Tag Archives: airbnb theft

Closed my Account, Airbnb Still Owes me Money

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I had rented my condo on Airbnb for about two years with few issues from the company. I finally decided to pull my listing and shut down my account early last January as I no longer wanted to use them as a service to host. Shortly after, I started receiving emails to my account stating “It’s time to get paid” and I needed to update my payment information; they had over six hundred dollars that was still owed to me from a guest staying. I did not realize I had any more money coming my way. I tried to log in to update my payment information as the email suggested but the system would not let me as I no longer had an account. I called customer service many times and waited on hold while paying long distance, but they said they could not help me as I did not have an account they could pull up. I wrote multiple emails in response to the emails they sent me and to customer service team and not once did I receive a reply. Airbnb is basically holding the money they owe me hostage despite them repeatedly admitting they owe me a substantial amount of money through a bombardment of recurring reminder emails to collect the money owed me. I am still getting these emails every few weeks but have exhausted all options to collect it from them as Airbnb will not help me get my money from them. This is totally illegal and straight up theft by Airbnb.

Lost Everything in Airbnb Theft… Inside Job?

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We moved to Southern California on July 15th, 2016 and unfortunately, while staying at an Airbnb in Pasadena and looking for a permanent place, our apartment got broken into and everything we had brought with us including our passports, birth certificates, national ID cards, all our academic diplomas and transcripts, and every single immigration document we had got stolen (including the copies of them). This is in addition to the huge financial loss due to the jewelry, laptops, even specialty contact lenses being stolen. Obviously the police were immediately notified and involved. We are still in shock and I don’t think it’s something we can easily recover from. We’ve compiled the list of the items we remember that have been stolen and every day still remember some new items that are missing and realize they were in our suitcase or backpacks… The truth seems to be far from what the reviews and the Internet suggest!

Unfortunately, some of the documents are irreplaceable such as both of our undergrad and masters original transcripts and diplomas as they are issued only once in our home country. This can have a significantly negative impact on our professional lives and careers. The magnitude of the damage is beyond repair. The host and management company failed to change the lock on the unit, after the previous tenant had not returned the keys. The Airbnb host and the apartment management are telling us conflicting stories. The Airbnb host says he had asked for the locks to be changed but management denies it, as says he only asked for a duplicate key.

The apartment management claims that the security cameras were being serviced exactly in that hour when the burglary happened and thus no footage has been recorded. There was no evidence of forced entry (remember this is a gated apartment complex with a digital entrance, gated parking, and a key to the unit). These all suggest that it was an inside job. Nothing that was originally in the Airbnb property was even touched by the thief, whereas all of the stolen items belonged only to us! The property loss is about $20,000 (jewelry, laptops, bags, clothes, etc.). Financial loss is something that you can forget and recover from, however the loss of all identification documents, educational records, and most importantly the feeling of having been violated this way, is something that will be haunting us for a long time. We firmly believe the people who caused this need to pay for it and make sure this does not happen to anyone else…

We believe Airbnb should have done something to make sure any apartment that is being rented using Airbnb’s name is a safe place and that if a tenant does not return a key, that it is immediately reported, and the unit made unavailable as soon as possible. I hope this will not happen to anyone else!

Airbnb Theft: Montreal Penthouse Hell

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Guests beware: you are not protected by Airbnb if your host enters unannounced and without consent. I had the left the residence for a few hours only to return to find out the host had entered the property while we were away and had gone through our belongings and left a visibly noticeable mess. My first reaction was to take photos of everything, email Airbnb and then text our host to notify him of what we had occurred. The reaction from our host was blasé; he had forgotten some of his belongings and was in a hurry so he came back to his apartment to find them. After confronting him about why this was unacceptable, he tried to justify his actions by telling us that he also came home to give us quilts…. the weather for that scorching July summer day was 33 degrees Celsius without considering the humidity and the lack of any central air conditioning.

We were robbed of our money and a few pairs of ladies underwear according to my female friend. What did Airbnb do? Nothing! I consider myself to be fairly progressive with my use of user driven business applications such as Uber, eBay, and Stubhub, and for the most part have had extremely positive experiences. However, in the rare case when I, the consumer, have needed assistance to protect my well being, they have always been incredibly responsive and empathetic to my customer experience. I have yet to hear from Airbnb, and its been three weeks and counting.

