“Superhosts” from Hell in Los Angeles

Posted on November 17, 2018

The arrangement at our Airbnb was of the kind where you let yourself in. This means that there is no one on the premises to talk to, and if something is wrong, there is no one who can set it right. Although we paid for two people, the apartment was set up for only one. There was a solitary towel in the bathroom and one on the floor, and bedding for only one bed. The owner did not answer the phone and communicates only by texting, so there was no way of remedying any problem in real time.

Although this was supposed to have been a non-smoking apartment, the air was stale and it was reeking of cigarette smoke. The apartment was superficially cleaned. The floor was not quite washed (there were unwashed spots), there was dust on some furniture, and there was junk behind appliances in the kitchen. There were fruit flies in the kitchen and the living room.

Although it was advertised as an air-conditioned apartment, I was not able to find any air conditioning (only a floor fan). This was a problem because the house faces a major traffic artery and it is impossible to keep the window open because the soundproofing is poor, so there is continuous traffic noise and noise from the neighbors, especially from upstairs. The area under the sink was all rotten, with mildew on the floor and the pipes, and as a result, the garbage can was left outside the cabinet, open, and without a lid.

In general (unrelated to this particular apartment), I think that properties where guests let themselves in without meeting the owner should be advertised as such. I would not have taken an apartment if I knew that there was no one on the premises to talk to. If there had been, I would immediately have declined this place, if only because of the fact that it had been smoked in and the area under the sink is rotten and mildewed, which is a health hazard for people with allergies.

I was charged $45.16 for the second person. After a lengthy correspondence with Airbnb, I found that the cost of an additional guest for two nights should be $22. I requested a refund, since the place was set for one. The “superhosts” refused. I think these people are beyond belief: dishonest and greedy, they both overcharged and did not deliver the service.

Finally, Airbnb (hopefully) issued a refund of $30 (why this particular amount?). I haven’t seen the money yet, as it takes them up to 15 business days. A normal service provider should take responsibility, issue a refund, and then solve the problems with the hosts. Airbnb… never again!

Airbnb Deletes Account Without a Reason

Posted on November 10, 2018

I, of course, first tried to quickly post this on the Airbnb community boards, but since I was permanently deleted, I can’t access any of that. Anyway, buckle up for this story. Some people have trashed me for this, but letting my apartment on Airbnb was a last resort for me: I was going broke and needed to make some money.

My place before was used as my recording studio as well as my apartment, so it needed some renovations to be converted into a proper rental space. Namely, my queen bed was lofted about eight feet up a 90-degree ladder, so that had to come down. Because I intended to keep using it as my studio in between rentals, and after I (hopefully) stashed some money away – to be able to record again once I needed less rental money – I made some renovation choices that cost more than they would have if I’d gone for the cheapest solution out there. Namely, I made my queen bed into a foldaway murphy bed.

The point is, I took my last $1,500 and made a beautiful, very cool rental space. Bookings rolled in fast, and the space was booked clean through January 15th for a total of over $15,000 in bookings.I thought my money problems were solved. Still, it’s a full-time job managing an Airbnb, and the first three weeks have been crazy busy. My third booking deserves a post all it’s own here, but it’s the reason this post exists.

Some guy books. He said the place seemed like a great place to take some photos of his “artist.” I assumed this was referring to a musician since my place has instruments on the walls and stuff. I reached out right away and told him that the piano he sees in the photos is being replaced (grand going to upright for space), and won’t be there during his stay. No reply.

The next time I hear from him is one day out. He asks me if I can “fire up the studio,” so he can get shots of his “artist” working with his “producer” and maybe even “record some freestyles.” My rules explicitly state that the recording equipment here (it’s really not much anymore) is off limits without “my supervision or my permission after we’ve discussed your background.”

Instead of saying it like that, I’m way too nice, and he takes it to be me pitching myself as his assistant to try and get more money. I basically suggested that I should be there for that and that he might consider paying me for my time. His reply is curt and I start to get a bad feeling. Still, the booking is on, even without “firing up the studio.”

