Tag Archives: airbnb customer service

Airbnb: A Great Way to Ruin your Vacation

Posted on

As a young girl new to traveling, Airbnb sounded better than ever, yet it turned out to be one of the most stressful experiences. I highly regret using the site on my month-long travels in Australia. From the very beginning, a host cancelled a week before I was set to leave the states, so I was forced to spend more money on a different Airbnb. My first host kept me waiting for over three hours outside her apartment because she left the wrong key. After finally getting in, I discovered black mold (smelt horrible), no hot water in the shower, her cat whose fur was everywhere, and her whole studio smelt like cat pee; it was just a very dirty environment in which to stay. After staying up all night on my vacation dealing with Airbnb and trying to cancel, I was forced to spend even more money trying to find another place to rent.

Then we arrived at our next Airbnb. Everything was going better. However, I was promised wifi (which was much needed) which wasn’t available and was also told we had access to the pantry food items – so I ate some of course – then after leaving, I got a message from the host saying we had to pay $50 to replace the food. This was never mentioned and when she said “stocked pantry…” she actually should have said “stocked pantry that will cost $50 for a few tiny packages of hard cookies.”

Airbnb has ended up costing me an extra $700 and still hasn’t refunded my money. The customer service is horrible. I get different answers every time I call, I’ve gotten hung up on multiple times, I’ve been forced to hold for what feels like hours, and no one can ever seem to help me. They easily take your money and can’t seem to help you when there are problems or you are extremely unhappy. My vacation has turned into many late night phone calls to Airbnb, stress, confusion, and a lot of money down the drain. I will never use or recommend Airbnb again. Spend the extra money on a nice hotel; it’s not worth the stress on your vacation.

Airbnb was no Help with Nasty Host

Posted on
blankblankblankblankblank

Our host greeted us at the door with an old dog with matted fur; there was no mention of him in the profile. She provided us with one key and said we could make our own copies. Some rooms didn’t have any light bulbs and the host said we could buy some. The bathroom and floors were brown with dirt and dog hair. The smell from the dog was so bad we could not stay in the apartment the first night. We weren’t able to use the intercom because it’s connected to the house phone that the host took with her. We had to go downstairs every time to let my husband in. The host didn’t have a wifi password for us upon arrival. There was no gym. The furniture was broken. The “free parking on premises” was street parking. I contacted the host twice about getting a partial refund and she had no reply to my request. I asked to have one night’s stay and the cleaning fee back. She wouldn’t reply. Airbnb closed my resolution request with no explanation after two months. I’m unable to include a link to her listing because the stink spot is “no longer available.”

Bogus Airbnb Listing: Scammed in Brighton

Posted on
blankblankblank

Hi Natacha,

I’m Dan from Airbnb’s Trust and Safety team.

On our site we only have one confirmed reservation with a Host John. There are no other records of you enquiring or corresponding with others hosts.

At Airbnb, we work hard to keep our community trustworthy and safe, but in rare cases, attempts at fraud do happen. To help us look into this case, please reply to this email and include:

– Screenshots or copies of your emails with this person
– Details about how you came into contact with them
– The web address of their listing or Airbnb profile
– The method of payment this person requested
– Proof of any payments being made

Keep in mind that Airbnb will never ask you to pay off-site or through email. If you receive an email from anyone (including an automated@airbnb.com or any other username@airbnb.com email address) asking you to pay or accept payment off-site, don’t respond, and always report it to safety@airbnb.com immediately.

Anyone who contacts you through an external site claiming to be a trusted service for Airbnb who asks for payment via bank transfer, Western Union, MoneyGram etc. should also be considered fraudulent.

Thanks for your reply. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have other questions or concerns in the meantime.

