Tag Archives: airbnb nightmare

Airbnb Condones Lying and Scamming Hosts

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I booked a stay in Los Angeles from September 23rd to September 30th. My total was $2134.46. Upon arriving to the location at 3:00 PM, the host took me through what seemed to be a back entrance to enter the building and up to the unit. I asked if he had two keys as I had a second person staying with me and he told me the building only issued one.

He showed me around to the unit, told me that the pillowcases and towels were still in the dryer, and then left. Within minutes of him leaving, I noticed that the bed linens were dirty, with hair on the sheets and white stains all over the bedspread and pillowcases. I was going to just wash them myself. However, the linens that were in the dryer were not dry. I tried resetting the dryer three times but it kept cutting off.

I tried to connect to the wifi and it would not work. I then set out to go pick up something to eat. Upon leaving, I double-checked to make sure the front door was shut tight and locked. However, when I pushed on the door, it popped right open. I tried to shut it about three more times but it would not shut and lock completely. Therefore, I called the host and explained:

• The bed linens were dirty.

• The dryer kept cutting off whenever I tried to reset it to dry the pillowcases and towels that were in them. I had to reset since after the first cycle had finished; they were still damp.

• I could not connect to the wifi.

• The front door would not shut and lock properly.

The host said they never heard that before. While on the phone I again attempted to shut and lock the door hard. However, it would not shut and lock properly. Add this to being brought in using a back entrance and I did not feel safe. I could not stay in a place that does not have a front door that shuts and locks properly.

The host said I could cancel my reservation and they would give me a full refund with no contest. I then called Airbnb to follow up; the person I spoke with told me she needed to see the communication and that she had to contact the host. Airbnb called me back, saying the hosts said they would come over to fix my issues.

This turn of events was alarming since when I talked to the host they said I could leave, cancel, and be given a full refund. I tried to tell Airbnb that I did not feel safe and was uncomfortable. However, the woman on the phone aggressively ignored my concern. Being a single female, taken through a back entrance, then realizing the front door did not shut and lock properly, the hosts being two men, I was completely terrified.

I packed up my belongings and went to wait for them outside in public. By the time I got to the door, they were on the other side of it. They came back to the unit to try to “fix” the issues listed above. They showed up to the apartment with an extra key in hand. However, I was told the building only issued one in the beginning; this was also concerning.

They proceeded to come in and I stepped outside into the hall, as I did not feel safe. They tested out the door and saw for themselves that it was not shutting and locking properly. On their several attempts to shut and lock the door, they told me that I just needed to slam it extremely hard. I should not have to slam and jury-rig the doors to the highly priced Airbnb I was staying at.

When traveling as a female alone, safety is of the utmost importance. I explained to both of them that I did not feel safe or comfortable staying here and I would really appreciate if they would stick to their word allowing me to cancel and give me a full refund. They agreed so they sent a message via the Airbnb app and confirmed they would honor a full refund for cancelling due to the issues listed above and their inability to fix them.

At this point, I returned the key to them, they walked me down out of the seedy back entrance I came in, and I left. The host agreed in the Airbnb app to giving me a full refund without contesting it. I then called Airbnb again to follow up; I was told that I had to cancel the reservation to get a refund. I did that and then called back.

At this point, I was told someone was handling my case and would be contacting me. I never heard from him until he emailed me at 5:41 PM saying that he had forwarded my case onto someone else who would be contacting me.

At 7:31 I began receiving messages from someone saying that he was handling my case. He said he spoke to the host and they sent videos/photographs of the issues listed above working. These alleged photographs/videos were obviously taken after I had left, after the host agreed to a full refund because he could not rectify the issues.

Airbnb told me that they would not honor my refund. They also said that the host was claiming that I refused to give them the key until I got my refund. This is entirely not true. As I mentioned above, I handed over the key to the host when he agreed to give me a full refund due to the issues listed above, as I no longer felt safe staying in this Airbnb.

