The host changed the location after we arrived from the Bay Area to Boston. I stood on a street corner with my son and a pile of bags for 15 minutes waiting for the host before checking my phone and finding a message to meet him one block away. The host walked us another block away from the nice brownstones to dilapidated student housing. It was 9:30 at night because our flight was late. There was a hole through the subfloor in the kitchen, holes in the walls, a filthy bathroom, disgusting sheets, and only one bed. We got out as fast as we could the next morning. The host started harassing me. Airbnb assured me I’d done everything I could, multiple times. After three weeks and five rounds with the resolution case manager, the best Airbnb could do was to refund half of the remaining five days plus fees and a lecture from the Customer Experience Manager about how I wasn’t compliant with “the Airbnb family”. Here’s more if you want pictures and details.
Tag Archives: airbnb host lied
Airbnb Nightmare with Lying Host in Virginia Beach
We rented a private room in an apartment in Virginia Beach for three nights for the weekend of July 4th. The apartment was listed as non-smoking, but in reality there was a strong, pungent cigarette odor that was pervasive; you could smell it in the sheets, the towels, and even stuck to my clothing. The apartment was also not very clean. There was a piece of toilet paper on the bedroom carpet. There was a ring of worn-in grime around the toilet bowl, dishes in the kitchen sink, and hair on the bathroom sink; our host did not even bother to clean the apartment before we arrived.
My boyfriend was allergic to cats and the host did not specify that a cat lived there. We filed a complaint with Airbnb. They reached out to the host, who claimed that he never smoked inside the apartment, that he cleaned it before he left, and that the grime around the toilet bowl was not actually dirt, but a stain leftover from a remodeling project. Basically the host just gave Airbnb outrageous lies.
We cut our stay short and stayed two nights instead of three. The host initially offered to refund us for two nights, but reneged and then offered to refund us for only one night. Airbnb offered to refund us one night to make up for the inconvenience. While the refund from Airbnb went through, we are still waiting for the refund from our host… who knows when that will ever arrive.
Airbnb is essentially only an advertising platform for people renting out their spaces. Their conflict resolution center has no power to compel hosts to issue refunds or resolve issues. There is no quality assurance and no inspections of properties. Airbnb’s policy states that if you contact them within 24 hours of check-in and report issues with a listing related to cleanliness and misrepresentation, they will refund you or find alternate accommodation. In this case, we followed the rules but they seemed to take the host’s side over ours and made every effort to give our host the benefit of the doubt, despite all the photographic evidence that we submitted.
The Dungeon of Horror at NYC Airbnb
This was my first and last time using Airbnb; it is a total scam. I picked a room from an ad on Airbnb in NYC. The price was very much comparable to that of a decent hotel (about 100 EUR per day) but I had heard the Airbnb experience was great. Since I was planning to stay seven days, it was about 700 EUR altogether.
I arrived at the place. It turned out a total dungeon owned by an old lady. The picture the ad showed was actually the kitchen/living room in which the lady had put her bed just beside the fridge and the cookers. The angle of the picture made it look like a cozy place to stay, but in reality it was below human standards. It also turned out the room I had rented was not the one in the picture (the actual living room) but some smelly dark hole in which I was not ready to stay for one moment.
I politely said to the woman that the place was not what I expected, and she said “no problem; we can cancel.”
I tried to cancel the booking through the app, but it turned out Airbnb would retain around 250 EUR. Then I called Airbnb to see how I could recover my 250 EUR. They said I should request a refund from the owner – that she only had to accept the request, and that would be it. I did what they asked, she claimed that she had returned them, and everything seemed okay. It should have appeared in my account after a couple of days.
I went to a hotel and after a couple of days, there was still no money back. I contacted the host; several times she confirmed she had accepted the request. A few days more… still no money. I called Airbnb, and they said the old lady hadn’t accepted the request after all, and that they could not do anything.
To sum up: an ad which was absolutely misleading, miserable conditions in which only a poor old woman can live in, an obvious scam where she claimed several times she had returned the money, and Airbnb washing its hands and taking its share of the scam despite of the whole conversation concerning the return of my money was clearly stated in their message system. Airbnb – a total scam. Save your money and your nerves. Stay away.
Dreamland Nightmare: No Amenities in Bali
Friends and I decided to go for a surf trip to Bali, Indonesia. We found a good looking place for a good price as we are students and don’t have a lot of money. On arrival in Bali we were told that the manager of the house would be waiting for us at the villa to open it. When we got to the villa there was someone different: not the host or the manager, some random person. He struggled with English and quickly left once we were in.
