Summer Vacation Went Terribly Wrong With Airbnb

Posted on July 12, 2017

My daughter took her children for a vacation this summer to reward them for doing such a great job in school. She had never used Airbnb before, so I recommended it. She arrived at the place where the host was supposed to meet them; instead, she waited two very long frustrating hours with her very excited children. One of her children has a disability and doesn’t handle stress very well.

When they were finally let in, the place was not at all the same as the one advertised and was so dirty there was no way they could stay there. When she reached out to Airbnb, they said she would not have to contact the host and that it would be resolved quickly. The second case manager said that she should have contacted the host to have it cleaned up. Not only was the hygiene a problem, it was fraud. She is home now with her very sad children because they only had a small amount of money for this vacation and a short time. The booking was for July 6-10 and still not resolved. I have been on the phone with up to fifteen different representatives for five days and they keep telling me that a case manager will get back to me. I’m not sure what this company spends their billions of dollars on but it sure is not customer service. VRBO is the way to go.

How Airbnb Tried to Leave me Homeless in Two States

Posted on July 10, 2017

I have used Airbnb on several occasions before and always gushed about how great they are to anyone who will listen. After this week I won’t be making that mistake again. I’m currently on holiday in the USA (from Australia). I had a place booked in Chelsea, NYC with a male host and another booked with a woman in Washington DC.

The NYC host hadn’t responded to any of my emails before I came to the US but as I’d never had trouble with Airbnb hosts before I just figured he was busy or had forgotten; the booking had been accepted and Airbnb took my money so I had no reason to be worried… or so I thought. The day I was flying to New York I called him. As soon as he heard me say Airbnb, he hung up on me. He then diverted all calls from his phone so I couldn’t reach him again.

I called Airbnb customer service and they told me they’d try and get in touch with him on my behalf. I then hopped on a flight from LA to NYC and figured it would all be sorted out when I touched down. My check-in confirmation email had come through so I tried calling the host again to let him know I was on my way… again, the call was diverted. I rang Airbnb back and proceeded to have the most painful “customer service” experience of my life.

I had to repeat the most basic information over and over, and it was only after half an hour of having to talk to the representative like an intellectually challenged five year old, only after I lost my patience and started yelling into the phone in the middle of JFK airport, only after all of this did I finally pry out of her that he’d cancelled the booking while I was en route from LA. They’d already processed a refund which I was told would take up to two weeks, so I had to shell out $1300 from my holiday money to get new accommodations. Anyway, I was cranky and poor three days into my holiday but I decided to move on with life.

A week later, the day before I was due to get a bus to DC, I messaged my next host. There was no answer from her and I got distracted doing touristy stuff so I forgot to follow up until the next day. I called her before I jumped on the bus and she was shocked that her listing was still online because she hadn’t used Airbnb in a year and didn’t even live in DC anymore. I called customer service again; they told me to make another booking and they’d transfer what I’d paid. I went nuts because that option hadn’t been given to me a week ago. I made the booking, paid a little extra to make up the difference and then went without wifi access for a few hours.

When I got to DC, I found out the replacement booking had also been cancelled. Cue a very angry call back to Airbnb where I finally got someone who wasn’t completely useless and she found some options for me to choose from. With all my holiday money sunk into these cancelled bookings I didn’t really have a choice; I’d originally wanted my own place but I had to settle for a room in someone’s apartment. It wasn’t ideal, but to give credit where credit is due, my host was super friendly and accommodating so that removed heaps of stress. Still, after the past week you couldn’t pay me to risk ever booking through Airbnb again.

The Worst Response to “Airbnb is Just a Platform!”

Posted on July 6, 2017

This little nightmare starts back at the beginning of May 2017. It has just been resolved two months later and still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. At 10:00 PM the night of my reservation, I had to cancel after the host was MIA with directions on how to get into the property. Airbnb apologized for its host and the situation. They encouraged us to get a hotel room and they’d reimburse us up to $150; we spent $129 at Hampton Inn.

