Tag Archives: airbnb crazy host

Kicked Out of Property, Airbnb Made it Right

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A day before our departure after a good four-day stay our hostess kicked us out of her house. She went in the house when we were gone to “check her plants” which I had been watering for her. She didn’t like that my wife put her carry-on bag on the leather ottoman and a duvet in another room because it was damp and musty in that room. We were on the ocean with no air conditioning. The whole house was damp and musty.

The hostess sent me a nastygram and then confronted me at the front door. She used very foul language and gestures and kicked us out with one hour to leave. She said she was going to get the police. Ridiculous…

We left in one hour and left the house in the same condition we found it. I got us a hotel room for the night and we survived. I contacted Airbnb immediately with an email message and a phone call. They handled it very well. They were very empathetic and even reimbursed us for the hotel room. They also banned this woman from using Airbnb.

They told me she was very uncooperative with their investigation. No surprise there. I was concerned that she would continue to use Airbnb and attempt to ruin someone else’s hard earned money and vacation time. I am completely satisfied with how Airbnb handled the situation and I will use them again.

The Mystery of the Host’s Black Curtain…

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It was a basic schoolboy/girl error. I have watched enough TV crime detective series so why on earth didn’t alarm bells ring when I saw mention of personal belongings behind a black curtain on the Airbnb listing for what appears to be a charming and well-located ‘apartment’ at the heart of an historic German city?

All seemed fine on making the two-night reservation. The host accepted my solo female traveller booking and a few days before check-in I messaged him, helpfully I thought, with my arrival time in the city. To my surprise I received a very abrupt response, telling me he wouldn’t be providing any details until 24 hours before check-in, not ideal as I was already travelling with limited wifi access but oh well.

Instructions arrived promptly, and I collected keys from a gruff local shopkeeper. On arrival at the property, I dropped a line to my host to let him know I was safely inside. He immediately replied – like in two seconds – insisting that I gave him a five-star review before I’d even put my bags down. He added ominously “do not touch any of the belongings behind the black curtain.”

I glanced across at the curtain in question. It was a very flimsy piece of sheer fabric hung over a kitchen alcove stacked with plastic boxes. I thought no more of it until the following day. I received umpteen abrupt, accusatory texts from the host (which I have saved as screenshots) that put me on edge to say the least. In the first two, he said I had made his front window ‘messy’ but gave no indication as to how that could possibly be.

My heart started beating a little faster when, a few minutes later, I got the next one. He claimed his neighbour had told him that I ‘love’ his black curtain and that I had been going through his belongings… what? I glanced at the windows front and back and realised the lack of blinds or much in the way of curtains would make it possible for someone to see right inside with a strong pair of binoculars. That said, I had not gone near his alcove of mysteries, nor would I. So what was he on about?

Feeling unnerved and by this point seriously considering paying to stay the second night in a hotel, I glanced again at the listing and his reviews. I was struck by how many negative reviews he’d given his guests despite their seemingly positive public reviews. He’d accused several of going through his stuff. I calmed myself down – perhaps he had experienced some very bad tenants that had left him feeling anxious and hyper-vigilant? Still, my mind boggled. Why did he keep his precious things in such a vulnerable place instead of in storage?

I settled myself down on the balcony with my book and salad to distract myself from all negative thoughts – this was meant to be a relaxing mini break from work after all. I’d be gone early the next day. Then I caught movement through the corner of my eye. There was a man standing in the centre of the open plan studio holding a key to the door. I leapt up in shock and fear and, seeing my surprise, he muttered that he lived downstairs and had permission to access the wifi hub in the studio, which apparently served the entire building.

I ushered him out of the door politely in case things turned nasty, and contacted the host. Instead of apologising, the host replied defensively that it was my fault for not answering when he knocked and range the bell. Again… what knock, what bell? How would he even know so soon after the incident? Needless to say I left and I never did find out what was behind the black curtain…

Airbnb Host Won’t Acknowledge Paint Fumes

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We had the most horrible night at this Airbnb due to the host recently painting all of the woodwork in this Victorian bedroom with gloss paint. My eyes were stinging, my nose and throat were burning. My husband was exhausted as our check in wasn’t until 4:00 PM so we had from 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM walking around sightseeing to kill time in Kirkwall.

