Save Yourself This Airbnb Experience in Austin

Posted on March 29, 2018

For three nights and four days, I stayed in a shared space Airbnb in the beloved Austin, Texas. I was in Austin for some job interviews with a friend, so while we spent most of Saturday and Sunday out and about, we really buckled down Sunday evening and Monday morning to prepare for our interviews in the space we paid to rent. We also disclosed to them that we would be generally pretty chill all weekend, and that we were there for job interviews when requesting the booking so if that sounded too chill to them they did have the option to deny the booking request.

I went to the University of Texas at Austin, but chose to stay in an Airbnb rather than with a friend at school because I didn’t want to be distracted by the college lifestyle when I was there focusing on upcoming interviews. The house itself was beautiful, modern, and the hosts were generally great too (while we were there). We were also super respectful of the space, cleaned when we left, put towels in the washer, stripped the beds, took the trash out – the whole nine yards.

The only questionable things that happened during our stay was a rooster (in the middle of the city) crowing constantly throughout the day and night and a lacy thong left on the floor one night when we came home. Still nothing too crazy or alarming. The neighborhood was sketchy but I generally am unafraid of sketchy areas in Austin nowadays after navigating the city on my own for four years.

On our last morning, we came outside to see my friends car had been in a hit and run sometime from when we came home at around 11:00 PM to when we went out that morning around 9:00 AM. As shitty as this situation was, we handled it with the Austin PD accordingly (like adults) and didn’t get our hosts involved as we didn’t see it was their fault. Moving forward, we left them a raving review on Airbnb (which now cannot be changed – see Airbnb profile for our review) because we figured, “These people are trying to make a living too.” We didn’t want to ruin their Airbnb business, and we’ve heard worse nightmares about Airbnb. As far as we were concerned, our stay was good.

Flash forward: this host left us this review.

“Sarah was very sweet and gracious. She and her guest left the space nice and clean upon checkout. The two of them would likely be more comfortable/suited to renting an entire space rather than a private room in a shared space. They seemed to enjoy being home rather than out and about all day long. Renting an entire space would have given them more freedom to have lively conversations and make use of the entertainment areas without the worrying about noise levels.

We hosted two groups during SXSW (a large music festival in Austin) and it worked out really well, because, well… the guests were literally out all day enjoying the festival. The other host and I would leave for work early in the morning while the guests were still knocked out. And by the time they made it home, he and I were usually already asleep. But for you guys, since you seemed to like to be home a little more often.”

Are you kidding me? We generally didn’t want to stay in this Airbnb because it wasn’t super convenient to downtown but we pulled the trigger because with this past weekend being Round Up and Texas Relays it was one of the last places left (shared or not) when we were renting. We also never really considered using their entertainment areas or have lively conversations because most of the time spent at home was either spent working or stalking our potential employers to seem more prepared.

Additionally, if you don’t want people in your house simply don’t rent it on Airbnb in the middle of mid-gentrified East Austin. That having been said, I’ve included some pictures of our car that was in the hit and run as well. We weren’t given the opportunity to park in their driveway, and were told street parking was the only option.

Airbnb won’t let us change the review we left for them before they left this passive aggressive review on us. We now have to live with it on our Airbnb profile forever more. We are not bums. We do not typically stay in Airbnb to live in them all weekend. Aside from that, we spent maybe six hours there on Monday during the day because I also had a full work day at my current job that I was still expected to show up to remotely.

That having been said, friends, if you are ever in need of a space in Austin, pleasde save yourselves (your cars, your Airbnb guest review) from this place. If Airbnb won’t let me tell the whole story then by golly Airbnb Hell will.

We understand this review isn’t that horrible but it really left a bad taste in our mouths when we read it, seeing as we were overly respectful of the space. Why rent your home as a shared space on Airbnb if you aren’t good at sharing? Additionally, future Airbnb hosts can now see that review forever more and to be honest I’m bitter that I’m gonna seem like some lame-o that comes to Austin and ‘enjoys being home rather than out and about all day long.’ I do enjoy being out and about all day long, but I also enjoy walking into a job interview and murdering the game and sometimes that takes sacrificing one night and day out for some preparation.

TLDR; If you’re ever in Austin don’t stay at this Airbnb.

“Personality Conflict” Excuse for not Publishing Reviews?