On the day of, he shows up with four or five clearly 14-15 year old boys. I ask him what’s up and he says they are his “artist” and aren’t staying the night. Okay… fine. As I’m giving him the tour, I can tell he’s rushing me out. I’m more suspicious. Still, because I have a new listing, and am a new host terrified of bad reviews, I am kind and welcoming and then I leave.

Fast forward to 11:00 PM. My neighbor texted me saying there was a party going on next door. He’s seen lots of very young boys and girls coming in and out. I texted the guest and tell him that everyone needs to be out in ten minutes or I’m calling the police. To my surprise, he quickly gets them all out, but my neighbor overhears him loudly calling me “a piece of shit” in the hallway.

Earlier in the day I allowed him an extra hour check out time, so I texted to let him know my neighbor told me he thinks I’m a piece of shit and that he needs to be out at 11:00 on the dot, no late checkout. When I returned the next day my couch was ruined. There were stains all over it. Ten bags of KIND granola I ordered from Amazon for people’s breakfast were now zero bags. 40 bottles of water are now three in the fridge.

My Larrivée acoustic guitar is cracked. Counter top broken. Curtains broken. Ashes everywhere. Weed pieces everywhere. Empty liquor bottles and red solo cups in the garbage. I reported this to Airbnb. I followed their protocol of first claiming the damages to the guest, and then waiting 72 hours and filing a claim with Airbnb.

Meanwhile, this guest trashes me in his review and it’s full of lies that I can easily disprove by posting screenshots of our messages. There’s no place to do that except in the listing photos, so I decide I’ll put them there for a week or so and then take them down once they are no longer relevant. Bad idea. Airbnb suspended my listing, and told me to take them down. I do. I explained the situation and stressed that I didn’t know that was not okay. Hey, I didn’t. It’s hell getting them to turn my account back on. It took three days.

1.5 weeks go by and I’m in the middle of handling the claim with an Airbnb rep when I get a voicemail from another Airbnb rep saying that she has a report about something and I need to get in touch, but that she’s in Europe so I have to answer her call between 7:00-10:00 AM. She also emails once, and I replied to her email with information about when to call. I suggested we handle it via email since the calling might be difficult. No reply.

The next day I’m handling another Airbnb headache with a guest and a call comes in from a number I don’t recognize, and not even thinking about it, I let it go to voicemail. It was her. I tried calling back ten minutes later but as many of you may know, you cannot reach the “trust and safety” department unless they call you. I can’t be transferred to her. It’s impossible. Still I leave a note with guy on the phone to let her know I’m trying to reach her. I also go and reply to her email again. No reply comes.

Next day. No call comes, but I do get a voicemail from her hours later. The phone must have been off or without service when she called. The same exact process as the day before happens. She will not respond to emails.

Next day. I lost all the money I invested. I lost $15,000 in bookings. I cannot reach anyone. No one will call me back. Apparently, once you receive this letter, Airbnb ceases to discuss anything with you. However, during one call to try and get through, the “front line” phone guy slips and mentions something about a “bullying” report. The photos I posted. The guest must have seen them before I took them down and reported it as “bullying.”

That’s all I’ll ever know apparently. I had guests coming tonight, and every night until January 5th. I can’t reach any of them. They are all permanently deleted, so even if I magically get my account back, my bookings are all gone. This being my “last resort” way of making some money, I now have $3 in my checking account and no way of making more. I’m eating the last of my PB&J right now and then I don’t know what I’m going to do. Not much left here I can even sell to make some money to eat. I’m devastated.

Airbnb Guest Brings 34 People to a House Meant for 6

Posted on November 5, 2018

I would like to share my story with everyone. I recently published a listing on Airbnb that can accommodate six people. I had many guests who sent me inquiries asking if my place was available and many more questions.

After evaluating all the guests, I finally accepted one reservation as she had good reviews from other hosts. I immediately told her that my place can only accommodate six people and that she needed to pay an extra $30 for each guest she brings after the six confirmed guests. She agreed and promised me that only six people would be in my place.

