Tag Archives: airbnb security deposit

Airbnb’s Attempts at Customer Service are Laughable

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Months ago Airbnb removed security deposits from our listings claiming that we didn’t need them because they had insurance that protected their hosts. Three different claims have resulted in absolutely nothing beyond wasting about 20 hours of my time. They are always waiting for another department to get it done and claim because they are a global company, things take a lot of time.

Hosts no longer have any control over anything. If you are pet friendly, you are inviting Noah’s Ark as they have no provision to limit breeds, age, quantity or anything. People actually think it’s okay to bring their nine cats and six puppies. If the tenant stays beyond their reservation and you ned the sheriff to remove them, good luck getting the extra days’ payment. It’s either their resolution, mediation or some other department that’s handling it.

I’ve come to the conclusion that the only answer is to add another 10% to my nightly rates on their site and make sure there’s a better deal for them on VRBO. VRBO isn’t perfect either but at least you’ve got a chance. Now that Airbnb is a public company we should all should all show up at shareholder meetings or call ins just to tell them how bad they really are.

Totally Ripped Off After Stay in South Padre

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My daughter rented a condo in South Padre through Airbnb (BetterNotBite). Because she was just 18, the host requested an additional deposit (understandable given what some young people will do when unsupervised). She paid for the rental and the additional deposit through PayPal (another useless online service), also with debit from her bank account. The host claimed “that if nothing was damaged they would return the deposit”. I suggested to my daughter to take pictures with her phone upon arrival and departure of the condo, which she did.

She and her friends stayed at the condo, and enjoyed their few days on the beach and some of the tourist stuff in South Padre. The nightmare started upon returning home. The host claimed he would return the deposit through PayPal as nothing was damaged or claimed by the host as damaged. Well low and behold that when it was total flatline from the host, Airbnb and PayPal. No one will do anything to help retrieve my daughters’ deposit.

The host quit answering texts and emails, Airbnb sent back an auto-generated reply they would “look into the claim” in a certain amount of time (whenever that is), and PayPal said all they can do is let us know if the money shows up. This has sealed my daughter’s distrust in these type of online services. So many young people I know boast about all this wonderful technology as cheap, safe, and great things. Airbnb and PayPal lost a couple of customers (myself included) for a lifetime.

While we are just a few customers, I am sure they don’t care about doing anything to rectify the situation. Credit card companies at least have a live person to help customers. I am presently looking into small claims court options. We have done this before. Although it doesn’t get our money back if the host decides not to paid, if the owner ever decides to sell the condo or transfer ownership, the lien will show up on the property, and nothing will proceed without the lien being removed… so we will see.

We have printed all the text messages, and emails necessary, so we have all the evidenced to make this claim legit. It is nice knowing a few people in the legal system to help walk us through the small claims process. Airbnb is just an online conduit/meeting place for unscrupulous people, like doing business on the street with the mafia. PayPal is just an online bookie, collecting their cut and letting their customers get screwed twice (once by them and twice by with whom you’re doing business). What a total rip off.

Airbnb Guests Can Lie About Noise, Damages

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Out of 30+ rentals I have had two issues with guests. The first issue was when a guest did some minor damage to the property and left an extraordinary mess for me to clean up and organize professionals to come to the house with cleaning equipment. For the extra four hours of work, I decided to charge $65. If this was a regular rental situation that money would have come out of the security deposit, no questions asked. Airbnb decided to modify the contract and I ended up getting $5, plus $165 which was reimbursed against the receipts of repairs made supported by pictures of damages.

The second guest had sent Airbnb eight videos about “my house” because they were complaining about a train noise and not being able to sleep. They also claimed the train went by every 30 minutes during the night (easy to check, not true). Three of those videos were not from my house. Out of the remaining five, one was at night time and the rest were during the day with the windows open because you could hear birds and the neighbor’s dog. Out of 30+ guests nobody has ever complained about the train before.

Airbnb decided to give the guests a refund against the contract when they would have only been entitled to 50%. If they would have spent any time checking the facts or called me prior to making a decision the facts could have been set straight. Airbnb is habitually taking money out of hosts’ pockets and expects them to work for free based on the decisions of some teenager in a call center. The first guest was a first time Airbnb user and the second guest had two prior reviews.

