Category Archives: Airbnb Host Stories

These are real, uncensored stories from Airbnb Hosts.  We encourage our site visitors to read and share their Airbnb Host Stories to help warn others of the dangers of using Airbnb, and consider using alternative options in the sharing economy.

Airbnb Deceptive Disclosure of Terms and Conditions

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After investing a considerable amount of time reviewing the terms and conditions of host agreements with Airbnb I invested even more time in listing two vacation rental properties with them that I have rented for years through VRVO and vacation rentals. At first, I thought I was the problem because I was accustomed to direct control of the terms and conditions of the rental, especially the payment and cancellation policies.

1. They did not disclose that no payouts are possible until $2,000 is accrued in earned payments. There are no details on what happens to your $1,999 if you end your relationship with them.

2.  In the preview of the host agreement (before signing up) they gave the impression that payment is immediately forwarded to the owner. In fact, it is not credited to the owner’s account until AFTER the guest has checked in.

3. Their built-in software overrides and alters the owner’s choices or doesn’t give owners the option to choose, then sets a non-disclosed policy.

4. They kept changing my “strict cancellation” to flexible, and they kept turning off or modifying my minimums. They also advertised at different rates than I specified.

5. I found navigating their software and their self-help pages tedious and time consuming. Owners: stick with vacation rentals, vacation home rentals, and VRBO. Control the terms and conditions with which people occupy your valuable property.

Airbnb may be great for travelers (I haven’t read the guest horror stories yet) but it is effectively victimization and exploitation of homeowners who assume all the risk and pay a handsome fee to Airbnb for every booking. Before accepting ANY booking through Airbnb, read the fine print!

Airbnb Direct Deposit not Available in Turkey?

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I have been a member of Airbnb for many years. I almost forgot I had a membership, then someone wanted to reserve my room and I cheerfully accepted. I have checked my payment history preferences and changed it to accept direct bank transfers. My guest came and left, and everything was ok. Then I saw that my payment method had not been verified. I waited for a little while longer and then asked Airbnb. They kindly replied and asked me to wait a little longer. So I waited. After a week I asked again. Three different people replied: one said it could take time and I should wait; another told me that my account might have been hacked; and the last one finally told me that the direct deposit method is not available in my country- it is routed through Payoneer (which deducts money from the amount I should get) and I should contact them!

There is no information regarding this on their web site. This is total fraud: not informing me about what is available in my country, what is not, and having no interest in telling me why my payment preference has not been verified. Then I changed it to Paypal. I have a confirmed, eligible Paypal account. Still, there was no verification from stupid Airbnb. I asked again. The reply was a form letter teaching me about Paypal. My payment preference has not been verified yet and it has been two weeks since I started this process. They do not care about paying you your money. I have spent hours dealing with interesting answers and still could not solve my problem!

Speak to Real People with Airbnb Customer Service?

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There is zero information available about contacting Airbnb to get help from a live person. This has been apparent to me on the pages of Airbnb as I attempted to learn precisely how to list my home. I even attempted to create a listing but the process halted after the system could not “verify” two different phone numbers. The Help Center is worthless to a person with a problem that does not fit the pre-configured scenarios the geniuses at Airbnb can think up. Most tellingly, no “Contact” button/menu item is available so it is apparent Airbnb is nothing but an extension of the Borg. Only this limited interaction “feedback” with zero interactivity is offered.

Well guess what? The sheer arrogance and/or elitism of Airbnb personnel simply screams from the site. No, you can not think of all issues and place them in an endless series of dropdowns, and no, like hell am I going to play Simon Says guessing games to pass through the hoops Airbnb has provided. The industry is flooded with venture capital to build systems to smash smug assholes who operate Airbnb and my money and more importantly, time, will be spent elsewhere. So, why am I bothering writing this here? Just using it as a temporary pad to jot down my review of Airbnb before finding a spot to publish it.

Evicted while Renting on Airbnb

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My landlord sent me an eviction notice while my apartment was being rented on Airbnb but Airbnb provided zero support. I was in Africa at the time and could do nothing. It took me three days to get hold of an Airbnb representative who then said there was nothing they could do to help me. They could not even give me advice on how to proceed. They could not even recommend a lawyer. Nothing. Airbnb were very supportive in getting my apartment rented. They even sent a photographer to take photos of it for free. I really had no idea they were encouraging me to do something illegal and that it would cost me my home. Why would I do something illegal on a website that everyone can see? If I buy something from Amazon I don’t first check to see if it is illegal. I thought Airbnb was similarly a reputable company. But I was naive. Airbnb is pure evil.

