it is not our apartment (nor our responsibility), we chose not to fix it and let our host know instead. She said there had never been any problems and didn’t seem concerned that we didn’t have a toilet to use for six hours. This also didn’t factor in the importance of the Airbnb customer service team. Our host also didn’t meet us to take the keys back, stating that we should just leave them under the doormat.

A day later, we received a claim from her for 1048 euros to fix the toilet. She completely changed the machine that chews up matter from the toilet and then sends it down the tubes. She did not contact us at all, or make a claim for the security deposit. She immediately went to the Airbnb resolution center for the entire plumbing bill. My husband and I were completely baffled by this, even enraged when after all the information I gave them about her lack of empathy, how this machine works and why it fails (never from regular use), my happy cooperation was only to end in the resolution that we pay half of this bill.

We would understand if she wanted the security deposit as that is what it is for, even if we were not at fault. However, to include this as a part of the bill in any way was enough for me to cancel my account and never considering work with Airbnb again. They made no effort to act as an actual mediator, and did not send us paperwork and related material that would have helped us understand not only where the case stood but would have given us an opportunity to get more information and paperwork to strengthen our position. They feel resolved in their final decision and there is no compromise. We are going to keep fighting their lack of neutrality and pursue this as a civil case outside of Airbnb for recuperation of the cost and lawyer’s fees if need be. As someone who is skilled at mediation, I doubt the customer service agents at Airbnb have the ability to be objective in their cases; they seem to only create lazy and quick resolutions. I am furious. I will use the resources listed on this site and email the founders (as they can be found on the airbnb site and then through social media) if need be to complain.

Stranded in Seattle, Airbnb Host just Ignores Us

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We booked a room through Airbnb for three nights in Seattle. There were four of us staying in the room. We are all from Orlando, Florida, and booked this vacation because we were headed to Alaska on a cruise. We left May 10th and had a layover in Houston. We were supposed to receive an email confirmation for check-in 24 hours before the 10th but never received a call or email. We decided to call them in Houston to make sure we could check in at our scheduled time. When we called they proceeded to explain to us that the guest who stayed in the room the night before had completely wrecked the place and it needed to be inspected to make sure it was safe for us to live in for the remaining days. The man on the phone sounded sincere at the time and said no matter what happens he would set us up in one of his other places if the inspection came out negative. He also offered to send a shuttle to the Seattle airport to pick us up and bring us over to our room.

At this point we figured everything would work out okay when we landed. After a 4.5-hour flight to Seattle we made it and called Saigon Hospitality (the host) to let them know we were waiting on them. There was no answer. We called a few more times; again, there was no answer. We all called from our phones probably 5-8 times each. At this point we decided to get an Uber and go to the Saigon Hospitality Office so we could check in and get settled. We arrived at the office; the door was locked and there was a large window in the front through which we could see inside. Inside there was a lot of furniture. It looked like the furniture to the room in which we were supposed to stay. It was all stacked in the office front room as if they were using the office for storage.

We headed over in another Uber to the address of the room we were supposed to be staying in. It was a large building that was locked with no numbers or indentification outside. I asked some people going inside if it was residential and they said it was strictly an office building. At this point, we were on the side of the road in Seattle, with nowhere to stay and an Airbnb that was paid for in advance. Once again, we called Saigon Hospitality. There was no answer. After thirty minutes of waiting outside in a city with which we’re unfamiliar, we called Airbnb to see if there was anything they could do.

Let me just say that I used to love Airbnb and never had issues with them until this day. However, I will never use them again because of this event. Airbnb told us that they would try to call Saigon and see if they could reach them. They got no answer. We spent anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour and a half on the phone with Airbnb back and forth. Airbnb said there was nothing they could do for us except refund our money. They also said they would pay back our Uber rides and $25 for food. So they told us to wait it out and they would call us back.

Imagine being in a new city with four huge pieces of luggage on the side of the street without a place to go. We paid over $500 for our Airbnb and it wasn’t guaranteed when we got there. Airbnb said they wouldn’t find us another place until we waited a few hours to hear back from Saigon. We were already on the sidewalk of 1st Avenue for two hours. We started looking for hotels, only to discover a convention was in town and all hotels were $400 a night. We struggled all day to find a place that was available to us for three nights. Airbnb never called back so we called them after we finally found a new hotel, and sent them our receipts for Uber.

