Tag Archives: Airbnb USA

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.

Cancelled Less than 24 Hours before my 30th Birthday

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To start, I want to say that I normally love Airbnb. I have rented with them for years and years and never had an issue. Until now. I was so excited to celebrate my 30th birthday in Palm Desert when I learnt that the host cancelled less than 24 hours before we were supposed to arrive. The host initially offered absolutely no explanation but later told us that the city of Palm Desert would not let her rent the place out any more and she had to cancel all future reservations as patrol officers were writing citations for her guests.

I understand she had to cancel all future reservations. However, every other guest had at least a week to find new accommodation whereas we were struggling to find a place for the very next day. As such, I spent the majority of my Sunday in California trying to find a new place that looked like it would be enjoyable for the group, missing out on the activities we had planned for that day.

It was totally unacceptable that Airbnb wasn’t willing to help at all. We booked this reservation in November for my 30th birthday trip. The cancellation was so last minute that hotels in the area were already sold out and many of the other Airbnbs were taken. Making matters worse, the group had already flown from across the country (from New York and Boston) and internationally (four from Canada and another one from Australia) leaving us no option but to take another Airbnb that was less than desirable.

The house we originally booked was well decorated, homey and simply adorable. The house we settled for was gaudy, cold and tasteless. In addition, there were a number of rules when checking in that made it difficult for our group to access the house, including threats that we might get turned away at the gate upon arrival if we mentioned we were renting the house instead of friends of the owner.

When we arrived, the backyard was an absolute mess, as was the pool. I took many pictures of this but Airbnb reps didn’t seem to care. It took many calls to get the owner to send someone to clean the pool (which was un-swimmable for the first full day of our stay) and clear all the debris. When they did, it was a few hours of noise and a terrible smell of gas from the air blower they were using. Lastly, there was constant construction at the house next door to us, making it difficult to have a conversation outside.

To me, it’s crazy that Airbnb isn’t willing to help at all or offer a future credit to try to make it up to me. It was as if I booked at the Four Seasons and ended up at a motel down the street for an additional charge. I was charged an extra $380 for the extra cost of the new house, which was one of the only ones we could find in the area. I was told that would be covered. I am an avid Airbnb user and am always willing to spread the word about the company in a positive way, but really think this is insane.

Airbnb Room in Seattle is Anything but Clean

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I planned a trip with my daughter and two grandchildren to visit the Seattle Zoo. I went on Airbnb and found a listing advertised as a cozy and clean room in Lynnwood. The communication with the host was very poor. On all occasions, communication stopped between us and the host because the host stopped responding.

First we sent the host a message on Airbnb after completing the booking to confirm that it would be suitable to stay with four people in the room as it was only advertised for three; the host never responded with an answer. Second, the host never messaged us with check in information. We arrived after the scheduled check in time posted on the Airbnb listing not knowing if anyone would be there to meet us, or if we should have been provided with a code for a lockbox for a key to gain entry.

Third, after arriving we went out to dinner to discuss how we felt about the place. We then texted the host to see if she would consider giving us a refund so we could stay somewhere else where we felt more comfortable with two small children. After a couple of texts back and forth the host stopped responding again. With it getting late and needing to get the kids to bed we decided to leave and stay somewhere else that we thought would be a safer and more suitable environment.

The host proceeded to clean the bathroom after we arrived and showed us our room. This should have been completed before we arrived. We used the bathroom right after she cleaned it, and it was still dirty. There was hair and dust on the floor, mold on the tub and a good amount of dust on the cabinets. In the corners of the bathroom floor there was visible dirt buildup. When we mentioned this to the host in our text message she responded with “You only need to share the bathroom with two girls and both are working the whole day. They work in the medical field and are very clean.”

She never addressed the fact that the bathroom was still dirty after she cleaned it when we arrived or making any effort to make it right. When I contacted Airbnb about a refund they said that she was very clear about everything on her site and offered me a $50 discount on my next booking with Airbnb. I have attached photos and also have copies of the texts we sent our host.

Refund of $7.55 for $450+ Airbnb Booking

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Planning trips are my absolute favourite and I have loved using Airbnb to do it. At the beginning of May, I started planning a trip to Seattle for a weekend. I decided that I wanted to stay downtown even though it was pricey. I found a cute apartment and booked it.

A few days later reality kicked in and I realized that spending $450 a night wasn’t worth it, so I started looking for a cheaper alternative. Five days after my original booking I cancelled the reservation. However, this booking has a “strict (grace period)” cancellation policy, which apparently means you can only get a full refund if cancelled in 48 hours. On Airbnb’s website it says if the booking is cancelled within 48 hours or 14 days prior to check in you are eligible for a full refund.