He didn’t want to leave to find alternative accommodations. I saw a hotel down the street, which he agreed that if they had availability we would move, but they didn’t. We could only get one window to open; the rest of the windows were painted shut. When we saw the host we told him the paint bothered us. He just said it was recently decorated and that it should air out by keeping the window open; it didn’t because all of the painted woodwork was around the windows.

We found a fan and had that in front of the windows and my husband found a face mask in his first aid kit for me to wear. The next morning we asked the table of two other couples if they were bothered by paint fumes, one couple also noticed the fresh paint smell, the other couple didn’t (their room wasn’t painted). When the host came into the room and asked how we slept I told him that the paint fumes bothered me and he acted like I was crazy and stated that no one else complained (the other couple didn’t speak up). Frankly, it was embarrassing.

On the way out I asked for a receipt and they couldn’t be bothered to get me one. Instead, they rehashed why I should be so bothered by paint fumes. When we got home, I made a list of complaints which I posted on Airbnb and Tripadvisor. When he read them he went off his rocker and started accusing us of being nightmare guests and advising people to avoid us like the plague.

He even went so far as to read through four years of my Tripadvisor reviews and to look me up on the internet trying to look for any dirt on me he could find. The worse he could find was that I complained about odours a few times and had three complaints of food related illnesses out of 250 reviews. I’m just hoping his nasty response shows him in a bad light. They are nothing but a pair of liars and scam artists.

Penthouse in Chiang Mai with Dismissive Host

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Do not rent this apartment. Stay away from this apartment and landlord. If you are spending this kind of money, you are a discerning traveler. I lived in the unit for nearly five weeks and know the unit and building inside and out. The building is very old but in a good location. The building certainly has not kept up with newer properties in the Nimman area of Chiang Mai. I knew about the airplanes taking off low and overhead, one every five minutes or less from 12:15 AM to 5:45 AM, but that was just the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Moments after I checked out of the unit after nearly five weeks of staying there, I got a email from Airbnb asking for about $700. I was shocked, but this is how the landlord operates. I completely disputed her claim and would not pay the money requested. As a matter of fact, I have received a partial refund for my problems. Who do you believe?

On March 3rd, we had a walk-through and she returned my security deposit and was all smiles but now is trying to “retrade” the rental rate, which from the messaging she was always complaining about my low rental rate. Let me further explain my side of things.

First off, she claimed I fried the security camera. I don’t know one way or the other about the security cameras, but I’m sure I had nothing to do with it. During my stay there were many surges or brief disruptions of power that required me to go into the utility closet and reset the internet router. The router was next the security system main box, or at least I believed it to be the security camera main box. I noticed that all of this was connected to a surge protector power strip. So based on that alone there is no way the system is fried. She just doesn’t know how to reset.

As another layer of power protection, I noticed the security system also had a spare backup battery. If you know anything about power backups, you know they also offer surge power protection. The landlord lives in Bangkok and is basically absentee, so she has no idea what is going on, and only wants to collect money and not deal with the responsibilities of ownership. The backup battery is probably dead. There’s no way that the system was fried. She’s just a mean lady and trying to get money out of me. I do not accept this.

The landlord also doesn’t know how to work her electronics which she admitted to me on day one. I have a whole list of things that she refused to acknowledge that I raised on day one. Most importantly, the place was uninhabitable because of bar and nightclub noise and loud music festivals across the street. Besides the outrageously loud festivals where the mattress, walls, and windows shook, the apartment throbbed with bar and nightclub bass and noise seven days a week. I have lots of videos documenting this.

