Tag Archives: airbnb nightmare

Can’t Stay at Airbnb if There’s Nowhere to Park

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I saw this website. I discovered it was impossible to stay at the “cottage” I reserved on Airbnb. I could not park anywhere for blocks (possibly miles) around. It turned out to be located in a very congested neighborhood where cars lined the streets on both sides.  I felt misled as to the listing.

The attached picture is not what I saw. It was inaccessible; the directions said to enter the “cottage” by going through the yard of a “different house” — the one that was facing the street. The driveway of this “other home ” had a sign posted that said “do not park”.

I was  a nervous wreck, as I contemplated what on earth I was going to do if I couldn’t even park my car. Impatient drivers behind me kept honking their horns. One car was able to barely squeeze his way between my car and the row of cars to his left. He leaned into my car and said, “Get out of the way!”

I had nowhere to go but forward. As soon as I was able, I called the “host”, who did not answer. So I left a voice message saying, “I can’t stay at your house if I can’t even park my car. I expressed that I didn’t know what to do. I never got a return phone call.

I went to the Airbnb message center and chose the red highlighted area that said “contact Airbnb”. In between each four-way street traffic stops I wrote my complaint.  It took several attempts at explaining why I wanted to cancel. The site didn’t like “because I had nowhere to park” and it didn’t like “because the ad was misleading”, so I entered “because I don’t feel safe”.

Apparently it is some sort of preset answer/question format that has to see a certain reason as being acceptable before it comes back with the response I was looking for. Finally the response came back as “you will receive a full refund”.

At that, I headed home, all the way from Queens, New York (where the coronavirus had practically become an overnight pandemic) to Conway, Arkansas. I had not slept in over 24 hours because the other reservations I had made through Airbnb had to be cancelled when I saw that it was in a very high crime area. At least that reservation was cancelled without a problem.

Well, I arrive home three days later. I booked motel stays along the way (did not want to bother with Airbnb anymore) and guess what? I got an email from Airbnb that I was not entitled to a refund because of my host’s policy.

Boy, was I mad. My husband was furious. He jumped down my throat about booking with that company instead of just getting a motel. I immediately tried to complain. But, for some reason, I don’t recall why — I could not get a person to talk to.  I had to write my complaint out and waited for a reply.

When someone did contact me, after explaining all of the reasons I cancelled, I was told I had no supporting facts: no pictures, no correspondence.

How am I going to get that question/answer form that is on their end only? How am I supposed to get a picture of that sign in their driveway which said “do not park”?

As of now, I am out $260. I know that is not a lot of money, especially in comparison to some of these other unfortunate victims. If I were rich, I would pursue this with an attorney just for the principle  of the matter. I have submitted a third request for the refund I was promised.

COVID-19 Scam Over Bali Cancellation

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I booked an Airbnb in early February 2020 with a host in Bali, Indonesia from May 15, 2020 through May 28, 2020. Well, sure enough, because of the coronavirus, my flight got canceled and both Singapore, where my layover was, and Bali are no longer accepting non-essential travel. This can be proven on both governmental websites.

I decided to cancel on March 25, 2020 and called Airbnb to speak to a representative. The representative informed me that because of their extenuating circumstances policy, I would be able to get refunded since I booked in early February.

Due to her negligent misrepresentation about the company’s policy, I cancelled my trip only to be refunded $0 and my cancellation had to be accepted by the Airbnb host. I immediately called back and was informed now the host had to accept my cancellation.

Well, the host never accepted my cancellation, told me he basically “had mouths to feed”, and I wouldn’t be seeing my $560 deposit. I immediately called Airbnb and told them I was impossible to go to Bali and it is unconscionable to take my money due to the first representative’s misrepresentation and the fact the government isn’t allowing me to travel. She informed me to submit documentation for internal review.

After this, Airbnb informed me he’d be eating my money too since I cancelled before the policy updated to extend to May 31st even though I cancelled five days before the extenuating circumstances policy updated.

I am advising everyone not to book with this Superhost who should have this status revoked and never to book with Airbnb. I have filed a complaint with the BBB since this is unconscionable and is a complete scam.

Even people who are covered under the extenuating circumstances policy still have to go through the same runaround and get the host to accept their cancelation. Airbnb is a scam.

COVID-19 Airbnb Cancellation not Refunded

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I have never experienced customer service as terrible as this. I had a house booked in a couple weeks just outside the full cash refund bracket but that was fine; I was still entitled to a full credit refund which I could use in a future trip.

