Tag Archives: theft

Supposedly furnished studio was not furnished!

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I had never used Airbnb before, but friends had said positive things about their experiences. I wanted a studio apartment, furnished, for a month in Strasbourg, France, while I house-hunted and decided on my future. I reserved a furnished studio. I knew the location. The host accepted the reservation, and Airbnb took my money.

The host then called me to say she wanted to cancel as there was no bed in the apartment (why didn’t she know this before?) – this was while I was on my way to meet her at the apartment to get the keys! I couldn’t afford to wait for a refund and pay another rental at the same time. In any case I had to stay three nights in a hotel while waiting for the bed, which the host then decided could not be delivered for another two weeks (I could have gone to IKEA and bought a sofa bed the same afternoon in her place). At this point she offered me a 200€ refund, which I accepted, being otherwise homeless and already having spent a bunch of money I hadn’t budgeted for.

The description said the place had basic kitchen items, but there was no plate, cup, saucepan, cutlery – nothing. I had to buy all that, as well as all the bed linen. Towels too. The shower curtain was filthy, the shower didn’t drain properly, and the paint was peeling off the bathroom walls. The mirror was broken. Later I realized there was no smoke alarm, illegal in France. People smoked cannabis in the lift, corridors and hallways.

The host insisted that on move-out day (today) I had to return the keys at 10 am. So I had to leave some bags in the hallway as I couldn’t move everything at once. She just shrugged. When I came back for my last bag (a small suitcase of clothes) it had been stolen. She of course was long gone by then. I had left the apartment cleaner than I found it.

This is 1a rue des Cigognes, Strasbourg, France.

Aibnb Guest Robbed -Had to Flee Town with Police Escort

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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?

Airbnb Host Stole Belongings of Guest – No Airbnb Help!

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I got scammed on Airbnb and it was a totally legit listing. I only communicated with the people through the Airbnb app. When I got to the house and met the folks they seemed cool. When I went out for dinner, they stole all my stuff and locked me out. They told Airbnb my dog was violent and they were scared. I tried multiple times but I couldn’t get any refund and my luggage and laptop and camera, everything was stolen. They are still on Airbnb offering the same listing. I’d say Airbnb needs to be made illegal in every state. That’s the only time I used them so in my eyes they have 100% scam rate. There is no protection if you use them. The renters were even able to change their refund policy after I paid and the new rules were instantly considered valid. To make it worse, they sent me an email saying God bless, Jesus loves you. Also, once they canceled my reservation I wasn’t allowed to leave negative feedback. So, no one will ever know by looking at their listing.

Policy Allows Guests to Snoop Your Private Stuff and Write About What They Find

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A guest retaliated about having to pay to replace my air mattress (a crucial item I needed for future guests) after they admitted, in writing, to damaging it so badly that they removed it from the property (threw it away) while I was not home (which is technically theft). Their retaliation was to write me a negative review, where they said they looked in my (closed) drawers and cabinets(!), and then revealed my personal items that they didn’t like or agree with its presence in the home. I asked AirBnB to remove or edit this review to take out the mention of my personal items. I had a year’s worth of entirely positive reviews and was nearly qualified for AirBnB’s elite Superhost status, and this was a first-time AirBnB user obviously seeking revenge for something they did wrong, but AirBnB’s customer service repeatedly told me they agreed my situation was unfortunate and morally wrong of that guest, but they stood by their policy, which goes like this: ANYTHING in your home is open for guests’ use, viewing, and mentioning in a review, so long as they do not reveal personally identifiable financial information (ex. driver’s license number, tax ID, or bank numbers). I had previously removed that stuff from my home, but I had no idea your guests can write about pretty much anything else, even if it is out of sight and in an obviously hidden or private place that most polite humans would never dare to look or publicly admit that they did look there. I specifically confirmed with AirBnB that their policy means guests CAN write reviews about your prescription medications, health info, religious artifacts, political artifacts, or any other object which someone, somewhere might find offensive, or that you might deem too “personally identifiable” or too private to be mentioned on the Internet. I could not believe a company knowing let go of one of their best customers in exchange for allowing an evil new customer to remain. This was not even ALL of the bad things that this one guest did or that I suspect they did, but those other issues are a one-on-one guest problem, not an AirBnB problem. The above described AirBnB policy and customer service issues are the reasons why I will never use AirBnB again and encourage all others to not use them for hosting or staying!

Three bookings, three problems

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I listed my house for rent on Airbnb for only one month and had three bookings. The first guest set a hot pot on my kitchen counter and melted it. The second guest dumped oil into the hot tub and broke the $200 handle, splitting the wood on the side of the spa.  The last guest stole a white wicker storage chest with all the contents. I try so hard to make the house nice but why bother when three of three bookings ripped me off? I am ticked and disgusted. Now what do I do with the rest of these darned bookings? Cancel them? Grrrr…

Don’t host on airbnb!!!

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I rented out my home for the first (and the last) time through AirBNB earlier this year to a middle aged couple who on paper seemed legitimate.
There were only the two of them staying and they had the choice of 2 double sized bedrooms. Before they arrived a put a lock on my bedroom door because I wasn’t going to be there while they were staying and let’s be honest – I didn’t know them from a bar of soap.
So call me naive, but I assumed that a lock would be a clear indication that I didn’t want them in my room. They had two rooms to choose from, there was no need for them to go into mine.
Obviously the lock made no difference because it’s quite easy to just unscrew the hinges and take the door off! All of my personal belongings got rummaged through, my lingerie was all over the bed and sentimental jewellery items were stolen that can never be replaced.
AirBNB’s response when I reported the situation? “You shouldn’t leave your belongings out if you don’t want them tampered with”
Out? They were in my room behind a locked door! I am so beyond angry – If you’re thinking of renting your home through AirBNB – DON’T!!