Bad Hosts and Cutting Property Owners Out

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I own a property in a villa complex which was hosted by a third party. The same person hosted a property adjacent to mine. This host has been using the two villas for approximately 4 years.

It came to my attention late last year that the host embezzled approximately $2500 from my villa rentals. I confronted the host and after threats of legal action the money was returned. A short time after that the host and I parted company, for obvious reasons. Soon after, I discovered that the other villa being hosted was delisted, without notice or consultation, and all the reviews, bookings, some photographs and narrative were diverted onto my listing. Consequently, I had no listing and all relevant data pertaining to my villa were now being used by the host to promote the other villa. I know it sounds confusing. On closure I received an invoice from the host showing glaring abnormalities in bookings for Oct/Nov/Dec. Pay raises for staff, calls for Xmas donations, and outlandish claims for expenses in my opinion were used to recuperate the money she had embezzled and reluctantly repaid. As an example I took a screenshot for the month of November which showed my villa occupied for the entire month except for the 28th/29th/30th. The invoice from the host showed it to be occupied for 8 days only. I queried this and was told there were a lot of cancellations due to volcanic ash in the region. I then asked for an Airbnb transaction history for that period to prove or disprove my suspicions.

No reply. Two emails later still no reply. Off to Airbnb requesting a Transaction History, stating my concerns and my case et al. Negative response, after 7 emails and communicating with different ‘consultants’ the final advised to approach the host to discuss the matter amicably. Do you think the host is going to give me any information which is likely to incriminate himself, no way. I think as THE property owner I am entitled to whatever records are available with Airbnb pertaining to my villa. One professional consultant I communicated with I quote, “Wow, this is too hot for me to handle I shall refer it to the appropriate section.” No further reply. This the stock answer I get from Airbnb: I understand that the answer our team is providing you is not one that you are looking for. Regrettably, following our privacy policy, we are unable to disclose any account information to a third party. I understand that you are not physically in the same location as your previous business partner but we strongly encourage you to contact them directly to reach a solution. Really helpful. Doh!

LA Apartment Renter Evicted for Hosting on AirBnB

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I EVICTED the host from her apartment in Los Angeles, even with rent control, after she refused to stop hosting on Airbnb. She now has an eviction on her record, which stays on her credit for years to come. Her lease states that no subletting is allowed. Although she was able to rent a new place and continue her business there before it hit her credit files, if she has to ever move she will have big issues. Why did I evict? Neither the renter nor AirBnB have the right to profit from my real estate assets, as they have no legal interest in it. It’s also a liability since I was aware of what is going on, and if a crime is committed against another tenant (as AirBnB does no criminal screening at all) by a guest I would be responsible. Lastly, the constant coming and going of the airbnb guests got many of the other residents very upset.

Airbnb blocked calendar – reservation glitch

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I have a guest attempting to book. Apparently she had paid the cost and completed the process on her end. But there is nothing for me to approve nor can I cancel it. The date is just blocked for no reason. Airb&b give me the run around by email without resolving the problem. I can’t seem to find a phone number to call them. It has been going on for a couple of weeks now. Airbnb is totally unhelpful in resolving what seems like a simple problem in their system. Anyone know of how to unblock a date or have Airbnb’s phone number?

Young people destroy high-end Airbnb Villa!

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Airbnb cancelled my account without informing and checking with me any information posted in Facebook from a group of young people who stayed in one of my villas for one week last summer.  They just believed a group of young people who destroyed a villa during their holidays in one of my villas.  They made rave parties during their stay of 7 nights, A/C units were broken, plants in the garden were destroyed, tiles of the terrasse around the pool were broken, bedrooms doors broken. They had at the villa more than 60 people every night. When they left the damages at the villa was nearly 2000.-€ and they paid for the rent only 1500.-€, plus 300.-€ breakage deposit. We took pictures of the damages after they left and sent them the invoice for the damages, but they never paid the invoice. It was so bad that we had to move the next guests coming into the villa the following week.

Threatening emails – Airbnb clientele declining

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I’ve been hosting on airbnb for about a year now. I’ve had mostly good experiences, but recently the clientele has been going downhill. My first bad experience was with an alleged social worker from San Diego – Rosie. She shattered a glass table top and never told me. We discovered it when the cleaners went in to clean after she departed. How do you shatter a table? And, why would you not tell anyone? Needless to say she has never responded to me or Airbnb and I am out the money to fix the table. My second strange experience was from a gentleman who wanted to pay “after” his stay in case he didn’t like the place. Really. And, my experience last night is making me question if I want to continue using this site. After declining a potential guest because they were too wishy washy and it didn’t feel like a good fit I received horrible messages. I’m guessing they did not realize that all correspondence between the two parties is kept by airbnb.