Tag Archives: airbnb customer service

Guest Cancels? 50% Charge. Host Cancels? Scot Free.

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In summary: how on earth does Airbnb continue to do well? I think they lack integrity. I know they lack sincerity.

Just the facts:

1) We made a reservation with Airbnb three months ago, for seven days over Thanksgiving in a specific neighborhood in LA. We have three dogs, so we wanted a standalone house with a fenced-in yard. That’s hard to come by; that’s why made the reservation three months in advance.

2) The cost of the place was $1,800 for the week. It was a “STRICT” cancellation policy on our end, meaning we would have been charged 50% of the total stay, $900. It was a totally cool policy, as we are also hosts in northern california. We were certain of our plans, so we accepted their “strict” terms.

3) The host canceled on November 2nd, 17 days before we were to arrive, three months after they agreed to rent us the house. The host pulled their listing, so they are gone.

4) We couldn’t find another place on Airbnb in that neighborhood that took dogs, was a standalone house, and wasn’t a dump, so we scrambled to find another place. We did find one using Homeaway, but to the tune of $2,800 for that week, $1,000 more than original place. That is what happens when you are forced to wait until the last minute to book a place. That is why we did what we did three months ago, to prevent from over paying 2 1/2 weeks before the holiday week.

5) We asked and got a full refund from Airbnb for the $1,800, seeing as we couldn’t find a place through them at this late date.

6) The Airbnb case manager assigned to this oh-so highly complicated matter offered us a voucher for $100 for our troubles.

7) I asked him for a voucher of $900 because they canceled on us, and caused us to spend $1000 more than what we wanted to spend. Had we been the ones to cancel, we would have been charged $900 immediately, no questions asked. That is how I came up with the $900 figure.

8) Our double-talking case manager came back and would not give a penny more than $200. A shuffle in the right direction, but hardly a step. He talked and wrote in a very professional and seemingly sincere manner, no doubt, highly trained and polished. But there are many things you can’t polish, and one of them is Airbnb.

Airbnb Rip Off Report: Zero Customer Service

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I recently went on holiday to Italy and booked several places via Airbnb. With the exception of one, the properties were misrepresented and not as they appeared in the advertisements and photos. One apartment rental we booked in Omegna, (Lake Orta) in Italy was so bad we could not stay there; it was an absolute disgrace compared to the description and photos. I tried to contact Airbnb about any problem but it’s impossible. I tried to cancel online as soon as we arrived but all I got was one night’s refund; I lost the other two nights’ fees, an Airbnb fee, and a cleaning fee, and then had to rent a hotel room. The company obviously never checks if the place being advertised fits the description. All links online lead back to the owner so it’s impossible to get in touch with them to resolve a problem. They obviously don’t care about guests as long as they get their commission. I will never use Airbnb again.

Airbnb UK Host Held Responsible for Fake Listing

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Airbnb does not listen and does not care. I’ve just been sent an automated request for feedback on my experience. The guest has not even responded to my most recent communication four days ago and blamed my son – an excellent Airbnb host, as can be seen by the reviews by guests – for calls he has been getting about a place in the Netherlands that has no connection to him. Airbnb has not noticed that this place has no connection to him so this has caused him a nightmare, including Airbnb cancelling a booking to his real place in Brighton, UK due to the fact he was not responding to booking requests for a place that has nothing to do with him in the Netherlands. Airbnb refuses to compensate him the £600 he lost, saying he must be to blame for this false account. He is extremely careful with security and has done nothing to compromise his account.

On November 1st, he had another booking request for this retched place in the Netherlands and had to call Airbnb again. If there is such a place on Airbnb, why is it not linking to whoever actually owns it and how are they taking bookings for it? Where is the money going? Because it is certainly not going into my son’s account! Confused? Not as much as we are and Airbnb refuses to speak on the phone to sort this out. The guest just sends emails; Airbnb can only communicate this way and that is just not good enough. I gave them a zero in their feedback. Until they listen to hosts and guests, no amount of feedback will lift that score.

Airbnb Non-Payment from Successful Stay

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I had a guest for two days and Airbnb did not pay. They claim the payment did not materialize and now they have been “looking” at the issue for a week. A case manager is supposedly solving the problem with no results and no feedback on what is exactly going on. I called today and the person I spoke to threatened to hang up on me. I was not satisfied with her answer, “someone is already looking into this case,” and have no idea about the status of my claim. I asked and told her that I wish to speak to her supervisor. Her response? “There is no supervisor.”

