Tag Archives: airbnb fraud

Airbnb is a Joke – Worst Experience Ever in DC

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I’m still trying to get a refund after an apartment host lied about his listing (in Washington, D.C.) I showed up to this piece of garbage apartment after a coast-to-coast flight (arrived at 9pm). The apartment was filthy, gross, and dirty: garbage overflowing in the kitchen and bathroom, bed sheets dirty and thrown on the floor, dirty socks and tennis shoes on the floor next to the bed, a wet dirty towel hanging sideways off the bathroom towel rack, etc. It was actually frightening.

I was shocked and not sure what to do. So I reached out to the so-called “host”… and never heard back. It took him 30+ minutes to finally contact me and proceeded to call me a “liar”, and that his cleaning lady had just cleaned the place. I sent him photos, and said I was leaving. He said he would like to “work it out” and offered me a $50 refund. I told him it was unacceptable and I needed a place to sleep that night. So I left (returned the keys to the doorman of the building). The “host” then texted me and threatened to sue me (he said he was an attorney) if I posted a negative rating on the Airbnb website. Ha! That’s a good one.

An official complaint (with photos and documentation) was filed May 19th, 2016. AMEX did a conference call with myself and Airbnb as well… to no avail. Anyway, there it is straight up. If you like this kind of treatment, then go for it. If you are a professional and expect good customer service from intelligent human beings, then run. Airbnb does not offer this. They hand you ill-trained customer service reps who lie, coddle you with a lot of false language like “Oh, I am so sorry that happened to you!”, and then NEVER DO ANYTHING to resolve the situation.

Airbnb Protects Hosts at the Expense of Guests

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We booked a house near Aix-en-Provence in the south of France for 10 nights. When we arrived we discovered it was in a different location than that on the Airbnb map and actually right next to the highway. The host, Virginie, misled us into believing her house would be suitable for two small children using public transport (La maison MAChaBaGa, 194, Avenue du Camp de Menthe). It was the opposite of this. The doors did not lock, there was construction work taking place around the house, the pool she said we could use was very dirty, and there were no shops or restaurants – the host told us there would be. She told us the bus stop was right outside the property to get to town, but the nearest stop was actually a 15 minute walk along a dangerous road into oncoming traffic. Clearly not suitable for small children.

Workmen lit a fire next to the house, there was no privacy with the workmen appearing at the non-locking glass sliding door windows at random times, a plug socket fell off the wall exposing dangerous leads, and the host said she would provide towels and there were none; this seems like a minor inconvenience but is a real pain with two small children. It was a horrendous experience overall. We only stayed two nights and left as soon as somewhere else became available. I passed all of this information onto Airbnb who said that “we needed to let them know within 24 hours, we don’t qualify for the refund policy and the case is now closed”.

I’m in absolute shock at the appalling customer service. The host has taken almost £1000 from us and nothing is being done to stop her. We stayed two nights and she knew we had left after two nights, but has chosen to keep our money even though her house was unsafe and not at all as described. We’re very upset and now realise why Airbnb has been so successful – they avoid ever paying refunds to guests. They have offered us a pitiful refund, a fraction of the amount we are owed. They have even taken away the opportunity to write a review of the property to warn other guests. Hopefully they will find the information they need here. I will never use Airbnb again.

Airbnb Kyoto: Not Everything in Japan is Pristine

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Our first booking was cancelled by the owner, and it took some persistence to get the money refunded on our return. Our second booking in Kyoto, Japan turned out to be ghastly. The “owner” had a profile picture 0f his baby in his arms with a spiel about how friendly he was, how much he loved the neighbourhood, and how he would let people know all the good places to eat! We never saw him! The apartment was not clean, and the bedding was appalling. No spare linen, and it looked like the linen had not been washed – there were only two pillows with cases, and one of them was dirty. For the price, it was sub-standard accommodation, even for Kyoto, and the only people who may not have complained would have been five backpackers sharing the price. Never again. The shower, which was always damp, was a haven for footrot, and there was barely enough light. The only thing which worked was the wifi, which was good enough to check out some good hotel accommodations in the area and get the hell out of there. I selected this because it was close to the railway station – it would have been preferable to have slept at the station.

Kansas City: Unsafe Airbnb for Single Young Woman

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My niece flew to a large city to surprise me for my birthday weekend. My wife had agreed that she could stay in an Airbnb instead of our hotel. I would not have allowed that if I had known. When we went to take my niece to her Airbnb destination I became quite anxious as we passed two streets which my uncle who lived in the city had informed me never to be on or in that neighborhood. The Airbnb room was up a separate stairway on the third floor. The host had to remove a cat from the room with a vacuum cleaner. I begged my niece to bail. She is a 20-something professional and refused.

I asked the host if this was a safe neighborhood and he said yes. I told him my uncle who lives in the City told me to never travel on Troost Avenue as it is not safe. The host admitted Troost a block away was not safe. We started driving to our hotel as it was close to being dark and noticed the gangs coming out on Troost. This location was in the middle of the ghetto. The hotel clerk told me that it would be unsafe for me to drive on Troost or be in that area at night. My wife texted my niece and told her I was upset and quite concerned about her safety and she agreed to come to our hotel in the morning.