Posted on August 29, 2017

We recently used Airbnb to rent a chalet in Tahoe City, California. We were charged for the entire week immediately upon booking, four months before our visit. Several days before our visit I had to contact the owners twice in order to get the address and entry information for the house. When we arrived the house was neat, clean, and attractive; however, it lacked numerous conveniences that we normally expect from homes that we have rented over the past few years. There was no information booklet or binder explaining how various things worked in the house, e.g. electric lights that came on intermittently but would not go off even at night in the bedroom.

There was no microwave in the kitchen and no closets in the entire house, or hooks, or racks on which to hang clothes. There was no shelf or dresser in three of the four bedrooms in which to place clothes. Everything had to be left on the floor. There was not a single shelf in any of the three bathrooms so all personal items had to be left on the floor. The master bathroom shower did not have a shower curtain so water went all over the floor and cool air surrounded you when you showered.

I communicated via text politely with the owners who did respond but they lived six hours away; they claimed that no one had ever asked about these items. We returned home and I wrote a polite but accurate review on the Airbnb website about the missing items. I stated that the house was lovely but that many common conveniences were missing. Weeks passed and my review was not posted on Airbnb. I finally tracked down a phone number. The Airbnb agent read my review and said that she did not see anything in the review that was against their regulations for reviews. She forwarded my inquiry to the Trust and Safety Department.

I received an email stating that the owner had been contacted and he claimed that we had a “personality conflict”; therefore, my review would not be published. I asked for documentation of the “personality conflict”. The second response from Airbnb did not offer documentation or comments in any way about the “personality conflict” but they did offer me a coupon for my next visit. I emailed back with my own documentation which was a complete thread of my texts with the owner during our visit that show there was no personality conflict; all of my contacts with the owner were polite inquiries. The third, and final email, from Airbnb was to to tell me that they considered the manner closed that that they would not respond to further inquiries from me. It appears that Airbnb handles any reviews other than positive reviews as a personality conflict and that this is their excuse for refusing to publish any negative reviews.

Bully Host in Paris, Never Using Airbnb Again

Posted on July 17, 2017

I returned from my trip to France and Germany about a week ago. For the first time I decided to try Airbnb. My boyfriend and I had used it several times during vacation in the US under his account, and never had an issue. Then, I opened my own account this time to give it a try. Apparently, the review system is a hot mess. I received at least ten emails reminding me to write a review upon returning home. Quite frankly, I had such a bad experience I thought I should just not review it at all: a situation where if you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say it at all.

However, I went ahead and wrote a review with the positive aspects of the place, which in reality was a bargain for the location. When I read the host’s review, I found he had given me one star, saying that I was not pleasant, and that I was rude. I was shocked to read those words because I barely exchanged a word with him during my stay in the place, and when we left, he was all giggles and smiles with my boyfriend. It took a lot from me not to tell him what I was thinking about his demeanor.

I am a straightforward person. When things are not good anymore, I just remain silent. I cannot fake being happy with a situation if I am not. This man was the king of fake; in fact, that was the whole issue. He pretended to be okay, and he faked being accommodating. He stressed us so much, and he basically ruined our romantic weekend.

I travel to Paris regularly, and normally use Booking.com or TripAdvisor (and believe me, I do regret not using those for this trip as well). My suspicions of making a mistake started when just a couple of days prior to the trip I did not hear anything from my host. I proceeded to message “her” through the app to arrange our meeting. To my surprise, I was contacted by a man. He replied to my message the day before my trip excusing himself already for replying late (first picture). I was wondering why the listed female host was not responding, but I figured this person was somehow related to her. I did not think much of it, and he requested we use WhatsApp to communicate. I agreed to it, but I assumed he did not have a clue about how cell phones work, because my American phone would only work in wifi friendly areas in France.

We originally sat up a time of 6:00 PM to meet at the place, but as soon as I landed in CDG, I received a message from my boyfriend who was flying from Germany to join me on the weekend trip, telling me Eurowings had a delay of an hour, and we would need to change the check-in time. I did that right away: contacted the host to let him know we would be arriving an hour later than arranged due to a situation beyond my control (second picture). His response to me was the following “Umm, okay – is there any chance you can come beforehand? The apartment is all ready to go and I have the keys. But I do have other plans tonight and had arranged around 6:00 PM.”