Another major problem was that one of the major air conditioners was blowing hot air and would not work. As result, the apartment was much warmer than it should have been. I have video of the thermostat where it shows the big main room is 84.4 degrees. I complained in writing on day one about this. She was very quick to say that since I got a discount, she was not up for repairs or problems and insisted ‘everything was perfect’. Upon checkout I showed her the problem with the air-conditioner and she said that since it would’ve taken four workmen to address the problem she did not want to disturb me. That was a bunch of baloney. She’s a double crosser.

The showerhead needed to be replaced because there was build up inside the shower head. I complained in an email on day one about the shower head. It’s either in a direct email to her or in the Airbnb messages, not sure. She would not admit to this and insisted everything was fine (from far away Bangkok). Now she is trying to charge me saying I ruined the shower head. It might simply need to be tightened – I’m not sure. She didn’t even check, and she’s just trying to charge me.

The fan is kitchen was out, which made the kitchen operations less than ideal. The apartment smelled of whatever the next door neighbor was cooking. She was terribly bitter about sending a man out to set up the cable box. She’s very mean.

The bedding was a joke. On day one we complained we had a comforter with just the insides but no duvet. There was no response except to question my ‘mental stability’. Today during the walkthrough she surmised that if only the cleaning knew to add a duvet it would have been done. She had an answer for everything but it never solved the problem. The king mattress was a $99 special so I offered to split the cost of a foam topper but got scolded in writing.

We were promised weekly cleaning but only got one weekly cleaning in the 33+ days we were there. Meanwhile we kept the place in immaculate condition. Thirteen ceiling lights were out which she failed to deal with prior to delivery (absentee). I took it upon my myself to go into old town (major traffic) to a wholesale lighting supplier and spent the afternoon on a ladder replacing lightbulbs. When I informed her of this, she never thanked me or acknowledged it, just continued to attack me in messages.

On day one, I complained about these issues, especially the bad AC and the festival noise, and she said that I didn’t pay enough to get 24-hour service and that otherwise everything was fine. I responded with some hot rhetoric but never crossed the line (because my mother raised me right). She then threatened to have the Thai military police toss me out, and I have this in so many words in writing.

Furthermore, she questioned my mental stability in writing, when in fact I’m a meditator, yogi, vegan, and strivingly conscious person for whatever that is worth to you. Following her threat, I sent her an apology email because I was literally afraid for my well being. Thai military police don’t ask questions. Think about that for a minute. An Airbnb property being the nexus of threatening American citizens like this.

The good guy part of me also wanted to be on good terms with someone like my landlord. She was holding $660 cash as a security today upon checkout, and she gave me back only $450 because she says I used too much electricity. In fact the contract allowed for 50 kW per day, but there was just the two of us, and it turns out 50 kW a day is not enough. This is unethical. It’s a set up to be able to hold some of the security deposit. What a scam. I then learned that it is against Airbnb policy to give and accept cash for security. She’s an experienced landlord with Airbnb so she should have known better. I did not.

Sorry Airbnb. I have written a candid and truthful review. People should know the truth. People who spend this kind of money expect more and they expect to be treated the way that they would treat someone. You know who you are. The landlord’s approach to everything is not acceptable. Find another place to stay.

Airbnb Nightmare Host Goes to Extremes for Cash

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Just prior to my departure from Canada to the UK, the host cancelled the booking we had made ten months prior. Airbnb sent a few recommendations, and we selected one. The pictures on the Airbnb website showed a spacious environment, in which the French Door from the kitchen was open and I assumed led to a garden. I assumed it was a terrace house since that is the style of house I had originally booked.

The property was actually a former counsel flat. The French Doors opened onto a tiny deck measuring approximately two feet by two feet, a far cry from a private garden. The entranceway to the property was littered with garbage and the stairway smelt of urine. A large sign was posted outside the entrance way stating that the authorities were aware of all the violence in this building and surrounding grounds and will be increasing their surveillance of the area. I felt played. I was so terribly mislead. The homeowner told me the doors to the flat needed to be locked at all times due to the high crime rate in the building. Happy holidays.

