Tag Archives: Airbnb hell

Can’t Travel Now: Airbnb Customer Service Hell

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The people in Airbnb customer service are rude idiots. I think the company must tell them this is the way they have to behave. I have written emails, called, been hung up on, and I am fed up. I have had injuries and illnesses this last year and haven’t been able to use my credit coupon of 170 dollars which would go a long way in Mexico, a place I love. I have asked Airbnb to extend it for me as I have impending wrist surgery, even sending an email from the doctors office. The call center is telling me that I have to have medical certification. Excuse me? I have to pay a doctor to write something so that I do not lose my credit in two weeks.

I think now Airbnb has gone public they are even bigger jerks. I did them a favor by referring people and because of my medical situation (sounds like discrimination), they are taking my credit away. I told them I had to move this month too, and they got the documentation, but they want more. I called again and they hung up on me. I was told someone would call me and it has not happened. I would rather couchsurf than deal with these idiots. No more referrals from me. Airbnb sucks. I hope they fail and their stock crashes.

Water Damage is the Least of this Airbnb’s Problems

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I rented a lovely home in the DC area that I thought was a great deal. Unfortunately, after a late night arrival and a hot night with no AC, in the light of day I found that his property had a lot of slapstick-repaired water damage from a double shingled saving roof with additional plumbing problems. We were promised AC repairs the day we reported them within 24 hours but they never happened. Coughing and respiratory problems ensued. There were tarps on the skylights and evidence of water damage in every room including rust on baseboards which had been removed. A second verification of damage is needed to confirm this atrocity and obvious health violations for a rental. Luckily you can report to local authorities since Airbnb will do nothing but offer a partial refund and keep such a listing on their site. The following is the current listing.

Almost 8K Stolen by Host even with Months’ Notice

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I attempted to rent a home in Mexico (PDC) but had to cancel due to unforeseen circumstances and expenses. The payment was nearly eight thousand dollars, so of course you’re going to pay half at that amount. We cancelled the reservation with three months to spare and I was told by two messages we would be getting a refund minus the “service fee” (which at the time was the outrage).

After a couple of weeks of no refund, I contacted the host and he said to contact Airbnb, which I then did. They told me that unfortunately due to the “strict policy” the only way to get a refund was to contact the host. I emailed the host several times on their site with no answer, then back to Airbnb I went.

They are still currently resting on the “policy” as if it were an unbreakable/bendable law with no exceptions. Even thought the host has already re-booked for over half the eight nights, was given three months’ notice and sent the message of “your refund is on it’s way”.

I have also been told by Airbnb that I should have contacted them sooner. After being told I was to wait on my refund and the host telling me it was not up to him. I am still at this very moment attempting to get some sort of refund but they are treating me like a terrorist, i.e. “we do not negotiate our policies” and you get nothing, not even an attempt to ask me if another date would work, take back the unearned service fee, swag, nothing… just go away while we keep almost eight thousand of your dollars for absolutely no services or goods rendered.

I beg anyone who may read this poorly written ramble to please do not allow this company/site/host to steal one dime of your hard earned money.

We are not Alone in our Airbnb Complaints

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As I have read on numerous posts on your site, we are not alone. Airbnb is annoyingly uncooperative in providing a refund based on two reservations. However, in this post, I will only discuss the first one. A reservation was made in error. In order to correct the situation, I reached out to customer service and had the agent told me that we would lose the bulk of the deposit, I would have never agreed to cancel the reservation. The excuse, repeated again and again from the agent, to the case manager, to the supervisor, is that’s the policy and they can’t do anything to help, no exception, not even a goodwill gesture. Now, we’re out of pocket for more than $1000 CAN.

Guest Took Paintings and Nailed through them

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I just came back home and found out that my guest, who is renting a “room in shared apartment” had climbed over my kitchen wall cabinets to reach a pair of paintings that I had put there, to take them into his room and proceeded to nail through them to affix them in his rented room.

I honestly just can’t quite wrap my head around how disrespectful just the idea of doing this is, yet actually proceeding with the actions without permission. Those paintings are sort of a family heirloom, as they were hand painted by my mother, many years ago.

Seriously, you might think that I should have not left “valuables” in the listing, but paintings are not something a guest might need to use. Additionally, I had put them far away for anyone to accidentally damage them. He must have used a chair and climbed up the kitchen countertop to reach them. There’s just no way to justify the actions. It is not even an accident.

He used a hammer and nails, and nailed through the paintings (they were not framed yet)… seriously, who does that? Even if he had installed them without damaging them, why would one think that he’s entitled to take your paintings and install them in their room? Or anywhere else?