You must be thinking “wow!” like we were, and “how nice is that?” They really take good care of their customers. All those good feelings about Airbnb quickly vacated as time went on. I was assured twice by two different employees that everything was in place for the reimbursement. After waiting almost two months and losing patience well past the expected payout date, I called back a third time and spoke with someone who got me over to a “Customer Service Specialist” after we discovered I needed to input a payout method (like a host would) to get the reimbursement. This was news to me.

It’s not that the two-month delay wasn’t bad enough, or the misinformation; this is when it really got hellish. The specialist barked like a dog. He seemed old, cranky, short tempered, and not at all apologetic – not what you’d expect from such a “hip” company like Airbnb. He spoke over me constantly as if he was fighting for his life and this was supposed to be top management. He made sure to remind me that Airbnb is a 37 billion dollar company that is “just a platform”. He blamed us and the Airbnb representative at the time of the incident repeating over and over, “I don’t know where everybody’s head was at the time!”

He made sure to blame the host when he wasn’t blaming his underlings and asserted they are ultimately responsible because, yep you guessed it, because “Airbnb is just a platform.” I took this to mean he felt as an Airbnb manager he had no responsibility for my unpleasant, inconvenient experience with a host they vetted or the employees they hired and trained. So keep this in mind: Airbnb takes no responsibility for their hosts or employees. You’re on your own.

Well, I had quite a bit to say to this guy who claimed to be a “specialist” in the area of customer service. After pointing out that two representatives hired and trained by Airbnb, gave me incorrect instructions and information that delayed my reimbursement, you’d think an apology was in order. Nope. He just got crasser and meaner. I had to pull out the big guns and calmly repeated my dissatisfaction. I hinted and suggested an additional travel credit could smooth this all out and make up for all the mistakes Airbnb made along the way to issuing me reimbursement. Finally, he begrudgingly mentioned, “I can give you a $25 credit if that would shut you up.”

I continued to educate “the specialist” in customer service, mentioning how important it is to go above and beyond in this situation. All my suggestions were coming from my own experience as a business owner with unhappy customers. All he could bring himself to do was issue the lousy $25 credit (the maximum, according to him). A good habit to get into when dealing with these giant call centers is “resolution before disconnection.” There could at least be a confirmation number or the agent’s ID. At the most, it would be completely resolved. Try to get an email confirmation as documentation. Things get “lost” all the time in these behemoth call centers and repeating yourself is no fun.

Well, this specialist wasn’t going to have any of it: no ID, no last name, no email, no confirmation, nothing except a hearty, “just trust me, it’s taken care of.” He did take care of it finally, but the way all of it was handled should make Airbnb hide in shame for such a blatant disregard for its responsibilities as a “platform” and the ultimate satisfaction of its guests.

A Little Piece of Heaven is Airbnb Hell

Posted on June 23, 2017

Our daughter has been attending college in Maryville, Tennessee. She contacted us with the logistics for graduation. After speaking to several family members it was decided that we would look for a cabin to rent instead of all of us finding hotels. My son, who has been an Airbnb host for several years, suggested that we use Airbnb again (we had used it once before with excellent results). The search was on to find the perfect spot for 14 of us to meet and stay for the May graduation. After several emails back and forth amongst the group we had narrowed it down to two places. The reviews were great for both, and the price was about $100 difference per couple between the two. We made sure that the cabin would accommodate the group, and that it would be handicapped accessible, which was confirmed by the host.

After asking a few more questions of the host for “A Little Piece of Heaven” in Sevierville, Tennessee it was decided that we would take that one. On January 2nd, 2017, we paid $1498 for the booking. It was rented for May 18th through the 23rd. All of us were excited and I exchanged a couple of emails with the host, “Jouandot Enterprises”, telling him that we were excited.

Fast forward to the week of the trip. We were driving leaving Naples, Florida on May 17th heading to the cabin to meet up with family coming from Michigan and Pennsylvania. The host emailed me with the code for access to the cabin and wished us a safe trip. It would be a 15-hour drive and we would stay in Pigeon Forge for the night. We could not check into the cabin until 3:00 PM the following day.

After meeting up with our daughter in Pigeon Forge after her last final, we looked around and enjoyed some of the sights and then decided we would go to the grocery store and then head to the cabin.