Do not take Airbnb property recommendations. Do not rent properties that do not show the outside of the building from both the front and back. To protect yourself from bad hosts, I would strongly recommend you take pictures of the inside and outside of the property on arrival and again when you leave, so the condition in which you left a property can not be debated.

The second location I had the displeasure of staying at was in Somerset. The posting made it sound that the house was located in the townsite of Shepton Mallet, but it was in the district of Shepton Mallet, a 15-minute drive to the townsite and any amenities. The pictures on the Airbnb website made the dwelling look much larger than it was and showed lovely white leather furniture. In reality, the inside of the home looked more like a charity shop with all mismatched furniture. The pictures of the outside of the chapel style home showed a lovely manicured lawn, with a fence since the home was supposed to be dog-friendly. We chose this rental primary based on that picture. The garden actually belonged to the neighbour.

On the day of our arrival, we were treated to an extensive electronic rule book and all the additional fees, such as utilities, that could be added after our stay. All additional charges were at the discretion of the host after our departure. Before we left the home my daughter and I tidied up, mopped the floors, put away all the dishes, following the host’s instructions to the letter. The house lacked basic cleaning supplies, and the electronic rule book had stated if there were no cleaning supplies, it was up the guest to buy them.

After our departure, the host fined us for the recycling bin being full and then gave us a bad review for having a full recycling box. Looking for additional funds, they searched the contents of our sealed garbage bags. Potato chip packages were deemed party food, and were written into the review as evidence we were “extreme partiers.” Again, potato chip packages that were pilfered from trash bags. The dog’s adsorbent mats, which we had brought in case the dog had an accident and to protect the host’s home, were found in the garbage and we were billed for them.

These people dug though our garbage to find things to bill for. I find it sickening that the host went through our sealed garbage bags and wrote about us based on the contents. I felt violated. Once again, I felt like I had been played as a fool and was angry that I had spent so much time cleaning up the place and leaving it in much better condition than I found it. I am appalled that this type of host is allowed to continue with Airbnb; she is dishonest, a cheat, and vulgar. All I can assume based on her behaviour she must have a severe mental disorder that has been left untreated.

Ask your host for the square footage of the dwelling, since photographs can be very deceptive and misrepresent the size of the dwelling. Ask your host if the photos of the property are an accurate depiction, and when they were taken. Ask your host if there are additional fees that do not appear on the website. Ask your host about the rules for pets. Do not put dog mats in the property’s garbage bin. It can not be understated how much you need to protect yourself from dishonest hosts, by taking picture of the property on arrival and on departure, and time stamp them.

Had to call the police to get insane Airbnb host out of rental

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This is a very important story because the person involved has been sharing fake information around social media about my boyfriend and me. Basically my boyfriend and I are moving to Lisbon. He’s Brazilian and I’m French.

We booked an Airbnb for ten days so we could visit and find an apartment. Before we arrived we had communicated with the host in English, but when we arrived and she found out my boyfriend speaks Portuguese, she completely ignored me and did a 30-minute speech on transport (though my boyfriend told her several times we would find our way with Google).

The apartment was kind of alright. There were a few problems like the shower being cold and the wifi not working but I started getting bitten by something on the bed at night. The next night I got bitten again and my boyfriend messaged the host to tell her about it. We were getting ready, as we had loads of administrative meetings during the day. I got out of my shower, my boyfriend was taking his and as I was dressing up the bell of the apartment rang and someone banged on the window.

Surprised and undressed, I quickly put a towel around me and opened the door. It was the host who had already unlocked the entrance door and was waiting in front of ours. She had not sent a message, or called to tell us she was coming. I asked her nicely to wait two minutes so I could put some clothes on and tell my boyfriend to get out since she still refused to speak English to me.

