Tag Archives: airbnb nightmare

Hell’s Kitchen, Airbnb Nightmare Apartment in NYC

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I just got back from four days in NYC. I rented an Airbnb from two guys who had an apartment in Hell’s Kitchen (okay, should have given me a clue). Upon arrival everything seemed okay; there were no dirty dishes in the sink, and the toilet looked clean enough. THe tub was stained, but acceptable (not taking any bubble baths in it anyway, so sufficient for showering).

However, upon closer inspection, I came to discover that the whole place was filthy. Dirty dishes were left in dishwasher (no dishwasher fluid to clean them with either). The couch was stained, and there were stained, dirty duvets and sheets. Sheets were crumpled and did not appear to even be clean. Baseball-size balls of hair and dust were around the entire apartment, especially on the baseboards and beds. There was a repulsive oven (it set off smoke alarm when we tried to use it) complete with an old hard, burned French fry, and a dirty refrigerator.

The list went on and on. We stayed in a tent in the Sahara Desert once that was cleaner than this place. I immediately texted the owner (he didn’t respond to us, so called another guy in charge) that a cleaning crew needed to be called. Of course, we were assured that one would be there first thing in the morning. We used the towels – that did seem clean – to cover the pillows and ourselves so we could sleep. Suffice it to say that the “cleaning crew is coming” lie was told to us for three days.

The final night the guy texted us at 9:38 PM wanting to send a cleaning crew. In retrospect we should have said yes, as my guess is he was bluffing then too, but trying to cover his #$%. By that time we had bought new sheets after hiking over two miles to BBB and back. Finding this was no easy task in NYC. Quite pricey too, as there’s no Walmart in NYC.

When I got my invitation to post my review, I was loaded. Like I said in my review, I’ve seen animal cages that were cleaner than this apartment. Every night when we returned to the apartment because we’d left for the day – so this magical cleaning crew could appear while we were gone sightseeing for the day, as we had been told over and over by the host – only brought more disappointment, frustration and a string of phone calls to the host and Airbnb. We came to believe that the elusive “cleaning crew” must have lived in the land of the unicorns and lost their metro passes because they never came.

I just got a review from the host. I use that term loosely, as it implies that these guys did something to treat us as guests. He slammed us (me) with a vicious lie saying that we put our used linens and towels in the bathtub (no exit instructions so we called Airbnb and told them what we were going to do; they okayed it. What do you do with dirty linens and towels anyway? This is what we do at a hotel) and urinated on them. What kind of sicko mind can even come up with a defense that gross? Of course you can’t photograph this and he knew that we were staying with a child – pretty low buddy, blame the kid. Little does he know that this child is not a “child,” but a mini-adult who definitely does not wet the bed if that was his implication.

Anyway, I was pretty much pleased with Airbnb for giving us a full refund and eventually resolving our complaint, but it did take five different reps and a lot of phone calls. I also had a lot of pictures (that I really don’t want to post in case I need them for further action) and evidence to present. Even though I probably won’t use Airbnb again, I can say that I’m overall satisfied with Airbnb. It still makes me mad that these guys are out there, ruining other people’s vacations.

Even after this review, they can just list under other names and open new accounts? And the reviews? These guys were Superhosts with 21 positive reviews. It’s not like I didn’t do my due diligence. Buyer beware. All I can say is the next time I’m in New Orleans I’m buying two voodoo dolls.

Airbnb Not What it Seems, Felt Unsafe for Kids and Dog

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I contacted Airbnb customer service, by phone, after leaving a property in British Columbia. I felt unsafe (would be staying there with my daughters ages 7 and 11) and because the place was not as presented (e.g. the air conditioning turned out to be an air sucking machine in the window, held together by styrofoam and the “wifi” tuned out to be “if I can create a hotspot”).

The host had a huge Doberman that was very angry because our small mini golden doodle was in its space. The stairs to the “3rd floor flat” were rickety, to say the least and the air unbreathable. Also of concern was that there was no way to shut a door and restrict anyone’s access to a place we’d be virtual prisoners.

One of the reasons we booked the listing was that it had a pool (under the amenities). The host and the men downstairs were all very unkempt as was the home outside and somewhat inside. This was even more disconcerting because the home was so remote, surrounded by fields and woods, and well off the main road.

I expressed to the host that I needed to leave, that I did not feel well (asthma and then anxiety based on that because of the oppressive air and the “vibe”) yet she continued to try and get us to stay. The representative from Airbnb customer service seemed very nice and understanding, but did not get back to us; we were left adrift, even after calling back asking for help in securing accommodations for the night.

What was extremely disconcerting was that the host began messaging me, telling me to come back, saying her dogs wanted to play with the girls, that the room was now cool, even after I told her we had gone hours away from her, and to please refund my money. However, she has not done so; I see it in my pending charges, online for Mastercard.

Please help me with this. We were not there more than ten minutes and used no part of the place. I am holding off on my public review but see this particular location is plagued with bad reviews (that have since been deleted, and she’s halved the price), many expressing my own sentiments. How is this place still on Airbnb? My check in was to be 5:00 PM on August 11th. I’m waiting for Airbnb to step up and help, but despite many attempts, there has been no contact yet.