Penthouse in Chiang Mai with Dismissive Host

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Do not rent this apartment. Stay away from this apartment and landlord. If you are spending this kind of money, you are a discerning traveler. I lived in the unit for nearly five weeks and know the unit and building inside and out. The building is very old but in a good location. The building certainly has not kept up with newer properties in the Nimman area of Chiang Mai. I knew about the airplanes taking off low and overhead, one every five minutes or less from 12:15 AM to 5:45 AM, but that was just the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Moments after I checked out of the unit after nearly five weeks of staying there, I got a email from Airbnb asking for about $700. I was shocked, but this is how the landlord operates. I completely disputed her claim and would not pay the money requested. As a matter of fact, I have received a partial refund for my problems. Who do you believe?

On March 3rd, we had a walk-through and she returned my security deposit and was all smiles but now is trying to “retrade” the rental rate, which from the messaging she was always complaining about my low rental rate. Let me further explain my side of things.

First off, she claimed I fried the security camera. I don’t know one way or the other about the security cameras, but I’m sure I had nothing to do with it. During my stay there were many surges or brief disruptions of power that required me to go into the utility closet and reset the internet router. The router was next the security system main box, or at least I believed it to be the security camera main box. I noticed that all of this was connected to a surge protector power strip. So based on that alone there is no way the system is fried. She just doesn’t know how to reset.

As another layer of power protection, I noticed the security system also had a spare backup battery. If you know anything about power backups, you know they also offer surge power protection. The landlord lives in Bangkok and is basically absentee, so she has no idea what is going on, and only wants to collect money and not deal with the responsibilities of ownership. The backup battery is probably dead. There’s no way that the system was fried. She’s just a mean lady and trying to get money out of me. I do not accept this.

The landlord also doesn’t know how to work her electronics which she admitted to me on day one. I have a whole list of things that she refused to acknowledge that I raised on day one. Most importantly, the place was uninhabitable because of bar and nightclub noise and loud music festivals across the street. Besides the outrageously loud festivals where the mattress, walls, and windows shook, the apartment throbbed with bar and nightclub bass and noise seven days a week. I have lots of videos documenting this.

Another major problem was that one of the major air conditioners was blowing hot air and would not work. As result, the apartment was much warmer than it should have been. I have video of the thermostat where it shows the big main room is 84.4 degrees. I complained in writing on day one about this. She was very quick to say that since I got a discount, she was not up for repairs or problems and insisted ‘everything was perfect’. Upon checkout I showed her the problem with the air-conditioner and she said that since it would’ve taken four workmen to address the problem she did not want to disturb me. That was a bunch of baloney. She’s a double crosser.

The showerhead needed to be replaced because there was build up inside the shower head. I complained in an email on day one about the shower head. It’s either in a direct email to her or in the Airbnb messages, not sure. She would not admit to this and insisted everything was fine (from far away Bangkok). Now she is trying to charge me saying I ruined the shower head. It might simply need to be tightened – I’m not sure. She didn’t even check, and she’s just trying to charge me.

The fan is kitchen was out, which made the kitchen operations less than ideal. The apartment smelled of whatever the next door neighbor was cooking. She was terribly bitter about sending a man out to set up the cable box. She’s very mean.

The bedding was a joke. On day one we complained we had a comforter with just the insides but no duvet. There was no response except to question my ‘mental stability’. Today during the walkthrough she surmised that if only the cleaning knew to add a duvet it would have been done. She had an answer for everything but it never solved the problem. The king mattress was a $99 special so I offered to split the cost of a foam topper but got scolded in writing.

We were promised weekly cleaning but only got one weekly cleaning in the 33+ days we were there. Meanwhile we kept the place in immaculate condition. Thirteen ceiling lights were out which she failed to deal with prior to delivery (absentee). I took it upon my myself to go into old town (major traffic) to a wholesale lighting supplier and spent the afternoon on a ladder replacing lightbulbs. When I informed her of this, she never thanked me or acknowledged it, just continued to attack me in messages.