We drove in still excited, and upon walking onto the deck noticed that there was an overturned trash can, and what looked like a planter with no plant that had been tipped over. There was dirt all over the deck. We then walked further onto the deck and there was a mop leaning against the wall and a picnic table that when leaned against literally swayed with you. There was a hot tub whose top looked to be either too small or badly damaged as there was a thick layer of dirt and waves in it. Coming onto the deck from the other side, there were molded slats around the hot tub. We saw the two rocking chairs that we had talked about sitting in to look at the view (which was by the way, still stunning). It looked like some type of varmint had been eating the wood above them, and there were wood chips all over. There were spindles on the railing that had been kicked out and had not been repaired. The gate to the deck downstairs was barely hanging on. Looking over the rail, someone had tossed a bag of garbage into the woods below and trash was scattered about.

We saw a gas grill and thought: “Well, at least there is a grill to make the burgers.” Upon further inspection, the three burners were completely rusted through and the grill was filthy.

I used the code and opened the door to look directly at the arm of a dining room chair hanging off the chair to the right, and to the left a spring sticking out of the back of the couch, which was supposed to be one of the beds.

Underneath the dinner table, there was a yellow stain. Urine? Vomit? The rug was disgusting and you could tell that it not only had been there for a while, but it had not been cleaned in a long while.

By this time, I was more than a little upset and my husband said maybe we could just clean up a little and make the best of it. We looked around in the bedrooms and there was not a blind there that hadn’t been broken or was about to fall apart. We were going to open it up some as it was overcast outside, and dark inside the cabin.

The surfaces looked to have been wiped down, but there was no pot in the coffee maker. I opened the cabinet to find the pot, with a hole in the bottom of it. There were thin quilts on the beds and questionable sheets, with no mattress pads at all. The only spare linen we found was stuffed in a magazine rack in the living room, and blankets had been thrown – not folded – in the top of the closets in both bedrooms. So the question in my mind is: how clean were they?

There were ticks in the bathroom tub and dead roach carcasses in the windowsills and on the dresser in the upstairs bedroom. There was a broken lamp stuffed in the closet that we found when looking for any spare linen.

Trying to make this cabin work was just not going to happen. I stepped outside and tried to regain my composure; I was just sick. I placed a call to the hosts and left a message. By then I was in tears as I had no idea what we were going to do… there was more family en route and nowhere to stay.

There was no way to make this cabin work; it was awful. After about fifteen minutes one of the hosts phoned me, and I explained that I was so disappointed that the cabin was filthy and in such bad disrepair. He said that he was so surprised to hear this as the people who checked out the day before said nothing. I told him that I can’t speak for other people, and I asked if he had another cabin nearby that we could try. He said that they did not. I was mid-sentence telling him that we could not stay when the call was dropped. I couldn’t get him back on the line. He texted me a few minutes later that he would call his cleaning service. I responded that we would be leaving the cabin and going to find rooms in town. I also told him that this was not just a cleaning issue; this place was in disrepair.

The host proceeded to offer us a 20% discount on the cabin if we wanted to stay. I thanked him and told him that even at no charge, we would not be staying.

As I was texting him, my sister-in-law arrived with her family – they have the handicapped son. She took one look and told me we would get a room in town.

One thing the host did say while I had him on the phone was “it is a ‘rustic’ cabin.” My response was: “I have stayed in many ‘rustic’ cabins. I’m from Idaho originally. Rustic doesn’t mean filthy and falling apart.”

I think this would be a lovely place to visit, but hosts need to have pride in their properties. Keep them clean and in good repair. This was one cabin where the reviews and the pictures did not match what we found.

For the record, we work every day. I cleaned houses and offices for many years and I am now an office manager. My husband is a painting contractor. We work very hard for our money and to be able to afford to take trips, so to find this was totally unacceptable. It was not a great way to start what was to be a celebration trip.

We went into Pigeon Forge and I tried contacting a couple of other Airbnb hosts to find available places that were available to rent for our group. We saw a Cabins USA office, and our daughter’s coach suggested we give them a try. She called them and they had one place available. It was a little bigger than we needed and more expensive; however, it was available, so we took it.