Who in their right mind would ask a woman that just traveled eight hours to come and meet beforehand with a male host (not the listed female host), and leave her boyfriend hanging in the airport? Thanks to some miracle, we both arrived at the place at 6:45 PM. At this point my boyfriend, who happens to have a European cellphone, was in constant contact with the host (fifth picture). He was pretending to be cool with the situation, but stressed us out so much by telling us he had to go due to his prior social plans. I had offered to meet him in another part of the city to pick up the keys since I mentioned I was familiar with Paris in my precious texts. He said it was no big deal, and that he would wait.

He was not accommodating at all. When we arrived, I was very tired, and disappointed at him for harassing us. I was very quiet and short. Before he left, I asked, when should we check out, to which he verbally responded: “We will sort it out. I will contact you guys.”

My boyfriend had mentioned at that point that we would like to leave around 1:30 PM because we had bags, and we wanted to go straight to the airport. He said that would work, and still he would contact us. The day before we left, there was no check-out information (sixth picture). It was around 7:21 PM when I told my boyfriend to contact the host since we had not heard from him at all. We had thought that the check-out time would be sometime around 1:30 PM, per our conversation.

Sadly, once again, this host was trying to pull a fast one bullying us. He said that we needed to be checked out by 10:00 AM because he had another person coming in at 11:00 AM. My boyfriend and I went back to the Airbnb website and looked at the listed times for check-in and check-out. “Sophie”, the host we never laid eyes on, listed 11:00 AM for checking out. My boyfriend pointed this out very politely to him, saying we would be ready at that time, as it was indicated in their Airbnb listing (eighth picture).

If you go to the property’s link now, that he has skillfully changed the check out time to 10:00 AM. Thank god for cell phones and the ability to take screen shots. At that point, we thought things were cool, and I actually prepared to leave the place in excellent condition. He failed to mention this in his very objective review. When he arrived in the morning, he was all smiles, and frankly, by then I was extremely dissatisfied with the whole experience. I avoided eye contact with him, and exited as soon as I was able to. However, he made small chat with my boyfriend and walked us out. It occurred to me he was so fake because he was there with the next host.

I forgot to mention he was late once again. Seems like that is his MO. But god forbid someone has a delay in flights that might interfere with his dinner plans. I do not understand what he meant in his review when he is talking about me being unpleasant and rude when he tried to bully us, and he failed at hosting. I am a psychotherapist, and it occurred to me that he might need a psychological evaluation.

I hoped to get a hold of the famous “Sophie” host. I sent a message through Airbnb, but of course Sophie is just a front, because the truth is this guy was in charge of the listing. As for the place, it looked like a storage room that had been conditioned for the sole purpose of renting it. There was no electrical outlet in the bathroom, so I did my hair with my hair iron plugged in the living room. The “bed” was an ungodly uncomfortable couch, and there was no temperature control in the room at all. The electrical breakers for the whole building are in the apartment, and there is no smoke detector alarm.

I hope people thinking about renting this place read my review. I am a world traveler, and have never had such an unpleasant experience. I guess that is what I get for using Airbnb. I should have stayed with Booking.com or TripAdvisor, which I will do for my next trip. I sure hope my next journey to Paris is more pleasant, and erases this terrible experience. Maybe my story will save you some heartache, and aggravation. I hope you don’t have to deal with this man.

What Airbnb Will Never Tell You About Our Vacation

Posted on July 8, 2017

Once a year, our family gets together in a waterfront home large enough to accommodate all of us so we can relax and spend time together. As our family has spread out across the country, this vacation gives all of us and our significant others a time and place to reconnect and create new memories together. We typically select an east coast location in the middle states. Today, the ten of us who traveled as long as 18 hours to get to our vacation home thank this host. Without her my wife would never be able to say, “someday we will look back on this and laugh.”

This host is a self proclaimed intimacy MD. When advertising her psychiatry practice and her book she touts, “Achieve change. Are you ready for your best life ever?” If you are ready for your best life ever, stay away from her Airbnb and HomeAway listing in Virginia, listed on Airbnb and HomeAway.

Giving credit where credit is due, the house is very pretty. Beyond pretty. However, the host was only looking out for her interests, not ours. The problems started when she requested a $200 deposit to use the boat listed with the house, which is a direct violation of Airbnb policy. Naturally, she accepted checks, but if you are already traveling how do you mail her a check in advance of your arrival? She also wanted us to take an online course and send copies of our driver’s licenses.