Best,

Dan S
www.airbnb.com/help

 

Dear Airbnb,

Thank you for your response. Having read numerous articles on Airbnb since this happened to us, I am amazed at how often you allow this to happen as it seems it been happening regularly since you started the website. As travellers, we are forced to verify our accounts in order to be able to stay with a host but it would seem that anyone can advertise anything on your site with absolutely no security procedures or verification. Essentially, I could advertise a fictitious chateau in France (which I do not own) but under UK law, that would be fraud. How, therefore, are others allowed to offer a product through your website and use you as the contractual partner?

This incident hurts on so many levels but, in this case, it is not just about the money… my friend’s son is disabled. He has just finished school for the very last time. There is nothing at this stage to look forward to – not going back to school in September to see his friends with whom he has spent the last 16 years, not going back to the establishment where he has built relationships with a fantastic team of staff who dedicate their lives to children with a variety of disabilities, children who would not understand the horrible world in which we live, where large organisations allow hard-working people to be swindled. Therefore, as a special treat, his mum wanted to make the end of school a special occasion rather than flatly going into the school holidays. She booked a show in Brighton and found a lovely place for him to stay with his two respite carers (yes his disability is that severe that he needs two). She asked me to pay for it as I had an Airbnb account. Having used Airbnb only once before, I followed the same process and was sent an email from yourselves asking for payment. I duly paid the money and then heard nothing more. The first time I used Airbnb I paid via the website but not having been a member for long, I assumed that some hosts have different methods of payment and that AirBnB would have verified them, especially as the email came from yourselves.

When this young man goes away (which is rare), the preparation process is vital. His mum spent ages this week, printing off photos of the accommodation to put in a scrapbook for him to get used to his environment – an environment which we found never existed. The impact on this young man is phenomenal. Most of us can get on with things and contact the police, the bank and hit our heads against the barriers that Airbnb put up to facilitate contact. This young man cannot get past the fact that he has been let down. Whilst his naivety is refreshing, it does not help his mum manage the situation that the ensuing stress causes, such as fits. Despite having sent you the email I received from you via Twitter, you are now asking me for it again, so here are all the screen shots and the email.

We look forward to the refund of the money.

Kind regards,

Natacha

Airbnb Health Concern: Scabies in Savannah

Posted on
blank

My daughter and her boyfriend stayed at this Airbnb on June 19, 2016. This is the message I sent to the owner today:

My daughter and her boyfriend stayed there on Sunday June 19th and contracted scabies. My daughter was in the emergency room this past Saturday and finally got a firm diagnosis after many days of being miserable and itchy and not getting properly diagnosed by an allergist or dermatologist. Your facility was the only foreign place that they have slept aside from home. With that, I would like to know if you’ve received any other complaints regarding scabies at your facility. I have not written to Airbnb corporate as of yet, but I will if I do not get a reply from you. I am also requesting a full refund for their stay, along with approximately $400.00 in medical bills. Waiting on your reply. I have photos of the unmade bedroom upon their arrival and I will indeed post this all over the internet. This has affected their health and quality of life.

With that, I made three phone calls to the Airbnb Customer Service line today. First, they hung up on me. Then I found somebody willing to let me email them the details, and my phone got disconnected. I called again and was told I am not allowed to email or speak to a corporate manager regarding such a health issue at a place that you are advertising and selling. When my daughter arrived, the bed wasn’t even made. They then opted to take the other open room. Scabies is a very serious health issue that should not be taken lightly. The owner did not reply to me or my daughter as of yet. After being treated rather rudely three times today, I am prepared to write to the BBB, as well as the local news with my story. I would hope that you would review this case and be prepared to reimburse the stay as well as healthcare expenses; I do have receipts. I anxiously await your comments and reply.

