Our Airbnb host informed that he would be abroad during our booking dates but we did not need to be worried because he would have a friend who would come to give us a key and was in contact with the cleaner. When we got there, no one was around. We could not find his place following his directions. We had to text him so he gave us all the details and all the codes that he had not given to us. When we got in his place, it was dusty and dirty. There were even leftovers in the refrigerator. The check-out time on his profile was about noon and the check-in time was about 2:00 PM, giving him about two hours for cleaning.
He informed us that after the previous guest checked out, a cleaner had not come in to do the cleaning yet. He asked us to open the door for the cleaner at 3:00 PM. The cleaner spoke Russian; we did not. I texted him to send someone to stay with the cleaner so we could go out to do our travelling and come back when everything had done. He informed us that he had no one. Since there was nobody there, we had no choice but to become the cleaner’s supervisors.
When the bed sheets, pillow cases and blanket covers were done in the washing machine, I asked him for the dryer. He informed us that he had none so the cleaner hung them in the middle of the room to let them dry. They were soaking, with water dipping on the floor.
Time passed until 7:00 PM came around. Then the cleaner finished her work. The host informed us he wanted us to help him by paying the cleaner, and he would return the money to us later. We did not want to get involved, so we had to refuse. The cleaner looked at us with her sad eyes. It is one of the most terrible memories that we have to carry with us in our life.
It was about 7:30 PM. We informed him that we did not have clean and dry bed sheets, pillow cases and blanket covers to use for the night. I informed him that we cancelled the booking for his place and let him know that we would leave the room key at the same place that we got it. He asked for two more hours to solve the problem of the wet sheets.
When the two hours passed, we left the room. We did not get even one single contact from him between about 7:30 PM to about 9:30 PM. We looked for a hotel and checked in at about midnight. I found out later that at 11:08 PM, he texted us that there was clean and dry bedding in his place. He could provide us a proper place to sleep in at 11:08 PM, about nine hours after the about 2:00 PM informed check in time. He informed us that according to his cancellation period rules in his profile, we cancelled the booking on the check-in date, so we would get no refund.
The good, fair and prudent rules and regulations should not protect the one who did wrong. He made mistakes in his job as a host. He needs to take responsibility. While he was on his vacation abroad, we were suffering and being burdened during our vacation in Moscow because of him. We are contacting Airbnb and asking them to investigate the case for getting us a full refund.