Trapped in Dirty Airbnb Apartment During Pandemic

Posted on April 2, 2020

I rented an Airbnb apartment in Lima. The description said there were two beds, an air conditioner, pots and pans, microwave, oven, stove, and a washer/dryer. In fact, there was only one bed, no air conditioner, no washer/dryer and no pots and pans. The microwave, oven, and stove didn’t work.

In the pictures there are two couches, and there was only one, which was much smaller. Nothing is like it was the pictures. It’s a totally different apartment. It smelled bad, and was quite old. I talked to the host, and he said that the original apartment was dirty, and not usable (he told this to me via Airbnb messaging). The situation got worse.

I checked out of my hotel because I knew I had an apartment, and now they won’t let me back in (due to coronavirus, it’s really hard to find hotels that accept new people). I was waiting on the phone with Airbnb for almost three hours. When someone finally picked up, she told me that someone else will call me back. Of course I never got a call back.

Now I’m stuck in Lima. Two people in a dirty, smelly, small apartment which has one normal bed for $70 a night (which is expensive for Peruvian standards).

Darling Harbour Penthouse Airbnb Nightmare

Posted on February 10, 2020

We had two families (six people) staying in a penthouse suite in Darling Harbour, Sydney to celebrate the wife’s 52nd birthday properly. We were travelling six hours to get to the property. After checking in, we decided to go out for dinner, and headed back to apartment at 11:00 PM.

We found that the lift was broken and non operational, so we called the host (no answer). We tried to use the fire stairs to get to the 6th floor with no luck as it was locked from the other side. We tried a couple of locksmiths, but because it was a fire door they couldn’t touch it. We called all the emergency numbers and the host again (no answer).

We then called called Airbnb and explained the situation. We also explained that in the property was heart medication and medical equipment that we needed access to. Airbnb then advised us they would contact the host. At 11:34 PM Airbnb advised us they could not contact the host and they would keep trying. We again explained we needed access to meds/equipment and advised us to find a coffee shop while we waited, saying someone would contact us soon.

At 1:25 AM, there was still no reply from Airbnb or the host so we had to find alternative accommodation with only the clothes on our back and no access to our meds/medical equipment. After finding some emergency accommodation for the night, the next morning I received a call from host apologising after reading my messages and stating that he was asleep. This was a complete joke; we had vital medication/equipment that we could not access, we had absolutely no help from the host, and we had no help from Airbnb.

We are out out pocket with additional expenses from finding emergency accommodation, and its been two weeks since anyone has got back to us from Airbnb after promising we would get a call. All this can be verified as we have transcripts of our conversation, even a message from host telling us how much of a disaster it was for him.

Driveway from Airbnb Hell in Montacino Italy

Posted on May 30, 2017

We booked a house in Tuscany through Airbnb last week. Unfortunately, we couldn’t even check in because the driveway road (a treacherous footpath) was so dangerous we were afraid we would destroy our rental car or get into an accident. This left us stranded at 1:00 AM, forcing us to find a random hotel 30 minutes away after driving for nearly three hours. We called Airbnb Customer Service immediately to file the report and even spent part of the next day capturing pictures of the road on foot. Despite all of this, Airbnb refuses to refund us, won’t reopen our claim, and wouldn’t even let me speak to a supervisor. I was a loyal Airbnb customer for four years but I will never use them again. Never.

Traumatic Airbnb Experience in Philadelphia

Posted on August 23, 2016

I stayed in an apartment that Airbnb found for me in Philadelphia. It is in the Rittenhouse area and is listed by Andrea. I requested to stay with my wife and three children, ages 6, 4, and 5 months, for five weeks. I traveled all the way from Europe. I was in constant contact with the host before arriving and read all the comments about the location. I am a Veteran in the US forces and have been overseas for 10+ years. I wanted to show my family where I am from because they have never been here. My parents left the city a long time ago. After an eight and a half hour plane ride we arrived to a dirty apartment. We told the host there was leftover food in the cabinets and refrigerator and she suggested we eat it. My wife and I decided to clean the apartment because, where else were we going to go?

Cleaning consisted of swiping down the microwave, and finding bedsheets with human hair all over them. After vacuuming everything, we found more things wrong within the first 24 hours of staying. The apartment was infested with ants and large roaches, the kind that are as large as your thumb. One flew across the room onto my daughter’s bed. The host said, “we are in the city and you should expect roaches and mice.” The host did offer to spray the place with pesticides but told me I had to find out if they would be safe for children as the problem occurred after the first 24 hours. I spoke with the exterminator and he sent me a write-up of his poisons. It said that if any were inhaled to go to the emergency room. Needless to say, I told them they could not use it around my children. I was told that was all they could do. My 4-year-old daughter stepped on a piece of glass in the apartment and punctured her foot. The roaches are a constant problem. I brushed my teeth and found ants in my mouth because I forgot to check my tooth brush.

The listed washer and dryer was coin operated next door, shared between the tenants of two fully occupied buildings. The host does not supply quarters and I was told to go to a bank and get them (not mentioned in the listing). The ceiling began to leak on the outlet in the living room where the air conditioner is plugged in. The host never came by to check and told me if I wanted to move, I should contact Airbnb, as she is not responsible for the problems. I contacted Airbnb several times and the people I spoke with sympathized with me and my family. Airbnb offered me these options: refund what is left of my money from the stay and send me on my way; or refund what is left of my money and coordinate a stay somewhere else that is smaller, has fewer amenities than this place was supposed to have, and costs over $1000 dollars more.

They also sent me a $75 gift certificate for a five-star restaurant that would cost over $100 for the evening. I didn’t have the money to move out or buy a ticket home, so my family and I were stuck in an apartment with roaches, ants, and a ceiling leaking on electrical outlets. The apartment smelled of sewage because of the water leak, and more rain was projected. The host, Andrea, has her money, Airbnb has their money, and my family and I were stuck. Airbnb did send a cleaning crew by, which helped. Then less than 24 hours later it rained again so the place still smelled like sewage. The bugs never left. If anyone would like to see pictures I would be happy to provide them.

Be aware if you are in a situation where Airbnb cannot find something for the price they deem is appropriate they will let you rot in a location that has been proven to be vermin infested and dangerous. Because I could not leave I was told I wouldn’t be reimbursed for anything when we left. God help you if you have children and use Airbnb.

UPDATE: After posting this on Facebook Airbnb did pay to move me for my last eight days out of a 38-day stay (all it took was me letting the world know what was going on). Both Airbnb and Andrea refuse to discuss or pay for the damage to my property that occurred during the stay. They also told me if I wanted to write a review of the property I had to send them the review so they could screen it first. The property still listed on their site. They never pulled it.