The bottom line: I told the people I spoke with that this issue is not my problem. They approved the guest, their fees are collected lightning fast, and the mind boggling avalanche of data flows to your email, SMS, the Airbnb app, and any other contact information they have registered for you. It works with terrifying efficiency. I am not the one responsible for going after my non-paying guest. This is an issue that is definitely up to Airbnb, who subtly suggested I contact the guest for payment.

Family Vacation in Paris Ruined by Bed Bugs

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I travelled to Paris for three nights in October 2016 with my three children. It was supposed to be a dream vacation. I was so excited to stay in the “Romantic Suite Saint Germain des Pres.” I have been a huge Airbnb fan, spending over $5000 in 2016 alone with the platform (as Airbnb customer service explained to me). We are a large family, and we had never had a bad experience with Airbnb. In fact, I was promoting the site among friends and family. I felt very hip to be using the service. We arrived at the flat, and it was slightly disappointing, in the way that you realise that the photos were staged expertly showing the best possible angle. Our host did not meet us; he sent his cleaner instead.

The flat could have been cleaner, and had a strange odor. However, with three kids waiting to see Paris, I didn’t think to complain immediately or call Airbnb for help. I kept telling myself: “it will be fine.” On the last morning in the flat, my son woke up with bites on his thumb, two on his ear, and one on his face. In 40 years of international travel, I never encountered bed bugs. I was horrified, but again – we had only an evening flight; I had to get through the day. Our host told me we had to be out by 11:00 AM but could leave our bags until 3:00 PM.

We came back at 3:00 PM, and the flat stank. There were strange black spots on the bathroom floor, the cleaner had not yet arrived, and, with a bit of help from Google, it became clear to me that the flat had telltale signs of an bed bug problem. I contacted the host from the airport. He didn’t respond until 24 hours later. I then called Airbnb customer service. I spoke with “Jeffrey M.” who told me that I should stop talking and “hear him out.” I realized quite quickly in the conversation that a 20-year-old dude working the phone lines in California has not a clue in this world what it’s like to be a 40-year-old mom travelling in Europe with three children aged 6, 8 and 10 and having this experience.

I asked for a refund. Jeffrey laughed, and told me that in the history of Airbnb that never happened. He asked me to send photos – which I did – and promised to follow up with the host. Jeffrey read from his script, “I, too, travel with Airbnb and understand your frustration.” I grew up in Arizona, I can smell SoCal tripe when I hear it. The speech had all the buzzwords of empathy, but no admission of fault and no promise to resolve anything. The next day, the host finally answered, and told me that he believed there was absolutely no problem with his flat. He refused to return any funds at all. No apology, nothing. He did offer me a discount if I were to come back for a five-night stay, and suggested that perhaps my son had been “bitten during the day.”

He showed a total lack of understanding for how bed bugs operate and didn’t seem keen on finding out if his flat had them or not. He also didn’t seem to give a care in the world about what it’s like to wake up with your child covered in bites. He suggested that there could not be bed bugs because “only one of you was bitten.” With the help of Google, I now know that to be totally false. The story gets better, though!

I tried to contact Airbnb through their Twitter handle, @AirbnbHelp. I figured maybe Jeffrey M. is just a bad apple, and maybe someone at Airbnb actually cares about customers who spend thousands each year with the company. At first, the Twitter chat was friendly; they promised to look into it, etc. I sent them all my photos, and screen shots of my conversation with the host. Then I got an email from Jeffrey. He wrote to accuse me of extortion, because I dared ask if I was allowed to write a review while my claim was being looked into. Jeffrey/Airbnb officially disabled me from being able to review the property.

I hadn’t reviewed it yet, as I’d read online that if you ask for a refund you shouldn’t write a review. Now the host will keep on making money, and other families will be exposed to the bed bugs. I was in a state of shock. Never in my life, not in the worst of all hotels, would this have happened. You would walk to the front desk, show the bites, ask for a refund, and would walk away compensated for the hassle. We arrived home at midnight, stripped the kids naked (literally) in front of our front door, put everything that had been in Paris in rubbish bags, and left them in the garage. I spent the entire next day washing and drying everything on the highest possible heat setting, and disinfecting our shoes and my handbag. The dry cleaning bill… a trip to the dermatologist with my son who confirmed my conclusion about the bites… the cost of this trip keeps growing even now that we are home.

