Long and Costly Contact on Airbnb’s Phone Number

Posted on April 25, 2018

I found on the weekend that I couldn’t actually get into my Airbnb account as it had been hacked. After the most bizarre few days, there was nobody from Airbnb dealing with it as of this morning. They do not have a customer service outfit that can cope with demand. The only way a guest can complain is via a phone number that I eventually found (for UK users): 0203 318 1111. This number is not available on their website. I found it by Googling and finding angry people who posted it on their own Community Forum.

Any guests with account issues must stay on the phone line until the problem is resolved, as they promise to phone you back and then don’t. I have phoned them again and again. The telephone line wouldn’t so expensive for a decently timed response but depending on how long you spend getting a human being… my average suggests at the very least five minutes to talk.

That’s not so bad as some of the people on here but I’ve now been around at least a couple of hours on the phone and that is not a free number. British Telecom charges around 3p per minute to connect to an 0203 number from my landline and Airbnb charges 7p, so 10p per minute. That is an obscene thing in itself. In the UK they make money out of folks’ misery. Why?

The issue is that for a guest, once your email and password no longer work due to hacking, you have no access to customer service. You are behind a wall… it feels rather 1984ish. You are locked out of any access. The only thing I felt able to do was open a new account with a different email address and using their online customer services “contact box”, I sent a note on the day I found I’d been hacked: “URGENT – MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HACKED” at the top of the contact form.

Three days later and I have not even had a reply to that yet. After the relief of actually talking to someone, all I now get are emails from that link to my online Airbnb account, which won’t open as I can’t get into my account. The Customer Service manager finally dealing with my problem must be a moron as I have told them five times on the phone “my account has been hacked and I can’t gain access to your emails using my email and password.”

When I realised that nobody was responding to their consumer web page “contact”, during one of my first telephone conversations yesterday, the consumer department suggested that if she gave me the email that the hacker used (and she could see that email address), I could then gain access to my account. I very nearly did just that, then thought for a second about the risk of using it in order to get back into the account without their new password.

I’ve now found all sorts of scams written on various websites frequently happening as a result of this. People’s accounts are hacked in order to pay for bogus rooms in China / Russia / South America where their recipients receive the money. Many grim stories were also found on this site. It’s been three days and and there has still been no responsible conversation with Airbnb customer service. I still have no access to my account and no idea what is going on.

Worst Travel Experience Keeps Money in Airbnb’s Pockets

Posted on April 25, 2018

Worst travel experience so far with Airbnb . My host canceled my booking in Tel Aviv, yesterday, two days before my flight there. I had to call up three different support agents to be able to find someone willing to help me with the issue. They told me they would call other hosts to see what they could offer me instead. Note that flats that are available two days before the actual check-in date are obviously flats that nobody wants. I did not hear anything about them calling any hosts or finding any solution or compensation.

Last night at 1:00 AM I decided to book a place on Airbnb as it was only one day before my flight there. The place was booked and confirmed. This morning I received a message from the host telling me that I could only check in on the 1st of May. I paid for 19 nights. I booked a flat that I would never get in a normal instance, 30 minutes away from the center of Tel Aviv and the host tells me that I can’t check in on the 25th.

I had to call up Airbnb again. They canceled that stay and they “accidentally” refunded me instead of keeping the funds on the account, which will take “5-10 days” to clear out. I now don’t have any place to stay in Tel Aviv, lost two days trying to get in touch with support, lost a 360€ flight, and don’t have access to my 2600€ that I paid for the 19-night stay.

Abusive Host Providing Hell Hole in Philippines

Posted on April 24, 2018

Out of my three years of being an Airbnb customer, this is the first ‘bad’ review I’ve ever written for anyone. Prices should match the quality of service and quality of premises. $93 is way too much for a night for the experience we had. I’ve stayed in dozens and dozens of Airbnbs including those on friends’ accounts. Enjoy my eleven bullet points of cons.

– Check in was not as flexible as we liked. I’m used to hosts working around us when we are unsure about the check in time or arriving late. Instead we had to work around the host as she couldn’t get out of work at a certain time so we had to wait later for her. Even with check out, she asked us to unplug all appliances (I’ve never had hosts ask me this). Airbnb hosts have been accommodating to our check-in situation. If we are arriving late or not on time we are usually given the option to self check in, not wait for the host to leave work. She even had the nerve to ask me to cancel if I was unhappy with the check in time.