Ten days later, and we still have heard nothing from Saigon Hospitality or Airbnb. Airbnb is a big company all around the world, and I will never use them again. It’s their responsibility when a hospitality management company leaves you stranded to find you a new place. Nobody helped us from either of these companies. Honestly, it takes very heartless, selfish, and terrible people to leave their guests on the streets for hours with no place to go. They didn’t have to tell us they would send a shuttle; all they had to do was call us back. Saigon Hospitality has some terrible people working for them – this is not a company worth giving your money to. Don’t book with them. If you do you could end up starting your vacation miserably.

Airbnb is unreliable and that’s why I can’t book with them anymore. We got lucky that we were stranded in our home country. Imagine if we had booked a property in another country and were left on the side of the road. Airbnb should have something to fall back on when their hosts screw you over. They don’t and therefore they are an unreliable company that doesn’t deserve our money. I would rather book a hotel and know there’s a roof over my head on vacation.

He Said/He Said Airbnb Dispute with Surveillance Cameras

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My host planted surveillance cameras in at least one area. I am posting my original review, the host’s review, and my response. When I first arrived I took photos of the guest facilities as they were a mess, and stank. I had the sense that I was being watched during my entire stay, including in the bathroom. There is an area that he calls a kitchen but there was no new dining room table, and no cooking utensils or appliances other than a coffee maker that I used. I placed their large cup underneath it in case of further dripping and threw my coffee filter in the trash. I sat and ate lunch at a wooden table for twenty minutes and there was no leakage, no water or coffee damage when I left. Perhaps one of the other two guests spilled the coffee I was blamed for? The important point is his admission of checking the camera to note the time that I was in the kitchen. Does this mean I was monitored in my room and the restroom? A surveillance camera is a violation of my privacy and constitutional rights in a private setting. Here is the review that I left: “Peaceful, quiet and comfortable with many perks!”

I said more positive things but for some reason they’ve disappeared. Here are the host’s remarks:

“We would not host Jerry again, even though his other reviews were great. Jerry was polite upon arrival, but that’s the only thing he had going for him. With over 60 guests we’ve had in our home, he’s been the first guest we’ve had to call Airbnb to document a complaint about. He’s also the first guest that’s made us question continuing being hosts. He originally booked two nights, Wednesday and Thursday.

Arriving home Thursday after work to clean between my two jobs, I could only smell a strong coffee odor. I came to find out an entire cup of coffee had been spilled over the brand new kitchen table, down the side, and all over the hardwood floor with zero effort to clean it up, despite Clorox wipes and paper towels being two feet away. We looked back at the camera footage to confirm he spilled the coffee around 3:00 PM that day and got up and left it there. Up in the bathroom, soap had been poured all over the bathtub floor, causing a slipping hazard. It took a while to clean that up. I went to check the hamper in the room for towels. The hamper was half full of garbage, which ended up staining the brand new cloth hamper. Even though there’s a trash can provided right outside the bedroom door, in the dining room, and a third one by the garage, he chose to use the hamper. Instead of using it for towels, he just tossed them on the floor despite them being damp. He left the lights on 24/7 and even took our entire roll of Clorox wipes into his room without permission. I had the bathroom clean when I left for my second job. I came back to a filthy bathroom again, with toothpaste spit all in the sink and on the floor. A huge puddle of water was also on the floor that I had to clean at 11:00 PM. Friday, checkout day, he waited until 3:00 PM to checkout. Since our next guest arrived at 1:30 PM, we had to place him in a room that wasn’t meant for him. Jerry thought he’d booked for Friday night as well but had not and left upon the realization he’d accidentally booked one day too few, complaining about having to now book a hotel. After checkout we found half a dozen towels, hand towels, and wash cloths used for only a two-night stay. We only charge $30 per night to help travelers out and to help with our renovations of our new home, but his stay has cost us much more than what we made due to the damaged hamper, and ruined kitchen table that was brand new two months ago. Hopefully our hardwood floors will be fine. I work too hard to have my home treated so poorly. If he books again, I plan to ask Airbnb to cancel it.”

