I wrote to the host inquiring where my refund was and she never responded. I never stepped foot in her home and she pocketed my $1281.27. I am a single mother with four kids that are still dependent on me. The Airbnb help center was of no help — they do not hold their hosts accountable.

I would never recommend Airbnb to friends or family; it’s been a terrible experience. Unfortunately common courtesy and hospitality are not in this host’s nature.

The post Strong Arm Robbery, Never Stepped Foot in Airbnb appeared first on Airbnb Hell.

Under the new law there are a few exemptions, one being about bed ‘n breakfast and timeshares. Bonus, right? Well, what I thought would be easy became very stressful in nature. I contacted their wonderful support team, mentioning that I am tax exempt under the short-term rental law and asking them to please make all of my timeshare listings a zero exemption.

Thinking the elves in the Airbnb workshop would work some magic on my behalf, I waited patiently for a response. Airbnb sent an email stating every rental owner is required to sign up. The next morning I called the government to verify, that I am indeed, tax exempt. “Yes, you’re tax exempt and just a heads up – we had many meetings with Airbnb and they’re required to have a drop down menu for tax exemptions on the site.”

Great news. I called Airbnb back to see what the customer service elves could do. The next email I got from Airbnb stated this was a voluntary law and you will see below, the actual response from the Regulations Department at Airbnb.

I work on a specialized team here at Airbnb. Thanks for reaching out about our collection and remittance of local transient taxes in Massachusetts. I understand you would like your listing to be exempt from taxes during reservations on our platform, because it is a timeshare.

As you are aware, Airbnb entered into a voluntary collection agreement with the local tax collector. We will be filing one tax return per jurisdiction, with the total combined reservation revenue. This means that all hosts located in your area will be represented by one remitted amount, and we will not be providing your personal information on the return. Regrettably, hosts at this time are unable to opt-out of automatic tax collection (collection & remittance feature).

For more information, please review our Help Center article. Your local tax office can share more information about the Voluntary Collection Agreement with Airbnb and how this process may affect your tax reporting and/or collection. For example, some areas request that hosts fill out worksheets indicating the amount that has been paid on their behalf. If you have additional questions regarding policies in your area, we recommend reaching out to a local tax professional or your local tax authority.

In short, I will say, to this day, I continue to fight for myself and the others out there who are suffering from Airbnb Hell.

The post No Hell until you’ve Dealt with Airbnb Customer Service appeared first on Airbnb Hell.

Airbnb customer service initially appeared to prove helpful, checking to ascertain my case had been placed in the review process. The Airbnb review proved to be an authoritarian process with no appeals process. Airbnb cited exercising discretion under their Terms of Service to disable my account. The company cited having no obligation to provide action taken on my account.

I did want to refer to all of this in a December 2018 YouTube video detailing a dispute process available at that date. Apparently, Airbnb utilizes SafeDecision API, a product offered by Inflection Risk Solutions, LLC, a firm which provided information to make the determination to deactivate the videographer’s account. The address and contact information will follow this post.

This third party details any criminal background that may have been used in the deactivation. As in the case of the videographer, he had no criminal background and went through a process to reinstate his account (which proved successful). Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, anyone has the right to access such a report and have a 60-day timeline to file a dispute against whatever might be inaccurately be indicated on the report or to determine if the report used was in fact, you at all.

My feeling is Airbnb is no longer citing reasons for deactivation because of inaccuracies reflected in reports used to deactivate accounts. Complaints researched via the Internet indicate accounts deactivated for minor offenses, including traffic offenses. Also, in one case of a married couple, the husband’s account was deactivated and following his wife’s attempt to book under her account, her account was deactivated. In my opinion, this is a severe overreach case of collateral damage on the part of Airbnb.

I’m not even certain it’s legal, but who knows, as no reason is given for deactivation. I was not told of the reason for the account deactivation and since the airing of the above YouTube video, no reasons are provided to guests or hosts for deactivation by Airbnb; however, I plan to move through the above process to see what I can find out and register mail all results to Aisling Hassell (Trust and Security Airbnb) and Brian Chesky (CEO Airbnb). I’ll post updates.

Keep in mind Airbnb did not provide me with the Inflection Risk Solutions, LLC information. I credit (and thank) the YouTube videographer regarding the Account Deactivation video for making this information public. Inflection Risk Solutions, LLC was most kind in providing my background report on the same day as my email request for a copy of my report.

