Almost left stranded in California with nowhere to stay

Posted on November 5, 2019

I strongly suggest anyone who has also had terrible experiences with Airbnb to file complaints with the Better Business Bureau, and the Attorney General of your own state or California. Trying to contact Airbnb has been the single worst customer service experience ever in my entire life. Their poor service is creating danger for individuals both in the state of California, nationwide, and worldwide.

This business poses a threat to the safety of citizens because they do not respond to clients who book with them in a timely manner, their customer service agents hang up calls, and they refuse to resolve issues with locked accounts/verification even when people are stranded with nowhere to stay at night because of their poor processes and poor technology. I can only provide my story here, but there are countless others accumulating online from people who have been left out of luck, stranded, and in some cases have come to personal harm and dangerous situations due to Airbnb’s procedures and their horrendous customer service.

On October 31st, I moved out of an Airbnb which my friend had booked for us. I have stayed at two Airbnb’s: one near Temecula, CA and another at Big Bear Lake, CA. Trying to book one for myself, I immediately ran into issues in which their system could not verify my phone number and locked me out even when I had service.

I tried calling them and explained I was a customer and unable to book with their service due to technical issues. If they didn’t get their issue of my phone number being verified fixed then I would need to book a hotel for the night and incur an unnecessary expense.

The agent was unable to do anything to help me get my phone number verified so that I could book an Airbnb. Despite a manager saying that hopefully I would not have to book a hotel room and it would not come to this, I never heard back and ended up incurring an expense of around $82 to book a room at a cheap motel, which was the last option I could find because they never got back to me as promised.

The next day I tried contacting someone again and was told by an agent that she would work on it and send me an email. Lo and behold, the next day without receiving any followup from anyone from Airbnb I suddenly found out I could verify my phone number successfully with Airbnb, and I went to book a reservation. The host I stayed at was great and I got a good night’s rest for two nights with the first Airbnb I booked myself, but I thought it was poor service that no one followed up with me and that I was left to deal with their faulty systems on my own.

My main issues with Airbnb which entails my primary formal complaint I filed with the BBB began today, November 3rd. I am currently booking a place to stay for a month near Corona, CA, I found a listing on their website and contacted the host, who said he would get back to me. The host would not be ready for me in the evening, so in the meantime I booked another Airbnb at a nearby location in Chino, CA for the evening, and for the next day in case the first host could not accommodate me and I would need to find another living situation.

Later the same day, the host of the other Airbnb got back to me and let me know I could come tomorrow. My reservation for the night also messaged me and said I could check myself in with a door code through the Airbnb app. Thirty minutes after this message, around approximately 7:30 PM PST I became mysteriously locked out of the Airbnb app and website due to “security reasons.”

Because I was locked out of the app I could no longer message the host or see the door code to get in to my reservation to stay for the evening. I tried calling Airbnb’s customer service and the first person hung up on me/the call dropped. The second person said she would mark it as “urgent” and it would be handled by a proper team.

I explained this issue needed a resolution tonight so that I would be able to message the host I had already paid for, a sum of $95 in order to get into the room I had booked and paid for. The agent said someone would be contacting me shortly by phone/email and hung up the call. Thirty minutes later I had no response and was standing outside in the cold with no way to get into my booking because the code to enter my reservation was inside their app which they had locked me out of for “security reasons.”

I tried calling back to which another agent I asked for help. She stated she would look into it, placed me on hold for five minutes, got me back on the line, and said she could not do anything. I asked to talk to somebody else. She said she had one more thing to look into, then she placed me on hold, and after five minutes of hold time, the call was dropped.

Because I knew the address I was able to find the host’s phone number and contact them directly so that I would have a place to stay tonight. However, my Airbnb account is still locked and I am unable to use their service which I have paid for. I have never in my life been treated so poorly from call center agents, and I saw it all because I used to work in customer service.

This is not how you treat people, Airbnb. We demand justice.