– The lifts didn’t work on our way out. We had to walk with heavy suitcases down three flights of stairs. Such an inconvenience. This really got me angry and the lifts didn’t have any indication on whether they were in service or not.

– The bunk beds were not prepared for us. We had to put mattress protectors and pillow cases on ourselves. One of the mattresses still had plastic packaging covering it, meaning we had to take it off ourselves. There was no way we were gonna sleep on plastic so noisy and uncomfortable.

– The curtain rod fell on one of our visitors when opening the curtain for the porch door. What kind of death trap is this place? My mother fixed up the curtains herself. This place was just awful.

– The bathroom had really bad mouldy grout. I’m surprised no one has written a bad review.

– No coffee, no milk, no sugar. We saw a little sachet of coffee that looked like it was being concealed right on the unreachable cupboard like they didn’t want us to use it. We had to go out of the premises to get coffee and milk.

– The second bedroom had no sun shades so I was woken up by the sun. I just couldn’t get a good sleep in – just ridiculous – when I was up by 6:00 AM.

– The cupboard doors were falling apart, which could end up being a hazard.

– The Internet was very slow. My own 3G data was faster. Visitors couldn’t use the wifi due to it being slow.

– The balcony door latch didn’t close, so good luck to anyone who climbs in from the balcony and steals your stuff.

– We wouldn’t have had to complain much about these issues. However, for $93 a night for a run-down condo in the Philippines, this is way too expensive. With that much you’d expect an immaculate place.

I’m so happy Airbnb has acknowledged her violation and poor customer service when a customer is unhappy. I was issued a partial refund. I have to admit, I was quite aggressive towards her from my frustration. But hosts should never attack or argue in a personal unprofessional manner. I said the lift was broken and the wifi was not working and she replied with: “It’s not my problem.”

She did apologise but in a sarcastic passive manner. I have photos and chat logs all to prove that I was honest in my review even though the host found it my fault because I was aggressive; that is all I did. I left her place more spotless than she left it for us.

Desperate Situation After Airbnb Refuses to Answer

Posted on April 18, 2018

I made a reservation on Airbnb for seven weeks in Paris as I was doing an internship there. On our arrival, we noticed that the apartment was a bit dirty and very stinky (cigarettes) and noisy (neighbors). Tired from our travels, we did’t want to make a fuss so we cleaned a bit by ourselves. When we got home at 9:30 PM after a long walk we realized there was no cover for the two-person bed as written on the description. We had to buy one (70€) for our first night. We tried to contact the host but there was no reply that day.

We contacted Airbnb the next morning. They tried to contact our host but he made no effort to find a solution or give us a refund; he denied the facts. There was no hairdryer as described too. On the eighth day, we discovered something else: cockroaches. We couldn’t stay there anymore and made a reclamation on the Airbnb website. They told us we could cancel our reservation and make another reservation. They also promised us we would get a full refund for the nights we didn’t spend there (1000€). That’s what I did; I made a reservation for another apartment (2500€) but my refund was only 39€. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Since then I have been trying to reach them by phone and messaging to get my money back but there has been no answer. I’m quite desperate…

Airbnb Did Not Have What it Said in the Listing

Posted on April 10, 2018

This Airbnb did not do what it said on the website. First of all, the photo showed a lovely high property with a view; it turned out to be taken far above the property and in reality the view was a grubby looking high fence with a building behind it. The listing advertised: “There is one other professional living in including me. All are working full time and pretty chilled. There is Netflix and a big TV so you can entertain yourself. It’s a big three-bedroom house so you can enjoy your space there.”

Reality: while the host was at work, his non-English speaking parents turned up looking puzzled. They were home all day and night and had Indian TV on so I couldn’t use TV in English as they didn’t understand it. We were in the lounge the whole time.

The kitchen was minuscule (only one person could fit at a time) and his mum was frowning at me when I was trying to make space in her cupboard for my food. The stairs were so narrow I could hardly get my case up them (good thing I’m not extra large) and so I spent the whole first evening stuck in my room watching stuff on my iPad. I went to wash my coffee cup and was appalled by the state of the dishbrush with loads of ingrained dirt and muck on it. The bedroom had no towel and when I asked for one, the host’s father didn’t understand and had to ring the host. Everything was covered in dust and there was a beer bottle left in the bin.

