Tag Archives: airbnb theft

Three Days of Pure Harassment over a Simple Misunderstanding

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We arrived at our Airbnb today after 3:00 PM to check in. I walked in the backyard and found a pair of shoes — I didn’t know they were expensive, tried them on, and bought them back into the house. My son and I went out to dinner and when we came back we’re accused by host of stealing them. She stated they were her daughters and expensive and now she can’t return them and called the cops on me. I was horrified; I took them into the house to protect them. I didn’t text the host because I didn’t think it was my job to find out who these shoes belonged to. I offered to pay for them but they started to say nasty things to me again with the police there so I said we should wait until tomorrow.

I’m here with my family and we have nowhere to go. Everything is booked and there are no available rooms. The host broke into the house to get these shoes without my permission. I even called my husband during this and he stated what if I found a frisbee or a bottle of wine? How am I supposed to know? I didn’t harm or use anything. Just took them into the house. I want to feel safe here and not be pressured to buy these shoes.

The next two days were pure harassment. She called the cops on us for the next two days to force us to buy the shoes. It was a complete waste of time for the police and for my family. The host continued to watch the cameras on the home to see when we would come back from an activity. As soon as we arrived back at the home the cops would arrive 15 minutes later. The host also yelled profanities from the street to the house in the sunroom when we were putting sunblock on. My son took video of that interaction and we sent it to Airbnb.

Since this story has been uploaded to the platform, the matter has been handled by Airbnb and I was given a full refund and the host has been banned. You are not allowed to break into someone else’s space unless it is an absolute emergency. I want to thank Airbnb for handling this matter in a timely, professional way, listening to the guest’s side, and not thinking of the money made from the host.

When the host found out she was going to be banned, and the police said I was not going to be charged, she started yelling at Airbnb and the police. If any items are left in a shared space contracted by an Airbnb guest it is not the responsibility of the guest to secure the items.

Airbnb’s Cancellation Policy Leaves Guest Out $1.6K

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I am planning on relocating to San Miguel de Allende so I booked a one week stay in a darling casita in January. When I realized the pandemic wouldn’t allow me to travel in January, I changed my reservation for the entire month of April. Now it looks like April is too soon to travel also so I wanted to cancel until we get the all-clear travel advisory.

I was told that I could cancel for a full refund up to 24 hours before my reservation. Now Airbnb is withholding all my money for the first 30 days (my entire reservation) and only refunding me $25 out of almost $1,600. This company sucks and I will never use them again. I will post warnings to others wherever I can. This company needs to be replaced with one that actually has customer service.

Not Sure Which Was Worse: the Robber or Airbnb

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This got a bit complicated when I was robbed at gunpoint where I lost everything, even my pair of heels. They got away with my phone that had my email address and the number I used so I couldn’t access my Airbnb account. I hoped to reach a past host who told me to create another account and get a hold of customer support, which I did and explained my story. I was told to go ahead.

I made a booking. After Airbnb verified my account, they took the sum of $3,786. Then the app told me I needed to verify it myself. This is after they took money from an account which has the same name as my profile. Then about two hours later when I was checking for instructions I found that the booking had been cancelled.

I tried to get hold of support for leaving me stranded. I had to use my week’s food budget just to book a place for the night thinking this would be sorted and I would be accommodated by the next day. This was while Airbnb still had my money.

During the early hours on Saturday I got an email stating that I had been refunded but it would take seven days for the funds to show. The day before I had to pawn my laptop, iPad, and jewelry so I could book alternative accommodations and I still haven’t heard a word from them.

My accommodation in the meantime has cost me $540 in money I borrowed against my valuables. I’m trapped in Capetown due to COVID-19 and get money from family abroad. I can’t Skype with my kids or FaceTime all because I trusted Airbnb. I emailed the CEO, but nothing. Not even an automated message. I swear that I’m holding them responsible for my losses. This is a load of BS, taking people’s money and then ignoring them. I’m very disappointed.

Airbnb Returns Payment 17 Days After Stay

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Airbnb support wrote to me:

Good morning and thank you so much for patiently waiting regarding on this matter for that payout adjustment. I regret to inform you that it was certainly a reservation that is illegitimate and did not pass the verification process and for security purposes the guest was not able to contact you about it. Please understand that this was all about your safety too regarding on your property and because of that adjustment has been made and that payment was returned to that guest. We apologize for the inconvenience, I know that it makes you feel unfair on your part since it was a past reservation but there were also information on that case that were too sensitive and cannot be disclosed as well but in general it was about your security and safety too. I hope you would understand and thank you so much for that.