We soon realized that our beds had no bedding or linen. This was a bummer. We also realized that there were no towels so a shower after the long plane flight was a no go. The villa was dirty and falling apart. Shelves and cupboard doors were falling off their hinges. There was no kettle. The gas stove had no gas and to top it off, the wifi that was promised seemed nowhere to be found.
We contacted the host, and she was very responsive and apologetic. We asked for the linen, towels and wifi and she assured us it would be there tomorrow, as we arrived late in the night. We have been here for three days and nothing has changed. We have contacted the host countless times. Every time she reassures us that our needs will be met but we have yet to see anything happen from her part.
Halfway through our stay the manager arrived randomly one evening. He did not bring bedding or towels. He couldn’t speak a word of English so communicating with him was extremely difficult. His friend who accompanied him told us that they need to do renovations two days before we are supposed to check out. This was very weird and we were extremely confused. He then told us that he will move us to the house next door for the remainder of our stay.
This is ridiculous. It’s a complete joke. The host is extremely useless and is treating us terribly. Hopefully we can get a refund or something because no one should be treated this way. Thank god the waves are amazing because it’s the only thing keeping us happy.
Okinawa Rental for Eight Guests, Including Giant Cockroach
I rented an Airbnb house in Okinawa, Japan recently. The photo of the living room appeared very nice and clean with cozy wooden floors, walls, and nice furniture. When I entered the house, I noticed the floor and walls looked rather aged, but I wasn’t worried. The rent was very affordable for such a large space (seven to eight guests, according to my host). The bathroom floor had many strands of hair probably left behind by previous guests even though I was told the place was cleaned after every stay. Still, no worries.
When I tried to prepare some food, I noticed that the microwave and rice cooker weren’t working. Their power switches wouldn’t go on. I texted my host and he simply messaged back: “read the user’s manual.” I didn’t want to bother him so I tried in vain to get the appliances to work, to no avail. I finally texted him back about my suspicions that the power supply in that corner of the house was probably out, and he texted me back saying “check the breaker box which is probably near the main door or the bathroom door.” I searched thoroughly and found no such box. We ended up boiling some water and had instant noodles.
I realized there were not enough beds for seven to eight people, only for five. I ended up crashing on the living room sofa while my wife and two children shared a single bed. I turned off the lights and tried to sleep, but noticed something dark the size of my thumb scurrying across the floor in front of me. I turned the lights on and found myself facing a huge cockroach who was staring straight at me. I froze for several minutes and it scurried under my suitcase. I finally mustered the courage to lift the suitcase up and that’s when it literally flew into my face. I freaked out and fell on my back. Then I saw the beast hunkering in the corner. I picked up a slipper and whacked it as hard as I could repeatedly.
That wasn’t the end: my host instructed me to wash the towels before checking out and the washing machine didn’t work due to the electrical problem. I told him I couldn’t wash the towels and checked out on time. Since then, he has been pressuring me to write a good review so he can write a good review about me. It was my first Airbnb experience and I am never using Airbnb again.
Airbnb Takes Host’s Side in Flophouse Complaint
It’s been ten days since I discussed the complaints about my host with Airbnb’s resolution center, to no avail. She won’t understand my queries. She uses all her energy to agree with the host and dismiss me. All she understands about my complaints are the cleanliness and misrepresentation, and that’s okay with her.
On April 21st, 2017, we reserved the master bedroom of for an appartment in Hollywood. The listing claimed the following amenities were included:
– You get your own master bedroom with a private bathroom, closet, balcony
– Sleeps three (third person can choose to sleep on living room couch or an air mattress)
– Free wifi
– Central air conditioning and heating
– Hardwood floors (carpeted bedroom/walk-in closet)
– All brand new furniture and apartment
– Dishwasher, microwave, full size stove
– Laundry Facilities inside the unit (modern washer and dryer)
– Cleaned by professional maids
– Full kitchen
– Extra comfortable mattresses: 600 thread count sheets, high quality comforter sets
– Chic and modern design
– Stainless steel appliances
We demand a refund for the following reasons. Before reserving, we asked for more pictures, because only one was provided in the listing. A woman claiming to be the host said that she did not have any at the moment. When we saw the apartment, we understood why she would not provide pictures. We did have our own room with a private bathroom. It was very sparsely furnished with just a bed and a TV. There was No bedside table or lamp, no dresser, no chairs, and no sofa, contrary to what was shown in the picture. In addition:
• We had to ask for the air mattress, which was stored in a pile in the dirty living room. • It smelled like cheap perfume in the room, as if someone wanted to hide a bad smell.