A month went by. I checked my visa statement and realized that Airbnb hadn’t refunded me. I contacted them asking why I have only received $7.55 back instead of the full $459 paid. They said, “you only paid half of the full fee so you don’t get any money back because you are only eligible for 50% of the full amount”. This policy would make sense if the host couldn’t rebook the space in time, but she’s already got it rebooked.

Why am I spending $450 when she’s got new guests in the space? She has rejected my request for a partial refund of $309 and a full refund of $459 because “that’s her cancellation policy”. Airbnb has been a nightmare trying to get a hold of to request a refund and I am lost as to what to do. This was a splurge in my budget already and now I’ve wasted $459.

Family Vacation Ruined Over Airbnb Cockroaches

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I had never stayed in an Airbnb before. My sister and I planned a trip to the Smoky Mountains together. She got a cabin through Airbnb and I stayed in a hotel in Pigeon Forge. We got to enjoy one family day together. The second night they were in their cabin they came in to find roaches everywhere. If they didn’t have young children sleeping they would have just left that night. They got up in the morning, packed everything up, and drove back home, which is an 8+ hour drive.

They only got refunded two of their nights and still got charged for cleaning. They were told that they use pest control but can’t control those this time of year; that is unacceptable. Now they are home and don’t even want to take their bags inside because they are afraid they brought them home. Their vacation was ruined and our family vacation was ruined. I will know to not use Airbnb if this is how problems like this are handled.

Airbnb Benefits Greatly from Exchange Rates

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We are Canadian citizens with a timeshare in the United states. We listed the unit on April 18th in US dollars yet when we were paid, we were paid a 1 to 1 ratio, Canadian to US dollars. At that time the exchange rate was about $.77 to $1.00. That meant Airbnb kept approximately $0.20/dollar collected from our renters. I do not know if this is standard practice for other countries with a different currency value than the US, but I believe this is an unethical practice. I now know why Airbnb refused to deposit our funds into our US account in our Canadian institution. I would appreciate any suggestions about how to avoid this from occurring again. Yes, I have contacted Airbnb directly with no response. They also withheld taxes even though all the required tax forms were submitted prior to the rental.

Two Nights in Airbnb Hell for Pregnant Guests

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My boyfriend and I wanted a quick vacation before the arrival of our first child. At four and a half months pregnant, we drove down to Miami from Toronto. We booked a nice-looking studio apartment in Miami and got ready for our trip. So, we made the 24-hour drive down to Miami and arrived at our listing.

The host came out of her house to greet us and show us to our place. She showed us where to find the key, and then started speaking to my boyfriend in Spanish. I didn’t understand much of their exchange, but he later explained to me that she told him “The owner of this property lives down the street, if she comes around or asks you any questions, just tell her you’re friends of mine visiting.”

I thought this was kind of sketchy, so I called Airbnb to let them know. Airbnb called me back, and let me know that they’ve simply decided to cancel the reservation and we needed to find a new place to stay. It was a Sunday afternoon at 7:30 PM. I was almost five months pregnant and dead tired from a 2500 km drive. I mentioned this all to the rep on the phone, and she told me that she was finished working and someone new would call me back right away.

Fast forward to two hours later, with me hounding and harassing Airbnb – spent well over 45 minutes waiting on the phone, only to be hung up on multiple times – and finally someone called me back. She said there was nothing available for the same night in our same price range. I argued over and over and over with her, and then she finally asked her manager for an approval to cover the cost of a new, more expensive listing.

She explained that she found a new listing with similar amenities to the one we previously chose. So we went ahead and headed over to the new place. The host on Airbnb was listed as a woman, but some dude showed up to show us around the apartment. We walked in; the place was a disgusting dump. He quickly rushed us through, and showed us the damp towels and airbeds. There was literally nothing else in the apartment. It was an empty apartment with two air mattresses on the floor. There were none of the amenities we previous requested: parking, TV, wifi.

To top it all off, the apartment door was secured only by a cheap $10 doorknob lock. There was a deadbolt, but they didn’t give us the key for it. I called Airbnb again at 11:30 PM and explained to them that this was not acceptable. The man on the phone told us that we should stay the night since it was late. He told me a case manager would contact me in the morning to sort it out.