On day one, I complained about these issues, especially the bad AC and the festival noise, and she said that I didn’t pay enough to get 24-hour service and that otherwise everything was fine. I responded with some hot rhetoric but never crossed the line (because my mother raised me right). She then threatened to have the Thai military police toss me out, and I have this in so many words in writing.

Furthermore, she questioned my mental stability in writing, when in fact I’m a meditator, yogi, vegan, and strivingly conscious person for whatever that is worth to you. Following her threat, I sent her an apology email because I was literally afraid for my well being. Thai military police don’t ask questions. Think about that for a minute. An Airbnb property being the nexus of threatening American citizens like this.

The good guy part of me also wanted to be on good terms with someone like my landlord. She was holding $660 cash as a security today upon checkout, and she gave me back only $450 because she says I used too much electricity. In fact the contract allowed for 50 kW per day, but there was just the two of us, and it turns out 50 kW a day is not enough. This is unethical. It’s a set up to be able to hold some of the security deposit. What a scam. I then learned that it is against Airbnb policy to give and accept cash for security. She’s an experienced landlord with Airbnb so she should have known better. I did not.

Sorry Airbnb. I have written a candid and truthful review. People should know the truth. People who spend this kind of money expect more and they expect to be treated the way that they would treat someone. You know who you are. The landlord’s approach to everything is not acceptable. Find another place to stay.

Airbnb Guests are not Protected from Bogus Damage Claims

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Last month, I was part of a group of seven people who were visiting New Orleans for a wedding. We we very careful to take good care of the house. Everything went seemingly smoothly with our check-out, until we were notified of a lengthy list of bogus damages that amounted to $178 out of our security deposit. There was no evidence that demonstrated we had caused any damage (because we didn’t), only a few very low-quality photos with no context for when or where they were taken in the house or what damage they were supposedly showing. Furthermore, I feel that the evidence that we submitted in support of our innocence was pretty solid. It was the text message exchange from when we all found out about the damage claims. It clearly demonstrated our bafflement at the bogus claims. After being contacted about this claim, we of course formally disagreed, leaving it to Airbnb to determine how to resolve the dispute. Despite our strong denial of causing any damage and despite the lack of evidence to the contrary, Airbnb blindly sided with the host, and now we are left with almost $200 stolen from our security deposit. This is an unacceptable experience, and we will contest this whatever way we can. Users of Airbnb should be warned that even if you respect your rental house and follow all of the rules laid out by the host, you are not protected from being held liable from bogus damages.

Scammed by the Host and the Resolution Centre

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My partner and I decided to go for a quiet week away in the south of France. While at an Airbnb there, the apartment was okay, but there were a few issues such as a horrible smell coming from the downstairs bathroom whenever you used the upstairs shower room, the garden not being looked after, and no glasses to drink out of. Whilst on our stay we were approached by two men trying to push us into buying drugs. Our real problems started when we arrived home. Our host demanded €250 (more that what we’d paid for our stay) for a long list of things we’d supposedly broken. We were accused of burning tiles in the bathroom (not sure how we could possibly do this) and burning holes in the sofa with cigarette butts (neither of us smoke). The pictures the host provided literally showed no damage to anything she was claiming for. We took the issue to the resolution centre where they decided to get rid of all her other accusations apart from one for a broken sofa leg. They wanted £65. Not only did we not break this, when I asked for evidence of it being broken and for a receipt to prove the cost, they told me they couldn’t due to “privacy reasons”. Airbnb expected me to trust them yet now I am being charged for something that I not only didn’t break but for which they can’t even provide evidence. They have now taken this money out of my account without due cause and I will be taking this matter further.

House Completely Destroyed by Airbnb Guests

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I rented my villa in Marbella, Spain to a guest from Ireland. He informed me his family were arriving the following day. Subsequently I found out that six or more young guys turned up and in the week they were in my house, they destroyed it. Airbnb has been ‘looking into this’ for five weeks now. They blocked two toilets with whole rolls of toilet paper, ripped a door off the hinges, broke my washing machine, made cigarette burns on my brand new couches, vomited on the bed and walls and around the toilet, made marks all over the walls, and somehow got them wet. I had to employ three cleaning ladies for eight hours each, fix the toilets and door, and purchase new linen, towels, and glasses for what wasn’t broken or thrown out. I’m not sure how many people were sleeping on the bed but the supporting boards were also broken and this was a €3000 bed. The damage and costs equate to around €10,000. At check out, when we were supposed to meet, they vacated the premises and locked me out of the house without meeting me or giving me the keys back. I had to employ a locksmith on a Sunday to change my locks. It has caused me a lot of stress and my house is ruined.