• The bath, sink, and mirror were dirty.
• The only linens that were provided were five washcloths and a hand towel.
• The blinds did not work properly, missing many slats
• The balcony was cluttered with stuff belonging to other people (and the host responded that he wasn’t responsible for the comings and goings of the people in the apartment)
• The room could only be locked from the inside, so we could not lock it when we wanted to leave.
Furthermore, the front door was always unlocked. The host only gave us the key to the building, not to the apartment, claiming that there was always someone there. Therefore, both the front door and the door to our room were always unlocked, so we could easily have been robbed. When we confronted the host about these problems, he made up excuses and said he would get the air mattress (which he did) and extra linens (which he didn’t). When we explained our problems with the state of the apartment, he replied that we had only rented a room, disregarding the fact that we were supposed to have access to the kitchen, which was in a horrible state.
As for the rest of the appartment…
• There were four or five occupants in the living room and kitchen when we arrived (alone, because the host did not meet us). These were all temporary lodgers or Couchsurfers, judging by all the couches and air mattresses.
• The kitchen and fridge were dirty and smelled bad, just like the rest of the apartment.
• There was no coffee maker, and no glasses. We only managed to find two cups.
• When we woke up, six people were sleeping in that mess of a living room. We have traveled a lot (often using Airbnb), enough to know what to expect from a room costing 123 CAD (plus fees) in Hollywood. We did not expect the Ritz, but we will not accept paying that for a room in a dirty apartment that felt like a bad youth hostel.
We also had the following problems communicating with the host:
• He made me repeat a lot of information before we arrived, while I was in Venice. All that information was already in our Airbnb messages.
• I had to insist that he take our luggage on the morning of our arrival, as agreed, because he thought he might no longer be available.
• He arranged a meeting to pick up our luggage, not in front of the apartment, but across the street. It wasn’t the host who met us, but a lodger who had been woken up at the last minute, and was late.
• When we came back that night, we again had to meet across the street. He then gave us confusing information, and asked us to claim that we are family if anybody asked.
The host did try to be courteous, and said he did not want us to be dissatisfied. He even made a brief attempt at tidying up the kitchen, but that did not fix anything. We had to sleep there the first night, because we arrived at 7:45 PM (as he requested), which was too late to find any other accommodations at a reasonable price, though I searched for three hours. I did find something for the next two nights, but it cost more than my Airbnb booking. At such short notice, barely anything was available in Hollywood. For all these reasons, and generally for false advertising, we demand a complete refund.
On a final note, I don’t think this host even has the right to rent out his apartment, because he always refused to meet us in front of the building, never came in with us, and asked us to claim that we were family if asked. I have contacted his co-op board to find out. Thank you for your attention and your cooperation.
Accurate Listing of Property, Inaccurate Description of Host
My wife and I went to visit our son and daughter-in-law in Portland, OR and wanted to spend a month there with our small dog. First, I want to say that the house listing and description were spot-on accurate. The house was exactly as described, the host allowed pets, and the wireless and cable TV were provided as per her listing. The neighborhood was perfect, so what could go wrong, right?
We arrived after a two-day drive from Phoenix and Jeannie was there to greet us. We had rented the entire house, which Jeannie assured us in numerous texts and emails would be ours. She even provided gluten-free muffins for me, knowing I had an allergy. Unfortunately, the bottom floor was occupied by a friend of hers with an extremely aggressive dog that tried to attack my dog, and was not particularly friendly to my wife or me. Since the laundry was downstairs, this could prove to be a problem.
The basement apartment was accessible by a different entrance, but there was no lock on the door between that stairway and the kitchen. Our host told us we could install one if we wanted. Jeannie was also living in her garage at the time. My definition of “entire house” does not include sharing with two other people. I raised the issue with her, and she claimed she never promised us complete privacy. I showed her the emails, and she says I misread them. There was also some renovation scheduled so she could “legalize” the basement apartment. She did tell me an electrician was coming, but an electrician and renovation are two different stories.
