Tag Archives: airbnb business model

Run Away from Airbnb to get Paid on Time

Posted on

It’s peak football season in Russia. I provided my townhouse to Airbnb guests from China. It is in Sochi. I was also helping my guests from the beginning with some situations when they mailed their football badges to the wrong address. I helped them with taxi as well. It was a lot of work, but it was okay to me, because I wanted to see my guests happy. It was my first experience with Airbnb as well… and the last one.

I have hosted my house through other websites and I have always gotten paid. But Airbnb refused to do so. First, they called me and said they would be paying me within 24 hours after the guests checked in. Later that same evening, they called me and said, “No, we will not pay you until Monday,” which is 60 hours after check in and my guests check out on Monday at 12:00 PM. Since I read too many hosts complained about not getting paid at all, I said that that was not what I agreed to. I had no trust in that system.

My guests contacted the company and offered to pay me cash and to get money back from the company. Airbnb replied: “We will not give you money back. You should not pay her any money.” Airbnb also switched my banking details from “verified” to “not verified,” which was a total lie. My banking details were good and other sites have use them with no problems.

The bottom line is: hosts have to provide a free place for their guests, guests have a ruined vacation, and then Airbnb gets away with this scam, keeping my money. Unfortunately I have more people coming though Airbnb for the FIFA games, and I have to email my guests and tell them this story. I will have to cancel their future plans to stay at my house so I don’t deal with rude customers to survive; I do not provide free housing and will not deal with this scam. I feel bad that football fans will get a cancellation from me, but I have no choice. Run from this company and never deal with them.

Airbnb Support: Kafka Meets 2001’s HAL 9000

Posted on

Fictitious conversation between two Airbnb upper management staff. Disclaimer: This conversation has no relationship to anyone or any company, living or dead.

UM Staff 1: Hey, I’ve got a great idea for saving money!

UMS 2: Yeah?

UMS 1: We just set up a support team that basically blocks customers from causing us hassle and money.

UMS 2: Ok… but won’t there be problems?

UMS 1: No, no… you see, we keep the customer absolutely powerless. Sure they will get frustrated and suicidal and their finances will go down the toilet, but they will have no way to get past the wall that we set up, so they will never be heard. That way we can keep the commission low on the vast majority of hosts, the vast minority will sing our praises, and the minority who complain will be drowned out. Even if the customer threatens legal proceedings we can cover it from the vast amount of money we are raking in. The complaining customer will never be able to compete.

UMS 2: Hmm, sounds a little risky.

UMS 1: No, see I’ve read Kafka; you just basically gaslight the single customer, suggest their reality (fairness, morality, responsibility) is completely wrong. As for the people who have to actually interface with the… ‘customer’ we set up the HAL scenario.

UMS 2: What’s that?

UMS 1: Well just get the support staff to repeat ‘Siri-like’ computer generated phrases like “we have a team working on it 24/7” and use passive statements like “it has been reported to a team (that I cannot tell you the name of).”

UMS 2: Beautiful. Let’s do it!

I was delisted on June 3rd (wrongly). I can’t enter the details of my license (first attempt June 11th) into their network (computer error they say). I have been given the runaround ever since, with the last ‘senior customer service staff’ member being the least helpful. No surprise there. I am exhausted, beyond frustrated, angry, and depressed.

Has Anyone Tried Airbnb Neighbor Complaint System?

Posted on

I live next door to an Airbnb that could serve as a case study in everything that is bad and wrong about Airbnb. You name it: late night parties, daytime noise, outdoor speakers, irresponsible fires, trespassing, and so on. It is an illegal operation that the town is well aware of, yet they claim they are powerless to stop them, despite clear violations of town ordinances.

As with many municipalities, the problem here is big and growing and overwhelming to a small town. The police have been useless. All of the neighbors complain about this place amongst one another, yet most are afraid to take any action, both from a natural aversion to confrontation, but also for fear of retaliation by the Airbnb operators, including myself; they have been aggressively hostile to those of us who lived here before they bought their place and turned it into a hotel and “event house” and destroyed the privacy and tranquility of our little corner of the California desert.

It is hard to describe the destruction of a neighborhood and a way of life, but everything we moved here for has been ruined by Airbnb. Many ask: why don’t you just put up a fence? Part of the beauty of the place was the absence of fences. Everyone lived here and respected one another’s property. All that is gone. Some have asked: why don’t you just move? To that I would say: where to? Where can I live without the risk of an Airbnb opening across the street?

