I have to share my nightmare story with Airbnb supporting theft via their site via a man in Santa Cruz, Tenerife. One evening a couple of weeks ago, we booked a place via Airbnb. A few minutes after we called to check in, we were told we needed to pay €30 extra for a late check in. This cash requirement late at night seemed dodgy and we immediately cancelled the booking.
Surprise, surprise: the host had a ‘no cancellation refund’ policy. In the meantime, I contacted the host to explain that we had booked for three days and it was a mistake. The host agreed to repay some small part of the amount I paid. I paid £143 and he agreed to repay €125 minus taxes; all in all, a big amount lost for nothing.
Then he kept making excuses that I should ask for the money back via Airbnb, which was the first thing I did. He kept claiming he could not see the request, which was clearly a lie. Then I realized that he kept leading me on so I didn’t have the time to write a bad review. Instead, I cut my losses and wrote a very expensive bad review for the host.
Airbnb has been on his side not compensating me in any shape or form. Therefore, the host, with Airbnb’s blessing and full support, stole £143 from my account. Please beware of these thieves. I was also a host on Airbnb. Needless to say, they have lost me with this support for thieves.
Beware of these scammers; do not book their place. Use Booking.com — what you see is what you get with no hidden fees and theft of money from accounts with lack of service provision.
The problem with airbnb is that it is largely based on trust. When people are scammed, there is little comeback. Airbnb seem to think they are just an ‘honest’ broker/middleman. Little or nothing to do with them so 🙁
Hosts are making bank all over while honest people are getting ripped off. $25 daily cleaning fees and more!? What if WE are clean!? I always clean dishes, sweep, etc. They only need to do laundry. One of our stays in Milwaukee was terrible – host didn’t clear sidewalk and front walk of ice, so getting into the apartment was very dangerous, to say the least. Then, no lights in stairwell – not noticed until we came in late at night and realized – no lights! Refrigerator not operational. No coffee. Etc. Air B’n’b could care less about the condition of the rentals – as long as they get their (major) cut. This company used to be cool – honest, forthright, easy to use. Then it went public, stock prices soaring. And guess what? Company goes to crap. We, the folks that built that company, are left to suffer by the thieving hosts & exorbitant fees. Hotels.com for now on. Bummer, major bummer.
Well, you cancelled and apparently hadn’t read cacellation policy….. Host is in his right and asking for a late check-in fee is not unreasonable at short notice.