Airbnb Nightmare: Marooned in Montreal

Posted on

My family had come to Canada from various other international destinations for a highly anticipated and active family vacation. However, while we were in transit to our Airbnb lodging in Montreal from Toronto, we received a somewhat cryptic text message from our hosts stating that they were cancelling our Montreal reservation (for that day) due to some “unavoidable issues” with our lodging. My husband had to lookup our original reservation as there was no contact information for our Montreal hosts to ask for clarification. After we were “eventually” able to make contact with our hosts they continued to be exceptionally vague as to what happened that caused our reservation to be cancelled. When we asked what happens now that our reservation was null and void – thus, making my ENTIRE INTERNATIONAL FAMILY NOW HOMELESS – our hosts simply advised that we would have to “consult” the Airbnb contracts to determine if we were entitled to a refund if we “chose not to find and use another Airbnb lodging.”

We attempted to ask additional questions and for assistance in locating alternative housing, but our hosts stopped responding to our requests and Airbnb has no direct lines of communication to their corporate headquarters or any legitimate form of customer service or quality control services. We were forced to find what we honestly believe happened to be the last two very over-priced hotel rooms in Montreal that ALL of our extended and immediate family had to share as it also happened to be Canada Day. The situation certainly brought our family together, but in a most uncomfortable and precarious fashion. So, if you are thinking of utilizing Airbnb as lodging for your travels, make sure you have investigated all other options FIRST. I would advise that you especially avoid Host Kick in Montreal on Airbnb as they can cancel on you at the last minute.

Airbnb Customer Service Unprepared to Help

Posted on

This has nothing to do with my host, but everything to do with Airbnb’s horrible customer service. On Airbnb’s mobile site, it states I have to call an 855 number in order to change a current reservation. I did that and waited almost 30 minutes listening to the same song over and over and over again, and no one came on the line to help me. Then, when I went to the full site on my computer, I first learned that I could request a change through the site from the host. As a customer who has done a lot of business with them, I do not appreciate Airbnb putting me on hold for ages when I have a problem that can be resolved by the website. This isn’t the first time I have had a problem reaching Airbnb when I have had to call them myself. I am at the point where I am ready to stop using their service because of this.

After I was on hold for 15 minutes, a representative told me over the phone that she would contact the host and wait 12 hours for a resolution. Another representative tried to talk to me early the next morning after I was on hold for 20 minutes but the call got disconnected after two minutes! Then the second representative told me at 4:00 AM that only the first could help me and that she would call me back. Why can only one person help me? This person did not even know how many nights I asked to cancel! He didn’t seem that interested in taking the time to read through my file to familiarize himself with the case even though I took an hour of my time on hold to talk to him. After all that, I dug deeper into the website and learned I could cancel the remaining days of my reservation through the website itself.

Why don’t the customer service representatives tell you this while they have you on the phone so we don’t keep wasting each other’s time? Now I have to calculate 24 hours before the first night I want to cancel the reservation for. So when does the first night begin? If I put in my request a day too early, will I be kicked out the day before? Or if I put in the request too late, will I lose 50% of that extra night? What is the cut off point? Why does it have to be this difficult dealing with Airbnb?

Airbnb Customer Service: Are they “Experts”?

Posted on

Yet another example of how a multi-billion company is capitalizing on its customer service. So there’s an issue with a guest. After numerous referrals through the help center, I finally get to submit a question directly to an Airbnb customer service agent… I thought. Lo and behold, I receive a reply from an Airbnb expert who appears to be nobody else but an avid Airbnb user who tries to earn some reward points. And yet, he refers me to the help center once again. Airbnb has added another layer to make it virtually impossible to get in touch with an Airbnb representative. Wake up people: the moment you click ‘pay now’ and as a host you click ‘accept’ then the Airbnb community spirit is over. The moment there is an issue you’ll have to wade through hundreds of “help center” pages and then when you finally think you can file a complaint, it’s just an Airbnb “expert”. Interestingly, anyone can apply to become an Airbnb expert. It’s another strategy to put off potential complaints, to limit Airbnb’s already atrociously incompetent customer service and to make you swim in the dark, both as a guest and host. I’ve been an Airbnb host for six years and since last year the number of bookings has been exceeded by Wimdu and VBRO. Make up your mind and move your properties and booking requests to other platforms. Airbnb is digging its own grave.