Once we had settled into the new cabin, I phoned my son and asked him what I needed to do. He instructed me to go online and cancel the reservation and then email the host and to do it through Airbnb. I got online at Airbnb and tried using the Help feature in the app to cancel. It kept giving me an error message and just continued to ask me to check in. I then typed out an email to send and tried to send it tree times, receiving an error every time.

Frustrated, I emailed the hosts from the listing on Airbnb. I explained that we had left the cabin, and would not be staying. I asked what I needed to do to request a refund.

The next morning, (19^th) I emailed the host again to confirm that we had left and asked what I needed to do to request a refund.

Within the hour, they texted me back and said that they would issue a refund through Airbnb. I responded thank you and went about the day. I thought the matter had been resolved.

We had several activities going on at the college which were about a 45-minute drive. We were there for a graduation, so we proceeded to visit with family and attended some of the festivities.

Later in the day I was shopping and I received a call from Airbnb. I explained that I was in the store and asked if they could call me back? I shared that I thought the matter was resolved as the host said that he would be issuing us a refund. However, I would be happy to speak to them, just a little later. I did ask if I could call them? I just asked that they email the contact information.

That night I checked my emails, and there was an email from Airbnb. I typed a response stating that I felt the matter was resolved. The email was sent at 10:47 PM, May 19th. This email was sent in response to the complaint that I had sent on the 18th – the one I thought had not gone through. I found this out from Airbnb Customer Service.

On the 20^th we were scheduled to move our daughter out of her dorm and into an apartment in Knoxville. It wasn’t until later that night I saw different emails on the 20th. It had taken the better part of the day to move, and I really didn’t think anyone else would be contacting me. Graduation was on the 21st and we had a dinner out so we did not get in until late. I was not looking for any emails or calls from anyone. We were just trying to enjoy this time with our daughter and family.

On May 24th after we arrived home in Florida, I reviewed the emails from different Airbnb people from May 20th. I emailed a response. There were also several “rate your stay” emails, which I kept deleting as I didn’t want to kick a dead horse. Then about the fifth time, I left a one-star review. It was short and sweet: the cabin wasn’t what we expected, we did not stay, the matter was resolved. The cabin could be much better with a little TLC. No lies, no trashing the people. Short and sweet.

In the meantime, I keep looking at my credit card and waiting for the refund. Then towards the end of May, I sent an email to the host asking if there was something more that I need to do: contact Airbnb, or what?

The next day I receive an email from them stating, “there will be no refund.” Airbnb had left it up to them since I didn’t respond. I responded with an email that stated that I had copies of the responses sent to Airbnb and to him. I explained that I didn’t think I needed to do any more than I did as he told me he was going to issue a refund. I thought the matter had been resolved. However, I also told him I understood that he did that likely so I would tell Airbnb that and not pursue the case any further.

I was so angry. Was he serious? This “host” was just going to take the $1500 and dismiss us? Well, not without a fight.

He also stated that I left him one star… so in my response, I told him that I wasn’t even going to leave that. I explained that I didn’t lie and I didn’t blast him or his cabin, I just said we didn’t stay. This guy is a real piece of work. He works Airbnb to his benefit, and the fact that he did it the way that he did, indicates he has done it before. He also shared that his reputation speaks for itself, and he wished me well.

Again, I got on the phone to Airbnb. I reached them on the same 415 number listed on this site. I spoke to a representative who sounded genuinely concerned at the predicament. She said would email me and I needed to respond. I told her I was at work, so it would be later that night or in the morning (this was Friday, June 9th). There were other photos on my husband’s phone that I needed to send as well.

She told me that I had time, just get them together and send them. On my lunch hour, the same day, I printed the texts and emails and emailed them to response@airbnb.com. This was a reply to the email that she sent to me as promised. That email went through fine. When I got home I put all of the photos together. I then tried to email them to the same email address and immediately received an error email that Airbnb did not receive the email with a link. The link took me to the listing for the cabin and hosts along with the help page.

I then called a 415 number and it was a recording that said my response person would get the message that I had phoned and be in touch. Nothing.

This brings me to June 14th at 6:00 PM. I was just walking in the door from work and my phone rang; it was Airbnb. There is a woman who confirms who I am and proceeds to tell me that they are closing my file as I have not responded to their requests… what have I been doing, then? I proceeded to explain that yes, I have responded, several times what is she talking about, and we would not be closing the file, not by a long shot.

