Tag Archives: airbnb no contact

Airbnb Hosts from Hell and a Break in

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My boyfriend and I were travelling around Europe for a month over summer. We decided to finish our trip in Florence and booked an Airbnb for three nights. In the listing on Airbnb, the apartment appeared larger than it actually was and said it provided wifi, AC, and necessary toiletries, e.g. shampoo, conditioner, etc.

When we arrived we realised the apartment was much smaller than that shown in the pictures, the AC barely worked, the wifi constantly disconnected and was very slow, there was no hot water or bins, and the toilet didn’t flush properly. We contacted Airbnb and our host immediately. There was no reply from the host. Airbnb said they would forward my message along to the host.

We contacted Airbnb everyday about these complaints and were told they could do nothing about it unless they could get through to the host. On our third day the apartment was broken into and our money stolen. We called the police and filed a report, contacted Airbnb and called the hosts. The hosts did not respond, despite three of them being linked to our apartment on the app.

Airbnb said they would also contact the hosts and could not get through to them. We asked to be relocated as the apartment was not safe, due to the door not being able to lock anymore and a chunk of the wall being missing. Airbnb said they would pass it along to their trust and safety team and call us back. We were also told they could not relocate us and would only subsidise the fee of somewhere else by 50% if we found it ourselves.

We called a total of 13 times that day and were repeatedly told to wait for a call back. We were never called back. A member of the trust and safety team emailed us about the matter the following morning around 4:00 or 5:00 AM. However, this was too late as it was our last night and we ended up leaving at 6:00 AM to go home.

Whilst on our journey back home we were contacted by the hosts, after hearing nothing for our entire stay, and blamed us for the break in. They told us that they had the right to ask for compensation for the damages caused by the break in and that our complaints about the hot water was pretext. They stated that they needed to get a professional in to fix the wall and we should have to pay for it. They also refused our request for a refund.

We argued back and forth for a while and eventually they said they felt sorry for us and had decided it wasn’t our fault but that they shouldn’t have to blame whoever broke in? The lack of response or willing to accept any fault from the hosts and the horrible customer service from Airbnb made us feel completely abandoned. We are in the process of arguing for a full refund.

Blood on Sheets Made us Leave Airbnb Early

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On March 21st this year my niece, her husband (visiting from the UK), and I stayed at an Airbnb property in Merimbula NSW. On arrival we were horrified to find blood on the bedding in the main bedroom. I rang the host who sounded genuinely horrified and asked if I could send photos, which I did. She called back and said she was unable to help as she was in the Blue Mountains but said she would give us a full refund.

We spent a very uncomfortable night at the property, as we had no other options. There was no clean bedding in the unit and thus we had to make do by sleeping on a spare doona cover. It was very unhygienic, unsettling and totally unacceptable. Despite both myself and my niece repeatedly trying to contact the host since March by telephone and email, she has not responded and no refund has been received for our stay, as she had promised. This was extremely poor on her part and I would urge anyone considering a stay here to find somewhere else. The host should not be permitted to continue to offer this property for use. Extremely disappointing.

I Swear Airbnb is Just Ignoring My Messages

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Back in June, I booked an Airbnb for work for around $300 total for the weekend. Due to an abrupt illness, I had to cancel. I missed the refund cutoff by one day. I emailed the host my explanation and they did not give me a refund, so I escalated the issue to Airbnb where I had to provide documentation of the illness. I sent them all of my patient intake forms from the doctor with all of my information, the doctor’s information, and my diagnosis.

The response from Airbnb was that this was not enough information to prove I visited the doctor and that my case was being closed. What? I didn’t even get an explanation as to how that was not sufficient. I responded by asking what else I could provide then, and they stated that a signature from the doctor was needed but that they would still be closing my case because it can’t be opened for more than a few days; I should reply when I get the paperwork.