Finally, my response:

“Wow, I’m shocked! I wish Staunton had said something to me about all this. First, regarding toothpaste spit? I don’t have toothpaste at all. I noticed the towels being used by two friends of his that stayed one or two nights. I figured there was a shortage of towels. I did try to make coffee but only got half a cup. I did not notice any spills and I put the used filter in the trash. Maybe he’s talking about another guest? I gave him a great rating out of kindness as he’s new to the business and I overlooked a lot of inconveniences, e.g. the smell of animals in the house, no small refrigerator for personal use, no way to boil water for tea or coffee, no way to lock your room in spite of three guest rooms and finally the inconvenience of three guests/strangers using one small bathroom. The home itself was in disarray, the front yard was growing weeds and the parking was too tight. I did mistake the length of my stay but apologized profusely to his partner for the error and made no complaint regarding finding a motel room for Friday night. Based on his inaccurate and hostile comments I wouldn’t recommend this not-so-private Airbnb to anyone. By the way, I called Staunton on Friday to see if an extra night was available as he had told me originally that after Wednesday I’d be his only guest. He sent a cryptic note that he was at work and too busy to talk. This has been an unfortunate experience, the only such one since I began using Airbnb. Staunton should have talked with me about his grievances before going off on me after my kindness to him in my rating.”

A brief review: At my age of 74, I am compulsively clean:

1. I hang my towels up to dry. His guests threw theirs on the floor.

2. I do not use toothpaste as I have dentures. I noticed the toothpaste spit from the other guests. I don’t clean up after other guests.

3. Soap naturally sinks to the bottom of the tub when washed from your body.

4. Three guests for one bathroom is too much, especially with only two towel racks. I kept a dry towel in my room in order to have one when I needed it.

5. My room was not cleaned once during my stay.

6. There was no communication that anything was wrong.

7. I apologized profusely to Staunton’s cleaning man for the late checkout and my confusion about booking dates. I at no time complained about having to get a motel room.

8. There was a tiny trashcan in the bathroom that was full. There was no trashcan in my room.

9. I am totally offended by this young man and his hostile review. This has become a nightmare that I will not repeat. His review and the surveillance camera are unacceptable and deceitfully full of allegations harmful to my good standing with Airbnb with which I am now done with unless they take action in admonishing this young man.

This has ruined me to Airbnb. They are not available to hear or follow up on complaints. They need to investigate this particular listing for the surveillance cameras and take them off their site.

Update 5/23/2017:

The host has contacted me again and is now saying my coffee grounds ruined his coffee maker. He also saw a host in Darlington on my wish list and he has contacted her warning her about me. Is this legal? He also tried to message me on Facebook. Here is his latest email:
Hi Jerry,
I wanted to take a moment to message you in response to your comment left on the review. Fortunately no one can see your inaccurate response from my end. I just wanted to address some things in your response. You stated you didn’t have toothpaste, but Thursday night you were the only guest that had been there between my cleaning of the bathroom at 5:30 PM and when the next guest that arrived that night whom I personally greeted. Before their arrival is when I found a blue paste (maybe not toothpaste, but some blue goo) spit in the sink and on the carpet. Meaning no other guest could have done that between my two cleanings. As for the spill, I’m not sure how you didn’t see that since the entire table was covered, as well as the river of coffee that had ran down the side and onto the floor. Again, that was between my lunch break cleaning at 12:30 PM and my evening cleaning at 5:30 PM. You were the only one there between those hours since my two uncles and partner were all gone before 10:30 AM. I do apologize for your “inconveniences” due to the animal smell even though we’ve had several reviews, including one that stated “warm, cozy, and smelled like a resort” along with other praises on how nice our rooms smell since we keep fragrances plugged in all throughout the house. Even though the smell of dog would still be expected in a listing that states dogs live inside the home, even though we bathe her frequently. Though she’s never allowed outside the bedroom unless she’s going out the back door so she’d never be in the guest portion of the home, ever, and never has been even since moving into the home.
The next day after you left, we noticed you’d used the Keurig with raw coffee grinds which ruined a $100+ machine, since they’re meant for coffee pods only. A mini fridge was provided for your use, as well as our large, empty fridge in the kitchen. Airbnb’s typically don’t provide a mini fridge in every single room, as we are not a hotel. In the kitchen, you’d have also found ways to boil water in a pot on the stove so that’s incorrect too. We also had several notes posted in the room and our listing stating that we provide room keys so that you can lock your door anytime, but you never once asked for a room key despite it being mentioned in three places and expressed verbally. As for the inconvenience of sharing the bathroom, you could read the following on our listing: “We have two other rooms listed along with this one. If other guests have booked those rooms the same night as your stay, the bathroom would be shared.” The bathroom has a lock as well as your bedroom. We get last^minute bookings daily, sometimes as late as 3:00 AM. So if I told you we’d have no guests Wednesday night, obviously that could change at any minute. Also, you’ll have to excuse the weeds in the yard as I work eight jobs and haven’t had time to cut the grass since my cousin committed suicide recently after her father had an accident, and I’ve been too busy tending to family matters to bother with weeds in the yard. You also stated you called me Friday, but I never received a phone call from you. Only a message asking me to call. And I responded saying I was at work and could not talk. I’m unsure how that could count as cryptic since it was just a few words and stated the obvious: 1) At work. 2) Can’t talk until 5:00.
I also see you have a place in Darlington on your wishlist, a home that the woman who actually referred me to Airbnb owns, so I’ve sent her an email with fair warning. I’m sorry you had an unfortunate experience, and I’m just as sorry for how insulted and abused we felt in our home with the constant messes. I should have brought my concerns up to you, but working so many jobs the only thing I can do in my spare time is clean between guests and then I’m right back out the door to my next job. I only even remember seeing you just once during your stay. I’m sure you’re a fantastic person, as I can tell from your other three reviews and how friendly you were at check-in, but unfortunately we just had our first horrible experience and were upset with how the house was treated. Unfortunately I didn’t get to know you very well and was only left seeing bad things, and that saddens me. I want to assure you that I’m a Superhost for a reason; this past week has just been a long and upsetting week for me. I wish you the best in all of your future travels.
What are my legal rights on Airbnb, or do I need to get an attorney involved?