There is absolutely no reason why I would withhold the keys. A key fob is not worth the $2134.46 I paid to stay in this Airbnb. Withholding a key fob is not going to get my money back, nor provide a place to stay. The host never informed me that any issues were fixed or could have been fixed. I tried reaching out to the host several times but they stopped answering my calls and texts and blocked my number.

I asked Airbnb who I could speak with but they ignored me. I called again; I just kept being told this particular case manage would call me. He did not; he continued to message me. He told me if I had proof of all this, to send it. Therefore, I sent him the screenshots of the messages where the host confirmed he would give me a full refund since. This is what Airbnb said they needed to see: verbal confirmation from the host agreeing to give me a full refund.

I requested Airbnb call me immediately. Finally, about seven hours later from the start of all this, they finally called and did not take into account my experience, but just kept reiterating that the host sent pictures. Had the host put any effort into seeing that all these issues could be fixed when he came back to the unit then I would not be writing this; the issues would have been fixed and I would have had a place to stay. However, he did not do any of that. The host agreed to give me a full refund without contesting it and we parted ways.

I asked Airbnb for a corporate number: they said there wasn’t one. Therefore, I asked to speak with a manager and he finally got us on the phone with one, who said an investigation would be launched.

I am appalled at this level of service. The constant run around with Airbnb customer service has taken up my entire day and ruined my trip. My brother was getting married and this week started in tears and fearing for my safety. Not only did I lose $2134.46, I am 3000 miles away from home without a place to stay.

This Airbnb host has scammed me. I deserve a full refund. My request was simple: I wanted a refund for the full amount which I was told from Airbnb customer service that the host had to agree to, and they did. There is no way I could have stayed in an apartment with a broken door, being taken through a back entrance and then having the host make false claims after confirming he could do nothing about the broken door, the dryer and wifi not working, and would give me a full refund.

This completely ruined my trip and overall experience with Airbnb. I have called numerous times, I have spoken with several “case managers”, I have been told ad nauseum that someone will be reaching to me and no one has. I then had to spend another couple thousand dollars on hotel accommodations.

I have had nightmares following this incident of someone breaking into my hotel room and doing terrible things, all because of the traumatic experience I went through with this Airbnb host and the company. I deserve a full refund for the hell this host and Airbnb’s customer service has put me through during a time that should have been one of the happiest moments for my entire family.

I am glad I found this site to help me learn I was not alone in this nightmare. I wish I would have found it before booking but I will make sure everyone I know knows about it before they consider booking with dirty Airbnb.

Hurricanes just aren’t in our Airbnb Policy

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I loved Airbnb and thought it to be an amazing thing. Like many, I’d often browse the app for cool places to stay, daydreaming of my next opportunity to get away.

I’ve just returned home from a road trip with my partner and we had booked Airbnbs along our way out to east coast Canada. Due to a severe weather issue, we had decided to cancel our booking with one of the hosts. Before we cancelled, I was sure to make contact with them so we could talk it all over and come to a mutual decision of what would be best and safest.

After the call, they agreed it would be best we not take our chances in travelling out to where the stay was supposed to be, and they said they would consider what refund would be comfortable for them. They had also offered a free future stay in exchange for the cancellation, but now they have offered a future 15% discount in place of that offer.

After a few days passed, I contacted them again to see if they had thought more about a refund. They said they would contact Airbnb to see what they thought about my request, which later they then said that Airbnb didn’t take the weather seriously as it didn’t appear on their “weather radar”. In turn, they had no intention of refunding me at all.

Not being satisfied with the outcome, I contacted Airbnb myself in hopes of conveying the situation perhaps a little clearer from my position. I was put in touch with someone who asked if I could link them with some resources online that showed the weather conditions I had mentioned.

I linked her with the first article I could find, which came up right away when I searched “October 17th 2019 Nova Scotia weather” which mentioned the “weather bomb” my partner and I experienced and chose not to risk driving in. In the article there were plenty of videos and pictures from locals showing trees being ripped out of the ground, cranes falling into buildings, etc.