My son met us at the house with his wife and spoke with our host as well. She basically propositioned him in front of his wife, explaining she was a teacher who lead a boring life. My wife was very uncomfortable, which Jeannie picked up on. She texted me and I suggested we meet face to face rather than text. When I went to meet with her, she was wearing a wide mesh top with nothing underneath. I am not comfortable speaking with a woman who is not my wife who is also basically topless. That was the end for me. I called Airbnb, who listened, and were merely sympathetic until I got to the topless conversation. That was over the line for them. They told me to pack and leave immediately, which we did.
They tried to find other listings and offered me three other options, which were all three times what I was paying now (so not affordable). We finished the week in a Residence Inn and drove home. I eventually got half my money refunded (a very expensive single-night stay) and the reservation was listed as cancelled so I couldn’t leave a review. I am amazed that Airbnb lets this listing remain up. You will see another complaint very similar to mine which remains on the site. At the time, my son was the executive chef at a popular restaurant in the Alberta Arts district. His sous chef, who is a 6’2″ tall transsexual with head to toe tattoos remarked to our son that even by Portland standards “that woman is bats$*t crazy!” Guess it wasn’t just us.
Airbnb Deletes Negative Reviews, Favors Hosts
This is an echo of the same stories other guests had. I just want a way to let Airbnb know as they don’t seem to hear. I had a great experiences with Airbnb hosts for a few years. I always left the place very tidy and clean. I respect these are the hosts’ homes and livelihoods perhaps. I think there are some really picky people out there who pay for three-star services and expecting five-star treatment. I believe in honesty. However, I suppose any comment would possibly be taken personally by a host as it is their own home or livelihood and Airbnb is a way to help pay for their mortgage. Usually I try to be gentle.
I had a two-week road trip in the UK recently from tip to tip. We had great experiences, and honestly we just wanted to have a clean place with our own bathroom and toilet, in a quiet location… a place that appears the same as we see in the pictures. We also needed a place to boil some drinking water. We didn’t expect to have breakfast or meals there.
The place we stayed at Cornwall was not the cheapest nor the most expensive: a double bed with no views for £60 a night with no breakfast. It was advertised as two minutes from a cliff with a great view. The reviews there since May 2016 (about one year’s worth) have been 100% positive and still are since our visit. There was a friendly host, great place, etc.
However, on the night we arrived, we found out that it was a shared bathroom/toilet situation and we didn’t know that this was something Airbnb hosts don’t have to disclose. Most hosts would based on our favourable experiences. The host mentioned part of their home was closed at night for their family’s own use, i.e. their best selling point – the balcony – overlooking the sea cliff was only available in the morning. We were fine with that. We are pretty much out most of the day anyway.
Here is what we disclosed from our experience on our review:
1. There was no toilet paper in the shared toilet on the night we arrived. It was all used up. We didn’t want to bother the hosts, so we waited until the morning to tell them.
2. No wifi password was provided on arrival and we forgot to ask when we first met. We texted them to leave us the password in our bedroom during dinner. They did but it was on a card with writing so blurry you could hardly read it. We took a picture with our iPhone, blew it up, and could finally make out what it was.
3. The second day we were there, the other guests left the bin in the shared toilet full. It is the only bin which we have access to at night. They must have left it there the whole day since check out is in the morning and we found the rubbish at night after we returned around midnight. We messaged the host in their own home on the second floor to ask where we should put the rubbish. Our intention was not to mess up anyone’s home. We would like to respect their privacy but not go into their closed kitchen and lounge area. We didn’t leave all these gory details; we just suggested they could provide a bin in each room so that guests could leave rubbish. The small bin in the toilet may not have been enough.
4. We didn’t feel that the nicest part of the house was available to us as they left the door closed in the morning and didn’t quite tell us on our arrival that it would be okay to walk right in anytime before certain hours. This is the point to which they objected and thus Airbnb removed my review
5. The area that we got to see the most often was the room which faced a wall of the garage. The bathroom could be heard clearly from our room. There was no mention of any of this in the listing of course; we commented on this.
6. The bathroom was shared and not mentioned on the listing.
Airbnb removed our review based on this last point as well. What we only mentioned privately was we were badly bitten by some sort of insects which we are pretty sure happened at their property; the redness and itchiness appeared at least 30 minutes after we had left. The host vehemently denied it of course. Now I know better after reading this website. Airbnb is much more concerned about insect attacks than any of the neglectfulness we experienced. What I feel is most unjust and sour about this Airbnb experience is the host said we should be in a hotel and not use airbnb at all.