I have to clarify that I was never contacted about the issue. Never asked for permission or anything. I noticed this casually, as the guest is out of town until the next day and he had left his bedroom door open, as I normally wouldn’t have looked in the occupied (rented) room (I wouldn’t have opened the door). Honestly I had not immediately noticed them missing from the kitchen, possibly as I just returned from a month-long trip overseas.

The pictures show the paintings as they originally were placed on top of the kitchen cabinets and the paintings as were found in the guest’s room. One had apparently already fallen down from where he nailed it, as I found it hidden behind the side table. I had to guess and search there, in order for me to find it.

Even though I feel insulted, violated and upset, I’m not even preoccupied about the actual damage, which although actually irreparable, technically, my mother might be able to repair them (which won’t make them as original, but still somewhat repairable, even by the actual original creator – just imagine if she had already passed).

I’m just really preoccupied about the amount of disrespect, entitlement and arrogance that was needed by the guest to conceive such an idea, and the outrage of actually carrying it out. I feel bad because it seems like the best thing to do in the future would be not to keep them there anymore, but I liked my beautiful paintings, in my beautiful kitchen.

I don’t want to think that it was my mistake for leaving them there. It’s like stripping me from my freedom of even having anything I care about around my house. How would I feel in my home if it would be furnished with things I don’t care about?

Don’t get me wrong, I am very easygoing with wear and tear, accidents and such. I still provide good quality things for my guests. I understand that things break and I mostly provide things that are replaceable. However, taking down paintings and nailing them in their room is just not something guests should be even thinking about doing.

My Airbnb Neighbor Hell Begins Today

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My Airbnb Hell season begins today. I live in a small 36-home community in Myrtle Beach, SC. We purchased a home here because we didn’t want to live around the tourists, but wanted to be close to the beach.

The short backstory is my neighbor’s wife left him last year around this time. She hastily signed a lease for an apartment and they reconciled in a few days, presenting their family with an issue of having an apartment that was unable to be sublet and a house in a residential only community. Our master deed states our homes are residential use only and the husband requested to rent his home on Airbnb.

Before we were able to have a Board of Directors meeting regarding his request, he had set up the account and had half the summer blocked off. We denied his request and had our attorney give an opinion in our case. Our attorney has sent two cease and desist letters but he has continued to book this year.

Last summer ended with Mustang Week: 22 Mustangs revving all night and day – fun times, right? Our homes are huge, so he fit more than 24 people in his home at times. The summer was full of riffraff in and out every three days that thought all the houses on my street were vacation rentals.

I have a pool so several renters tried telling me that my pool was the community pool and I had to let them use it because they were “paying for it”. A group of frat boys were catcalling at all the old ladies that walk the street for their workout. Several groups were so loud, I couldn’t let my children sleep in their own room.

Today, we have a new group in the house. It’s a small group but my children have school for a few more months and I’m worried about noise levels from vacationers, child molesters, and drunk people roaming my community again.

Airbnb Parasites who come to Asheville

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Most of Buncombe County is blocked from Airbnb hosting. However, we still have the crooked landlords doing it and racking up daily fees. I’m a native here of western North Carolina and as a neighbor across the street from a home converted to Airbnb use, I’ve had nothing but private property/trespassing related issues. These are the most stupid and disrespectful people.

You get a neighbor once in a while from urban areas that walk their dogs on your property to pee or poop. You deal with these people accordingly to set the tone on the definition of “private property”. I get more traffic off it from the Airbnb guests just walking their dog on my property like they own the place.

Randomly I’d find a fast food cup or bag thrown in my lawn or a take-out container thrown in the bushes. I never had issues with neighbors littering on each other lawns before this. I was changing my spark plugs in my carport one day and saw the Airbnb guest flick their cigarette butt from their car window into my lawn as they pulled in. That guy became very aware I saw him and approached him, stating he should get over here and pick up his trash.

His Airbnb host contacted me and said if I harassed her guest she’d call the police. I stated she’d better get her butt down here and pick it up then if she’s giving her guests the green light to litter on my lawn. If I knew that landlord’s address I’d ship the trash I’ve been picking up straight to her. They don’t mind playing the hotel alternative but they certainly don’t like addressing the housekeeping problem outside their unit. Neighborhoods with even one Airbnb unit should shoot for a tax credit proposal because it’s making basic neighborhoods look like a refugee camp from negligent landlords.