Since I go to work every day, I was not there when she checked in but my caretaker welcomed them. Four hours after they checked in, my caretaker called me saying that there were 34 people in my place and that the guest told him not to tell me as she would be charged for such a big amount.

I called her right away when this was told to me and she admitted that there were 34 people in my place. I requested money from her via Airbnb but she refused to pay me and deleted her account. I called Airbnb and asked them to collect the money but they never helped me. They even gave me a deadline of 24 hours to send documents confirming that there were extra 28 people in my place when the guest already admitted it and even contacted Airbnb saying that she did not know what to do and how to pay me since she didn’t have enough money.

The case manager from Airbnb told me that they will not help me unless documents are sent when I told them a million times that I won’t be able to send documents as I live in a different place and that I had a business flight that day. Indeed the worse experience and customer service on earth.

How Long Will Airbnb Allow Communities to be Ruined?

Posted on October 7, 2018

My partner and I live in a rural, wooded gated community that must have decided to look the other way as far as regulating short term rental houses. When neighbors complain about short term rentals, the Airbnb hosts (who are homeowners in the gated community) probably just get small fines or warnings, which makes us believe they haven’t got any tickets; the same problems occur over and over with the same rentals: loud music, and other kinds of loud noises (guns, fireworks, parties) all day and night, burning fires without a fire pit (a rule in our community), garbage and littering, speeding, overusing our amenities, like the pool showers.

We think the community management doesn’t want to make waves with these homeowners because the community charges them fees to allow short term rentals. So it’s screw the homeowner who just lives here, because the Airbnb hosts are giving “revenue” to the community. At what expense? If the community doesn’t regulate them, the homeowners who live here will just move out.

Call us conspiracy theorists, but maybe that’s the management plan: make it so miserable for the full time homeowners that they move out, and turn this place into a rental community, where nobody lives here; it’s just a community of rentals. Another big problem is that they allow more people in the house than is permitted. For example, they have a four-bedroom house, but they advertise that it sleeps 24. Our so-called police safety crew will come if you call them, but they don’t do anything. State police won’t help because we are in a gated community. Bottom line: our serenity and peace and quiet and safety is regularly disturbed and we are stuck here until someone starts to regulate the short term rentals.

Airbnb Loses Recording of Guest Threatening Me

Posted on September 22, 2018

Today I discovered that a female Airbnb guest had sneaked a male into our home unannounced without paying for him. I discovered this by taking clean towels, toilet paper and water to the room when she left for her “photo shoot”. I was confronted with an unknown man who claimed to be a “boyfriend” although the female guest told me she lived in and had just flown in from LA. The male guest eventually slipped up and said he had just arrived from NYC.

I contacted Airbnb immediately to report the violation of the rules, false booking number of guests and to express that this was a potentially unsafe situation of a guest leaving an unknown unapproved unverified person in my home without so much as even a text message to let me know, let alone not asking permission. While I was on the phone with an Airbnb supervisor who was supposedly recording the event and confirmed she in fact heard the male guest and heard me ask him to leave (I asked the super to stay on the phone with me for safety while I asked him to leave), the female guest returned, came into my home and started yelling at me that she was a 32-year-old woman, could do as she pleased, and I had no right to go up there or confront her “friend.”

There was no reasoning with these people; that was evident and why I asked the super to contact her and cancel and handle the reservation because I didn’t want nor did I feel it was my place to safely confront guests under these conditions. The super advised me that she was escalating this to the Trust & Safety department immediately. She said she also needed to speak with the guest. I advised her that was fine, but have someone else call and for her to stay on the phone with me for safety and documentation. She hung up.

The guest and the male “friend” started yelling in my home. The female backed me into my home office and blocked the door. I was totally out of composure and had to threaten to call the police. They spilled out into my driveway (I live in an upscale urban neighborhood) and of course the neighbors were not watching. They eventually left but not after the random male invited me to step out of my home to deal with him in my driveway and calling me a racist.

I went back inside and went back to my office to deal with clients and calls. About four hours later when I had a break I contacted Airbnb again because I had not heard from anyone. There was no ticket in my Airbnb mailbox and no return phone call from the company as had been promised. When I called back, the new customer service agent and his super said they “had no record of this event, no notes, no ticket and no recording and would need to call the guest to get her side of the story.”