Crooked Host Holds Deposit After Long Stay

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We arrived in Utah on June 20th, 2017 as a result of a military move from Arizona. This was our nineth move in 18 years, so my family and I were used to it. Utah was exceptionally difficult to find accommodations while we were waiting for base housing to become available. Air conditioning at the temporary lodging facility on base was broken and hotels were booked in the surrounding 30-mile area from the base.

I decided to give Airbnb a try. I found a property listing in Ogden. I messaged the host and asked if he would be willing to negotiate a deal on the property since I needed a place to stay for a month. He agreed and stated that there would be a $500 dollar deposit for the property that would be returned once his property manager determined there was no damage when we moved out. We agreed to the terms and paid for the stay in full.

Our stay was great with the exception of the condition of the mattress in one of the bedrooms and the downstairs sink that was cracked. The landscape outside was a mess: dirt and open irrigation holes were everywhere. The lampposts outside were on the ground and wires were exposed. We were assured that the landscaping would be completed soon. In the month we stayed, hardly any progress was made with the numerous half-completed projects. We never complained and just figured it was a money issue. We left the property on July 20th and moved into our house on base.

This is when the problems began with the host. We inquired when we could expect the $500 deposit to be returned. I was then contacted by the property manager asking about a shampoo bottle ring on the master bathroom shower shelf. I said it may have been caused by my wife’s color stay shampoo and we were glad to come clean it and see the stain for ourselves. We were assured we would have the opportunity to clean the bathroom and see the stain. We inquired several times over the next few weeks without any response due to the fact the invoice stated that the deposit would be returned in three days.

When the host finally responded, he said we would have to wait to clean the unit due to another guest staying there. We waited several weeks to hear from either the host or property manager but they never responded. I contacted the property manager six weeks after we moved out and asked about the stain and when we could expect the deposit back. I never received a reply. The next day my wife received a text from the owner asking for my email stating that his lawyer would contact me for to settle for damages. We are honest people so we gave it to him.

I received an email on September 11th from a bus stop bench lawyer located out of Orem stating that his client was not going to return the deposit and was in fact wishing to seek an additional $1575 for replacement of the entire upper vinyl shower piece. On the estimate, there wasn’t a itemized list of parts or labor, only a dollar amount and the name of a repair company. The estimate didn’t even have a business address. The lawyer also stated there were additional damages such as a scratch on “high end” furniture and stains on towels. The lawyer stated that I have received pictures of the damages; however, I have not. I have text messages from the property manager saying there were attached photos but I never received them and I said so in a response back to her. The unit was also supposedly occupied immediately after we vacated the property, which also calls the damages into question.

Be aware of staying in Ogden with this host. I strongly caution anyone to stay elsewhere. You will be opening yourself up to a money grubbing host looking to make a profit at your expense based on false claims of damages.

Extortion Review, Airbnb Won’t Take it Down Even With Proof

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This guest used Instant Book for a month in advance for a weekend for 15 members of her family including herself. Note that she is a new member. From then on, there was no communication. She just wasn’t answering. A couple days before check-in, I finally got a hold of her and she informed me of some changes. I send her a price alteration, but time passed and she wouldn’t accept it. She kept ignoring me again. The day before check-in, I let her know since she was planning to break the house rules, I would cancel her reservation with Airbnb without a refund. Then she started responding. We finally got everything sorted out just before bedtime. One hour before checking in, she told me they were stuck in traffic and needed to push the time. Then again… and again. They finally arrived three hours late. We did strongly believe there were more than 15 people.

The first night, I got a noise complain from my neighbor. The entire group was outside, around the spa and had been screaming and very loud since their arrival. It was very late and dark, and my neighbor just couldn’t take it anymore. I tried to contact the guests, but my calls kept going to voicemail. I passed a message through Airbnb to warn her. I waited, and received no answer. I wrote to her again and made myself sound more serious. I got a response and from what my neighbor said, it took an additional 15 minutes, but the noise finally stopped. He still made it clear other neighbors wouldn’t have been as patient as him.