After we left the host told her there was no TV as a previous guest had gotten drunk and broken it. The same with the lock that did not work on her door. My niece later revealed that other guests showed up at 2:00 AM on her floor and were quite loud. She obviously was quite frightened since there was no lock on her door. My niece was lucky she did not get raped or murdered.

Parents: please warn your children – especially your daughters – DO NOT stay with Airbnb. Also I did a quick Google search of that address and learned it had a rating of D- and F for crime. That there was an aggravated assault, armed robbery, another assault, car theft, and burglary all in one night near this house. I also learned there were 75 registered offenders within a mile of the address. All the reviews for this address on Airbnb were extremely positive. This would give credence to the theory that Airbnb deletes negative reviews. I find it hard to believe that not one person commented about the clearly apparent, dangerous area where this house was located. Is one’s life not worth more than the $50 a night?

Airbnb Scammers – ALWAYS Check the URL!

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I’ve been looking to rent an apartment in Barcelona and two people have already tried to scam me using Airbnb’s name. The initial contact is by email, and the format is always the same:

*The Bait*

“Bought the apartment but moved, it’s a great deal/very low price, can’t be bothered to show the place beforehand, will use Airbnb for safety/trust.”

*The Final Touches*

You pay directly to an “Airbnb Agent”. Then he will show you the place. If you don’t like it, you can get your money back in two days OR they send you a fake link (like this one) that looks exactly like the real deal.

*Bonus Points for the Scammers*

They also steal your personal information: when you request a booking you can, conveniently, sign in using Facebook, Google or your real Airbnb account. I used 123@gmail.com and 1234567 and it “worked” to get into the payments area…

*The Result*

You lose a ton of cash and have no one to whom to go as you never dealt with the real Airbnb.

*The Lesson*

ALWAYS CHECK THE URLs and, if you plan to deal outside Airbnb for any reason, make a deal with the owner where the first week/nights of your stay are booked through the real site, and then arrange an alternative means of payment for the rest of your planned stay.

Pregnant Wife and Donuts on the Streets of NYC

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I booked an apartment on Airbnb, only to discover there was no apartment, there was no landlord, and my money was gone. The result: I was stuck at 11:00 pm with a pregnant wife on the streets of New York City in a Dunkin Donuts. I read about similar scams for new users like me on Airbnb; I understand bribery is an important part of their business: it attracts new users at least. Airbnb did nothing to help me, my money is gone, and they replied to my complaints “there is nothing we can do, this will be the last email you receive from us.” Their platform is full of frauds and there is no serious attempt to exercise oversight on the users. Stay away from these people. They are not a serious company. My experience with Airbnb has been a nightmare.

Airbnb not Checking what Hosts are Offering

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We have used Airbnb extensively in the past, traveling overseas. We are finding it increasingly true that what we read on Airbnb about the offerings at a certain place is not the reality when you arrive. You are caught short without the opportunity to find alternative accommodation. Our experience is: don’t trust what you read on Airbnb, do your own homework, and ask detailed questions before you commit.

For example: “On site parking” should mean on the property, not two kilometers away if you are lucky to find a spot! A supply of essentials means just that, not only a toilet roll! Airbnb is not taking any responsibility for what is advertised on their site; it is very much “let the buyer beware.”

False Advertising Keeps Guests out of Beach House

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The ad claimed that it was a private room with its own bathroom close to shops and the beach. Upon arrival it was evident that the host had just rented out one of his bedrooms and everything else was shared. Furthermore, he had other tenants staying in the same house. The bedroom was so tiny my wife and I could not even move. The ad claimed the beach was a 3-minute drive; the beach was so far from the place that I presume you need a 10-minute car drive to get there. It was definitely not walking distance. After about 30 minutes my wife and I decided we couldn’t stay there so we left and when I contacted the host and explained why we left (false advertising) he refused to refund me any of my money.

In summary:

  • The smallest room I have ever seen.
  • This was not a private bedroom; everything was shared
  • The host was completely unreasonable in terms of the cancellation policy. I now realize why he has a strict cancellation policy. I am sure most people would leave after seeing the place… total disaster.

Bizarre Encounter with Airbnb Host after a Stay

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I spent three months in 2016 with Roberto Eichhorn who is a super Airbnb host. His place was ok, but a bit far from everything (which is inaccurate according to his online description). Luckily, I had my own car. The reason I stayed so long was to transition to a different city. So after I finished my stay, I moved to the west coast. During my relocation period, I received a strange text message from Roberto about his cat and blaming me for cutting his cat’s whiskers short. I thought he was drunk and high, with a little too much time on his hands. So I didn’t bother to respond. Little did I know, he actually posted this “accusation” on my Airbnb profile and made it public. I’m now in a long process of disputing it via Airbnb for his tarnishing comments.

I would have thought Airbnb would ask the host to verify before putting any strange potentially reputation-damaging comments online. No! No preventative guidelines. This is a terribly managed site regarding reviews.