My response:

Nonsense, Airbnb permitted that guest to make that reservation; that means he was properly vetted by you. Neither the guest nor Airbnb contacted us whatsoever with so much as a cancellation or otherwise (refund of the guest’s money 17 days after the last day of rental) and for no specific reason Airbnb refunded his money, unannounced nor approved by us. Nor did Airbnb properly notify us. For these reasons both parties failed and refused to abide by our cancellation policy, failed and neglected to follow the terms and conditions and are failing and refusing to provide adequate reasoning behind the return of the guest’s money.

This is wrong and Airbnb should pay this guest’s stay for mistakenly returning the guest’s money long after the stay ended. After all, we could have re-rented our property, but, as a result of Airbnb and the guest’s actions we were not notified and nor did Airbnb clear the calendar for the days the guest did not show up. I am not satisfied with the resolution to this matter. Please contact me. Furthermore, Airbnb stole $189.15 that did not belong to them. That was the cancelled guest’s money and Airbnb took it without authorization.

Airbnb Support:

Thank you for taking the time to share your perspective and again we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. After gathering and carefully reviewing all related documentation, we decided to close out this case, and we are not able to provide that payout back to you since it was just refunded back to the guest, and we did not keep that. Since we have provided all related information and explanation about this case, we will be closing out this ticket for the time being. We consider this decision final. Thank you very much.

Guest Leaves, Takes Keys, Receives Refund

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Please consider the following chain of events. I have now been waiting for Airbnb to help me retrieve my keys from a guest for almost a week and two weeks since the guest claimed he moved out (without returning my keys). I have lost numerous reservations and will most likely close my Airbnb account after this is resolved.

I accepted a reservation and arranged for the guest’s arrival and key pickup at my neighbor’s at the guest’s convenience. He checked in and the same day requested a new microwave oven, which I arranged and delivered the next morning.

Two days later he informed me he wanted to leave because of noise that he cannot prove to Airbnb and which was not confirmed by the neighbors. After I refused the change — being informed by Airbnb that I did not have to accept — the guest got hostile and accused me of “taking advantage of him.”

I was then informed by Airbnb that the guest can cancel at his own will, which I also informed him, even though I was not happy with this. I did not know cancellation was possible after checking in. The guest did not cancel, so I assume he stayed.

Prior to the original checkout date, I informed the guest he needed to leave the key where he picked it up: at my neighbor’s apartment next door. I also asked him to take out trash as I won’t be able to visit for a long time due to quarantine. When the checkout date passed and the key was not returned, I asked my neighbor to enter the apartment to look for the key.

He didn’t find the key, but a big mess, unflushed toilet, and trash left out, possibly for 10 days. I was now informed by Airbnb that the reservation is considered cancelled as by the original alteration request that I did not accept. And that I will now owe Airbnb the money for the remaining days.

A day after original checkout date, the guest finally answered and informed me I needed to travel to Stockholm (I am in Norway) to pick up my keys on the other side of town where he now apparently resides. He also requires a receipt of key return. I have no evidence of when he checked out, as the keys have not been returned. For all I know he could have used the apartment all this time, even after the original checkout date.

Instead of help from Airbnb when a guest has not returned my keys, I was informed I owe Airbnb money for the time the guest claimed he has not been in my apartment, even though they keys have still not been returned. The guest repeated he will not travel to return the keys and take out the trash “as I have caused him inconvenience,” thereby somehow “punishing” me for not accepting his alternation request which Airbnb told me I had the right to decline.

Accused of Theft and Lying About Smells

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My wife and I rented an Airbnb e to celebrate our first anniversary. From day one it smelled like a dog kennel. The second day, we found one bed bug which the co-host implied that we could’ve been responsible for rather than just quietly making things right. She moved us to a different room that was much better, but then the next day, she and her daughter accused us of messing with the way their appliances were plugged in and costing them $95 for an electrical inspection, when we didn’t and had absolutely no reason to.