I messaged the host to cancel the reservation he said he totally understood and I’d get a full refund. However, in the morning he was arguing that I should still pay for the night and also I’d have to pay a service fee to Airbnb. We went on the Airbnb website to cancel. He said he didn’t want to do it himself because it might affect his reputation. He tried to get me to use ‘guest extreme circumstances’ to cancel so he wouldn’t be shown in a poor light. I refused.

He said I had a kitchen and TV… so why was I complaining? I said I didn’t understand Indian TV so I couldn’t watch what they had on (all night) and I certainly wouldn’t barge in and grab the remote to do so when they didn’t understand English TV. He was not happy. I pointed out that he said on his listing there were two professionals out all day – nothing about a family inside all day. He didn’t see the problem.

I tried to contact Airbnb all morning. Of course their site has you going around in circles. They obviously make it as hard as possible to make a complaint. They tell you to click on their ‘contact centre’ for help which actually just puts you back in touch with the host. I’m not impressed and still trying to contact them.

Airbnb Keeps Putting Funds into Another Bank Account

Posted on April 9, 2018

When I listed a new property on Airbnb – seeing as I had listed once before, but had since changed my address, phone number and bank accounts – I sorted the new information about me, on my Airbnb page. Lovely, or so I thought. Then I got to the ‘preferred payout’ page. I attempted to change my bank details, and the gates to hell opened and welcomed me in.

First I tried to delete the defunct bank account, in order to put the new one in. No way. Impossible. Then I clicked on ‘add payout method’ (or whatever it says), and I felt so happy that I was able to do this. I added my PayPal details, and then my life took on a role that no horror movie comes close to; not even hell itself matches this. In fact, I think I need a month in a sanatorium to help me get well (if I ever recover). The message I got was ‘we will call you to verify it’s you.’

The problem is I cannot change my phone number (the new one) on their payout page. Interesting that on my profile page it was simple, just a new phone number. However, when it came to the payout page, it was impossible. Not possible in any way shape or form to give them my new number to verify me. Why? because very smartly, from my profile page’s new phone number, they have not simply changed my number on the payout page. I guess this would force them to pay me right?

I have recorded the amount of messages, and phone calls (to and from people who cannot speak English employed in their ‘support’ department). As it’s obvious, Airbnb is shipping their ‘call out’ problems to places like India. Phone companies do this too. It’s not unusual; it’s just hair tearing, mind-blowingly insane, and annoying. So far, and still going. I’ve contacted them over 52 times, messaging and calling… impossible. In the meantime, I had a guest and was owed money, hence my frantic efforts. Would I get the money? Heck no!

I decided to write another message to some poor person, who struggles to write in English, never mind understand it, and is obviously trying their best – needs the job and all that. I get it, but I need the money due to me. I translated my messages using Google into every language it allows. In the desperate hope that one, just one of the ‘helpers’ would get the message in their language, and so could not possibly misunderstand me. I also used English often. Nothing happened. I kept getting the same message, which caused me to take tranquilizers. ‘The money has been paid into xxx bank account, and you should have it.’

What do they not understand here? I’ve explained why I won’t get my money. I’ve explained clearly that it’s impossible to change my phone number on their payout page. They’ve blocked that one. I’ve explained that I do not own that account and haven’t for over ten years. I’ve explained that the bank has not got me on their books (they keep asking me to call the ‘bank’?) and I cannot add my new account either.

I then started writing to their ‘help centre’, using very simple language, like children speak. I put a full stop between every word to help the poor person, who cannot easily understand English, to take it easy and read slowly. I was hoping I’d get some luck. Doing it this way took a lot of time and effort. I even Googled easy words, so as to make it as simple as possible to understand only two things: I do not have that bank account. Closed. Gone. Unknown. Impossible. I cannot change my phone number, because Airbnb has blocked that part. Impossible. Cannot. No way on the planet to do this.