Is there anyone there that even reads these responses? We talked for a few minutes more, and she said she understood that there was likely some confusion on my part about the need to respond since you felt the matter was resolved. Not until recently did she find out that it wasn’t. She told me that she would speak to her supervisor and get back to me by phone or by email.

Today, June 14th. Email from BobbiLee:

Hello Kim,

Thanks so much for your patience throughout this process. We appreciate the time you’ve taken to share your concerns with our team. However, we have issued our final decision for this case and we will disengage from further discussion on this topic.

We’re truly passionate about providing our community of hosts and guests with the best possible traveling experience. I’m really sorry that this hasn’t been the case here. Just know that we’re always working to improve our products and policies, and even when we aren’t able to accommodate requests, we absolutely value our users’ feedback. As a customer of Airbnb, your voice is both powerful and essential and I’ll be sure to pass your thoughts on to the right team.

Thank you for your cooperation during the mediation process and for your valued time and contribution.

Best wishes,

BobbiLee

www.airbnb.com/help

My Response June 15th:

BobbiLee,

Airbnb will “disengage” from further conversations even though this matter is far from resolved. I have not spoken to the same person twice and Airbnb feels that they have done a thorough job investigating this case? I’ve sent copies of texts and emails. I was unable to send photos, as the email address that I used to send you copies of conversations had with the hosts always produced an error. I called your corporate office number and it said that someone would be in touch, I sent emails asking what to do… and nothing. Now this?

I did send the photos to the owner. He knows what the property looked like and still couldn’t find anything wrong? He never even commented on it. Maybe he knew he wouldn’t have to provide anything to you, because Airbnb really didn’t care one way or the other? You ruled in his favor, as that’s what he told me, and left it up to him to decide on a refund? So, instead of making your host follow through on what he wrote to me, you threw me, the customer under the bus and let him decide. How convenient for you.

I find that more than a little disturbing and it is apparent to me that I will need to seek other advice. I can’t afford to just throw away $1500 for filthy accommodations.

Shame on you as the company, and shame on the hosts for thinking that this is acceptable.

We were told that we would receive a refund on the 19th at 11:47 AM from our hosts. I thought the matter fully resolved and wrote as much in an email to your staff. A refund is what I was promised and a refund is what I fully intend to pursue.

I will seek legal advice in the matter of this rental. I work hard for what I have and we paid your company up front for a cabin advertised as something it was not. These are unacceptable business practices and I’m more than a little insulted that you think that what Airbnb did was a “resolution” to this situation. You and your “host” turned what was to be a celebration of our daughter’s graduation into a nightmare!

Rest assured I will let others know what happened here. It is like being robbed.

You and your host stole money for a service that was promised and not provided, then lied.

Then neither of you notified me of anything that had changed… a little cowardly don’t you think?

Bad form Airbnb, very bad form. Question is, do you really care? I think not.

Pennie Kimberlyn Hall

Very Disappointed Consumer

As a follow-up, my husband then phoned and got a young lady on the phone to again explain what had happened. He asked to speak to a manager as it is apparent that the people who answer the phones can’t get anything done. She asked to whom we had spoken and the name of the person we last spoke to. I gave them the name of the representative and then told her there was an email signed by BobbiLee. She told us that she was trying to get through to her, but couldn’t get an answer. She said that BobbiLee was in the office. She said that she would message her to call us back ASAP. It never happened, and we have not heard from anyone since. This was the call that I was told they had received the pictures that I sent, and the cancellation email that I sent, even though I received an error message on my end? So, if they had all of the information and the pictures, how can they say that I didn’t respond to their requests for information?

I found this website. Maybe there is something that I can find out here… thanks for letting me vent. However, I am so truly disturbed by this experience that I will never use Airbnb again. The good experiences that I have had have been overshadowed by this one. I’m disgusted that others may have to go through this as well. I am going to keep working on this, I assure you. I would appreciate any feedback.