Airbnb Host Asked for More Money After Confirmation

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One week ago I found a good place on Airbnb to stay for a four-week holidays in Corsica (France). The price was good and I asked the host to confirm if the price included taxes, cleaning fees, or anything else unexpected. I asked the host to check the price, and he answered the price was the total amount. I booked and was asked by Airbnb to pay the whole amount as it was a “long stay”. Since that was finished, I purchased flight tickets straight away from Sweden to Corsica (the more you wait, the more you pay) – non-refundable tickets to stay on budget. I wrote to the host about my time of arrival.

Two hours later the host sent me a message, asking for more money or he would cancel the reservation. The reason? The price was wrong…

I have contacted Airbnb. There’s just one week now left before I’m supposed to arrive, but I’ve received nothing except an automatically generated reply: “we are working with your case.” There’s been no answer or anything from Airbnb. The host has sent me a request for an update of the booking and for me to pay more money (25% more). I have not confirmed anything nor rejected the reservation… yet. This is my first and last booking with Airbnb. I’ve never seen something so bad before. Has anyone been in a situation like this? What should I do?

Terrible Experience with Airbnb: Homeless Night in Tokyo

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We had a very terrible experience when traveling with Airbnb in Japan. My wife and I booked a room on Airbnb in Tokyo. Unfortunately, we encountered a very rude and aggressive host. His room was very dirty, and lacked essentials. We tried to contact the host, and hoped he could do something to resolve the problem. The host said: “How much did you pay? Just 3000 yen. You want 30000 yen worth of service? That’s impossible.”

Even worse, the host became very aggressive, trying to force us to move out of his room at midnight after he knew we reported the problems to Airbnb: “If you think my room has problems, I don’t think you should stay there tonight. Move out… You’re staying in my room, right? Well, I have the right to refuse your stay. Are we clear?”

We felt very scared because we did not know what this aggressive host would do. We had no choice but to leave that room as soon as possible. We tried to contact Airbnb but no one came to help us. There was only a phone number. What was worse, we were not able to contact Airbnb using this number but had to wait until Airbnb called us back. After more than an hour, there was still no solution from Airbnb. They just asked us to wait until the next day to contact the host for a resolution.

We felt so scared and hopeless that we had to move out of that room. We walked around the streets all night, feeling cold and hopeless, with no solution coming from Airbnb. What else could we do but wait for Airbnb’s call? Around 7:00 AM the next day, we finally received a call back from Airbnb. The agent asked us to find another room on Airbnb, and promised this problem would be resolved by 11:00 AM. However, we did not get any call or email by 11:00 AM. After a long night, we felt very exhausted and sleepy. We did not have any energy to wait for Airbnb’s solution. We were exhausted dealing with Airbnb, so we found one of the cheapest hotels in Tokyo and booked a room.

The email from Airbnb arrived at around 2:00 PM, but there was nothing meaningful:

“How are you? This is XXX, one of the Case Managers, and XXX’s colleague. My sincere apologies for what happened. I can only imagine your frustration about it. My colleague XXX will be in touch with you in regards to the refund/compensation request.”