Fast forward a week letter, I obtain an itemized bill from my doctor showing my diagnosis codes, the day I was treated, and all of the doctor’s information. I emailed this back to the Airbnb thread email and was given an automated response that my email was received. Fast forward two weeks later, and there has been no response at all from Airbnb. On my account, the case shows that it is in progress so it will not let me contact Airbnb again to see what is happening. I swear they’re just ignoring me.

Airbnb Changed Prices, Won’t Make Up the Difference

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As a host, I know my market very well and set my nightly rates manually. I do not allow Airbnb to make suggestions or rate changes for my property. Despite this, I received a reservation request from a guest who received a rate $300 less per night for a three-night stay so that I would receive about $1000 less than I should. Every single other night’s rate surrounding these specific rates are all the correct rates that I set. Magically, this one specific reservation request gets different rates, and I am confident I could have filled those nights at the correct rate so there was never any possibility that I would have ever allowed those rates to be published.

When I contacted Airbnb customer service, the first person with whom I spoke did not speak enough English to be even understand what I was trying to explain. She passed me to another agent, with marginally better verbal skills, who told me that Airbnb has the right to set whatever rate they believe is ‘fair’ to get the property booked. Knowing this is not accurate, I asked to speak to a manager who could clarify. The manager did indeed tell me this was not accurate however it still must have been I who changed the rates down (on a holiday weekend, no less) and that I could cancel the reservation myself.

I do not believe that this particular guest is at fault and should not have his reservation cancelled. I also do not believe I should accept responsibility for some “strange glitch” as the manager offered, and then having to live with the very public note that says the reservation was “cancelled by owner” which never goes away. I then spoke with one more manager who told me very seriously that she would make sure the right people were informed and that I would be contacted that Monday.

That was about six weeks ago, and every single one of my emails has gone unanswered. No one will now even speak to me on the phone about it since I had already opened a “case file.” I have been listed on VRBO for almost five years and have never had any issues. Every time I call my issue is resolved, and I am extremely pleased with the reservation requests and bookings I get on that site. I tell absolutely everyone to avoid Airbnb; the properties are just as good if not better on VRBO and from an owner’s perspective, a much better platform. Airbnb will never do the right thing.

Seems Like My Account was Hacked for Nearly $1000

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Out of the blue I received a credit card charge from Airbnb for nearly $1000. No email notification, no “you’re going to India”, nothing mentioning any booking. I contacted Airbnb immediately, had the usual 30-minute wait, explained the situation and was told not to cancel the booking or I would receive nothing, since my login ID had been changed I was probably the victim of a hacking account takeover, and to wait until Airbnb got back to me which could be up to several days. No help or information was provided; I was just told to shut up and wait.

I had never had any problem with my credit card before, just with Airbnb. A few days later I was notified that I would get an immediate refund but they still haven’t issued one. I tried to find out how my account was hacked or anything about what happened and was told that they don’t release any account information (including my own account) without a court order. When I persisted, they hung up on me and told me not to contact them again as the matter was closed.

I tried to contact the CEO but never received a response. I could never contact the supposed host as only a message saying his status is “being reviewed” came up when I tried to. Airbnb has been rude, not at all helpful, condescending, and doesn’t seem to care at all about their customers and problems that occur due to their failures. I still haven’t received a credit and they advised me not to contest the charge with my credit card company.

I Just Want to Talk to a Human at Airbnb Customer Service

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I feel that all this is related and I have not been able to get anyone to confirm that my account is secure. I am going to post this here and also follow up with the suggestions above. About ten months ago I was told that my app and account were not working correctly because I had multiple email accounts; probably because I accidentally signed in by phone or Facebook or both so this support person had combined the accounts into one and closed the others. I have never been able to use the app the same since.

I have received multiple emails requesting me to verify my personal information and download my identification and forward them to Airbnb only to be told that they were not clear so I needed to send them again (this was done after I had used Airbnb several times and paid through Airbnb several times). Then I was told that none of this actually happened and “I was confused”… yes, those were the words of a support person. Another one said that they assured me that the accounts were closed and the history that was supposed to be merged was just lost.