It is a great thing for people looking to make money with their second home, but for those of us who live next door, it is a plague. What I’m trying to find out is whether anyone has had any success with Airbnb’s neighbor complaint line. Are they genuinely responsive or are you dealing with a chat bot? How much evidence do they require to take a neighbor’s complaint seriously? Has anyone ever been delisted from Airbnb based on a neighbor’s complaint? what was the nature of that complaint? How long did it take? Thanks for any feedback with a success story.

Airbnb Host Raised Rental Price After Booking

Posted on

As my French friends advised me to book an Airbnb place instead of my already booked hotel, I decided to book a place on Airbnb in Paris. As this was my first time booking with Airbnb, I was giving special attention to reviews. After trying to contact a few hosts before actually booking, just as it is advised, and getting no answers, I found a host who was verified by Airbnb with pretty good reviews. I booked the place, sent a message, and waited.

There was no message from the host, no confirmation of my booking, and as it was already close to my departure date and possibility of cancelling my hotel booking, I decided to stick to my hotel and cancelled the request for the Airbnb booking before it was confirmed. Not more than a minute later came a message that she was about to confirm my request and another message came from Airbnb with a special price offer.

I accepted the special price offer, paid Airbnb, got confirmation, and cancelled my hotel booking. This was already three days before my departure for Paris. The next day I got a message from Airbnb saying that the hosts wanted to change my booking, raising the rate by more than 400€. I immediately tried to contact the host on the number given after confirmation, but no one answered my calls or SMS.

I was thinking ‘What the hell!?’, refused the change, and Airbnb again messaged me saying that my booking was confirmed. Half an hour later I got a message from the host saying she made a mistake and offered a price that was too low and that Airbnb was putting too many provisions on her request for a change in the booking.

I am not answering any more messages as I found this site with similar situations. She then cancelled my booking and sent me another offer for booking her place with a new price. Did she think I would book it again after all? I gave up booking on Airbnb, booked another hotel, paying more than my first booking and not in a part of Paris I wanted. I guess never again I will try to book Airbnb following all the ‘proper advice’ from them.

Pointless Bookings with no Immediate Refunds

Posted on

This was our first and last booking with Airbnb. Having booked an apartment in Spain for two weeks, the booking was accepted and we paid the total amount. I was then informed by the “host” that she was now talking to another party who was interested in the same dates plus additional days. She cancelled my booking and I was informed by Airbnb that would I be refunded within five working days. This is not good enough and totally lacks any aspect of professionalism. Once a host accepts a booking, it should a commitment, a contract. Otherwise they should be banned from any further dealings with Airbnb. Secondly, the refund into one’s account should be immediate. Not everyone can afford to wait for the refund whilst financing an alternative accommodation.

Airbnb Needs to Work on its Occupancy Taxes

Posted on

Well, After talking to five customer service people, going downtown to Airbnb’s Portland office, and getting turned away, I have just about had it. I had a reservation to start a guest rental from July 1st to July 31st. Airbnb charged her an occupancy tax of $223. The city law here is anything “fewer than 30 days” is classified as a temporary rentals, not 30 days or less. That’s one error.

To figure a new solution, we tried to add a day so we were in the 31-night category. That added over a thousand dollars for the extra night. We could not get any help from customer service. In fact, we got five or five different suggestions, which began with canceling and starting over; this would have penalties.

It seems to me Airbnb is great at wanting the business but poor at actually wanting to fix the problems. Finally a lady got back to me from the Portland office and we figured out why we could not add a day. I had listed two days before and after reservations for cleaning. If a guest needs to stay longer Airbnb’s software should have pushed the cleaning days out. I am going to look for new alternatives to Airbnb. They can afford luxury offices but can’t help fix something with what should have been done with a single phone call.

Airbnb Employees were my Worst Guests

Posted on

My bosses owned a five-bedroom house in San Francisco that was soon to be vacant so we came to an agreement that I would live there for free and host on Airbnb, and they would keep the money as rent. They stood to make a couple thousand more a month than if they just rented it out long term.

Everything was going great and I was bringing in on average $12,000/month. For the most part, I screened my guests and they were all great. I had a request from an Airbnb employee in Portland to book all my extra rooms as she and her coworkers had to come to San Francisco for a conference. I figured they were Airbnb employees so they wouldn’t do anything crazy; I booked the stay.