Around 11:40 PM, we got Airbnb’s email and agent XXX told us our payment had been refunded. That was it. No compensation at all. We tried to contact him about the hotel bills and our homeless night. Airbnb closed my case again and again. We just wanted to share this story with someone who has used or will travel using Airbnb. It is really a huge risk traveling with Airbnb when you encounter the kind of host I mentioned. Airbnb can’t do anything for you. Nobody comes, there is no solution, and there’s no compensation even you are in danger. You have to wait for their call or email during their business hours. We wondered what the service fee charged by Airbnb is used for, as there’s no supervision of the host, and customer service did nothing helpful.

Today, the Airbnb agent’s attitude made us very mad. We never saw a big company bully their customers like Airbnb. What Airbnb promised was nothing; they could go back on their word whenever they wanted. Their arrogant attitude left us no choice but to share our story with the public. We are puny to Airbnb but we believe there are some people who have experienced the same situation as us.

Rude Airbnb Host in LA Stole My Jacket

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My host’s name was Vince. He lived at a house near Venice Beach in LA. While listing his property, he posted a different address; the real house was much farther from Venice Beach than the address posted. I would like to say the following to him. When I first passed this message along to Vince, he didn’t recognize me as a guest and I felt ignored. With this evidence, I would like to thoroughly clarify the Airbnb messages we exchanged.

Hi Vince,

Upon arrival, I noticed right away how your listing misrepresented the property. It was unsanitary, to say the least. Your advertisement made me falsely believe that I was going to share a secure and clean room with 4~6 people, while in reality there were closer to 35 people on the entire premises and the conditions were extremely unsanitary. I felt very uncomfortable and felt the urge to cancel my reservation right away, but decided to give it a couple of days since your rates were affordable. However, this morning, I was extremely shocked to find out that someone had stolen my leather jacket, which was kept securely in the closet in my room. It is one thing to stay in a place that has been misrepresented and unsanitary for its affordability, but it is absolutely intolerable to stay at a place where security is at concern. 

I doubt he even lived in the house. He said there were four hosts, but I didn’t know who were the hosts and who were the guests. When I asked for a refund, Vince suggested that I could stay longer if I worked on the house. I was skeptical about his management system as a guest. I cannot believe people who call themselves hosts anymore. There’s just too much uncertainty using Airbnb.

Jailed for Eight Hours a Day, No Satisfaction from Airbnb

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This is the totally honest review I wrote and the host’s character-besmirching remarks. Airbnb refuses to retract these remarks, by their host Pradeepa, and they remain on the site to this day. Thanks for allowing character assassination and slander on your website Airbnb.

If you want to be imprisoned for eight hours a day, smell incense 24/7 at a strength that would knock over a horse, have moldy coffee grounds in your coffee maker, have the hosts go in your unit and snoop around every day when you are not there for God knows what reason, hear your hosts talking loudly through paper-thin walls, have them start a remodeling project during your vacation time which you will hear and smell, and have your host break down in tears if you let her know something isn’t right, by all means, book this place. I drove 2400 miles round trip to stay here and my vacation was completely ruined. If you stay here, get a device which will secure the door that leads from their side of the house to yours because they will enter as they need to unlock it from their side; it was totally unnerving.

Airbnb takes no responsibility for their clients’ safety as they do not require a hasp or chain lock on the residences they are listing for rental, allowing anyone with a key to just walk in your temporary home when you are there. Even Motel 6 has chain and hasp locks on all their rooms. Airbnb’s lack of vigilance and caring is absolutely disturbing.

This was the response from Pradeepa:

John was apprised of our guest house policies and he agreed to conform to them without exception. He stayed for two weeks and his behavior was socially and morally unacceptable. We therefore requested he check out. His review was beyond insulting. I hope no Airbnb host will ever have to go through what we went through with John.

Socially and morally unacceptable? If this is not character assassination and slander I don’t know what is. She makes it sound as if I was a pervert and attacked her. I was respectful but told her of the issues involved and was met with tears… with her husband standing there. Unbelievable. I failed to mention the uncomfortable furniture with a dining table so small it barely held my laptop. There was no other place to set my computer. No security hasp or chain so they could and did walk in anytime they felt like snooping around. They locked the courtyard gate at 7:30 PM and didn’t open it until 7:30 AM (even though the gate was chain locked, for which they also gave me a key), leaving me with no way to get out without pounding on the door or ringing the doorbell. I am certain this is against Phoenix Fire Department regulations. I was never apprised of all their extra rules until the day after I checked in after driving 1200 miles. Had it been posted on the host’s original Airbnb listing that I would be locked in my leased unit eight to ten hours per day I would have never leased this unit from the hosts from hell.