Airbnb said I cannot mention the shared bathroom was not disclosed, since they want to hide that fact, obviously. The host said that my comment about the accessibility of the nice balcony was incorrect. It is a bit of he said-she said I suppose. However, if Airbnb had looked into my history, they would have seen I was never vindictive towards any host. The whole review was taken out and Airbnb tried to call me once to explain or discuss the situation. I feel that they really should have done better to help expose the truth here for their user experience which was what made them stand out in the first place.
On the other hand, I had then stayed with another host two days later where they had a lodger just below us banging the ceiling and shouting at us when we were just taking showers. We still rated them five stars because they were friendly and helpful; they didn’t know their lodger was doing this. We told them the next day. The place was otherwise fantastic. The price was reasonable. We didn’t leave any bad remarks. In addition, Airbnb protecting these Cornwall hosts bad mouthing us by leaving us a bad review ‘saying that we should have stayed at a hotel’ when they are just providing service worse than that of a hostel at a price I think 40% above a hostel rate is leaving me a sour taste. It is bad business for the hosts who are doing the right things as well.
Finding Nearby Parking Can Be Airbnb Nightmare
I had a terrible day and ended up spending extra 360 dollars staying in a hotel. My host gave me deceptive information. Right after I made the reservation, I double checked with the host to see if there was parking available near the apartment. He told me that guests park on the street, and it is safe to do so. However, after I drove all the way from Rochester, NY to this place, the streets were all packed, and there was no way I could find a parking spot. I called the host several times and messaged him as well. He didn’t reply until I contacted Airbnb and they made several attempts to reach him. This time, he told me that in his message yesterday he meant guests usually park on the street; it was my business to find a parking spot, and I needed to drive around. I’ve spoken with different customer specialists for more than an hour on the phone while sitting in the car. I was told nothing about if I will be fully refunded. Nor did anyone book an alternative place for me to stay.
Horrible Host in Dallas Doesn’t Even Know his Place is Clean
Stay away from this host and his place. I wrote a review after leaving an Airbnb that said that the place was not clean. There were bugs in the bathroom, the towels weren’t clean, and the silverware and sink were also not clean. However, I also added that everything else was accurate. That was all that was said in the review I wrote. Days after I wrote the review the host decided to contact me at night saying that my review was crap and I was not welcome in his place anymore. I was shocked that this person even reached out to me since I hadn’t even stayed at his place for almost a week. Of course I replied to defend myself and make him understand why I wrote the review the way I did which was I had the intention of being honest. After I replied he went on to say that I was too high maintenance and fancy for his place and that’s why I wrote what I wrote; I just needed to go to a hotel.
I was so offended. I replied and told him not to contact me again going forward. Nevertheless, he decided to tell me in a calmer tone that he would give me a refund for my troubles. I went on to be calm since he decided to be more respectful towards me and replied to him. However, when he said that he wanted me to edit the review to make it not be seen I was like… why?
Of course I wanted to test to see if he was trying to give me a refund because it was the right thing to do since I had to deal with the whole experience. When I told him that I couldn’t change the review he said that he couldn’t give me the refund. The funny thing is he tried to twist things on me, saying that I was trying to make him pay me to get the review changed. When it was obvious that he wouldn’t give me the refund unless I went to call Airbnb to go get the review changed, who is really trying to get the review taken off for money? After he said he couldn’t refund 50% of the money at least twice in the conversation prior to me telling him I couldn’t edit it. Airbnb has a 48-hour timeframe to edit a review, so then he said he wouldn’t give me a refund.
After that I told him that I will be publicly letting everyone know the type of host he is and I would reach out to Airbnb. He then wanted to use what I had said before and say: “You are unwelcome to contact me. Do not contact me.”
I didn’t reply after I sent my last message. This dude was so rude and so immature to be reaching out to over a freaking honest review about his place. Let me tell you: he made me take pictures of his place when I got there so that he could see if it was clean from the prior guest… what kind of host does that? He doesn’t even clean his own place and doesn’t even make sure it looks good for the next guest? He makes people do the work in making sure everything is clean… which is fine since he did state it in his handbook, but taking pictures of the place to make sure everything looks good? It should already look good when guest arrive if you’re a good host.
This was such a horrible experience for me and it made me so upset and annoyed to be dealing with something so unnecessary. For future reference, avoid places that make you clean everything for them. It probably means that they don’t care about the quality of your stay. Lesson learned.