Staying in this Airbnb was like a Mental Institution

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At first glance, this Airbnb seemed really nice and friendly. Then we went to stay at it, actually looked at the house, and realized it’s a mental institution. To book the room my boyfriend had to give references; while the host called them, she blocked my boyfriend from seeing her page and gave him a full refund for the stay.

She called his boss and everything checked out… maybe because we’re normal people. So why did she do this? Because he had a review of five stars, but said we were a little loud the first night, so she said that his review wasn’t stellar. First off, this lady was completely rude and unwelcoming to my boyfriend and me when we first got there. She told my boyfriend that we could come to the house earlier than the check in so we could park our car there. We had a concert to go to; my boyfriend paid for us to go to Tumble Down festival that weekend.

Anyhow, we parked our car, checked out the backyard super quick and then boom, this lady appeared… when she told my boyfriend she’d be working all day. Anyways, she left us real fast saying she had a children’s play to go to. He and I went to walk around Nurlington to wait for our friends who were showing up before we entered the festival. We went and bought these special limited edition #plumpciders that Twiddle created with another brewery, got something to eat, and went back to the house to drop the ciders off in my car so we didn’t have to walk around with them (plus the festival wouldn’t let us in with those).

This is where we met the host again… did she just drive around the block and wait for us to leave to come back to the house? Anyways, super unwelcoming again. We bought her cupcakes from a bakery in Massachusetts, she did not take them from me so I awkwardly put them on a table. She then asked us if we knew she lived there full time… we didn’t because it wasn’t in the ad that she was so crazy about us reading (my boyfriend and I both read it multiple times).

She then ridiculed us because we had asked her two questions: whether she had a fridge (wasn’t in the pictures and also wasn’t listed in the ad at the time under appliances when everything else was) and whether she had AC (wasn’t listed in the ad and she didn’t after all). After this terribly uncomfortable conversation we left and went to the festival. Our friends were there (who did walk into the house and scared the host, although we did say to call us when we got there; it was a little miscommunication).

The festival was no entry so we had to fight to get our tickets back, which we did because the box office people were very nice. We left the festival and went to the brewery right across the street to read a message from the host saying this might not be the right fit for her (meaning to stay at her house). Now, fearful we might not have a place to stay we messaged back apologizing for the miscommunications. We grabbed our friends and met up with her at the house for check in at 7:30. I knocked on the door; this scared her and she said she needed three more minutes.

Thirty minutes later she came out with wine and glasses for us to “hang out” and give us a tour of the house… when she knew we had a concert to go to. This all took about an hour if not more, extremely rude. Now the house was odd but cute at first. It was nothing like the pictures because she rearranged everything to block off certain rooms and half of a room. Whatever, we could deal with that.

That night we didn’t get to go to the concert due to rain by the time we got down there (money wasted), so we went back to the house, cracked open a beer and begin to hang out. I picked up a magnet from her fridge. The first one I touched said “paranoid”. Now, I know I may have overreacted at first, but this magnet came after I was looking at her fridge reading her lists that look like an anxiety attack; all to our own I suppose, but it freaked me out.

I went into the cabinet to grab a glass and there were also notes. Which I have pictures of, they are crazy: “fascination w/ gone (my fam) LYING…” (this one was super weird because she showed us a picture of her dead grandmother that she painted on her wall. In the picture it said something like ‘granny looking GOOD’), “unscrambled egg, sock”, “path our of adversity, after patio”, “DOUBT!!!!!”, “Not allowed to be….”, and more. However, those are the only pictures I have to show.

Then we found multiple books that were all pretty dark: “Masters of Deception”; “Something Wicked This Way Comes”, just two of the many to paint a nice picture. Now we move to the paintings. I mentioned the dead grandma one; let’s go to the upstairs one. On the ceiling wall was a beautiful one of a cat and a woman. On the one across from the bed we saw the word ‘worry” inside it. The painting was set up with 2-3 weird red gooey looking dripping blotches (maybe to resemble blood). The rest of the walls were painted white, but painted white to cover up some other paintings.

Let’s move to the best painting of them all, the downstairs living room painting. This one should be framed in the welcome lobby of that hotel from “American Horror Story – Hotel”. It would fit very well there. This painting looked very normal, but when you’re up at 12:30 AM, your friends have gone to sleep, and you’re a little buzzed from the beer you had, you begin to just stare at things, and I looked at this one. What words did I find? “Bleed out”, “boogeyman”, “dare”, “how”, “are”, “the”. They were strategically placed. It makes one think what sentences are in this painting.

Anyway, I was not feeling comfortable at all. How could anyone after the meeting with her, all these discoveries, and now an eerie feeling of just dark and extreme sadness in this hellhole? My stomach was killing me and my boyfriend’s chest was hurting. After trying to fall asleep, my body wouldn’t let me. Research how your body reacts in dangerous or uncomfortable places; it’s an instinctive reaction.

My boyfriend and I drove to the nearest Walmart parking where we found comfort; my stomach stopped hurting, as did his chest. We still could not sleep though. We waited until 4:00 AM came and drove to the Courtyard Marriott. The man working that night heard our story, saw how disheveled we looked, felt bad and booked us the last room they had because there was a cancellation.