One night when I was coming from work there was this car in my carport. I looked across the street and their Airbnb unit driveway was packed with cars. The distant sound of music and shouting and laughing indicated there was a party and a visitor was using my driveway. I didn’t even bother to knock and say move your car… I just had it towed.

Four hours later, a banging at my door and shouting woke me up. It was the car owner and the guest demanding to know where the car was. I filled them in and gave them the towing company contact information. They said it was inconsiderate and with the driveway being unoccupied why should I mind? I should have just asked them to move it.

My reply was: “You barked up that tree just from thinking you have some kind of right to use my property when it’s mine and I pay taxes on it… you have zero legal rights to use my land. Considering your parasitic behavior and ignorance I think you’ll get the message on what private property is. Asking you doesn’t send a message to your brain regarding your actions; it’s just tolerating your mindset that’s practiced wherever the hell you came from.”

It’s so stupid here in Asheville. They’re putting up more hotels and more housing developments which makes the landlords drool more for Airbnb. There are no big businesses here, so there’s no economic growth to take on the population influx. Airbnb is just so parasitic and nomadic in its nature… it’s just destroying communities. People need to get involved and get Airbnb out of their states and countries and cuff and jail the hosts getting by doing it illegally.

Two Scams in One Summer: Airbnb’s Non-Existent Security

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This summer I booked a vacation house in France on Booking.com and an apartment in Ibiza on Airbnb. For the first time in my extensive travel life, it turned out that I booked two scams for non-existent properties. I had paid a substantial deposit for the house in France. For the apartment in Ibiza I had not only paid a deposit but also the full rent, together a few thousand euros.

I had booked a beautiful vacation house in France on Booking.com. As indicated on the website, I had to pay a deposit of euro 2,200. I transferred the amount to the ‘owner’ of the house. Due to certain circumstances, I had to cancel the house, and requested the ‘owner’ refund my deposit. There was no response and certainly no money. I contacted Booking.com, who asked for different evidence. After a long process, and emails with apologies stating that they were investigating the case, Booking.com refunded the total amount of the deposit.

With Airbnb, the first email from the Trust and Safety team started with the sentence that Airbnb was working hard on a reliable and secure website, but that in rare cases attempts at fraud happen. If you look at Twitter accounts and websites detailing circumstances like these, there are daily reports of new scams. There are certainly not only attempts and it also is not rare. This does not seem to interest Airbnb.

The email continued with a number of standard tips which might have been useful if they pop up when you open their site, but certainly not after all the misery has happened. It’s closed with the announcement that this transaction took place outside the Airbnb platform, and therefore they can’t provide support or compensation for offsite payments. I think that Airbnb forgets that the scam started on their website. What does Airbnb do for fraud prevention?

Therefore, the question that remains for me: how could this apartment end up on the Airbnb website? That is where the scam started. Wiser through my own research, I took one of the photos of the scam apartment and scanned it through Google images; this apartment also appeared on another site with a different owner and another location. A very simple and quick check.

In addition, Airbnb also does not advise you to contact the owner directly. Why is it possible that this option is offered on the Airbnb site? This is a safety check that does not seem so difficult to build in. Last but not least, how does the identity check go when placing a house on Airbnb? In my second email with Airbnb I asked for the full name and identity check of the person I ‘rented’ from. I did not get an answer to this question and the mail ended with ‘this is our last email regarding this case’. Indeed, I did not get any answers anymore.

Aside from the fact that this is very customer unfriendly, I have no evidence to go after my money. I have a strong suspicion that Airbnb cannot provide me with this proof, simply because it is not there. On the aforementioned Twitter page, it also appears that it is very easy to open an Airbnb account with a fake identity. Scammers even use Airbnb photos of bona fide placements on Airbnb.

It is no surprise that the Airbnb has to adjust their conditions of the European Commission for better consumer protection. Exactly the same case is reported in an article of The Guardian on July 15, 2017. A businessman lost £4,139 through an Airbnb scam. Following intervention, and in the face of a threatened social media campaign by the businessman, Airbnb performed an about turn: it agreed to send him the money he lost. Apparently you have to put a lot of pressure before Airbnb takes responsibility. Not everybody is in a position to do so, which makes it unequal treatment.

To conclude, I believe that Airbnb cannot hide behind warnings and the fine print. I and many others would not have been scammed if Airbnb’s screening process was good. After all, the misery starts on the Airbnb website. With a few simple checks – and especially good identity checks – a lot of suffering can be prevented. The European Commission, which has already taken steps to protect Airbnb consumers, should certainly also pay attention to this. At this moment, I would advise anyone to book on Booking.com or another reliable website. Booking.com does not offer only hotels, but also very nice apartments and houses.