When I had realized the current state of emergency wasn’t getting any better, cancelling the Airbnb booking was a must. I went through the app to cancel and was shown two options. The first was a “receive a $0 refund from host” as it had surpassed her cancellation date, and the other option was “receive $320 travel credit for next trip.”

Part of this was my mistake, as I didn’t realize I needed to select an option. I had thought it was giving me the details of my refund rather than giving me the two options I had. As far I remember I don’t think there was anything that said I needed to select an option either.

Straight after that I had contacted Airbnb, first through messages and then a call. I was on hold for about 50 minutes, which is understandable during this period. Once I got through I explained my details to a very uninterested lady. She asked if I was looking for a full refund to my credit card, I said I was more than happy to accept travel credit.

I explained I think I had accidentally selected the wrong option as I didn’t see any travel voucher/credit to my account after that cancellation. She had told me she didn’t have the power to do the refund and that she’d speak to someone higher up and contact me later.

One week later, I hadn’t heard anything back. I sent them another message in case she had forgot. At that point I decided to call back, this time with a different person. I explained the whole situation again, and told him I had been waiting to be contacted by Airbnb. I asked if he could help me but once again he said he could not but will speak to somebody that can.

He then sent me a message after the call and said: “Thanks your patience, somebody will get in contact with you within 24 hours to resolve your issue.”

Six days later… nothing. So now I’m wondering if they’re going to refund my money or just tell me there’s nothing they can do as it is my fault for selecting the wrong option. Is it common for these guys not to contact you when they have promised or do they just try getting out of giving your money back?

Trapped in Dirty Airbnb Apartment During Pandemic

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I rented an Airbnb apartment in Lima. The description said there were two beds, an air conditioner, pots and pans, microwave, oven, stove, and a washer/dryer. In fact, there was only one bed, no air conditioner, no washer/dryer and no pots and pans. The microwave, oven, and stove didn’t work.

In the pictures there are two couches, and there was only one, which was much smaller. Nothing is like it was the pictures. It’s a totally different apartment. It smelled bad, and was quite old. I talked to the host, and he said that the original apartment was dirty, and not usable (he told this to me via Airbnb messaging). The situation got worse.

I checked out of my hotel because I knew I had an apartment, and now they won’t let me back in (due to coronavirus, it’s really hard to find hotels that accept new people). I was waiting on the phone with Airbnb for almost three hours. When someone finally picked up, she told me that someone else will call me back. Of course I never got a call back.

Now I’m stuck in Lima. Two people in a dirty, smelly, small apartment which has one normal bed for $70 a night (which is expensive for Peruvian standards).

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Never Been so Angry Dealing with Airbnb

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I booked with an Airbnb host going off the pictures. I arrived in LA and called to tell them I would be having dinner with a friend and would arrive late. They said that was not a problem.

After dinner I took an Uber to the location and called saying that I had arrived. They said they would be right down. I waited 15-20 minutes and finally a lady that actually looked homeless came out while on the phone and waved me to follow her.

We went through a broken gate and beat up door and entered the building in which the entrance was completely surrounded by trash on the floor. The air smelled like cigarettes and mildew. I walked further in and heard her on the phone saying she could not find a key for the room.

The place was a mess and gross. I felt so uncomfortable there. Especially with the virus all over.

She went off and told me to wait. I finally got tired of waiting, left, and got a hotel. I asked for a cancellation and refund and they refused.

I left a review and then they responded saying I was on drugs and that was not cool. I will be going after them legally. I have already hired a private investigator. I also emailed the CEO of Airbnb.

Airbnb Trip Around UK cut Short due to Virus

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My husband and I booked an extensive trip around Devon and Cornwall, before COVID-19 meant that we found ourselves in lockdown. All other hotels we have booked with have refunded us 100% but because Airbnb have stated that they will only offer 100% refunds up to April 14th, we find ourselves in a tricky situation.

Do we wait to see if they update their policy to include the dates we have already paid for? If we cancel now, we are only entitled to a fraction of what we’ve paid… through no fault of our own. Obviously we will not be travelling unnecessarily. Understandably we are really cross right now.

Airbnb Nightmare you Wouldn’t Wish on Anyone

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We booked three weeks with what on first meeting appeared to be a friendly South African immigrant couple in Allandale, Governors Bay in New Zealand. When we arrived, we were disappointed to see that the kitchen and bathroom were filthy, and the mattress badly stained. For $83 a night, it should have at least been clean.

While I was out for a drive the next day, I was told by one of their neighbours that the hosts are illegally subletting the downstairs unit without the owners’ permission and expressed concerns for anyone staying with this couple. They didn’t go into detail. That was our first warning.