The article also mentioned the winds which had been blowing at 60-100 kph. They said it was “hurricane like conditions” and I was expected to drive through that in order to make my stay. I have family who lived an hour away from where I was staying before the storm, that said even if I had nowhere to go after cancelling the Airbnb, I shouldn’t drive to them to stay at their home because even that drive would not be safe. The reservation I had cancelled was a five and a half hour drive away. We even had our host contact us about the storm, asking if we had heard about it and what our plans were in case we needed help navigating that out last minute.

The customer service rep said there was nothing Airbnb could do and that if I were to get a refund it would need to come directly from the host, which the host clearly did not want to do and keep the money. After trying to explain my situation further, she then said that “the decision is final” and that I would be compensated nothing.

This is all coming after she apologized on behalf of Airbnb and said that Airbnb wants to treat their customers with respect and make them feel valued. It’s such a shame how ridiculous this situation became and how poorly this was handled. Clearly, the customer is not valued or respected and our safety and well-being was in no way a concern.

Airbnb would rather have my $200 then a valued user/guest who had once loved this service. I regret to say, I have decided to never again use the Airbnb service and have deleted my account. I will never be able to recommend anyone using Airbnb after all of this.

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Bait and Switch Scheme by Airbnb Host

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I am in a bad situation right now because the Airbnb host misled me badly about the location of my Airbnb. She listed the Airbnb in the listing as in Chicago (without a street address), so on Airbnb the approximate location pin appears on the center of Chicago. Then, after the booking, the real address was revealed to be far removed from where the pin was. I did not know about this until the night before checking in when I looked up the address.

This completely ruined my plans because there is a huge neuroscience conference happening at the same time of my stay and there is no reasonably priced listing anywhere left in the area where I need to be. My entire plans for the trip are ruined because of this situation. I can’t even book a hostel in the area.

Airbnb keeps forwarding me to other agents for three times now. I have not gotten any closer to resolving this issue. I do not want to go to my reservation because the host blatantly defrauded me. The only reason I would have booked that listing was for the location. I have never seen a location pin from the original listing so far away from where the actual address is. If anyone can help please let me know.

Creepy Host Harassing Airbnb Guests

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Attention everyone who finds this apartment attractive. We’ve just had a very creepy and shocking experience with the host of this place. As we (four adults) arrived to the apartment, we discovered that one of the two double beds did not have a mattress. Instead, there was a very thin pad covering a wooden surface of the bed’s carcass. We called the owner to find out if something could be done. He allowed us to combine some mattresses that were on two single beds.

The next day we decided to move from the place anyway (in addition, we realized that this apartment, crowded with old furniture and hundreds of objects, had a very bad smell). However we didn’t bother the owner with the smell issue; our major problem was the bedding that caused a lot of inconvenience to us. The host was pretty frustrated, but he gave us a refund as soon as we left. We left at about 9:15 AM and moved to a hotel.

The nightmare begins now. That evening, as we walked through some touristy places, we received a message from the host. He accused us of the crime of flipping over his whole apartment, stealing some jewelry from the drawers, breaking the bed, etc. As we read this, being speechless, he continued to add things that never happened and had never been done by us.

Imagine: four adults (I am an architect, my sister is a college teacher… we have grown-up kids) now have to deal with such a horrible scam. We then started to read carefully all the reviews on this apartment and we discovered something very similar and horrifying from a woman and little kid who rented this place a while ago (please find this one-star review and read).

We contacted Airbnb right away and told the assistant about the situation. In the meanwhile we contacted the host and suggested we come with the police and have them evaluate our fingerprints. He replied, “In Italy, there is no such thing.”

The next day, this manipulative person wrote us another message and asked, “Why didn’t you come with the police?” I probably should stop describing all the nonsense and wait for the update from Airbnb.