The next morning, I called Airbnb yet again only to be told that my reservation couldn’t be cancelled since I stayed the first night. I explained to her that I was instructed to stay there by one of her colleagues, and she didn’t care. She told me I had to ask the host for a cancellation. I contacted the host, and she told us she could only offer a 50% refund. She then sent me a few nasty messages saying how we wasted her time and were just scamming her to get a “free night.”

We ignored that and told her we were leaving. She told us to leave the keys on the counter and lock the door. We did as instructed. We did get the 50% refund, and then after more and more arguing with Airbnb and speaking with a manager, they agreed to give us back the other 50% of the money to make a new reservation.

Finally, we brought all of our stuff back to the car, and as we were leaving, we saw a disgusting cockroach in the sink. I took a picture and sent it to Airbnb, which they totally ignored. I called them and aseked if they received my photo; they said someone would call me back. There still hasn’t been a response. I called them again and asked if they were really going to let people keep renting from a place that’s infested with cockroaches, and of course the line “disconnects” again.

Anyway, I put that out of my mind and tried to enjoy the rest of my vacation. A few days later, I saw the initial host wrote a bad review on my profile (how do they even leave me a review when I didn’t even stay at her house?). The second host sent me a request to pay her $285 saying she needed to replace the lock on the door (the $10 doorknob lock) because she couldn’t find the key that I left. I called Airbnb. They told me that I left the key and it was not my problem. The rep on the phone told me that a case manager would call me back. Again, no call back from Airbnb.

What was supposed to be a quick and fun vacation turned into a majorly stressful event. Two days of our week-long trip were wasted moving from listing to listing and talking on the phone with Airbnb reps. I will never use Airbnb again.

Stay away from Airbnb Properties Managed by Oasis

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Do not book any Chicago property managed by Oasis unless you want to be nauseated by smoke. Even the host smelled of smoke when he greeted us in the lobby. I’m still waiting for them to refund three nights because they admitted it had smoke odors even though they advertised it as non-smoking. We had to get a hotel.

After conversations with Oasis staff, they offered to refund one night while they “deep cleaned”. (After we left for a hotel, I received an email at 11:00 PM that we could come back the next day to “check it out” as it had now been deep cleaned). By now we had checked in and unpacked at a new hotel. We were traveling on business with meetings all day and it wasn’t possible for us to check out of the hotel and go inspect the apartment (smoke odors don’t typically go away that quickly).

As a side note, they advertised their property as able to sleep three people; we assumed the sofa would be a place to sleep but there was no bedding provided for it except a blanket that was in the closet. I was very disappointed and hope they will do the right thing and refund our $600+. We have been trying every angle to get in touch with someone but they have gone silent.

I am a rental property owner and list my property on Airbnb, and we have used the service traveling internationally. This is the first bad experience. Oasis (the supposedly global property management company) presents themselves as only representing highest quality properties and that was certainly not the case. On top of it, they have completely refused to reply or deal with me to bring this situation to a satisfactory close. Even the partial refund they offered has not been granted. Thankfully American Express also has my back and is working through the situation.

Airbnb Host Tries to Assault Underage Drunk Guests

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About a year and a half ago now I stayed with Airbnb for the first time in Nashville. As soon as we arrived, my host poured shot upon shot of alcohol down my then underage friend’s throat. He offered to show us a good place to eat. That went well.

Later that night he invited himself out on the town with us. Up until this time he was cool so we didn’t really question it. We went out and he started getting grabby with my friend, who made it loud and clear she was not interested. He then abandoned us in the middle of Nashville, knowing both of our phones were dead. Finally I was able to hail a taxi with a phone charger so I could get the address and return to the house.

We made it back to his place and went inside. Since my friend was drunk, I had a few drinks myself. It was 2:00 AM, so we decided to hunker down for the night and leave that place first thing in the morning. We put his dog in the bedroom with us (which he previously had given us permission to do) and went to sleep. An hour passed and I heard him come home. I got up and let him know we made it back and we were leaving in the morning. At this point he apologized for his behavior and seemed fine. I went back into the room and locked the door. I know for sure because I showed my friend it was locked, as she was still unsure of him.

About an hour later I was asleep but awoke suddenly. I could sense someone was in the room. I sat up and saw his shadow crawling across the floor. I yelled “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Along with a few other choice words. He told me he was looking for his dog (who was white and very clearly laying on the edge of my bed, very visible even in the dark). I told him to get out, along with a few other choice words. I then locked the door again and propped a chair up against it.