Still, this very morning, I got another message from another person (not their fault, I get it) to tell me, in the best English he or she could put together, which was only just understandable, (I’m educated, and I had to reread the drivel over three times to understand what on earth was being written) that the money due to me, is in my xxx bank account (the closed one, to which I don’t have access)… and would I please call my bank (not my bank, explained over 52 times and translated into every language, plus used very simple language a nursery school child would understand to help whoever has to deal with this).

So where does this leave me? I’ve now eaten an entire cold pizza, because I’m trying so hard to keep calm. I could bite my own arm off. It’s impossible. I’m not going to try again. I’m going to somehow get these people to pay me, in whatever way it takes, and I’m now searching for a new hosting company. The fact that every single day, a new message in broken English is sent to me makes me not want to open my computer, because the rage it incites is destroying my life. It’s not worth it. They know it. I know it.

They are hoping, if they irritate me enough, that I’ll just leave this, and move on, right? I don’t think so! Here comes every single social media platform open to me, including a letter to Trump for what it’s worth. I will not stop, and in fact, hit ‘send’, on my messages to social media about ten times a day. Just to cheer me up and help others avoid these thieves, and because they should not get away with their scamming people. If it were possible to speak to someone who had a brain cell, this could be sorted out easily. So easily I wouldn’t be in this horrific position or frame of mind.

Please if you wish to host, for whatever reason, stay clear of these people. Unless you want to host for free, get your place torn to pieces by the ‘visitors’, without compensation from Airbnb, and are hosting for charity. The likelihood of being paid, if there is even a slight problem on their side, is almost nil.

Horrible Customer Service Leaves me Paying for Hotel

Posted on April 6, 2018

I bought concert tickets for my wife for Christmas to see Pink. I then booked an Airbnb for two nights with two bedrooms (because I snore) so we could each have a restful sleep. I arrived at 3:30 PM to check in and was unable to enter due to Airbnb not sending me the unlock code. I tried to call the host with no success. I then contacted Airbnb customer service and was told within the next hour I would get the code or they would set me up with a new place.

Two hours went by with no response. With the concert starting at 7:30, my wife had to change and get ready in a bar bathroom. Being on a budget, I brought enough food for the three days we were going to be there. After repeatedly trying to contact customer service, I finally got a hold of them at 8:30 (one hour after the concert started) and was told I would be staying in a hotel. I explained that we need one with a separate room and was told that they only work with certain hotels and I would be given $100 to find my own.

As you could imagine looking for a certain type of hotel at 8:30 PM with all the stress of the last five hours while the concert you came for is an hour old… was rough. I finally found one; I had to pay upfront and it was $400 a night. I could not leave my wife any longer at the concert by herself so I paid for it and went back in. I’m out the money for the hotel and three days of dining out.

The host contacted me around 11:30 but said he could not give me the house code because Airbnb cancelled my reservation. I tried to contact them the following morning, but nobody would take my complaint because it was assigned to someone else, and she would be calling me asap to correct the situation. I must have reached out 15 times the next week. I never received a phone call, but I did receive a message (seven days later) stating because I looked for my own hotel they would only cover one day at $100. I also had to keep changing the ice in the cooler so all the food I brought wouldn’t go bad. Their customer service is non existent. It’s not worth ruining your time like I did.

Left Airbnb After Host Lied About Internet Access

Posted on March 24, 2018

I was a regular Airbnb customer, and this is my story. I went to Brazil for a business trip, from Ireland. I booked a room in Sao Paulo. I was arriving on a Sunday, and I work remotely for an Irish company. Therefore an internet connection is a must for me every place I go. I arrived to this place, and there was no person to welcome me; the host left one key with the concierge of the building, who works for the building and not for the host, so he gave me the key and that was it.

I entered the place, and there was no internet. I worked with it, spending two hours trying to fix it, but everything seemed normal – the reason there was no internet was actually that there was no service, so you could connect to the network, but there was no connection. I went to a bar with free wifi and contacted the host. She told me she lived 800 km from there, and that she would contact the internet company. Then she confirmed there was something wrong and that the company would fix it on Monday.