The owner demanded 450 Euros in compensation from us at first. After a few days he increased the amount to 661 Euros, enough for Airbnb to move the case to a different team. In addition, as we usually take pictures of every room in the apartment at the moment we leave, we did the same with this place. We provided Airbnb with everything we had to prove our decency. This host has no proof. He never called the police, and he continues to threaten my family.

Safety of Guests is not a Concern for Airbnb

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We stayed at an Airbnb-hosted accommodation near Slough in Beaconsfield previously and were planning to visit again. It’s a clean budgeted accommodation, with CCTV only installed inside the premises. We had an incident on the host’s driveway, which was distressing as we felt quite unsafe.

The host herself confessed a spate of burglaries in the neighbourhood. When we asked the host about a CCTV on her premises, she immediately said it was not on the outside as if she knew something has happened. Moreover, we were surprised that the host, as well as the Airbnb staff, were unempathetic and unhelpful. No consideration was given to guests’ safety.

We have cancelled all our future bookings at this place. We have used Airbnb in the past for may years. This is the first time we have had an unfortunate incident, and Airbnb customer support was very unhelpful.

We asked the Airbnb staff about the host not mentioning the CCTV in her listing, but the customer support insisted that the host did. When I asked Airbnb staff to show evidence of this, no response was received. Also, I requested to check when the host last updated her listing, and there was again no response from the Airbnb team. The Airbnb team also refused to refund the booking amount in full despite cancelling the booking two weeks in advance.

We have also used many American products and services in the past, and their services have been very customer-oriented. Special circumstances are always given an extra bit of attention. We have used Airbnb for many years and recommended it to others.

However, after this incident, we felt that the safety of the guest was not a priority for Airbnb. For that reason will try to avoid using Airbnb whenever possible and would not recommend it to others. We also plan to write about this incident and the way the untrained Airbnb managers have handled the situation on various blogs and websites and discourage people from using it.

Airbnb left me with a dead body, $50,000 in damages

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There was a story that was aired on the local news the morning of July 28th, 2019. This story included vague details of a pool party that went wrong and the death of a Clay High School student by gunshot. Including only one side note was that it was an Airbnb listing.

There were many details that the story failed to capture. I am the homeowner of that Airbnb listing. I had listed the home on Airbnb just over a year ago as an entire house rental, private property with horses and country escape at around a $500/night booking fee.

Of the seven or eight bookings I had, it was a great experience, until it wasn’t. I had a one guest for a one-night booking the week prior to July 27th. This person had a verified Airbnb account that included one five-star review. They didn’t offer a lot of details about their stay but like every time before, the house was prepped, the key was left, and I was gone before they arrived.

I was notified by a neighbor around 1:30 AM that something seemed wrong with the amount of cars at my property and traffic in and out. I immediately called the police to assist in removing anyone from the property, as they were all trespassing and likely causing unspeakable damage to the home.

The shooting happened shortly after that, before the police even made it there, leaving one 18-year-old man dead in my driveway. This one guest rental was a 200-300 person party of underage people and dangerous criminals. There were Hennessy bottles thrown at my horses who were on the property during this time, luckily not causing any significant harm to them.

Upon further discovery, the actual verified guest has an extensive criminal background. There was blood throughout the entire home, over $20,000 in building damages and another $30,000 in personal property that was either stolen or ruined. Although the local police recommended bleach and water, I hired a hazmat crew to come and disinfect the home and clean the immense amount of bio waste that was covering my walls, floors and furniture.

People continued to return to the home in the days following so for the safety of my family I hired private security to protect the home and property. These people are and have been at war with each other. My home just happened to be the location that the battle was fought at.

I live with the reality every day that every single person who had access to my home can clearly tell it’s only a young woman and a five-year-old boy who live here. Of all the things damaged and all the pain this has caused, there is no greater fear than the idea that these monsters could come back and harm myself and my son.

My story isn’t about publicly shaming those who did this. My goal, however, is to shed light to the darker side of hosting for Airbnb and the complete lack of restitution that they have offered per their Host Guarantee and the lack of actual vetting they do to verify a guest. Almost three months, over 50 emails and communications, and they have decided to wash their hands of this due to the fact my personal homeowners insurance stepped up and covered just under $20,000 of the damages.