I stayed at another host’s home, though it was quite difficult to reserve because Airbnb kept saying to try again later. Finally it worked and everything was great. It was their first Airbnb and I was happy to help them out by cleaning up a few things and such. We had made arrangements to stay with them again in a few months. After about a month, I received an email from Airbnb stating that they weren’t happy with our stay and asked what I could do to make it better in the future. I immediately went to text them to see what the problem was and it said that the host was not accepting messages right now.

That was over a month ago. I have tried everything to get ahold of them and every support person has given me every excuse in the book. Keep in mind that the host has not left us anything negative, only positive reviews, and there is no reason for them not to want to explain even if they didn’t want us to stay there again. I have not been able to get anywhere with Airbnb and even requested a full refund for our stay there because we had to clean up from the people before us.

I didn’t mind before all this mess but I still have heard nothing. Some of the support message simply say “this support case has been closed” without any other response. I just want to know why without guessing, someone to confirm that my account is secure, and all of this is actually being done by Airbnb even if it is very unprofessional.

Epic $4000 Communication Fail in Deactivated Superhost Account

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It’s summer in Oklahoma and very hot. My partner and I have traveled here from Louisville to say goodbye to his 91-year-old grandma and to clean out 91 years’ worth of stuff from her home… so many things. Also, so many tiny rodent roommates.

As a Superhost, I wanted to make sure my Airbnb listing was maintained to my standards while we were away, so I blocked all the dates out on our Airbnb calendar for the time we were away and made sure to have my phone around, Airbnb notifications on, in case I was needed by upcoming guests or had a reservation request. I checked in on the app daily for messages just to make sure that things were fine. No new news, just two pending reviews that I would take care of on the long car ride home.

Then, from out of nowhere, there was a message from a guest asking why we had canceled her upcoming stay? “That’s weird,” I thought, “the only guests I want to cancel are the mice who had been illegally staying with grandma.”

I quickly sent my guest a response letting her know that I was on the road but I would look into it as soon as I got back, which by this time was only a day away. I got home and sat down in front of my computer where I still had no new messages from Airbnb. There were no notifications, but I couldn’t seem to view my reservations.

“Huh, so weird,” I think… “what is going on?” I looked at my upcoming earnings… and there were none. Nothing. Then the next guest I was preparing for was also suddenly gone. Something was terribly wrong. I frantically searched my email for clues, and there it was: an email that my account will be deactivated within 24 hours if I do not confirm my account sent less than a week ago.

Are you kidding me? 24 hours? An email! In my whole life as a host I have never communicated with Airbnb via email. Never. We have apps and online accounts. My partner’s number is signed up to get a text for every message, request, and inquiry. Yet they decided to contact us about something so incredibly important through an email?

There should have been a massive red bar on my account that says “Check your email for account verification or you will be deactivated in 24 hours.” There should have been a phone call. There should have been a text. Literally any additional way of getting in touch with us besides an email. To be honest had I seen the email, I may not have even trusted it because they were asking for confirmation of payment details, which seemed suspicious in and of itself.

So now I wait. No one could answer exactly why my account had been chosen for confirmation/deactivation in the first place but it’s been “passed along” to the technical people and they’ll get back to me. Eight hours and two more phone calls later, I’ve been assured it’s underway at the technical department with the highest priority.

Meanwhile, I have an apartment sitting empty and unbookable during the busiest time of the year, $4000 of cancelled reservations from Airbnb and countless lost hours of labor sending correspondence with those who had booked. I wish I could send all that mouse poop I cleaned out of grandma’s house priority freaking mail directly to Airbnb right now.

Airbnb Support: Kafka Meets 2001’s HAL 9000

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Fictitious conversation between two Airbnb upper management staff. Disclaimer: This conversation has no relationship to anyone or any company, living or dead.