I can only pray that I rid everything of any potential to bring the bugs into our own home. To be honest, that’s a thought I can’t even begin to deal with right now. After Jeffrey accused me of extortion, and removed my ability to review the property, the Airbnb Twitter chat popped up, and they confirmed that they are in full agreement with what my case manager has done. In other words, Airbnb took my money, doesn’t give a care in the world about my horrible experience, and worst of all doesn’t let me warn others to prevent it from happening again. Meanwhile, my host is still selling his fairy tale of romantic Paris.

I am, for once, left speechless. I studied at Harvard Business School. I know a bit about business models. So I’ve now come to the conclusion that this is how Airbnb rolls: ramp up as many as possible hosts & guests, generate as much as possible turnover – this in turn maximises valuation – take the whole thing public, then a few young guys who know nothing about family travel or normal people’s lives make themselves billionaires. There is no business reputation to protect. Airbnb isn’t like Marriott who cares if you come back again, or not. Airbnb isn’t a hotel replacement; it is just an online ghost, making a profit out of connecting customers (“guests”) with providers of a service (“hosts”). If either one of us gets screwed in the process, Airbnb doesn’t care. It just needs volume. It doesn’t need me to come back. It will find someone else to replace me, someone who hasn’t had a bad experience, someone who believes in the dream.

I too, believed in the dream, but now my feet are firmly back on the ground. I’m not going to shut up just yet, though. I’m going to write the owners of Airbnb, I’m going to contact journalists, and I’m going to get my story out there. My family’s trip to Paris was the quintessential European holiday gone wrong. It was so plain vanilla it could have been any of us. It will happen to someone else now, too, given that I can’t review the property and the host is still allowed to list. For the record, the Airbnb property is listed as “Romantic Suite Saint Germain de Pres” on Rue Gozlin, Paris, and in the photo you see two orange bar chairs by the kitchen. We spent $698 for a three-night stay in October 2016.

Thanks to the founder of this site, it is like therapy to find an outlet to share one’s story and know that I am not crazy and not alone. Being accused of extortion when complaining about a product or service? That is a first. Imagine if you go to the Gap to return a shirt which is ripped or stained and they accuse you of fraud? Imagine in a restaurant if your food has a problem, and the restaurant gives you the bill and forces you to eat the rotten food? Honestly, this new app economy is hilarious. Airbnb is nothing like an old fashioned bed and breakfast, where the owner would care about his reputation, and on a human level, about people too. Airbnb takes greed to a whole new level, and this is coming from the country which invented customer service.

Home Owner Hell: A Renter Lists our Property

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Long story short: I own a home that my husband and I have spent a chunk of our lives fixing, remodeling and shifting from shack to chic. We rented it out and made a terrible mistake of doing so to a deadbeat who posted our home on Airbnb. Obviously that was our fault; however, when we contacted Airbnb to remove the listing, they refused. We are evicting the tenant and will have him forcibly removed in three days’ time. Unfortunately, for those unsuspecting Airbnb users and renters, our home will once again be ours and they will not have a place to reside over the holidays. Bummer! Terrible service. Their motto should be “Screwing landlords and customers alike.”

Airbnb Customer Service is Airbnb Hell

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Airbnb customer service is horrible. They just hung up on me. While reserving a room, they flagged my payment method for fraud. I have great credit; I checked my credit card and there were no fraud issues, so I’m not sure why there was an issue. My ability to reserve a room was frozen, even after I supplied all the information they asked for. There was no response for over 24 hours despite my quickly approaching trip, that ultimately had to be postponed.

1. The first call to an Airbnb customer service representative generated an email that said they were working on it.

2. A second call four hours later. A different representative said he would try to email the department again. Then he said he had no ability to call that department.

3. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and he handed me off to a different representative.

4. I asked to speak to a manager, and he hung up on me.

Now Airbnb won’t take my call. These tech companies make their money by not providing any customer service. What a joke.

Absolutely Insane Email Harassment from Airbnb Host

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Never have I been more wrong judging a book by it’s cover. Here’s the scoop: this past weekend, my friend and I were outside Philly for a Harry Potter festival. She was covering the festival for work (she’s a reporter) and I was there because… Harry Potter. We booked a room in a house with a private entrance and shared bathroom. Most of the reviews were positive, but one raised a few red flags, complaining of overwhelming animal urine smells and poor cleanliness. I chose to disregard this, thinking it could not be that bad. Was I ever wrong!