The process of their Host Guarantee is basically a death march to the point hosts rely on personal finances and their own homeowner’s insurance to begin the process of putting their lives back together. Although my insurance was amazing in the process, there is still $30,000 of personal property that was accounted for in detail as a loss.

The Host Guarantee specifically states (per their contractual agreement) that they will pay the difference of insurance claims. The most recent communication is that they took a if/then method stating that if my personal insurance has stepped up, then Airbnb is free and clear of any liability.

I hope to share my experience so those who are simply doing this to share the experience of their home, improve their homes for their families, or even just make some side cash on their primary residence know that if something does go wrong, Airbnb will not stand behind you.

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Faulty Electrical Appliance Nearly Caused a Fire

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We returned from a weeks trip to Trulli Margherita, a traditional Puglian villa located in Gorgofreddo, Puglia, Italy. We experienced a number of complaints and inconveniences, as well as one distressing, near fatal electrical fault, that unfortunately put a dampener on the rest of our stay.

Although Airbnb and the host were quick to handle most of the complaints we were certainly not happy with how our main complaint was handled. To summarise our complaints briefly:

  • The electrical plug-in fan caught fire, causing a plastic smelling smoke to fill the bedroom in which our 6-month old baby was sleeping.
  • There was no air-conditioning in the bedrooms.
  • ‘Trulli shaped’ wood-fired oven locked away, not for guest use.
  • Bedside lamps to the second bedroom were not working on arrival, maintenance had to be called to replace them.
  • The house bathroom shower valve broke, maintenance called again.
  • Maintenance again called to provide more wine glasses

Our main complaint about this listing would be about an electrical plug-in fan provided in one of the bedrooms. To our horror, it caught fire and filled the room with plastic-smelling smoke. Our 6-month baby was sleeping in this room, so you can understand our distress at having to rush him to A&E to check he was okay. Please note we were sat outside in the courtyard area, checking on him at regular intervals as well as keeping an eye on him via video monitor.

After a few hours in the hospital, trying to convey the issue with a major language barrier, he thankfully checked out okay, but on doctor’s orders we had to follow up with another hospital appointment the next day and a further GP’s appointment again once we were home to be certain. This added incredible stress and anxiety to us for the rest of the holiday.

The host, although quick to respond and apologise for the incident, only offered a mere 10% refund as an apology (a sum we would have expected for the misleading description about the wood-fired oven alone), and no explanation as to whether the appliance had been checked over beforehand. We felt rather insulted at this small offer and upset the matter had not been taken more seriously. If we hadn’t checked on our baby at that time, the situation could have been a lot worse, even fatal.

Please note there were no fire alarms in the property that would have alerted us to this incident. We were further insulted during a phone call with the host where they stated the 10% refund from the owner was offered so we didn’t write a negative review – a rather tactless remark to make about their own self interests, in light of the serious nature of the incident.

To add insult to injury, during further discussions with the host after we arrived home, they claimed the fan was only for decorative use, and that we shouldn’t have been using it in the first place. This was never stated in writing or conveyed verbally during check in. If this were the case, why would they place a functioning fan in a bedroom if it were not for use in the first place? Especially a room with no air-conditioning? Very misleading if true, but we feel they are now only saying this to relieve themselves of responsibility and to avoid a case of negligence in terms of electrical safety.

Our next complaint would be about the ‘Trulli shaped’ wood-fired oven that is listed in the description of the property. On arriving at the property, we noticed it was actually locked away. We enquired with the host about this and they apologised about the misleading description and offered for the owner to come around and light it. Although a kind gesture, this was inconvenient and inflexible for us – we did not particularly want to ‘book’ in a time with the owner.

Overall it was disappointing, as the amenities and features of the property were some of the reasons why we booked it in the first place. Air conditioning is listed as an amenity; however, it is only offered in living spaces, not bedrooms. Again, a rather misleading description of the property. We had a few restless nights’ sleep due to the heat as a result.