I let the contact person know that the day they were to arrive I would actually be in Napa Valley checking on some properties up there for my bosses, but I would be back the next day. It clearly stated that this was a shared house and that I, the host, live onsite. I arrived at the house in the afternoon of their second day and met the group of girls staying. We chatted a bit as they were getting ready for dinner and I said I was just dropping off my bags and then heading out to meet my friend for a drink. After a couple drinks and catching up with my firmed I returned home and went to bed. The group was still out to dinner.

At 3:00 AM I was woken up by a guy and two girls demanding that I leave. They said they rented the entire house, I was not supposed to be there, and I had to get out. I was disoriented after being woken up from a sound sleep and a bit confused. When I realized what was going on I told them that it clearly states on my listing that I as the host live on site. The kept demanding that I leave immediately. I told them I wasn’t going anywhere. They wouldn’t leave me alone. After arguing for what seemed like an hour, they finally left my room.

The next day when I woke up they were all gone and left with three nights still on their booking. I called Airbnb, explained what had happened, and told them that if they requested a refund that I would not allow it. I also requested that someone from the Portland office call me to discuss their employee’s behavior. The supervisor called back and assured me that these employees would be dealt with.

How can Airbnb Approve Properties like this?

Posted on

We were very unhappy when we arrived for our weekend break which was for our son’s wedding. We felt unable to stay in this property for the following reasons. We are a couple in our early sixties and this would have been our first Airbnb experience; the company had been highly commended through our friendship group.

The single most important reason for choosing this property was because of its location and the price suggested it would be of a higher standard. The reality of the flat bore no resemblance to the image presented in the photo. Probably the best way to make this point would be through the quality of the stair carpet, the bedding, and the towels which we felt were substandard. We were going to a wedding and there was no wardrobe space for our clothes. The bathroom was of a very low standard and frankly was damp smelling.

The overall feeling we got was that this was someone’s home minus the occupant who had simply vacated it but crucially made no provision for us as temporary tenants. Absolutely everything was left in its own place. We found it very difficult to criticize someone’s home in this way but we felt that we could not stay and immediately made alternative arrangements. We do not know how Airbnb can give their stamp of approval to properties under their umbrella but we feel that if they were to make an inspection then they would agree with our opinion. We very much hope that it will be possible to receive a full refund of the monies we paid.

Unethical Practices Towards Airbnb Hosts and Guests

Posted on

Airbnb does everything they can to misguide you as a host. Their policies are not clear. They tell you their assurance protects guests in your home but they don’t tell you that they protect items missing or damaged. When you come back and file a claim, if it’s not within 14 days of the checkout or before someone else checks in, they don’t cover it.

What’s the point? I have missing technology someone stole from my home, bleached towels and sheets that someone ruined worth over $1000, and nothing is recoverable. Airbnb doesn’t give a crap about you as a host or you as a guest. They are especially dishonest and unethical to hosts. Here is an email I got recently:

“Please be advised that, per our Terms of Service, Airbnb reserves the right to make the final determination with regard to these disputes. We are unable to reconsider the decision made in this case we’ve issued our final decision and will uphold it accordingly. As further communication will not change the outcome of this case, we must respectfully disengage from further discussion.”

Airbnb is more concerned with getting you to just roll over and get over their BS than actually helping you resolve the issue. Does this seem fair to you? If you are looking to host your place with Airbnb, don’t. If you are a guest with Airbnb, be kind to the home owners and don’t expect a hotel experience. If you want a hotel for ten guests, go rent five rooms and pay what that is worth instead of giving hosts crap.

Airbnb Treats you like a Slave with its Cancellation Fees

Posted on

There are many reasons to be angry about Airbnb. This one has me extremely livid. When Airbnb selectively demands payment in the form of cancellation fees if you as a host cancel, this is simply another way to make money out of you. Why demand money as punishment if you have a legitimate reason to cancel, and the guest has had their money refunded anyway? After all, you are working for them, hosting for their profit. What’s worse, if you have a cancellation fee unpaid and have no hosting funds coming in, Airbnb will simply wait until you next host, so they can harvest that cancellation fee right out of your account in their payout summary. This just happened to me. It wasn’t obvious what the fee was from; I had to call and ask. Another little trick to treat hosts like unwitting slaves. Just think about this – as if they aren’t making enough profit from hosts’ labour already. This little tactic should have you angry, and I want to bring it to everyone’s attention.