The room itself was fine, relatively clean with a comfortable bed, but the hallway and stairs smelled like the pound. The floor was covered in dust and dirt; this was not the best for two people with allergies and asthma. We were using our inhalers constantly. I had emailed the host the day before our stay to inform them that due to my work schedule, I would be late and the other member of our party would be arriving first. I asked a number of check in questions and others related to parking, the area, and transportation. I received no response, which was disappointing and a little frustrating.

When we settled into the room, we noticed the window was braced open with an odd screen. The host told my friend that they had just removed the AC unit; when we tried to close the window, we could not. The host had given us no contact information and was very explicit about not entering or disturbing the family rooms on the first floor, so we emailed again asking about the screen; there was no response. In addition, the room was not as described or depicted. It looked like the wall of shelves and the desk were covered with sheets and being used as storage. That night, we went out to interview the festival hosts and coordinators as well as attendees, had a quick beer, came home at midnight, and immediately went to bed.

In the morning, we saw that the door stopper for our room was not actually brown, but orange and so coated in animal hair and dirt that the color was virtually unrecognizable. We were disgusted, but just left for the festival and were out all day. We returned by 8:00 PM and decided to stay in, watching Netflix on a tablet and drinking two beer bottles each, which we immediately put in the trash can (this is an important detail). We were freezing all night, because we could not get the window closed and the single quilt on the bed was not warm enough; we had to sleep in layers of clothes. The next morning, we packed all of our items, made the bed, collected all garbage to put in the trash, and even wiped down all surfaces with lysol spray; we’re neat freaks and whenever we stay somewhere other than home, we like to leave no trace.

Our hosts posted the following review:

Rebecca was great to host. She left the room spotless. We would welcome her back any time. Cheers!

My review was polite. I did not want to bring up any of my major concerns on the public review in case it impacted their business. They seemed like a nice younger couple renting out rooms in their townhouse for some extra cash.

The room itself was exactly what we paid for/expected, with a surprisingly comfortable bed. The location was great, and our room was very neat. The only issue we had was with the condition of the hallway stairs we used to get to our room. They were a little grimy and as someone with chronic dust allergies, it was rough. Despite this, check in was easy and the room was just fine.

I also sent a private message telling them I had three main concerns I did not want to air publicly:

1. They had not responded to my message.

2. The dirt, grime, smell, and dust. I know older buildings get dusty but as someone with allergies/asthma, the hallway should have been a little cleaner.

3. The open window. We could not get it to close, they had never responded to an email, and we were really quite cold.

As someone who frequently uses Airbnb, I expected the usual response of thank you for your concerns, I’m sorry to hear that, we are fixing it, etc. Instead, we received this crazy email:

SUBJECT LINE: You never sent a message! You tried to burn our house down! You are a loud drunk! You left the window open while the heat was on! What is your problem?

“You are an idiot. I have absolutely no email from you. The last time I heard from you was the day you reserved the listing. Did you take the screen out of the window to close it? I was pretty upset that we were running the heat and you were so rude to leave the window open. We are very responsive. Didn’t you notice that when you tried to burn the house down with the curling iron, we immediately unplugged it and turned the light off? Thanks for leaving a room full of booze bottles and food and trash. The stairs and hallway were mopped. You guys drug in all of the dirt from outside. Way to bang the doors all night. It sounds like you need to work on some respect yourself!!!!!!”

Needless to say, I was shocked. I responded with the following:

Your response is shocking, unprofessional, immature, and absolutely not what I expect from someone offering hospitality. Please see below- it is a screenshot of the email sent to you on 10/20/2016- note the time stamp (here I inserted a screen shot of the emails sent) I will be forwarding this correspondence to Airbnb as well. We tried to close the window multiple times- seeing as neither of us owns this home or is familiar to the peculiarities of your windows, we didn’t dare presume to remove a screen. I can only assume based on your response we would have received another nasty email about removing it. For future reference, if the screen can be removed, please inform guests- good ones will not rip things out of your window without permission. The room was completely clear and we have pictures to prove it. As a precaution, I always take a picture of an Airbnb room when I leave. We made sure the (4) empty beer bottles and all trash were put in bags, which is again proven by picture. There was minimal cleaning for you- we made sure of it! I find it shocking that you would make such false accusations, but then again, you probably did not realize we actually protected ourselves. Regarding a “curling iron”- we did not bring one. Neither of us used a curling iron. Perhaps you had another guest who used it? If you find yourself unsure, please see all of the photographs from Friday and Saturday depicting us with straight hair. We drug in no dirt- I was hesitant regarding the cleanliness, as I had read a previous review that discussed the smell and dust. I was trying to be helpful, not attack you. I understand older houses get a lot of buildup, but I also have numerous snapchats of the hair, dust, and dirt in the hallway and stairs, as well as the horrific buildup on the door liner for our bedroom. Frankly, your response seems like one to come from a defensive teenager. I’m sorry you feel like you need to respond to an honest review with such vitriol, and I hope in the future you can take a minute and find a calm, rational place to respond to guests. I’ll end with best of luck, because based on your attitude, you need it.