Airbnb Nightmare: Abusive Host and Poor Response

Posted on May 2, 2016

My nightmare with Airbnb started with a horrible event but really escalated when I tried to complain about it. I booked an Airbnb to go to my friend’s wedding in Ukiah, California. The reviews seemed good; she was an older lady, so I thought she would have been harmless. The nightmare started shortly after I got there. After I arrived, I introduced myself to her, and she happened to be home with her friend. Then, after getting ready for my friend’s event, I went to go ask her directions to the winery where it was being held. While I was getting directions from her, she said that I looked very nice and told me to have fun. As I walked away, she grabbed my butt with a full hand and I was wearing a thin dress so it was very direct contact. I was in utter shock when it happened and didn’t know how to react.

First, this was an old lady, and second, all my things were still there and it was her home, so I didn’t know if my reaction was going to instigate something. I was in a hurry and tried to run out but it was raining when I got out and I came back to get an umbrella from her, still not knowing how to react when that happened. When I got to the event I was in such a shock, I told my friends there and then I told some friends online and people were telling me to get out of there as soon as possible. That’s when it sunk in what had happened. I tried to call Airbnb’s emergency line which my friends told me about but I was constantly put on hold and once I got through to someone and told them what happened they just said “can I put you on a long hold” and after ten minutes went by I had to hang up. I went back with a friend because I didn’t feel safe going back alone to pack up my belongings at night and checked into a hotel at midnight.

I finally got in touch with someone in the morning and told them about what happened; they said something to the effect that this doesn’t happen very often. They said they’d refer the matter to someone and get back to me. I didn’t hear from anyone and I had already contacted multiple people. I also went to file a police report before I left. The police were pretty horrible in Ukiah. The officer was really combative: he asked me if I did anything to bring this upon myself and actually went to the host’s house and asked her if she did it and then came back and told me she said she didn’t do it. He told me I was combative and referred me to his supervisor when I tried to make a report. I don’t think anything happened and the experience of filing the police report was one of the worst things I have gone through. I realize this is why so many sexual assaults go unreported.

A couple of days later they emailed me to put a review for my host on Airbnb. I was shocked. I wrote a tirade of what happened to me. Finally someone replied to me and I attached a screenshot of the reply to this review. Really repulsive. Thanks for allowing me to cancel when I didn’t stay there and doing nothing else in the air of customer service besides continuing to aggravate me after I was assaulted. The host’s profile is still on Airbnb, and my review is nowhere to be found. This is very disturbing because it looks like profiles on Airbnb are curated, leaving guests in complete danger. It’s EXTREMELY disconcerting that Airbnb does not take these allegations seriously and it is only concerned with making money: no matter the price, even putting people in danger. I hope this company eventually gets shut down (which it will). Here’s the host’s profile.

Bait and Switch… Airbnb no help whatsoever!

Posted on May 16, 2015

Weeks ago I booked several nights at a “bright executive apartment” in Shenzhen via Airbnb. Hours before I was to arrive the host sends a note saying “very sorry… room has power problem… must switch you to other room… hope you understand”. I arrived (via flight) late in the day and was hurried to my alternative room, given the key and the host quickly vanished. Without going into excruciating detail the room was disgusting. There were cockroaches climbing the walls and running wild in the kitchen. (some pics at https://imgur.com/a/3QclV) There were splat stains on the wall where one could assume that people had killed roaches in the past. I immediately sent the host an email (via airbnb) saying the room was unacceptable and that it needed to be fixed asap. Unfortunately it wasn’t until the next morning that the host showed me another apartment (it seems they have a couple dozen units that they manage). The second unit was nominally better though it had a mouse trap and noticeable droppings in the kitchen cupboard. I decided that I had *no choice* but to leave and find accommodation somewhere else. Trying to enlist help from airbnb was utterly futile and useless. Going to the help/support I left a message for support – which has never been responded to – despite the automated “someone one the team is working on your issue and will get back to you as soon as possible”!! I discovered their resolution page where I found that the guest only has an option to *request* a refund from the host. Again, no involvement from a human at airbnb… just a facility that lets the visitor send a request to the host – which I suspect they can completely ignore. Loooong story short… still not a peep from someone at airbnb… but fortunately the host accepted my request for a refund. So now we’ll see if it somehow actually appears. Bottom line. I will NEVER use airbnb again. Not only do I travel alot, but I was actually also thinking of being a host too. But after this terrible experience I will not. In my opinion Airbnb’s pathetic customer service is a terrible business model that will ultimately be their downfall. I will resume using mainstream booking methods (eg. expedia, priceline, booking).