As I had to work, I moved into a hotel beside the property, where I was able to connect to the wifi. I spent ten nights in that hotel and the internet problem was never resolved. The host said to Airbnb that there were no internet problems, and that the issue was probably my device, being that I had four devices, and I worked in IT. Therefore I requested a refund from Airbnb. After the first night, Airbnb told me they would not refund me if I cancelled from their website. In fact I did not cancel the booking from the website, and they told me: “Okay, but you left the place” I said: “Yes, I left, but I still have the key.”

Then they asked me to provide pictures. I provided pictures of the modem with all the lights on, the devices not connecting, etc. The host got her money for no one being there, Airbnb has had my case open now for four months, and no one has yet contacted me. When I call Airbnb they say: “Your case is with the legal department…” I believe Airbnb could have stopped the payment from going to the host until the case had been resolved.

Airbnb Tried to Evict us the Night before my Husband’s Funeral

Posted on March 23, 2018

I rented an Airbnb for myself and my adult children. The purpose of our trip was a memorial service for my husband/their father. He had passed away unexpectedly three weeks ago. We checked into the Airbnb on Friday, March 16th with my son’s trained service dog. Shortly after we arrived, the host started texting me about Levi (my son’s dog). I have saved all the texts, ugly messages calling me an indecent person for not disclosing ahead of time that my son had a service dog.

She was rude and demanded documentation, which I provided, even though that was out of line and she had no right to ask for it. We remained in the Airbnb Friday night. On Saturday, my daughter and one of my sons went out to do errands related to my husband’s memorial, which was to take place on Sunday, March 18th. My son remained at home with Levi (my son is 25 years old).

Shortly after we returned to the Airbnb, I had a call from Airbnb telling me that they were concerned about the situation, they had a call from the Airbnb host saying that Levi had been left at the home alone (he was never alone, not even for a second). I told her that he had never been left alone, my disabled son stayed at the house with him. The Airbnb “specialist” said that she would send me of list of alternate places that we could move to.

At this juncture, my husband’s memorial was less than 18 hours away, and we had dinner cooking already. We are reasonable folks, though, and looked at the other properties they sent us. There was only one property in close enough proximity to the memorial service; the rest were anywhere from an hour to two hours away. The property they suggested we move to was $3800 per night, and we were expected to pay it.

That was not possible; the $650 per night we were paying for where we were staying was already too much to spend. My husband had just died, and he was the sole provider. When we told Airbnb that was too much money, they said to both my daughter and myself “Well, I can give you an hour.”

I said, “An hour to what?”

And she replied, “An hour to get out!”

They were going to forcibly remove us from the Airbnb, myself and my kids and my son’s service dog. I became hysterical. Where would we go? We couldn’t even pack in an hour. My daughter is an attorney and was able to get on the phone with the owner of the house. I’m not sure how she did it but she convinced her to let us stay. Thank God. But the scary thing for me is that Airbnb was going to put all of us out on the street because of my son’s dog. It’s very scary that Airbnb has the power to evict a family who did nothing wrong.

The Worst Customer Service I Have Ever Seen

Posted on March 22, 2018

During this winter vocation, I traveled with my friend to Munich, Germany. We lodged at a German’s flat. It was a wonderful trip and the host was a nice guy. Actually I think it was a wonderful experience there. However, several days after we left, we received a message from that host, who informed us that the glass desk in his living room had been broken. He suspected we did it, which was ridiculous. Why he didn’t he talk to us while we were there, instead of several days after we left?

If we considered this issue important, I thought it would be better to connect with the police at first time. Well, after discussing it with my friend, we thought that the less trouble, the better. We are international students and aren’t willing to get stuck in any trouble. We decided to agree with the host and pay him back 80 euro as a solution to terminate this problem. At that moment, the Airbnb nightmare began.

The Airbnb charged the fees twice, a total of 160 euro. We connected with customer service several times. They made a promise to us that they would return the fees to another credit card which I have saved on my Airbnb Account, but not the card which I used to make the payment before… how absurd they are. Once I connected with them, instead of solving the problems for us, they always said that the fees had been transferred onto the credit card, and we should ask our bank for help.

The bank clerk told me if they had transferred the money into my account, I would have already received it. However, at this moment, I still haven’t received it. What makes me anger is once you connect with Airbnb, customer service doesn’t always reply to you or, if they do, it takes several days. In 21st century, this is the most “wonderful” service I have ever seen.