Within 48 hours, one of the hosts had entered our downstairs unit twice without our permission while we were out. Despite us telling them we were on a working holiday and needed a secure space in which to lock away my husband’s laptop and work files, they told us they wouldn’t be locking the upstairs area they rented (which had internal access to our unit), so our possessions were not safe while we were out.

She then made numerous demands for us to mind and socialise her unruly and poorly trained 50-kg dog, and feed her chickens, none of which we should have to do in an Airbnb but we complied with everything the host asked for out of the kindness of our heart.

Our petite dog was hurt by her dog two days in a row while they were out and so we placed her in a kennel to keep her safe. The host gave us no peace from one day to the next. She repeatedly trapped my husband on the way to and from his car to make conversation when her husband was not around.

When on the third day I explained to her that my husband works 40-50 hours a week, that we were exhausted, and I asked her for much needed space and privacy, she became repeatedly vindictive. She started sending texts to us via the Airbnb site making false allegations with an attempt to have us kicked out and lose our payment for the two remaining weeks.

She then involved her husband and together they constantly harassed us until we no longer felt safe and went to stay elsewhere for three days for some peace and quiet. Numerous calls and texts followed from them both.

We told them that we were leaving and that we would be back to collect our belongings. Her husband then told us we were not permitted to return to retrieve our belongs and threatened us. We had no choice but to call the police, who came to the property and kept them away from us while we gathered our things to leave.

We would never recommend anyone stay here. It was exhausting and we felt very unsafe with this couple living above us, and are very relieved to have made it out of there in one piece.

COVID-19 Cancellations due to Government Directive

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I booked accommodation for my family travelling to the UK from a few countries. Due to COVID-19 they are all not allowed to travel to the UK (government directive).

I have sent multiple message to Airbnb support through the website around cancelling my booking as the host will not cancel and said I needed to contact Airbnb. It has now been five or six days since I did this but there has been no response yet.

My final payment is due at the beginning of April which means I will be out of pocket for a substantial amount of money. The Airbnb website advice has also not been updated since March 19th. A lot has changed since then but there has been no change to their policies.

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Monster Airbnb Next Door Ruining my Family’s Life

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Seven years ago my husband and I built our dream home in a nice neighborhood in Austin. When two large homes began construction on a single lot next door, we were bummed by how huge and close to us they were, but looked forward to having new neighbors in any case.

Once the homes were finished, we realized with horror that both were being used illegally as Airbnbs. Each home is nearly 3,000 square feet, five bedrooms, and hosts up to 14 people. Each unit has a hot tub that sits directly under our windows, less than twenty feet away from our home.

As soon as they began operating in October 2019, our lives were shattered. Groups of party goers began rotating through both units every weekend. Music, laughter, shouting and cursing came from both hot tubs at least once a week, usually more. A bachelor party brought prostitutes over and took turns having sex in the hot tub until 7:00 AM. Another group casually chatted at full volume about buying some cocaine for their party.

One of the units has two giant second-floor windows that directly overlook our property, including our outdoor spaces, and guests like to stand at those windows and watch us like we’re animals in a pen. If I were to list every instance of a disturbance, this post would be longer than the Old Testament.

Since October, we’ve filed 17 Code complaints, and called the police on five different occasions (though our police department is so understaffed, and noise complaints are so low-priority, they responded only once). We’ve written to our council member, neighborhood association, and exchanged several dozen emails with the Code Department.

After receiving multiple violations for operating illegally, and having their guests confronted by code officers, the investors applied for a license granted only to owner-occupied STRs, by claiming the units as their “primary residence”, and actually received them (for one). The Code Department admitted in an in-person meeting that they did not want to grant the license to these operators, and tried to find a way to deny it, but were forced to issue it according to regulations.

Today our nightmare continues. We can’t sleep in peace. Our privacy, comfort, health, and safety are completely compromised. I’m suffering anxiety-related health effects. We are at a point where either they stop hosting, or we will need to move. It’s terrifying to consider that we might actually lose our home over this, but the stress of living next to this nightmare is just not worth it.

I’ve been carpet-bombing Airbnb “neighbors” with complaints for months, but have received zero support. This week Airbnb actually “temporarily suspended” the listing, but the host just turned it back on immediately. When I asked Airbnb how this can qualify as a suspension, they said they can’t release details due to privacy reasons. We finally filed a case at the municipal court, and hope whatever comes of that succeeds in finally bringing us some relief.