Two emails were received directly from the company: the first indicating a copy of the report had been emailed to me and second, the actual report. A link is provided asking for my name, email and date of birth before accessing the report.

While on the site, in addition to reading the results of the “background check Airbnb ran” on me, a dispute for investigation can be filed regarding incorrect information on the report as well as getting help on any additional question. My report was clear in the all areas: National Criminal Records Search, Sex Offender List Search and Global Watch List Search. If the report documented an area of dispute, an “Upload Documents” page allows documents to be made accessible to the Inflection SafeDecision API Support Team.

These documents typically include files that support dispute and special consent forms. For those who believe the information in the results is inaccurate, a link is provided to file a dispute. I would add that the Inflection email cover letter accompanying my report indicated “as part of your membership with Airbnb, you provided written instructions for Airbnb to run a background check on you to determine your eligibility to use its platform.”

I can only imagine my written instructions were included within the Terms updated by Airbnb. I also obtained online a copy of my free credit report via the annualcreditreport.com website jointly operated by the three major U.S. credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. You will have to provide the last 4 digits of your social security number, but not the entire number. This report reflected a good financial record.

With all this information, I contacted the case manager associated with the deactivation of my Airbnb account and attached the Inflection background check (I did not provide my credit report). As trust and security is not an issue, I requested my Airbnb account be reactivated. I also have a running message with customer service on the Airbnb Facebook page. I was able to attach the Inflection report to the message. At the very least, I know (and knew) the error was on Airbnb. Stay tuned.

The post Possible Resources for Use after Airbnb Account Deactivated appeared first on Airbnb Hell.

I was told by Airbnb reps (4-5) that there would be no “punishment for cancellations” if I called Airbnb customer service and they made the cancellation due to a guest that was not a fit for my cabin. These included smokers, pets, oversized groups, guests wanting events, guests wanting to film movies on the property, etc.

Has anyone also noticed a severe decrease in customer support (now called customer experience) on Airbnb since 2019? Do you get the “I am sick or leaving the office for two days and will call you back then” line over and over? Then they send a message a week or two later asking to close the case… with no efforts to help on the issue… or any kind of acknowledgement of the questions or exact issue you asked? Please let me know. I need to know it is not just me feeling more negative about Airbnb.

The post How Airbnb Punishes Hosts for Cancellations and Otherwise appeared first on Airbnb Hell.

I went to Boston this summer with my wife and daughter for college orientation. The main page on Airbnb showed a rental with air conditioning, and a great location for doing a little touristy stuff (that worked out great). We showed up on a 90-degree weekend, and there was no AC in the apartment. We double checked and his listing and welcome email still included AC. The microwave and coffeemaker didn’t work (I flipped every single circuit breaker, still no luck). There was no soap. No coffee filters. Tea but no way to heat it up. No convenience store nearby to address. Ubiquitous Dunkin’ Donuts across street closed during our stay. Minimal sleep due to heat.

We texted the host; there was no reply (ever). We requested a refund (no reply either). We involved Airbnb through the Resolution Center (RC), following all their rules (noting the difficulty of taking a photo of a missing amenity or proving online that an appliance doesn’t work). Below I share the detail of shenanigans Airbnb put me through (at least eight different agents), but on the subject of the host, I saw that he has 29 other properties – (now 32; I just checked). If you click the listing above, you hear all about his family and dreams, but doesn’t mention that he’s really a property management company (he does mention being out of the country for 3.5 months). I checked the ownership of the property through the city and found a different owner listed.

Airbnb never followed up with me. I initiated contact about 15 times, and every time I had to repeat what the complaint was. Why couldn’t they refer to the original complaint? They never did anything about getting the listing changed. I see another guest about the same time noted the lack of AC stating “It would have been terrible if it had been hot” when she was there. Anyway, I never received a response from the Resolution Center in six weeks.

We contacted the Help Center and got an email stating that they’d get back to me. We got an email that the Case Manager (CM) would be out for 2-3 days. We called after ten days. A new CM sent a “helpful” email telling me to go through the Resolution Center. I called back in, talked to an agent who confirmed they could see I was already in the RC system, and a CM would have to get back to me. Finally, I got to speak to a CM who said my ticket would be closed as I was in the RC system. I asked how I could contact RC since I’d never heard back, and the CM said “there isn’t a way – they’ll call you”.