Living Next to Airbnb Pool House Worse than Hell

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I’m too tired for words right now but it is total hell – worse than hell – living next to a Airbnb with a pool in the backyard. It’s like every weekend or every day there’s a pool party, living next to a water park, and kids screaming their heads off from 8:00 in the morning till 8:00 at night. It started out last night; I didn’t go to work. I work overnight shifts at Amazon and when I can’t sleep, I can’t work. During the summer, it’s particularly hot; we don’t have air conditioning. These houses were built with no air conditioning. We didn’t need air conditioning in Southern California when we moved here. However, now that it’s getting overcrowded there’s more humidity and it’s hotter than hell. Not only that, but this neighbor built a wall in his backyard on the hill so they can look right into our bathroom window, and my bedroom window. It is very uncomfortable and noisy and I’m tired of it. I don’t care where we go on vacation; my parents never allowed my sister and I to scream like that all day long anywhere. It’s ridiculous living next to an Airbnb property.

Out of Pocket Thousands Doing What Airbnb Told Me

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I had my first group of guests cause damage in early June. I contacted Airbnb; they seemed great and told me to send photos with quotes for repairs. They approved my claim, asked for a link to the items that were damaged, and told me they would cover the costs to replace the damaged items – I just had to cover them first.

They haven’t covered the costs of the item I sent them the links for. This had taken some time to get here and so I waited to hear back. I got an email that simply said I had 48 hours to accept the first amount offered or my case would be closed. I called straight away and spoke to someone in guest services who told me not to worry; the case can’t be closed until the items being covered are sorted out.

I told him I had been given 48 hours. I had been patient in getting a response but I could not wait anymore; I needed to speak to someone straightaway. I was told my case was made urgent and someone would contact me in 24 hours. He calmed me down and put my mind at ease, even said maybe the lady in charge of my case might not be the right person to look after me. I waited and after 24 hours called again, as the 48 hours was disappearing and I was worried about it even thought I had been assured.

Again I was told the same thing and I was also told to write back saying I was not accepting that amount as it didn’t cover all the damaged items and that someone would call me in 24 hours. I waited and called again. This time I was told that after my first conversation my case had been transferred to someone else and that I needed to wait for them to call me. He did say someone might not be able to call in 24 hours as this had not been happening, but a new person would call me; I shouldn’t worry.

That night I got an email from the first person telling me I didn’t take the money in the first 48 hours and now my case was closed. I am no longer getting any compensation for not following their guidelines. I wrote back saying I was told my case was with someone else and that my advice was that the items being covered would be sorted and to wait, which is what I did. So because I followed advice from his colleague and they didn’t contact me within the 24 hours and ignored my email about forgetting some items they asked for links to, I am now out of pocket more than $3000.

I called again. I was so upset and was told that they did not have my case and a new person would be in touch. Again I have had emails from the first person saying they had to follow the guidelines and they weren’t there at the booking – they can only go off the evidence.

This doesn’t make sense I showed the same evidence of damage to the BBQ as I did for the lights, just a photo. If it’s good for one it should be for both. If I hadn’t been told to wait the 48 hours wouldn’t have passed and I wouldn’t be out the full cost of the damage. All I did was follow the advice I was given by Airbnb. Because I did what I was told and waited when I should have been pushing, I am no longer getting any reimbursement. At the same time I am being told that someone else is in charge if my case and they will contact me and sort this out.

I’m in tears with no idea what is going on and waiting yet again as I don’t know what else I should be doing. If the staff in different departments aren’t sure of other departments’ procedures and the consequences are thousands of dollars, they shouldn’t tell you to wait. All I can do right now is wait and hope someone does actually have my case and they are sorting it out. Otherwise I have been misinformed and due to that, out of pocket thousands.

All you can do is take advice from the people you can talk to. If they work for Airbnb, how can that advice lead to me being out of pocket? If this is true, it’s a great scam. “Yes, we will cover you, forget a few items, so you contact the only department that you can speak to…”

They tell you not to worry, so you don’t and wait. This puts you outside the claim timeframe and bam – you don’t get any reimbursement. It’s a great scam if this is how they keep their host guarantee costs down. I’m so disappointed and hoping the first person I spoke to that got my claim sent to someone else has been trained correctly. Please let the person who I have been told has my case contact me soon and put my mind at peace. Up until this point Airbnb has been great, but this stress is just not worth it. Even if I turn out to be okay, all the emails from Airbnb have put me at my breaking point.