I have complained to Airbnb before about not making their hosts have chain or hasp locks on the rental units to no avail. My only conclusion is, at this point, they are making so much money that they don’t care. Thanks also to Airbnb for having their call center in the Philippines, so between the horrible crosstalk and interference of the connection there is also a language barrier. Unbelievable…..

We Found Illegal Drugs in London Host’s Apartment

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In April 2017, we rented a London flat via Airbnb. Our host was responsive and the flat was as advertised. However, my teenage son discovered a box under the sink (while looking for a sponge to do the dishes) that had illegal drugs (small amount of marijuana) and numerous smoking paraphernalia. The host had several locked cabinets with personal possessions, so we were distressed and upset at how careless he was to leave illegal drugs (marijuana is illegal in UK) in the flat. We weren’t going to make a big deal about it, but thought it was important that the host know. His response was disappointing: he immediately blamed his cleaning crew and then past guests for the drugs in his property. Our take was that this was too big a box for a traveller – likely international – to be flying around with. It was much less likely that a guest would travel with a big box like this, hide it in the flat, and then “forget” it when he checked out. Rather, it seemed obvious to us that the drugs, smoking papers, and other items belonged to the owner of the flat who forgot or didn’t care that they were there for guests to find. The host refuses to take any responsibility and has yet to respond to our complaint with the results of his “investigation”. We called Airbnb immediately upon our return to the US to file a complaint. It’s been nearly two weeks and there has been no response from Airbnb. I guess they don’t take illegal drugs in a host’s property seriously. We’ve attached a photo of what my son found… what do you think?

Airbnb Host Accuses Guests of Swapping TV

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I’m a minority that stayed at an Airbnb in Detroit at Carla’s place from March 30 – April 28, 2017 as my husband and I prepared to move into our new home. I really believed I had a great experience. I even posted a five-star review about that experience. A week later, I received an email asking if I switched the Roku box because it was different from what she thought she had. I responded I had not. I’d never even really heard of Roku until staying at that place. (no big deal, or so I thought.) Well, the next morning I awoke to what I considered to be a bold and brazen email from the host stating that there was a smaller TV in the unit than the one she had supplied. She said she would never put one that size in the unit; it was a Proscan, and she was wondering how it got there. I froze. I made my husband check all our televisions since we did bring our son’s old TV so that he could play his video game. My husband was floored and assured me that we took our own (five year old) TV home with us. There were no new TVs in our home.

I then became angry because I felt as if I was being accused of stealing a TV a week after the fact. The brand that was in the unit was one I had never heard of. When I Googled the brand, it stated that it came with built-in Roku (the service they provide). When I asked the host about this, she apologized and said maybe her staff switched it without her knowing. You mean you would offend a guest without checking with your staff first? I told her I was surprised that she didn’t take inventory. I was hurt and felt targeted. That was very unprofessional. I informed her that I would leave another review about my experience. She asked that I handle it privately since I barbecued on the lawn and she didn’t say anything: again, unprofessional… why bring it up now? Since there were picnic tables on the lawn, I assumed we could do so. We had a small table grill and we roasted hot dogs and cleaned up our mess. Had I known we weren’t supposed to barbecue, we wouldn’t have. In closing, she said in the future they would put stickers on all their items. I have no idea what to call this experience. All I know is that, it wasn’t good after the fact. I’m still angry.

Late Cancellation Strands Guest at Seattle Event

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I joined Airbnb three months prior to an event in Seattle which I attend each Memorial Day Weekend. I made my first reservation with Dario, who apparently manages five homes in Seattle and rents rooms in each. That’s not a bed and breakfast, but I’m new to this. Dario and Airbnb sent me a cancellation notice 70 days after I made the reservation. He stated that he’s lost his lease on the property. I went online and learned Dario was still offering the property for lease up to the 25th. My reservation was from the 26th to the 29th. It is possible that he’s found people to pay a premium rate due to the event, so my reservation was cancelled. I do not know for sure. I do know the laws surrounding the leasing business. If Dario did not have a lease on the property, he is not allowed to offer it for sublease. That is the first illegal act. Of course, it’s not just an offer because I received a written confirmation and he accepted payment. The second illegal act is his failure to deliver after contracting and accepting payment. Airbnb will not permit me to review them or him on their site. The result: more people will be fooled and inconvenienced. Airbnb is another business I will avoid, and I’ll tell my friends.