Airbnb is a Nightmare for Guests of All Ages

Posted on June 21, 2017

I am still fuming following outrageously dishonest treatment from a host in Leatherhead in the UK in early May which was arrogantly backed by Airbnb. They took over $849 AUD without providing any accommodation. I refused to stay in the accommodation shortly after check-in after enduring parking hell involving a building site with extreme restricted access in the “designated parking area” (see photo) and access to the flat. I was met with a drummer in the room above practicing and a room/flat which would never be described as “spacious” and certainly not “homely”.

The host was overseas at check-in and unreachable for three days. Instead he sent his mother to officiate, who showed no sympathy and was only concerned with defending her son. Airbnb even phoned me on my 50th birthday to tell me to take a hike and reduced me to tears as I apparently “hadn’t followed the cancellation procedure.” As far as the website was concerned, I had done so to the letter. The Airbnb representative was just nasty: she refused to take my photographic evidence into account that backed my case, saying that it was ” irrelevant” and condescendingly told me that “she didn’t have a problem with the website”.

I will never use this company again. I will certainly be warning others. The way the company operated towards me was utterly immoral and shameful and appears to deliberately make it extremely difficult to contact them. I would not trust them ever again. A disgusting organisation. Go to hell Airbnb.

Communicating with Airbnb Customer Service Abroad

Posted on June 15, 2017

I made a reservation for a place to stay while traveling and using Airbnb. I had one trip in Barcelona from June 10th to 12th and Palma from June 17th to 20th. I arrived in Barcelona on June 8th, slept at another hostel, and had an Airbnb booking on the 9th for which I also had made a reservation beforehand. That night I could not log into my Airbnb account; it said my account was disabled. I thought it was a simple mistake and sent two emails to account.inquiry@airbnb.com, one around 8:00 PM and another around 12:00 PM. Because they were not responding to my 8:00 PM email and my check in for the Airbnb place was supposed to be the next day, I was in a hurry.

I made two phone calls to the US Airbnb customer service line (to communicate with them in English). They told me that it would be dealt with as soon as possible. The next day I still did not get a response. I called the UK line (which was cheaper than calling the US) at 7:53 AM and 7:58 AM. They said this problem is dealt with by a separate department and the only way to contact them is via email. I just had to wait but they alluded that since it is still very early, the problem would be dealt with soon.

An Airbnb customer service representative sent me an email at 8:23 AM saying that he was forwarding my case to a Trust and Safety case manager and that it would be dealt with as soon as possible; I should feel free to respond. However, I still received no response. I called them 10:45 AM, 1:08 PM, 1:11, 2:15, 3:06, 4:09, and 5:37. I sent six emails. All the calls and emails were sent in vain. The people I talked to did not have the authority or knowledge to handle the problem. The people who did never contacted me. I made more calls the day afterwards, all in vain.

UK’s Airbnb customer service even told me to try making a new account and finding a new place to stay, which is absurd because they blocked my account in the first place. Later I realized that they sent me an email canceling my reservation in Palma and Barcelona on June 9th around noon. The guy I talked to at 5:37 PM told me very rudely: “Don’t waste your time, and find a hostel. I am just being honest here.”

All the guys to whom I talked beforehand told me that the situation would be dealt with as soon as possible. I wasn’t trying to find a hostel, just resolve this situation. Then I had no choice but to book a hostel. To this very day, I have not gotten a single response of any kind from the department that was supposed to be dealing with my problem. I have done nothing wrong to breach any kind of contract between Airbnb as a customer. This experience has inflicted great psychological damage and cost me extra money spent on booking a new hostel and making international calls. The money spent on booking a place on Airbnb has been refunded but the other money has not reached my account yet.

My Case was Closed Before the Case was Closed

Posted on June 14, 2017

I booked a place in Cusco, Peru that only said it accepted up to two people. When a friend decided to join us, I had to cancel and find a new place. However, upon contacting the host, she confirmed we could have three people; I rebooked the same place for the same time. Airbnb refunded $229 of the $401 fee but hasn’t refunded the cancellation portion of the fee ($172) of the first reservation that was placed in error. I am now staying at the same place for the same dates and have overpaid by $172.

