Tag Archives: airbnb host lies

Unusually Warm Airbnb Stay with Frenemy

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I stayed in Temecula to train my dog as my service dog. My host knew I had a medical condition. She came across as pleasant and friendly. I left her some private feedback as I didn’t want to affect her business. She took it very personally and left me a bad review. This happened after staying three separate times at her home, being invited into her pool, and using her goggles! Service with a smile, right?

After the final review she left me I don’t know if anyone will let me book with them. And I had given her all stellar public reviews. Now I’m going to give the true review to let others beware staying with her. There was no toilet paper in the designated bathroom when I arrived. I had texted her about this and didn’t get a response as she was at work. I had to search through a strangers home while I desperately needed to go poo! Imagine after driving three hours in a heat wave!

There was also no use of the air conditioner except during the party she had on my next stay; she let the air stay on for that! The host does not use an air conditioner and the full house fan system is not enough to stay cool. Temecula is a desert community. It’s regularly in the high 80s or 90s and during my first stay there was a heat wave, with the temperature around 110 to 115. Private feedback was given. The host did not provide obvious hand towels in a restroom shared with others. Again, I gave her private feedback. The screen to the bedroom window was broken at the bottom. She’s in horse country and a lot of horse flies were coming in. She did fix this by my 2nd visit. The privacy curtains block air flow and without curtains there is no privacy.

This room never cools down. I brought a temperature gauge on my second visit to make sure I wasn’t going crazy and it stayed 76 to 84 degrees in the room. There is no breeze at night. Even though the temperature can get down to 60s late at night the room never gets a chance to cool down, even with a room fan. Again, I communicated this information privately on my first review. Wanting to get along and realizing I’m going to be staying in a person’s home which is different than a hotel on the rest of the stays, I didn’t give my host any more private feedback and tried to stay on the positive side of things as there were very positive things.

I mean was I not supposed to tell her that flies were coming in…? That I didn’t know what towels to use because her brother and son were sharing the bathroom..? She also put towels in the room in a nice basket, well I guess these were only for decoration as when I opened them naked and wet in the bathroom they were off white and I saw light yellow and brown stains. Yuck! I had to put my clothes on when I was wet and get towels in the hallway. There were new looking towels hanging in the bathroom for her son and brother, but the Airbnb guest towels were really worn and a bit hard on the skin. I left private feedback that this was noticeable as a guest and the towels she left confused me as I guess they were for decoration only.

I don’t know because she never got back to me about that. I brought my own towels and toilet paper for my second and third stay, as well as a cool water bottle and baby wipes. I’d never put towels in a guest’s room and not expect them to be used. I don’t know… maybe that’s just me? I told her about all these things so she could be a better host. I mean if I had flies coming in and my guests were sweating it out… I mean I didn’t sign up for a sauna experience! As retaliation, this host said I didn’t clean up after my dishes in the kitchen. Well this is true as her brother came home during my first visit and offered to do them. I guess I was supposed to decline….? I can’t believe this was used against me and gave one side to make me look bad.

She claimed I didn’t clean up after my dog. It’s actually a big pet peeve of mine for people not to clean up. I cleaned up every time. I think maybe she wanted me to use a hose too. She could have let me know at any time during my three almost consecutive visits. She did stress energy and water conservation. I’m pretty sure she would have put it negatively in my review in either case. Knowing how she left me an unfair and slanted public review with no communication about these issues I would really not trust this host in my opinion. As a matter of fact, during my second stay she said I could leave the dishes undone, but my boyfriend did them. Talk about a two-faced, lying… well, you fill in the blanks. She also invited us to her pool to swim with the family on my last visit. I thought this was a nice gesture, but say it with me again: “Two-faced blankety blank told me everything was fine and left me a terrible review.”

Airbnb host lies about accommodations, guests denied refund

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Here is my complaint to BBB Business Review and my story: I used Airbnb to book an apartment for a four night stay for a family vacation. The rental was advertised as accommodation for 8 people with 3 bedrooms, it tuned out to have 3 single beds in 3 bedrooms to accommodate 3 people maximum. One of the beds was small child’s bed, smaller and shorter than regular twin bed. We never checked in as when we saw the apartment, it was clear we will never fit in, never got the keys or brought the luggage. The person that showed the apartment to us agreed that we can not stay there unless we sleep on the floor. The Owner has apologized, called around to see if he can get some extra mattresses and after he didn’t succeed, he offered the full refund if we cancel. We had to book the hotel for just 1 night while sending requests for other apartments through Airbnb. We cancelled the original reservation through the website, but refund was declined. We spent 3 days talking to Airbnb representatives that refuse to give refund saying that the number of beds is correct we have no right to refund based on number of sleeping accommodations. All hotels are fully booked in Barcelona in August, Airbnb didn’t refund $1000 and we needed a place to stay, we had no choice, but to try settle for this apartment even we would sleep on the floor. But the owner has already re-booked it. So we paid for it with NO refund and NO accommodation available that we were charged for. We never checked in or got the key. So we ended up with no money or apartment while the Airbnb and the owner got paid twice as they rebooked our dates. I would like a full refund. The apartment was newly listed and had only 1 review, so I couldn’t see if other visitors had found the accommodation capacity to be as misstated as I did. I contacted the host using the phone number on my reservation to ask about the refund or possible stay if there is no refund, but received no reply to my calls or texts for 2 days. Eventually he wrote to me that the matter of refund is out of his hands and up to Airbnb and the he re-rented the apartment to another guests for the days we booked it originally. So the “host” got paid twice and my family and I were left without the money $1000 and without the place to stay. I began the complaint process with Airbnb immediately on the fist day and I was told to cancel the reservation formally through the website. Ultimately Airbnb didn’t issue a refund, but instead offered a coupon for future stay in an amount less than one fourth of what I paid Airbnb for the rental. They denial of refund was based on the fact that the number of beds matter, not the number of guests advertised. Also, it was noted that I should have taken pictures of the issues I raised in my complaint. I was in the apartment only 15 minutes, never been given the key, the owner agreed to refund and I didn’t think to stop and snap some pictures. Is my testimony and the testimony of my family not enough? Why would I lie about this? Would pictures of three tiny beds really add anything to the complaint? And now because I was advised by the Airbnb customer service associate to cancel the reservation, I am unable to post an honest review of the space and warn future potential guests to stay away from this rental. To me this is the most egregious trespass ** all since the whole foundation of the Airbnb model and the so-called “sharing economy” is the customer review system.