UM Staff 1: Hey, I’ve got a great idea for saving money!

UMS 2: Yeah?

UMS 1: We just set up a support team that basically blocks customers from causing us hassle and money.

UMS 2: Ok… but won’t there be problems?

UMS 1: No, no… you see, we keep the customer absolutely powerless. Sure they will get frustrated and suicidal and their finances will go down the toilet, but they will have no way to get past the wall that we set up, so they will never be heard. That way we can keep the commission low on the vast majority of hosts, the vast minority will sing our praises, and the minority who complain will be drowned out. Even if the customer threatens legal proceedings we can cover it from the vast amount of money we are raking in. The complaining customer will never be able to compete.

UMS 2: Hmm, sounds a little risky.

UMS 1: No, see I’ve read Kafka; you just basically gaslight the single customer, suggest their reality (fairness, morality, responsibility) is completely wrong. As for the people who have to actually interface with the… ‘customer’ we set up the HAL scenario.

UMS 2: What’s that?

UMS 1: Well just get the support staff to repeat ‘Siri-like’ computer generated phrases like “we have a team working on it 24/7” and use passive statements like “it has been reported to a team (that I cannot tell you the name of).”

UMS 2: Beautiful. Let’s do it!

I was delisted on June 3rd (wrongly). I can’t enter the details of my license (first attempt June 11th) into their network (computer error they say). I have been given the runaround ever since, with the last ‘senior customer service staff’ member being the least helpful. No surprise there. I am exhausted, beyond frustrated, angry, and depressed.

Let Down by Inconsiderate Host Three Days Before Booking

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We booked a large apartment in Belfast for a significant family reunion. We booked months in advance so everything was organised that we needed. There were nine of us travelling and we were ready to go: flights booked, everything. I hadn’t heard from my host so a week before our departure I contacted him via email. He chose to ignore this.

I then continued to phone, leaving messages and texts for five days all, of which he also chose to ignore even though I explained my anxieties about the lack of details. We had to check in and there were a range of needs for my party. We had a disabled child, a senior citizen and a new baby. Finally, just over two days before we were due to leave, he phoned telling me that the property was no longer available, he had known this for at least a week and possibly longer. He made no offer of an alternative and didn’t mention a refund. I was appalled and disgusted that he could treat my family with such inconsideration.

We were then left to try and find suitable accommodation, which was nearly impossible. We had to split up and it ruined the whole experience for us. He is absolutely not fit to be a host or manage any kind of business. I spoke to Airbnb and made a formal complaint and asked for them to refund me directly as I couldn’t bear to have any further dealings with him. My main reason for this story is to prevent other families from being let down, disrespected and disgusted like we were. Family time is far too precious. I’m not sure that I will ever consider Airbnb again after this expereince even though I know that some hosts do an amazing job.

Booking Cancelled by Host and Refund is only 40%

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This was the first time I used Airbnb. Two days after having a confirmed booking, my host informed me that her house rules did not allow single men. This was actually stated on her page but only if you clicked to expand the rules list. The first line dealt with “no smoking”, etc. As it was the first time I used the site, I didn’t think to check carefully through this as I assumed it dealt with “do”s and “don’t”s at the property. The booking was accepted, payment taken and two days later the host informed me of her rule.

I went to cancel the booking and despite the fact that the host rejected my booking and I selected that option, Airbnb informed me that I would only receive £45.00 GBP back on a booking of £105.00. Either Airbnb or the host keeps the balance. Interesting that the host – who I emailed at the time of booking – had waited two days to respond, which brought me just within fourteen days of the booking date. According Airbnb terms, a cancellation within 14 days returns only 50% of the booking fee and 0% of the administrative fees.

Hosts are free to cancel on you and it would seem, keep half the booking fee. Presumably they are then free to resell your room. I have searched to find a way to contact Airbnb and they are clearly another internet giant hiding behind anonymity: no obvious numbers, no contact forms and just not interested in anything but your money.