Over the last couple of years I have been a satisfied user of Airbnb with an exceptional rating. On a recent trip to a supposedly sleepy fishing village I was robbed within 30 minutes of arriving at the the house by a window left open by the hosts cleaners. When the police arrived, they basically told us “Welcome to Paternoster”, I found this quite bizarre as it’s meant to be a very quaint town where South African’s can escape the crime ridden cities of which they live and work. After contacting the host he was completely disinterested and a refund was not possible as per his terms and conditions, this meant I was stuck in a house that was invaded by criminals. A few days later some more locals tried to rob us on the beach (with knives) and we defended ourselves, this resulted in calling the police to protect us while the house was surrounded by at least 30 locals (some of which where armed) throwing rocks at us. The police had to provide an armed escort to escape this town alive. After filing a report with the police, they informed me that this is an area notorious with robbing the tourists and even the landlords are sometimes involved. The police in the last year have given up all hope of resolving the crime in the area due to the increase of drugs and “maffia” presence. At first I didn’t believe it and thought I was the only one until I read such articles as listed below: http://goo.gl/AbrI68 http://goo.gl/EoLWtg https://goo.gl/eT6L43 http://goo.gl/vmwhVd After this ordeal I contacted Airbnb for two reasons, firstly to get the ad removed to protect future travelers from the dangers of this area and secondly to request some kind of insurance. Airbnb is refusing to assist unless I provide receipts for lost goods and told me that I should research the area. Maybe I’m naive or should Airbnb offer equal protection to their customers as they do to their hosts?
Tag Archives: robbery
Guests Robbed in Paris, No Help from Airbnb or Host, and Airbnb Removed Negative Review!
In August, my wife and I booked a “lovely” houseboat on the Seine River in Paris. The reservation indicated that there would be an access card entry and the reviews were generally positive. When we arrived, we noticed that the entire river embankment in our part of town was being used as a camp for migrants. The owner assured us that there would be strong police presence and that the area was safe. She enlisted her neighbor to keep watch over the area while she was gone. There was no access card, however, as promised. Unfortunately, the neighbor who was supposed to be keeping watch skipped town for the weekend and we were robbed in the middle of the night while sleeping. The thieves took our wedding rings, engagement rings, laptops, jewelry, cash, cards and passports. They were actually right above the hull of the ship where we were sleeping. Thereafter, we were informed by another resident that this had become quite common; i.e., there had been a rash of break-ins in this very area. We had to sit in a police station for 3.5 hours trying to tell our story in broken French. AirBnB and the houseboat owner were extremely callous and unsympathetic. Most of our items were uninsured, so we lost a decent chunk of our property, as well as our security. They have refused to reimburse us and they do not seem to realize that they had a duty (whether moral or legal) to inform us about the recent activity in the area or to take bona fide steps to secure the property. Worse yet, our negative review of the property has been removed from the AirBnB website. The owner is Marie and here is her unsecured property: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/527140?s=CwERv8I5
Robbery and no help from Airbnb
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.
ROBBED! Airbnb posted my exact address online
I have been a happy airbnb user and host for 3 years. A few months ago I saw that the address and map my confirmed guests would see after they booked was slightly incorrect. The FAQ said to click an “edit address” button but there was no such button, it only had a link to “contact customer service”.
I sent a message to airbnb cust service telling them the address and map was incorrect and gave them the correct information. Apparently they also changed the “public address” to reveal the FULL STREET ADDRESS WITH HOUSE NUMBER which obviously I did not request. I typically use airbnb app on my phone which does not show the same information as the full site so I didn’t notice this for some time.
That is, until my house was robbed and ransacked between guests. Upon visiting my listing I was horrified to notice that the full address was visible to everyone in the world. Along with a handy dandy airbnb calendar showing exactly when the place was vacant!
I could not have revealed the street address myself as the option to edit the public address is not available. There is no where that I can change these settings myself. Why a “customer service” representative would do this is beyond my understanding! Perhaps the US based company does not understand European addresses and entered it incorrectly into the “public” system?
Watch your listings carefully or any dummy with an internet connection can easily find out when and where to strike!