I arrived to check them out and found the upstairs hot faucet had been removed. How could this have happened? It was super noisy too. How could they have missed it? I continued my tour and a guest had decided to rip the lock off one of the closet to the point it ripped the door into two pieces. They forced open two other locked drawers too. They broke a large window frame probably by sitting on it or having a kid walk on it. They broke two parts of our spa and made a small tear in our spa cover. They were warned not to download anything because we didn’t have unlimited internet and they still used more than 85 BG in 40 hours. We have some decorative towels we asked the guests specifically not to touch because they already had a large number of perfectly usable towels at their disposal. Well, they decided not to listen and to only use our decorative ones. The BBQ was left in a horrific state; it was completely disgusting. This guest didn’t follow the house rules; she was truly disrespectful to me as well as the house.

I waited for her to reach out to me to apology about all the damages (my calls are still going straight to her voicemail each time) but she never did. She did text a week later inquiring about her security deposit where I finally was able to speak to her over the phone. She says she was unaware of everything. She didn’t do a tour of the house and wasn’t the last one to leave. She was not okay with everything I observed and was certainly not okay having any damaged charged to her. She said I better not charge her or she would give me a bad review. At the same time, I saw she just posted a review (a very bad one from what she said over the phone). I have some text messages exchanged that proves she indeed threatened me.

I called Airbnb and let them know immediately that she was violating their Terms of Service. They told me even if I had ”proof” and my story checked out, they couldn’t remove the review because in the text messages, she did not clearly say “don’t charge me or I will put you a bad review,” only “do not pursue or I will be obligated to take action.”

Because her review appeared at the same time, as she threatened me over the phone, customer service won’t budge. The facts speak for themselves. Airbnb guidelines strictly forbid reviews with content that is fraudulent, false and misleading, which is the case here. She had an amazing time and didn’t complain about anything. The review does not represent her personal experience. It is an attempt to use the review to force me to do something I’m not obligated to do (not charge her). They are not supposed to allow it, but they do. Thank you untrustworthy customer service at Airbnb.

Airbnb Guests Throw Party And Damage Our Home

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I am sharing my story because I feel all hosts need to know how important it is to protect your home from unruly guests. We recently had our first guest in our vacation home on the Columbia River by the Gorge Ampitheatre. Sadly, our first experience did not go very well. We met the group coming in (a party of eight), went over the house rules, walked them around our home, and felt like we connected with them. Our home is a special place in the world, and we really were hoping to attract people that would enjoy it.

Unfortunately, our guests decided to host a party there and had over 50 people in our home. Our floors subsequently were damaged (over $14,000). We contacted Airbnb. We were directed to message the guests to see if they would pay for the damages. After three days of no resolve, we were allowed to escalate this to a case manager and seek coverage under the “Host Guarantee”. Our case manager asked us to get a bid from a contractor as well as furnish them with the original cost of the flooring (not the easiest thing to find, but we did). They had us send pictures of the damage to them as well as provide a professional statement from the contractor. We did all of this (keeping in mind we live over two hours away from our vacation home), and in the end, Airbnb emailed this to us (our home is 800 square feet):

Thank you for your patience throughout this process. After careful review of all related documentation and communication, we have issued a $50 security deposit payout for the reported damage. You can view this payout in your Transaction History. While the documentation you provided far exceeds this amount, Airbnb is only able to reimburse for fair market value of the damaged areas in question. The average laminate flooring costs from $2.40-$4 per square foot and since you have higher grade flooring, we’ve issued the payout based on $5 per square foot for the 10 feet of estimated damage. It’s been a pleasure to assist you. Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns regarding this case.

$50 on damages over $14,000 (we have a $1500 security deposit on our rental… who knows where that went) and no further explanation as to how they came up with $50. We have emailed, called, and have gotten no support or help. I am shocked as a frequent Airbnb traveler as I have always had good experiences. As a host, this can’t be the way business is conducted. We are devastated. Does anyone have any thoughts or ideas as to where to take this issue?