The other maintenance issues, although not serious in nature, were just more inconveniences to us during our stay. We certainly got to know the maintenance man very well. Aside from our complaints and credit where credit is due, the Trulli itself is very charming and cosy – maybe a little basic – but perfect for a family getaway.

The real seller, however, is the spacious external, covered seating area and poolside. It was a shame the wood-fired oven was not for use, as we were looking forward to making pizzas out there. Other than that, the area was very good for evening dinners and sunny days lazing around the pool, which is exactly what we were after.

The area itself is a bit off the beaten track (hire car a must), but this rural setting was exactly what we were after. Within walking distance there is a well stocked ‘corner-shop’ as well as a charming pizzeria. Alberobello and Castellana Grotte (amazing caves) are both a 10- to 15-minute drive and well worth a visit. Monopoli and the surrounding beaches around 20-25 minutes and again worth seeing.

Unfortunately as a conclusion, I cannot recommend this listing to anyone, not until the owners, the host or Airbnb confirm there has been some sort of electrical safety check to assure users it is safe to stay in. They also need to go back and accurately re-write the listing description about he wood-fired oven and air-conditioning. A real shame, as otherwise it would have been a good stay.

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Someone’s Trash could be your Airbnb Furniture

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I checked into my Airbnb last night. As my son and I opened the filthy front door, the smell of mold filled the room. We walked up four flights of filthy carpeted stairs to reach the apartment, where the front entrance had a huge filthy moldy stain the size of a Labrador. The sofa looked like it was picked up from the side of the road when someone put it out as garbage; it was sunken in and dirty, with stains throughout the whole thing.

This is where my son was supposed to sleep the night and we would pass our days watching TV and socializing for six nights, for which I paid $620. There was a loft with a filthy futon mattress up above this dirty yellow staircase. The bed sheets were stained and looked unclean.

I contacted Airbnb right away and spoke with someone for 35 minutes on their 1-800 number, after which I realized I was calling from the UK to the US on my cell minutes; I knew that was going to cost me a lot of money. I was told to go to sleep and someone would contact me in the morning. I contacted the host as well, sending photographs to both. Still, with no response this is taking up hours of my few days I have here in Leeds visiting my son.

These hosts seems to have many rentals and are considered to be Superhosts. I’m baffled. I did read the complaint of the last person that stayed in this apartment, which should’ve raised a red flag. I figured if Airbnb gave them a Superhost badge, that would have to mean something. I really don’t understand how people can be so unethical in running a business.

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Entertainment for your Airbnb – Choose any Porn Tape

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We arrived at the flat in Palermo at the agreed time to be met by a co-host whose English was extremely poor and found it difficult to communicate with us. The host, whose name is on the listing and with whom we had been communicating, was too busy at work.

We were shown into the apartment and shown into the sitting room where there on the unit in bright red boxes were 30 hardcore porn tapes. Some of these were in the unit and some were on top where the picture could be seen by all. I was just grateful that my children were not with me. The co-host said they were not porn but one could hardly get away from the fact that they had titles such as ‘whore’.

In addition there was a review by a guest written in May 2019 that says “we just had a few small issues (some people may not find these problems relevant): there was a large amount of video pornography on display and within the lounge area. This was quite distasteful and could make some people feel uncomfortable.”

Despite this review, Airbnb does not seem to have taken any action with regards to this. We left the apartment and went to a local cafe where we contacted Airbnb as we did not want to stay or be associated with such material. They were less than helpful. They managed to get some money returned to us, but less than a third of what we paid for the apartment.

Airbnb help contacted me through Twitter with lip service. Despite many conversations, they say they are not responsible for what the host has in his apartment. Something I disagree with, especially as the issue had been flagged some four months earlier. In a nutshell, Airbnb has taken no moral responsibility for the business they are promoting even though in their T&C’s it says you must not bring the company into disrepute.