Terrorists Hosted by Airbnb Subletter in Israel

I am an owner of an apartment. Since I live in another country, somebody I knew – and I thought I could trust, as they rented my flat previously – suggested I rent my flat on Airbnb. I really didn’t want to do it as my flat was just renovated. However, she convinced me and I stupidly fell for it.

After a few months, I visited and had some issues with this girl whom I did not know. She was illegally renting several flats on Airbnb. On this visit she told me that she went to Israel where, before boarding a flight, she was arrested by the police. After a long search, it turned out that she was arrested as they found emails with a terrorist whom she hosted. I don’t know if this was in my flat or another.

I contacted Airbnb who did not want to give any information, who also don’t even have an office or email being an online/internet business, which is absolutely absurd. I had to turn to the authorities who did not help either. The girl refused to give me the contacts of the people who stayed in my flat. This very same girl also stole the money she got from rentals. Airbnb refused to give me the information of people who stayed in my flat and how much they paid. The girl stole the money.

Please do not use Airbnb. I didn’t use them even before the accident as I prefer authentic places. Airbnb is not that. Be careful. You never know when a terrorist visits and you put your life, the life of the people in the building in danger. Airbnb should be illegal.

Airbnb is a Pig in a Poke: Don’t Trust Them

I was a great fan of Airbnb for about two or three years until I faced an ugly situation. I had a bad experience with an apartment in Tel Aviv in the high season, August. It was so bad that when I provided photos to Airbnb, they refunded me 50% of the total cost. Later I understood why there were so many good reviews (good scores) for awful apartments. It is just the policy of Airbnb. They do not want to spoil their reputation and image by admitting they allow bad hosts to keep using the site. That’s why they do their best to hide negative reviews. After my experience, I left an honest review of the apartment and they hid it. The explanation was that the host provided them with some evidence that I accepted a bribe from him for a good review. I have provided our SMS exchange and WhatsApp messages, but they took his side. It was especially strange and disgusting taking into consideration that the guy lied about the apartment description; there were awful conditions and his ad was a fraud. They themselves forced him to pay me back 50%. I will never recommend using Airbnb as you are buying a pig in a poke.