I lost my grip with them. The guests last words leaving were, “you’ll get yours.” As I’ve reached out and as of the writing of this event six hours later, there has been no follow up. I had one email from a customer service agent that wrote me after the third call. I’ll attach the three replies I’ve sent in and not a one has had a response.

This is not the first issue I’ve had with Airbnb. I’ll post the others now that I know about this site. I’m all in about supporting some serious collective effort among hosts to bring change and safety to both hosts and guests. Airbnb alone does not seem to indicate they have the incentive to do so without some serious movement from those of us who have experienced this sort of stuff.

Little Consideration by Airbnb for Homeowner’s Asset

Posted on September 21, 2018

I just had a guest who requested an early check-in on Friday and my house manager accommodated him by letting him drop off his bags at 10:00 AM. While there the guest noticed the house manager was doing some very minor touch-up on a leather couch with some leather polish. Later that day at 3:30 PM (30 minutes early), my house manager called the guest to let him know the house was ready. The guest returned with eight people vs. the five they said they’d have in their party.

On Sunday, they complained to Airbnb that we were doing some major renovation and wanted a full refund for their three-night stay. They were scheduled to depart the next morning. My house manager and I instantly recognized the guest was a rat and trying to take advantage of the situation. So, we demanded Airbnb kick them out.

After about five hours on the phone with Airbnb and threats to call the police the guest finally left. Fortunately, there wasn’t any damage. However, Airbnb refunded the guest’s third night which I think is out of line. The guest cancelled their reservation by their trying to cheat me, my house manager and Airbnb.

The Flophouse Fiasco Made us Leave Early

Posted on September 13, 2018

A friend and I recently took a trip to Denver using Airbnb as lodging. It was our first and last time and here’s why. We finally arrived in Denver and made our way to a neighborhood that was reminiscent of Fallujah. As we were unloading our things into the house the “host” pointed us towards a queen size mattress in the corner.

I looked around (we were in the living room at this time) to see three more “living areas” in this same room. Not to mention some sort of party table was right next to this queen size bed. We were told we were the only ones staying there via email but as we stood there in utter shock we watched a stream of “people” come in. By this time my buddy and I were very tired after driving all night to get there but it finally hit us – they expect my grown male friend and I to share this queen size mattress for three days in the middle of this dump house with people flopped everywhere.

Now I like my buddy but sorry I’m not sleeping with him for three days. After confirming that was the plan, we promptly grabbed our gear and left. We ended up just getting a hotel room and eating the fee from Airbnb. I’m not sure how they can legally rent one mattress to two adults but doesn’t matter because never again will I do Airbnb. People just get a hotel and save yourself the hassle and extra expense.

Sleeping on the Streets of Madrid with my Baby

Posted on June 18, 2018

I am looking for someone to listen to my story about my negative Airbnb experience. I am begging for help, as the customer service representatives and hosts of the place I have booked have insulted me and refused to help, and I will be sleeping in the streets with my 19-month-old daughter because of this.

A month ago, I booked an entire apartment in Madrid, Spain from June 16-25th. We arrived and the host rushed us through the apartment door, through our long hallway, and our room had a bedroom door. After he left, we discovered a locked door next to our bedroom door (in our apartment). We thought it was a closet, but I could see there was a light on.

I immediately contacted our host and asked if there was a person in our apartment. He said someone lives there. I could see a freshly used toothbrush in our bathroom. We were incredibly nervous. I was with my one and a half year old daughter, which is why I booked an entire apartment to ourselves. I did not sign up for a person living there.

By this time, it was midnight. I could not go out into the street with my child. My family and I did not sleep the entire night. It’s 2:30 PM in Madrid now. We have now been in contact with Airbnb for 12 hours now. When I emphasized that I am simply trying to protect my daughter, the customer service representative accused me of abusing my daughter. I was given warnings when I was just begging for help.

