Sorry we had to break up like this Airbnb…

I was just reading the sad reviews from the property owners. Can I tell you that the same thing happens to renters? I will spare you the details (trust me, you don’t want to hear them), but suffice it to say we had 13 excellent stays on Airbnb before we met the first property owner extortion machine.

We’ve always been model guests, and have always cleaned the premises before leaving – to the point my girlfriend makes fun of me about it. It turns out that in cleaning the kitchen, we “scratched” the stainless steel backsplash. The host demanded (not making this up) $900 for a full replacement of an item that was likely made out of too soft an alloy for the purpose. Go figure.

In true Airbnb fashion, they charged my credit card against my wishes ($500). Let me tell you – I had called my bank a few days before to block Airbnb from doing this because they are notorious for charging renters without consent. My bank (Chase) screwed up and did not block the charges as promised.

Take my advice: if you anticipate a dispute with Airbnb and you don’t want to go chasing your own money, cancel your card after your stay. We will not be returning to Airbnb as we do not feel like we were treated fairly on this one. Sad, because we had such a good run for a while.

Did I mention the undisclosed spy camera at the last place we rented? Apparently Airbnb doesn’t really care about that. If you take your chances, good luck.

Posted in Airbnb Guest Stories and tagged , , , , , .

3 Comments

  1. So how did you discover a spy camera? It wasn’t much a spy camera if you found it.

    If there is damage, the host must submit pictures and documentation and request a charge against the security deposit. If the guest does not acknowledge responsibility for the damage, the guest doesn’t pay and the host doesn’t get paid. Occasionally Airbnb will pay part of the cost to the host that was declined by the guest. Host stories are plentiful about feeling stuck because the guest nor airbnb will cover damages.

    I’m reading this as: Host submitted a damage claim. You declined it. Then you posted a livelier version here to justify not taking responsibility for your actions.

  2. Sorry Dingus. You don’t get to just destroy the host’s valuable property, not pay for it then “cancel your card”.

    There was no spy camera and you know it. You are just posturing because you’re butthurt you got charged for what you damaged. Bye!

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