When we opened the door she was in a fury, shouting because we had made her wait outside (I don’t think it was rude of me to ask her to wait two minutes to put clothes on). She ran to the kitchen to look at the boiler and said we had touched it and this was the reason why the showers were cold. We obviously had not touched her boiler and the showers were getting cold for the second person.

She also went into the bedroom and took pictures of my suitcase and blamed us for being the cause of the bedbugs. Obviously she was not going to take responsibility for any of the problems in her apartment. We had a busy day planned, so we asked her to leave because we did not feel confortable leaving our belongings (two Macbooks, a PS4, etc.) with her. She replied that she would not leave because she owned the place.

We told her we were renting the place and she was not allowed to do this. She said the laws in Portugal were not the same as those in Brazil or France and she was allowed to do whatever she wanted. We told her we would call the police and ask Airbnb to pay us back if she did not leave. She started looking at something in her purse and said things like “You have no idea who I am; don’t you think I know what Brazilians like you are coming to do here?”

She was being weird about not speaking English and this comment just confirmed how racist she was and implying we were some sort of illegal refugees. Once the police answered and were on their way she finally decided to leave the apartment and camp in front. After a long time and a lost afternoon, the police arrived and said they were not able to do anything since she was not inside. She tried to talk to them about water and bedbugs but the police left due to the lack of criminal offence from us.

We packed our stuff and left quickly since we were so stressed and afraid she would come back. She came unannounced and is now posting about my boyfriend and me on social media, saying we are scammers and we were only trying to get a free trip. She referred to me as a small blond who only speaks English. Another sign of her racism.

My only question: why make money off tourists if you don’t like them? She also kept making Airbnb call us, saying we had not dropped off the keys in the letter box. Airbnb told us to do so from her instructions. What I think is that this lady has issues, cannot deal with being wrong, will do anything to impose her version of events, and go to crazy lengths to make sure people will believe her.

TL;DR The host of my Airbnb came unannounced due to some problems we messaged her about. We had a busy day so we asked her to leave but she shouted that it was her place and she did not have to leave. After ten minutes of arguments we called the police so she left. Now she has been sharing fake information about my boyfriend and me on social media. She acted insane; she kept shouting, blaming us for the problems in the apartment, and refusing to leave the place we paid for. Now she’s posting about us being scammers in Lisbon.

Disappointing Experience with Vindictive Host

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We recently stayed (Boxing Day 2017) at this Airbnb and found the experience to be less than that what we have come expect and what we are accustomed to with Airbnb. We had two friends with us (this was their Christmas present from us, and their first experience with Airbnb) and sadly they have stated that they would never use Airbnb if this was an example of what to expect.

The host was not home when we arrived, which wasn’t an issue. When she arrived home, she was very communicative. We had no issue with the host at this point. However, the facilities were not as we expected. The pool was green, and although it was to cool to swim on that particular day, anyone arriving later in the week would not have had the option, though it is clearly listed as an attraction on the Airbnb page. The host stated she had told us that the pool was not usable but we do not recall her saying this at any point.

There was very limited communication by the host, and the normal message from Airbnb to “pack your bags”, etc. was not sent to my email. We had to contact the host on Christmas Day to ensure that the booking was confirmed, and received a terse message to say that the booking had been confirmed months ago.

There was street parking only (not an issue as the area is quite safe). The listing stated ‘private facilities’ for our use; however, this was not the case. The bathroom was full of cosmetics, and items used by the family, and whilst there, the child of the house was using these facilities. There was no soap to wash our hands in either the upstairs or downstairs bathroom/toilet (which makes one wonder about the hygiene of the family members).

The house itself was definitely not clean, contrary to what the host replied in her review. A ‘continental breakfast’ was offered – we declined as we are on a special diet – but we told the host that the other couple with us would like the breakfast. On the morning of our departure the host said she normally sets up the breakfast for guests but had to rush off to drop her son off to a camp. She waved towards the cupboard and said ‘help yourself, there is bread in there and in the freezer’. We found a loaf of white bread, not the continental breakfast items as clearly stated on the listing.