We are now left with nowhere to go, no refund, and being told left and right that we are not entitled to anything. It has been twelve hours with no resolution. Twelve hours with no safe haven for my 19-month-old daughter. We were thrown into an unsafe situation and basically told it doesn’t matter that this was a fraudulent listing, and if I want my daughter somewhere else, I need to once again pay out of pocket, and my $700 for the unsuitable unsafe fraudulent listing will not be returned. They told me they are done with the conversation.

They are silencing a mother, who is concerned for her child’s safety. People need to know what kind of company this is: one that not only disregards customers, but does nothing to ensure the safety of children. The safety of children in any situation should always be the number one priority. A mother should never be silenced. I should not have been mocked and accused of mistreating my child because I wanted her safe.

A man at Airbnb kept writing me messages saying I deserved nothing. I politely asked him numerous times to step back and please let me speak to someone else and he ignored that and kept telling me he’s closing my case. I am a customer. The case is closed when we reach a resolution and I say it’s closed. He clearly had something against me and wanted to wound me up further. Because of him and this host, my one year old daughter is sleeping in the streets tonight. I am begging for help. Begging. Please help me either receive my entire money back or a safe place to stay for the dates I requested.

She Reserved for Two but Eight Showed up…

Posted on May 14, 2018

I do like children. They are cute… like puppies, you know. However, I am allergic to pets, so needless to say I don’t have the kid-friendly option selected on my Airbnb listings. I prefer adults; that works best for me.

A lady intending to reserve my space wanted to know if she could reserve for her and her eight-month-old “baby boy”. I said to myself: “Okay, I can make a exception since the thing doesn’t walk….”

I went downstairs to open the door (I always meet folks outside of the house ) and saw a car full of people, some sitting on others’ laps and the “baby boy” was a little girl instead, about 6-7 years old. I said, “Oh f&*king s#$t. Let me play it cool. I am going to be home too, so this is going to be good.”

Two guys helped her with one piece of luggage up to the house. One guy was easily about 450 lbs and the other was an older male. I followed them in and they just stared right back at me. In the house, she said, “So who is going to be here?” Red flags went up.

I said, “Just you, me, and your baby.” I went to sit down. All the people that were in the car were let inside by the fat guy and they all tried to hide in the bedroom. Their problem was I did not have a lock on the bedroom and they couldn’t fit at all. They could not hide; I could open the door any time and see seven folks in one room.

Ten minutes later, they finally left. The noise of a herd of elephants was minimal compared to that foot traffic storming out my house. In the end I got to keep the money. It was only a miracle it ended with just the biggest scare of my life, instead of well… my life.

Moving to France, Booking on Airbnb, Facing this Situation

Posted on March 22, 2018

Let me start by saying that I am a frequent Airbnb user. Until this happened. I moved to France (Rennes to be more specific) 11 days ago and I booked two nights in a private room in order to rest and start looking for an apartment full time (moving to a foreign country, carrying a lot of luggage, and finding a proper place to stay even for a couple of days is necessary). The host answered my messages before arrival, but when I checked in, I encountered a problem which made me feel suspicious of the surroundings.

As a foreign young girl who had to stay for two nights in an apartment with two other men, whom I had not been informed about beforehand, and was preparing to consume alcohol that night, I had to think twice about spending the night. I would like to add that even if it was a private room, I didn’t have the key to it. I was accompanied by a friend of mine who shared the same feeling about the situation, saying that he wouldn’t let me stay in there.

The host told me I should cancel the booking and he would give me my money back. In other words, no fees would be charged for my cancellation, with the exception of the website tax. When people make you feel threatened or unsure of your safety, taking pictures is not highly recommended, which is why I do not have pictures of the place/situation. I have noticed that the money was taken from my account; I had reminded him about the money and our understanding and requested a refund once more. I have contacted him four times so far with no hope for a resolution.

I was forced under these circumstances to pay for a service that was not delivered. I would like to include the link of my meant-to-be-safe host’s profile. I know that it might be in vain, but I tried my luck in sending Airbnb an email concerning my issue. I would like for others to be aware of some people and to pay attention to what they are “buying”. Thanks.