Once you arrive, be aware there isn’t a phone line in the house. Okay, she made it clear in her listing that there wasn’t a phone line. The listing stated there was Internet access, but upon arrival there was a note stating the Internet modem would need to be reset frequently. Frequent resetting didn’t matter The wifi never came up as available. Somehow the settings on the DSL modem/wifi unit were different than what was listed in the host’s looseleaf notebook about the house.

We would have set up our own hotspot, but there was limited cell service at that location. We could receive calls, but sending and receiving email was rarely possible. A number of us are techies. To fix the problem, we set the wifi to the settings she had written in the notebook. Unfortunately for us, the Internet modem did in fact need to be reset frequently. The unit barely functioned for any period of time.

The bigger problem was the A/C didn’t work. I couldn’t get the house under 88 degrees. Upon closer inspection, the return filter appeared to be clean, but was not connected to any ductwork. The air conditioning would not function. That is the reason the A/C kicks on and the compressors make noise. Cold air was never delivered because there wasn’t a return. Lucky for us, the host left us a notebook that said, “If you encounter any problems, please call #. We have a property manager who lives in the area but may not always be immediately available. We will do whatever we can to fix your problem as soon as possible.”

We called him. He asked us the address of the home. When provided the address, he told us we had the wrong number. What could we do? I called the host, but the call went to voicemail. The good doctor never answered her phone and only responded via email. When we emailed her to discuss getting internet access and air conditioning, she emailed back, telling us to leave and go to a local motel… talk about callous.

Ten people booked her rental home months in advance, paid good money, drove all that distance along with two dogs, and were told go to a local motel. Since I found it hard to believe, and you may too as she is an intimacy doctor, I pasted images of her email with the photos. Her next act to provide herself with her best life ever was to refund our long held deposit and email us to get out by 11:00 AM the next morning.

This goes to what Airbnb will never tell you about our stay. By refunding our money, this host ruined our vacation and prohibited us from posting a review of her home. Where do you go with ten people and two dogs for an entire week during the summer? By cancelling our reservation, even though we stayed in her 99 plus degree hell hole, she made sure that Airbnb and HomeAway would never let you hear about this.

If the self proclaimed intimacy doctor should ever read this, please note that there was no intimacy in your hellhole. At 99 degrees, which I am sure you never experienced in your personal home, intimacy is the last thing on your mind. Be sure to note that before you write your next book and invest the money somewhere else. Please don’t invest in another house and then use it to ruin peoples hard earned vacations.

Airbnb Host Accuses Guests of Swapping TV

Posted on May 6, 2017

I’m a minority that stayed at an Airbnb in Detroit at Carla’s place from March 30 – April 28, 2017 as my husband and I prepared to move into our new home. I really believed I had a great experience. I even posted a five-star review about that experience. A week later, I received an email asking if I switched the Roku box because it was different from what she thought she had. I responded I had not. I’d never even really heard of Roku until staying at that place. (no big deal, or so I thought.) Well, the next morning I awoke to what I considered to be a bold and brazen email from the host stating that there was a smaller TV in the unit than the one she had supplied. She said she would never put one that size in the unit; it was a Proscan, and she was wondering how it got there. I froze. I made my husband check all our televisions since we did bring our son’s old TV so that he could play his video game. My husband was floored and assured me that we took our own (five year old) TV home with us. There were no new TVs in our home.

I then became angry because I felt as if I was being accused of stealing a TV a week after the fact. The brand that was in the unit was one I had never heard of. When I Googled the brand, it stated that it came with built-in Roku (the service they provide). When I asked the host about this, she apologized and said maybe her staff switched it without her knowing. You mean you would offend a guest without checking with your staff first? I told her I was surprised that she didn’t take inventory. I was hurt and felt targeted. That was very unprofessional. I informed her that I would leave another review about my experience. She asked that I handle it privately since I barbecued on the lawn and she didn’t say anything: again, unprofessional… why bring it up now? Since there were picnic tables on the lawn, I assumed we could do so. We had a small table grill and we roasted hot dogs and cleaned up our mess. Had I known we weren’t supposed to barbecue, we wouldn’t have. In closing, she said in the future they would put stickers on all their items. I have no idea what to call this experience. All I know is that, it wasn’t good after the fact. I’m still angry.