We left the place tidy, and pondered for several days about what to state in the review. We decided to give an honest review, and then on the evening of January 2nd received a very nasty phone call from the host, followed by an equally nasty strange message that we were sent to her house to “deliberately sabotage [the experience] and that they were set up and will make the connection. Nobody is that cheap. The public domain will speak for itself. You are so unsophisticated.”

In the phone call she mentioned a couple of names of the people that had ‘set us up’. We are very perplexed by this as this was a completely cold contact found on Airbnb and we booked in August 2017. The phone call and message left us both very shaken, feeling threatened, and will make us more wary of using Airbnb in the future and giving honest reviews. My husband is currently recovering from cancer, which we chatted about with the host very openly, her final words on the nasty phone call were ‘no wonder you have cancer’ and then hung up, which left us both very distressed and having a sleepless night. This was followed up by the strange text message.

Stalker Host Keeps up Messages for Weeks

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I had a reservation for last week and had stated that I’d try to arrive at the host’s place by the 9:00 PM check-in deadline. I flew instead of driving, so I was on the property at 5:15 PM. I had to request the address several times, but could’ve been late because I was flying. The host was very rude when I called, saying that I wasn’t supposed to arrive until 9:00 PM… I never said that.

The property exterior was really junky: some cats on the porch that I was allergic to. Airbnb was awesome, though, when I had to cancel the reservation. I didn’t say terrible things or write any review; I just went to a hotel and called Airbnb. Now, a week later, I’m getting texts in the middle of the night from the host, ranting long paragraphs about what a terrible person I am. I had to call Airbnb to be sure that the host didn’t get a copy of my driver’s license. I’m happy to know that hosts do not receive that information, because she is still sending the messages today.

Hosts are a bit too Overbearing at Spanish Airbnb

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I booked with Airbnb only once, and will never do it again. It was in Tenerife, Los Cristianos, and my host was a complete psychopath. Having just escaped from another psychopath, which was the reason I left the country and traveled abroad, I was pretty overwhelmed. First of all, she lied about everything, was untrustworthy and pushy, and added hidden costs for everything. I kind of knew she was off from the first time she replied to my message when I was still in the booking process; I should have listened to my intuition.

After the first few days of my stay it became worse: she started harassing me in the apartment and sending random people to “check on me”, with the typical “I am worried about you” gaslighting. I was thinking “I am an adult on vacation and you’re not my mom. You aren’t worried – you’re a psychopath.”

I started feeling so unsafe I left after one and a half weeks. I paid for a month, so I called Airbnb. Customer service was of the same mentality, especially because I made the mistake of letting the host know I was about to contact them, and being a good psychopath, she called them first with some made up BS about me as if she were the victim. I never got any refund, and I had to find new accommodations by myself in a panic. I’ll stick with hotels from now on; those provide better quality service anyway, and they’re also safer and more trustworthy. When I’m in a hotel room alone I don’t feel like I’m exposed to a sick person with no help if things go south.

Lonely and Crazy Homeowner Falsified Ad to Lure Guests

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I researched and secured what I thought was an entire home/apartment on a recent business trip to Madison, Wisconsin. Because of a large conference and a major healthcare software vendor in town, every decent hotel in town was booked solid. So I chose what I thought was a private place to stay with the understanding that it was a separate entrance so I could relax and recharge after a long day’s work.

The host’s ad said nothing about having to walk through her front door in order to gain entrance to her basement. She hovered over me and wanted to become my best friend – even in advance of me coming. She called way too much. She sent messages via the Airbnb app way too often. I should have known she was a loon. I thought she was going to sneak downstairs in the middle of the night and stand at my bedside waiting for me to wake up so she could talk to me.

Lonely, crazy people should not be allowed on Airbnb. When I called Airbnb customer service they did nothing to help me or credit me back for this nightmare experience. This host was certifiable and lies about the description of her ad so she can become your best friend. I will never use Airbnb again.