Incompetent Search Engine for Five Guests

Posted on January 29, 2020

I decided to take a trip back to my hometown and unfortunately my family had an emergency and could not accommodate the five of us. The day before our departure I used different search engine for accommodation and a friend recommended I use Airbnb.

My criteria was four nights for five guests. Airbnb returned with a quote of R1900 and showed pictures of the rooms indicating one for two people and other one for three. We left early in the morning and were basically on the road the whole time. I was driving.

When we finally arrived at the destination, first they were looking for my booking and then the manager had to come assist. I, in the meantime, went through my emails to show them the reservation when I saw that at only 18:00 in the evening the guesthouse had sent me an email at 14:30 to say that we must book additional two rooms to accommodate us.

The purpose of using a site like Airbnb is to find the cheapest accommodation and/or a place with proper and suitable accommodation but it still remained my decision. The pictures of accommodation looked good because I showed it to two of my companions to get their approval before booking and they agreed it looked acceptable.

At the end of the day, we did not take the room and luckily my friend could accommodate us for the night. I had to find accommodations for the following three nights. I paid much more but at the end of the day I had quality for my money.

The guesthouse manager or owner said he would also find out from Airbnb about what went wrong but I think it did not really matter to him; I already paid Airbnb for accommodation, thus he will get his money irrespective if we used the place. Now I am trying to recover my money from Airbnb.

Airbnb’s Failure at Preventing Fraud Ruined Birthday

Posted on October 7, 2017

I bought Jay Z tickets for Arizona for my birthday weekend. I bought concert tickets, as well as ones for the Grand Canyon, food, etc. All that was left to pay for was my room and board and airline tickets. I found a nice place on Airbnb, and then booked it. I then called the host to ask a question about the stay. The host gasped in horror, saying that he did not have that property, and went to the lengths of sending me the actual cancellation request.

I immediately contacted Airbnb. I asked for a manger but had to settle for some idiot. He told me that he would give me a credit to use, so that my card wont be charged again, along with 10% off. He said that I would receive it that day. I received it the next morning, along with several charges of $186.00 x 4. $744.00 out of my account, all from Airbnb.

I called in horror; I couldn’t buy plane tickets, pay rent or use that cash, as it was charged by mistake by this fraud company. I called hysterically crying for them to apologize. I demanded a manager all to have a dumb ass call me back, apologizing yet again. He then asked what would make everything better. Can you believe I had to suggest to Airbnb how to appease their mistake? I said they should pay for my stay. He said he would send me a credit for the stay.

That same night I went home to use this credit, only to be told I could not use it for bookings, just like restaurants, etc. Guess what? By then the airline tickets had almost doubled, and I could not afford the trip. I still haven’t received the refund yet, and this Monday is Columbus Day, which means banks are closed. I am out of money and time; I cannot make the trip or pay my rent.

My bank had to issue a new bank card (time and money they cannot replace). I had to cancel my trip; as you know, prices for flights are less the further in advance you book… Airbnb cost me a whole week. I asked for a manager, but they only have dumb asses who lie about their names. The manager I dealt with should be fired. I am doing to do my best to find illegal Airbnb listings in New York and contact their landlords to help get my money back.

Quick Cancellation, Dirty Room, but Good Customer Service

Posted on April 11, 2017

I was an avid Airbnb guest. The hosts I met were awesome: clean places that appeared as they were listed. However, my last dealing with Airbnb made it my last with them period. The first Airbnb I booked cancelled because they were out of town and did not respond to my request until four hours after the check in time. The host apologised and actually refunded the full costs of the rental with no problem. He admitted it was his fault because he himself was traveling and had failed to respond – remember this, because it comes back to bite me.

I started searching for another place. This is where I should have taken my money and paid for a hotel. I lucked out and found a place, but it was in an area I never stayed before. Given that I was new to this area, I should have researched the area before booking. The host contacted me after I clicked “book it now”. He called and stated that he just got confirmation that I booked his place. I asked him if it was a problem, to which he said it was not. Since it was getting close to 8:00 PM I just wanted to get into a place to unpack and relax… I was in for a real treat.

I received the addressed and entered it into my GPS. I told him it would be about 15 minutes before I arrived and he said that would be fine. After what should have taken 15 minutes took about 45 minutes I arrived. The area I pulled into was super sketchy. When I found the place, I tried to park but couldn’t find a place at all. The host failed to mention only street parking was available and you have to park in the direction of traffic flow or you will be towed. After making a round or two around the neighbourhood (and I use that word lightly) I parked my car. As soon as I parked my car, the neighbor next door started to whistle at me and make uncomfortable remarks to me. However, at this point I was so tired and ticked off I could have taken out a 600-lb man without thinking twice.

I was greeted by the host who proceeded to let me in and show me the place. I was totally confused. The posting stated I rented a house to myself. What I got was a room to myself, sharing a bathroom with two other people. I don’t have a problem with that ordinarily, but for the price I was paying, I was expecting the place to be in a better area and more of what the listing had mentioned.

Anyway, the host was using the area that was to be mine. He was in the process of making a model for which the glue fumes were so bad we had the windows open to air the place out for four hours. Did I mention it was winter at this time and 40 degrees outside? While he was picking up his project I went into the bathroom only to be grossed out. The bathroom had not been cleaned. Mind you, the host and his girlfriend use this bathroom too and neither cleaned it. I sucked it up because I needed a place to stay and it was now close to 10:00 PM. I just wanted to shower and wait for my boyfriend to get me for dinner. I got some cleaner and cleaned the bathroom like it had never been cleaned. Apparently it really had never been cleaned because the host remarked “I never knew the floor was that colour white!”

I finished cleaning and he finished picking up his project. I took some clothes out of my bag and sent a text to my boyfriend telling him where to pick me up for dinner. I showered, put my clothes on, and went into my room where a wall of icy wind met me because the windows were open. I closed the windows, turned on the space heater that the host left me, and waited for my boyfriend to get me. When he came he was super worried and asked why I booked a place in this area; that’s when I told him what happened. While we were having dinner, my boyfriend tried to get me a hotel but everything was super expensive (before anyone questions it, this is before we moved in together and he was renting a room with three other people – I couldn’t stay with him).

After dinner my boyfriend dropped me off and asked that I deadbolt the door. I did and went to sleep… or tried to at least. The bathroom was right next to my room and the walls are not that thick, nor is the door since it has a glass inset; I could hear almost everything happening on the other side of the house. The bed I slept on was a Murphy bed about as old as the house (from the 1800s) – every time you moved, it would make a noise. Eventually I decided to sleep on the couch.

The next day I looked at my account to make sure I had some spending money, and guess what? That refund I was suppose to get? Well, I didn’t get it. In fact, I was charged three times for the same amount. I called Airbnb and stayed on the line for 45 minutes. I spoke to a guy that actually helped me and did exactly what he said he would do. When I questioned him as to why I was charged so many times? His answer was: “we have never had this happen before.” He apologised again and issued a refund, which unfortunately would not go through until Monday because it was Saturday. Amazingly enough, I got the refund that was promised on Monday. As for the weekend stay with the misleading post, well I cleaned that place up and left it cleaner than when I arrived. After that ordeal, I won’t be using Airbnb again.