Now let’s discuss Airbnb’s Customer Service or lack thereof. I contacted them to explain what had happened and the agent claimed she would try and contact the host to resolve the situation. The whole issue happened because the Airbnb system won’t allow for the correction of a cancellation made in error and they force you to rebook and pay again. Anyway, the agent wasn’t able to reach the host and I received a followup email asking if the case was resolved. I had one week to reply or the case would be closed. I did reply (three times) and finally after a few days, Airbnb sent me an email stating the case has been closed and I could resubmit to open a new case.

What just happened? There are now several other companies that do the same service as Airbnb (Hometogo for example) so I guess I’ll be looking elsewhere for my next vacation booking.

Airbnb on Twitter Blocks Customer Complaints

Posted on May 30, 2017

@AirbnbHelp, Airbnb’s Twitter customer service handle, blocks complaints. They asked me to send a direct message on Twitter when I tweeted about their bad customer service. Then they blocked me and got Twitter to take down my tweet about them. It’s a great example of an industry giant stepping all over the little guys. I took a screenshot of them blocking my account.

Refunded Double to Guest and Won’t Accept Responsibility

Posted on May 24, 2017

I issued a refund to the guest according to instructions on the Airbnb website. It was more than the amount Airnb originally charged. Airbnb gave the guest the amount they calculated as the refund I owed as well as the amount that I refunded. Trying to resolve this is a nightmare. I have called and been disconnected or hung up on twice. Even though I gave my phone number for the second call, they never called back. I did finally get an email several days later saying that I had made a mistake, not them. When responding to that, my email was kicked back saying the ticket was closed. I have never worked with a company so intent on avoiding customer service.

Airbnb Customer Service Handles Lack of Wifi Poorly

Posted on May 19, 2017

I booked an apartment through Airbnb in Madrid for a long-term stay, about 60 days. I never met the host. This wasn’t a problem, as I was shown around by her friend who was also the person I was to solely communicate with about any problems. The first thing I did when I arrived was check the wifi signal, as it was listed as an amenity on Airbnb. The connection was terrible and always disconnected due to the router being three floors away and shared by a number of other guests. I told the host’s friend about this problem as well as the host herself and they mentioned that they would bring a signal booster around within the next couple of days. I waited patiently whilst delaying my work and losing some income.

Eventually the host’s friend arrived with the signal booster which we set up and tried but it didn’t make a difference at all. The host’s friend also mentioned that some guests have had problems with the wifi in the past too. After fiddling around with the signal booster by putting it in different positions for about an hour the host’s friend gave up and left. At this point I phoned and complained to Airbnb, who told me that they would help me find a new place before my next installment of £1000+ was due. However, they did not keep their promise and this forced me to cancel my booking.

When cancelling my booking the website told me the amount due was for the next 30 days; to cover myself, I paid this so that after the 30 days were up I could move somewhere else. However, this was not the case. Upon canceling my booking on the Airbnb website it stated that I must pay for the following 30 days but it didn’t tell me that I was not entitled to use the apartment for these 30 days that I just paid for. At this point, I was in such a panic and contacted the host telling them what I had done. Luckily they agreed to still let me stay (as they should – I paid for those days). During the 30 days I was staying there I complained a number of times to the host and the host’s friend as well as Airbnb and nothing was done about the situation with the wifi.

After the 30 days were up, I moved into a new place and this time talked to Airbnb to request half of my money back. After a few emails back and forth with the woman who was dealing with my case, she stated that according to their terms and conditions I am only entitled to four days of staying there as after these four days is when I cancelled… even though I paid for 30+ days and lost out on thousands of paid work. On top of this, Airbnb could clearly see in the chat log that the host was lying through her teeth as she said that I sent her a message saying that the wifi was working when there is no such message; there were only messages of me complaining about it. I am never going to use Airbnb again. I thought being a modern company they would have some ethical consideration and take things into account rather than blasting ”according to our terms and conditions” in my face.

To sum it up, I spent £1300 on an apartment for 33 days, and they told me I was only entitled to four days’ refund as I cancelled my booking to prevent myself from losing out on more paid work due to the amenity problem. If Airbnb reads this then they can be assured that they’re going to lose a lot more money than the modest refund that I requested for being screwed over by them and the host.