The host’s daughter did not objectively serve us and was hardly involved as opposed to her mom. We filed a complaint with Airbnb the next day and the hosts kicked us out, though we had not officially told them we were canceling our reservation. They falsely accused us of filing a complaint of theft against them and took pictures of our naturally messy room before we had time to clean it up. They reported us to Airbnb corporate for vandalizing and trashing their place.

Airbnb Founders Should be Ashamed of Themselves

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Firstly I’d like to say Airbnb has falsely pushed up rental prices all over the world. This first came to light when I joined Airbnb as a host. I know the average rent in Hua Hin, Thailand. As soon as I joined as a host I was told I could get much more in rentals for my condo.

They’ve tried to push up rentals all over the world. People in Thailand are generally poor. A good monthly wage is seen as $400.

I took over management of my friend’s Airbnb account. I received a booking for 1500 Baht (about 40 USD) but I could not get a cleaner so I emailed the customer and asked if he minded if I canceled because of this issue. He understood and we agreed to cancel. I pressed cancel. I received a fine from Airbnb for 3121.08 Baht because I canceled. This is theft and breaking international contract law.

When you “stole” something that was never there

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I want to preface this by saying that this is my first time ever booking with Airbnb, and I definitely made some amateur mistakes.

I let my host text me exclusively since they wouldn’t respond through the messenger. I also accidentally signed up for one guest. When you’re searching for a stay, you can choose the option for two guests but I didn’t realize that didn’t transfer over when you booked. I texted my host that I was coming with another person the day before our check in and they replied “excellent” since it was no extra charge (which they denied, because it wasn’t on the messenger. Luckily I had screenshots.)

I believed that people wouldn’t try and scam me without proof or accuse me of stealing something that was never there. I recently got back from a weekend trip with Airbnb and this is my first time booking a reservation myself (yay for adulting).

I thought the host was a tad bit aggressive on the trip, because they were constantly texting me with their personal number and asking what we were doing. I didn’t think much of it and gave them five stars since they claimed they would rate me five stars as well if I did (which is extortion?).

I got home and everything seemed to be fine, but then I got an email that ruined everything. The host is claiming that I walked out with a comforter and a 55-inch TV in broad daylight with no proof other than “it was here before they checked in and gone when they checked out.”

When we got to the apartment there was no TV. The bed was missing a comforter and it wasn’t made. In their defense, we did arrive an hour early (but they told us we could still come in). I didn’t report the unmade bed, because, again, this was my first time renting an Airbnb and I didn’t want to seem rude to someone that was letting me into their home. I also didn’t think it was that a big a deal since we were the ones that arrived early.

With the TV, we assumed that it wasn’t included or being repaired. They gave us a list of amenities to check, and while the TV was pictured on their page when we booked, it wasn’t on the list they sent us when we arrived. We assumed that meant it wasn’t included. We did tell our host about a few other missing items, and even sent pictures telling them that we didn’t want to be charged for things that were missing upon our arrival.

At this point I’ve sent them a receipt of a comforter that we had to buy and a speaker that we purchased for our personal laptop, since we couldn’t watch movies due to no TV being there. I’ve asked that surveillance be checked and for our reports of other missing items to be documented, but the host keeps saying that we need to refund them immediately.

They’ve told us that there is a cleaning person that comes in between us and their other guests, and that’s the only reason that I can think of that might be why the TV and comforter are gone. Maybe another guest took them or they were never there to begin with. The keys for the apartment are also outside in a lockbox that’s on a rail on the street for anyone to access.

They also told us to never contact the front desk for anything as we were not allowed to; we didn’t have a lease in our name. Is that normal for other Airbnbs? I wouldn’t know because this was my first time booking one.

For the first time since we’ve been back, the host used the messenger to claim that we never sent anything to them regarding issues to the apartment or my second guest. They are telling Airbnb that I’m lying about everything, because the communication I’m talking about never happened. I may not have the videos of the apartment, but I do have screenshots and text messages to share, which the host isn’t taking kindly to, saying that my character and responses can’t be trusted since I’m “insane” and a “liar”.

The host has harassed me every other day in private messages for money, I guess Airbnb isn’t moving fast enough for them. People are probably wondering why I’m so worried if I have nothing to hide, but I have an anxiety disorder that’s constant and makes me stress and worry about things that I shouldn’t: “What if they don’t believe me, because my host didn’t update that I had a second guest; what if they assume that the TV being gone is my fault, because they didn’t check that their last guest had it; what if I can’t get another Airbnb because of the review this host left on me.”