P.S. Opening a professional correspondence in the hospitality industry with “You are an idiot” is perhaps a little unwise.

I know it was snotty, but frankly I was pissed. This was completely insane, and as someone with a lot of experience in the hospitality industry, I was horrified. I got no further response, and made a report on Airbnb. No one responded to me, so I made a second, more detailed report and called the number someone thankfully posted online. I was told my case was being sent to the correct department and offered a refund. I didn’t really want one. I just wanted this handled so this couple does not flip out on anyone else in response to an honest discussion of their filthy house. I was told I would receive an email, but got nothing. The next day I called again and am currently waiting for that response. My haunting concern is the comment we “left booze bottles all over”; we drank four 12-oz bottles of beer in the room, and all four went into the trash before we left. Either they went into the room when we were not home and looked through the trash after we left, or just tend to make up baseless accusations. I’m not sure which one terrifies me more.

Anyway, watch out for Sarah and Charles Adams in the West Mt. Airy part of Philadelphia. It turns out they could rival Donald Trump when it comes to shooting off ill advised, combative messages. Thanks for listening.

Landlord Tried to Rip me off, Airbnb Supported the Hosts

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I stayed six nights in a studio in Paris; everything went well. I was there on business and just rented the studio for a shower and some sleep, nothing else. As the landlord was travelling at that time, I took the keys from an Indian restaurant, and left the keys in his mailbox; we did not even met. I checked out and headed to the airport. At the airport, I received a text from her, asking about a 10 cm/4 inch scratch on the wall. I answered that the spot was there when I checked in and I was not the cause of this incident. Later, she reported and opened a case through Airbnb, asking for a refund of €130 to paint the wall. The studio was about 30×322 square meters and that amount required for payment would cover almost the whole house. She tried to rip me off.

I responded with the truth, saying that I had no part of making the scratch. Airbnb went through this request and charged me €38 for only the materials she requested. The required material was reported as 10 L of paint and a long list of materials attached to it… though the 10-cm scratch was up for debate. Airbnb acted as a judge, never listened to the guest, and was only keen on fulfilling the request coming from the landlord. I strongly advise you… you have to be very careful while making reservations, and checking in and out. Some things might happening after check out that are not your responsibility.

Airbnb might be rich from supporting this landlord’s scam but I am not that much of an idiot. They claim that there is an insurance policy for the premises in the event of damage: it never worked, a complete lie. Airbnb is too risky to anyone if your landlord has some strange kind of attitude. That’s not worth it. Open your eyes and consider some other options for accommodation.

Airbnb Account Hacked – Terrible Customer Service

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I received numerous emails from Airbnb when waking up one morning. The first was a booking for a property in Indonesia. The second was a payment failed email. The third was a booking confirmation, and the fourth an email from Airbnb to say that my email address had been changed. It looked like whoever it was had booked a one-night stay for the coming weekend for £785 a night. Following the fourth email, I had emailed account.changes@airbnb.com immediately asking them to take urgent action. I tried to use the Airbnb website but without logging in it was useless; obviously my email had been changed because it said no email address was found when I used my own.

Five hours later, I was still waiting for a response from the account.changes@airbnb.com email address. I also called the UK helpline number, 0203 318 1111, which was unable to help or locate my account (despite having used Airbnb over a year ago now for two bookings) and asked me to email response@airbnb.com which I promptly did. However, I was just sent an automated Airbnb email saying the email had not reached Airbnb. This is completely outrageous! When you try to use their website to find contacts, it just loops you round in circles. Doesn’t it say something about such a big company when they are trying to avoid being contacted by their customers? I am in a catch-22 situation and boiling over at this moment in time, unsure of how I should proceed. If anyone has any advice out there, I would be grateful. It is an obvious statement but following this incident and once it has been resolved, I will never use Airbnb again.