As I was trying to process what just happened I picked up my phone to see the time and noticed it wasn’t charging. Thinking maybe he unplugged it while crawling around, I saw it was still plugged into the wall. I then went to turn on the lamp; it didn’t work, and neither did the other two. It hit me this man literally turned the power off to our room to prevent us from turning on the light while he was in there.

Now I was in survival mode. I packed all of our belongings and got my friend out of bed in about five minutes. We made a plan, jetted out of the house and out to my car, and sped off.

We called the Airbnb emergency number and initially they were great. They paid for us to get a hotel for the night and refunded our money from the host. They also told us he was blocked from the website and gave me a $300 credit to use within the year. I tried three times to use the credit; it always said there was an error and to contact customer service. They always said they would figure it out and get back to me but never did.

After my $300 expired I swore to never use Airbnb again. Finally a friend convinced me to try one more time, so I made an attempt to book and found I still couldn’t, as if my account was locked or something. Again, I contacted customer service and again, I was told they would figure it out and get back to me. They never did. This company is garbage. They will cover their rear while an emergency is taking place but besides that the customer service is terrible. Do not stay with Airbnb.

The review I left on their page a week or so ago is attached. Conveniently I got an email today saying “after a routine review of my account I have violated the terms of service so I can no longer be a supported guest”… funny how they can ignore me for over a year until I go public with what happened.

No help or support for guests when faced with a terrible host

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I need to share my extremely disappointing experience with Airbnb. I’ve just returned from a trip to the USA, where I had a great time, except for my Airbnb experiences. Firstly, I had booked my accommodation very early, but two months before my trip I tried to modify my LA reservation by one day. The host kept refusing my request but also ignoring my messages. This went on for days, where I couldn’t get in touch with him and had to contact Airbnb for support. In the end, the support person told me there was nothing they could do if he refused to modify my reservation.

Around the same time, my host for my accommodation in New York cancelled my reservation because he wanted to host someone else. Again, Airbnb was no help, as the guest can’t stop a host from cancelling a reservation. Sure, the host is penalized – but that just means money for Airbnb. As the guest, I’m left without accommodation.

During my stay in LA, my host (the one who refused me to modify my reservation), was messaging me privately, being very friendly, and offering help and tips. From this I felt like perhaps I misjudged him from the earlier interactions. After I checked out of the apartment he sent me a private messaging that said: “I just got to the apartment. Thank you for taking such good care of it. You have been a great guest! I have a few apartments in this area. I would like to offer you a discount the next time you are in town. You are welcome back anytime. Safe travels!”

I have used Airbnb for all my trips over the last few years, and every time I treat each property with care and respect. I make sure I clean up before I leave: taking out rubbish, washing up and putting everything away, making the bed, wiping down the kitchen, bathroom, etc. I can confidently say that every place I leave looks like it hasn’t been touched. I left a review for the host in LA that was very honest; I mentioned that I encountered some issues leading up to stay with trying to modify the reservation, but also pointed out all the positive aspects of the actual stay and complemented on the apartment and the host. I believe in leaving a true reflection of my experience.

However, I then received a review from the host that said: “She was an okay guest. I did my best to accommodate all of her requests and questions. She requested a reservation change after having booked the apartment for a bit that would have left me hanging. I couldn’t accept the request as it was not in keeping with our cancellation policy.”

I found this review extremely spiteful and deceptive. He was clearly lying and pretending to be nice to me in the private messages, while the whole time holding a grudge over me trying to modify the reservation. His review did not reflect how I am as a guest, and made it sound like I had made a lot of unreasonable requests. Trying to ask for a modification to a reservation with two months’ notice is not unreasonable. Plans change, and I only wanted to modify it by one day; how can that possibly be “leaving him hanging”?

I still accepted the fact that he wouldn’t let me change my reservation and stayed at the apartment with no further requests. I never met him during my entire stay. I checked in and checked out myself. His review made it sound as if he went of his way to help me. I’m very angry at how mean spirited and deceptive someone can be.

What’s even more disappointing is Airbnb allowing this type of host to get away with it. I contacted Airbnb again, explaining my disappointment in the whole experience. The only help I got was links to the Airbnb policies – there’s nothing Airbnb can do for me, as there is a non-interference policy on reviews. Policies are all well and good, but where is basic human decency?

I know no matter how much I try to get my point across, I’m only going to hear about more “policies”. I’ve spent too much time emailing Airbnb’s support team. I may not get a satisfying resolution, but l will share how utterly disappointing and frustrating this whole ordeal has been. Airbnb has major flaws in their policies that doesn’t offer enough support and help for guests.