Airbnb Guest Stole from me

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I had a guest for one night, who walked away with a few items, including: TV, air conditioner, coffee machine, toaster. I have contacted the guest on his mobile – the man who answered said he’s never heard of Airbnb. I contacted the police, who asked for any traces that might help the investigation. Then I contacted Airbnb. They absolutely refused to provide me with any clues as to the guest’s real indentity, and said they will “run their own investigation.” They asked me for the police report, which obviously takes a bit of time to come through, and 48 hours later closed the case indefinitely. More over, they did not even transfer payment, which they have collected from that guest. On that basis that, I have opened a legal case. This is insane. If anyone knows an alternative to Airbnb I would love to hear it.

Airbnb Theft in Safe Neighbourhood

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Penny wise pound foolish stay. This place is a trap! Don’t stay here if you don’t want to be robbed. At first glance, the apartment looks secure. Decent neighbourhood and location, locked access to the block only by residents, and a double lock door gave us a false sense of security. While we were out, someone broke in and stole all our valuables. We had bought high value items amounting to 7000 euros. Despite locking the door and windows, the thief broke in with no sign of forced entry. He was a true professional, or it was an inside job. Besides stealing our stuff, we also found a knife in the bathroom, left by the thieves. Thank goodness we didn’t come back during the break in.

Throughout the stay, we didn’t meet the owner (Ben). Only his assistant, Gabi, who helped with check in, and his cleaner lady. Both have keys to access the apartment. After the incident, the owner did not bother to meet us, check his apartment, nor lodge a police report with us. Talk about being unhelpful. In my conversations and texts with Ben, all he could offer was an apology whilst constantly defending his Gabi and the cleaner as innocent. In conclusion, this seemingly safe looking apartment is a tourist trap where thieves can simply walk in and out with all our belongings without leaving a trace. The apartment looks nothing like the nice photos, and the owner, although quick to respond with smooth words in good times, offers no help nor takes any responsibility when a crime takes place in his apartment. I hope no one has to go through the ordeal we had to endure. We left a thorough review of the host. It was up on his Airbnb page for a week and unfortunately I received an email from Airbnb today saying it “includes sensitive, personally identifiable information” and has been removed. Airbnb didn’t even enquire about the knife in the bathroom!

Airbnb Scam: Set up and Burglarized in NYC

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We were burglarized the morning of our first day in an Airbnb apartment in New York City. The host refused to refund our rent for the apartment and so far Airbnb has refused to support us in any way. We lost over $5000 in property: every valuable thing we brought including luggage, jewelry, medication, clothing, along with passports and other personal and financial documents. The police confirmed it was likely a set up and the host has now removed the listing from Airbnb. We have since learned that renting apartment units in New York City is illegal. We are furious about the lack of support from Airbnb customer service, who is now telling us that it is our responsibility to ensure the safety and legality of property that we rent through their service. We will soon be employing an attorney to file charges if things are not corrected soon.

I been robbed on AIRBNB !!! 5760 EUR!!!!

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I been robbed on AIRBNB!!! 5760 EUR!!!! How possible that AIRBNB Does not checks owners? Does not allowing any access for verifications within the process? The worst does, not check deeply to prevent recurrence!!! They prefer that the customers will lose their money than to spend money on human resources !!! Don’t do business with how that don’t respect your safety!!! See description of my Case on http://www.orenyyy.022.co.il/BRPortal/br/P102.jsp… And look what I show today on Airbnb https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/7202241… Look at the pictures and see how easy Airbnb let it happen!!!! and that’s only one sample from a lot ….

Robbery and no help from Airbnb

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I had two guests visiting who informed me that they wanted to leave at 4 am. I said OK, I asked them to leave the keys on a table and I didn’t come to let them out because it was really early. I did that many times with other guests before. So those girls forgot to close the door when they left, someone was passing by, saw the house empty with doors wide open and robbed my house. I have tried to contact Airbnb 4 times, sent them 4 emails requesting at least a full name of the guest that I could fill the police report… They didn’t bother to respond any of my emails. And it would be impossible to get refund from Airbnb because of their tricky terms and conditions (you can find a lot information on that in other posts around the internet). I wish that Airbnb alternatives woud become stronger, I would change immediately.

Thieves

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I have been an Airbnb host for a couple of years now and up until last month, I was reasonably satisfied.

I had a middle aged couple interested in staying in one of my units and on paper, they seemed like the perfect guests.

That is, until I saw the state of my unit after they left.

Practically everything that wasn’t attached was stolen, including linen, pillows, cutlery and crockery. I was in a bit of a state of shock when I called Airbnb but their reaction to the situation shocked me even more.

They told me that I would need to supply receipts for all the things that had been stolen. Obviously they weren’t expecting me to have them, because when I said I would fax copies through they backtracked and said that there was really nothing they could do.

I will NEVER be putting my property at risk again by hosting through Airbnb. Very bloody disappointed.