It’s a lot to think about. I had to block my host with this final message after they called me insane:

“Everything about this experience has been so stressful. I just wanted to have a good time with my partner and you keep saying that we took your TV with no proof. Your keys for the apartment are outside. Anyone could have gone in and taken your device. Next time get insurance on your items or put something into the booking to protect you from something like this.

I’m really sorry that your TV is gone. I’d be upset if someone took my things, but I’m not the one that did it. Instead of waiting for Airbnb to decide on an outcome, you keep messaging me to pay you for something that you have no proof of me taking because it wasn’t in the apartment to begin with.

We assumed that your listing was inaccurate because of the missing blanket, TV and bracelets. We didn’t report it, because we arrived early and assumed your cleaning person didn’t have time to prepare. And if we reported the pool bracelets not wanting to be charged, why on earth would we take something so expensive as a TV? It doesn’t add up.

This entire time, you’ve been unprofessional. You’ve attacked me. My character. And my honesty. This is the very last time that I will message you directly. If you are so sure that we took your TV, just let things play out the way that they are supposed to and leave me alone. Especially if you have the evidence to back up your claim. I hope you have a great day and that no one else has to go through an experience like this.”

I’m not sure if I ever want to use this service again after this, especially since support won’t do anything about the host harassing me.

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Need Support after Getting Robbed of over $2000 by Airbnb

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I have been a host in Kobe, Japan for several years with Airbnb and as a Superhost, I had many satisfied guests and enjoyed very decent reviews. Around mid-January this year, Airbnb sent me a notice to do a verification of my account, threatening to block payouts if I did not complete it before February 4th.

I immediately sought out help from Airbnb support staff who walked me through the entire process and helped me fill in the form until the support staff himself was 100% satisfied that everything was in perfect order. He also confirmed clearly that any payout would not be blocked as the verification process was successful.

Below is proof of that chat where he congratulated me and confirmed that the payouts would not be blocked at all. I received a booking for 220,000 Japanese yen for check-in on February 11 and check-out on February 27th (a 17-day booking) with a specified payout date to me for February 13th. Today is February 17th and the nightmare I am facing is already four days into the process of dealing with the most incompetent so-called case managers and support staff.

The experience I am having in trying to collect my money is abusive, and nothing short of real torture as they are all behaving like thugs sitting on my money illegally and giving me the royal run around while whistling Sweet Dixie. No host should ever have to be subjected to this kind of torture I am facing just to try and collect what is rightfully due to me.

This kind of behavior from Airbnb usually comes as a prelude to bankruptcy. I am alerting all hosts to please be cautious because the tactics Airbnb are using here to rob me of my money are nothing short of gangster ones. I have no idea when I will see my money, I have no idea when my nightmare for chasing for my payout will stop, and I have no idea of what options I have.

I am reaching out to all the hosts reading this to please share your experiences with me if it can help me get what is due to me from these thugs. The guest from this payout is still staying in my property and Airbnb is threatening that if I use the option I suggest, i.e. ask the guest to cancel her reservation with Airbnb and demand a refund as I will waive all cancellation fees, to pay me directly, then they will penalize me for trying to deal directly with the guest and bypassing them.

The guest is still staying in the property until February 27th. I do have time to seek some sort of agreement with her but I don’t want to do anything to pay a hefty price later. Any advice on this matter would be highly appreciated. I just want to warn all hosts now and in the future to be totally aware of these gangster tactics by Airbnb to sit on your money whenever they feel like it, as if they have a right to take your funds. This is tantamount to stealing. Please be careful not to get trapped as I have been.

Right now I don’t know what more torture I have to endure from these thugs and their team of the most incompetent staff on the planet. I keep banging my head against the wall trying to recover my money from them. Any advice or helpful comments would be highly appreciated.

Payment for Extra Guest was Never Released to me

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Airbnb let a guest stay in my home on December 21st. Come the 22nd after they checked out I didn’t get the payment deposited into my PayPal account. After trying in numerous different ways to talk to someone, I was told that the guest paid the majority of the fee, but when the guest altered the stay for more people they didn’t pay the extra $30.

Airbnb allowed them to stay in my home but refused to pay me my money. It’s been 14 days and I keep getting told someone is working on it and they will get a hold of me but no one has. When I ask to speak to someone above them they say they don’t have that information for me.