I never heard from the RC, and after six weeks I went through the Help Center again. I had to go through the short version again (then the long version when they asked the same questions as the prior agent), including explaining the difficulty of “providing evidence” of something that doesn’t exist and/or doesn’t work.

Even though I pointed out the review confirming my complaint, the listing stayed the same, noting amenities that didn’t exist or didn’t work, and Airbnb basically sided with the host on what I was owed. Ripoff, and no accountability. No “I’m sorry” from any of the agents. I spoke with or messaged with at least eight different people at Airbnb. I’m not using them again. I’m in on any class action lawsuit.

Really this is a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issue, and people should be aware that this organization has also been weakened substantially since 2016. To favor ripoff businesses like this can screw over customers (apparently hosts and guests) and they get away with it because apparently it isn’t illegal to lie about a rental property that you don’t own. I am fortunate to have a congresswoman who listens and cares about this, but I doubt things will change.

I am truly sorry to people who have gotten royally screwed, as my story is really not that bad; I wasted $250 on a life lesson. Even though my 6-7 other experiences were fine to great, and every other host has exceeded expectations, I cannot do business with a company that doesn’t even pretend to be serious about egregious misconduct. I want no part of financially supporting a company that must screw over thousands of people worse than I was treated.

The post Resolution Center Terrible, Lying Host in Boston appeared first on Airbnb Hell.

The post Please Can I Get Some Help from Airbnb? appeared first on Airbnb Hell.

While Airbnb claims it has people in every major city of the world, they remain unreachable when you are locked out in the middle of the night in Paris. Whatever action you take, such as calling a locksmith, Airbnb will not cover the inconvenience, even when you rent one of those superstar flats. We had to call a locksmith who ultimately cut the lock open and charged us 1200 euros, and left us with an open door all night. When the host calls the help center (they only respond when it is a host), they promise to reimburse the guest, but then after one month of back and forth lingering, announce they are not covering the costs. Here is our 1200-euro story.

We arrived at the flat after a romantic dinner in Paris at about 12:30 in the middle of the night. When we inserted the key, it somehow got jammed in the lock. After trying incessantly to unlock the door, we finally called the host. There was no answer. The Airbnb help center? No answer. Our passports and belongings were in there, including our credit cards which are required to book a hotel. So we called a locksmith… on a public holiday. Finally we got hold of a locksmith that came over, and forced the key out. Now that the key was broken, the only option was to cut the lock with a mechanical saw. Once inside, the locksmith is quick to pimp the bill with holiday and nighttime labor fees which finally amounted to 1200 euros. The next morning we got a hold of the host who quickly contacted Airbnb (she is a Superhost and quickly gets their attention). Because she insisted, Airbnb called us and told us not to worry about the money; they would reimburse us. After one month of back and forth emails, always asking for the same clarifications, they finally announced that they closed the case, and that we should ask the host for reimbursement. Bottom line: Airbnb is like renting your friend’s flat, but without insurance. Just pray nothing bad happens.

The post Airbnb Promises to Pay us Back for Damages, but then… appeared first on Airbnb Hell.

This isn’t terrible, but I feel like a lot of people are probably getting ripped off right now without realizing it. I booked a place that was covered under the 100% refundable policy. This policy clearly states service fees are refundable up to 24 hours before your trip, and the Airbnb refund policy in general says service fees are refundable for guests up to three times a year. See the attached pictures, screenshots from the Airbnb website. When I cancelled and requested a refund, it was not automatically given. After drilling down through multiple levels of their help center clearly intended to prevent you from talking to anyone, I finally go to chat with someone. He told me it was against Airbnb’s policy to refund service fees, but he would do me a ‘favor’ this once because I had booked another place. I thanked him for the refund, but afterwards I pointed out that it said in two places that the fee was refundable. He said, “That’s right, our service fees are not refundable” along with some other wholesome crap about Airbnb being a community. At that point, I moved from classifying customer service representatives as humans to examples of a failed Turing test, and I just hope their developers look at this and at the very least clarify their policy.

The post Beware Airbnb Service Fees: Refunds are Impossible appeared first on Airbnb Hell.

The post Airbnb Hides Whenever There Are Problems – No Service At All! appeared first on Airbnb Hell.

The post Airbnb Customer Service: Are they “Experts”? appeared first on Airbnb Hell.