He tried to give us the discounts he could, including the AAA one. He said check in would be at 1:00 PM. I couldn’t make it until then with no sleep and I couldn’t sleep in that damn house, so he said to call at 7:00 AM, ask for a certain lady and tell them that a room was blocked off for us by him. We drove back to the house and waited in the car until the sun rose, went inside and then at 7:00 AM we called and found that we were able to check in at 10:00 AM.

Our friends woke up at 7:30 AM and we went about our day… with no sleep. Well, our friends fell asleep upstairs without knowing about our adventure, until we showed them everything. My boyfriend and I went to the hotel room that day, slept for an hour or so, showered, met up with our friends and went to lunch. We told them they could stay with us that night; we had a two bedroom that was comfier and felt a lot safer.

That night we went to the concert, and went back to the house. Have you ever walked in somewhere and your heart started beating fast? Maybe I was a little anxious; I’m not a doctor so I don’t know what it was. We grabbed all of our things and went to the hotel room. We left that morning. You think that would be the end of the story, right?

The host texted my boyfriend asking if we had made the beds because they were so nicely made. He didn’t answer because he wanted no further contact about it. She continually texted him over and over asking about these beds… I just wanted her to wash the sheets and leave us alone.

The weekend to stay there cost us about 450ish dollars plus the $220 to stay at the hotel. Rightly so, my boyfriend wanted a refund for the second day because we didn’t stay at the house because if we wanted to have an experience like the movie 13 Ghosts we probably would have camped at Dudley Town… I guess we weren’t feeling it that weekend.

Airbnb refused our refund because we didn’t have proof that we didn’t stay. I called the hotel and the front desk lady emailed the receipt to me that we did stay there; however, my boyfriend didn’t want to peruse this anymore. You’d understand if you tried calling Airbnb; they’re awful with customer service. Check out Airbnb Hell if you’d like. They have plenty of stories on that website.

Anyhow, this begs the question, “why are you posting this then?” This lunatic decided to wait until the last day you can make a review to give us a horrible review on Airbnb, which other employees can see and help to make their decisions as to if we could stay at their house. This was very dirty on the host’s part. My boyfriend and I had decided we wouldn’t blow her spot up on the Internet, then this happened and well… we’re angry.

There you have it. I know I did a horrible job painting this picture of how uncomfortable this house was, and maybe some of you think that we were being overdramatic. Airbnb likes to use the word “subjective”. For those who know me, I’m not an overdramatic person nor am I a scaredy cat; but that house turned me into the biggest little bitch ever and I don’t think a refund for the night we did not stay there is a bad thing to ask for. Here is the link to the house.

I Swear Airbnb is Just Ignoring My Messages

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Back in June, I booked an Airbnb for work for around $300 total for the weekend. Due to an abrupt illness, I had to cancel. I missed the refund cutoff by one day. I emailed the host my explanation and they did not give me a refund, so I escalated the issue to Airbnb where I had to provide documentation of the illness. I sent them all of my patient intake forms from the doctor with all of my information, the doctor’s information, and my diagnosis.

The response from Airbnb was that this was not enough information to prove I visited the doctor and that my case was being closed. What? I didn’t even get an explanation as to how that was not sufficient. I responded by asking what else I could provide then, and they stated that a signature from the doctor was needed but that they would still be closing my case because it can’t be opened for more than a few days; I should reply when I get the paperwork.

Fast forward a week letter, I obtain an itemized bill from my doctor showing my diagnosis codes, the day I was treated, and all of the doctor’s information. I emailed this back to the Airbnb thread email and was given an automated response that my email was received. Fast forward two weeks later, and there has been no response at all from Airbnb. On my account, the case shows that it is in progress so it will not let me contact Airbnb again to see what is happening. I swear they’re just ignoring me.

Everything about this Airbnb Listing was Different

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I made a reservation for May 25th, 2018 in Oslo, Norway for July 31st to August 3rd. The reservation was confirmed by the proprietor. The printout provided showed an attractive room but did not give further details. We finally managed to find the address but to our surprise no one was present to let us in. We then called the host on her mobile and were told by her to report to her place of work, which we found with difficulty.

We received a set of keys and returned to the property through a front door marked with nasty graffiti and were shocked to find that no cleanup had been done by the owners. Dirty linen was in the bathroom, kitchen and bedroom, with a dozen pair of shoes lying in the corner of the entry room. Even more shocking was finding a ladder without a handrail required to reach a mattress lying on the floor which one would have to crawl to in order to gain access; the ceiling height was only about a meter.

There was also dirty linen covering the bed. None of the bedroom features were mentioned in the email we had received from the host confirming our reservation. It would have been dangerous to navigate the ladder at night if one was to access the bathroom on the lower floor. Accordingly, we did not check in and notified the host and Airbnb of our concerns. We found alternative accommodations with difficulty at a busy time in Oslo.

Airbnb’s response has been really poor and unprofessional. There have been long waiting times with chats with people from California to the Philippines. We were assigned a case manager who expressed concern. Since we did not receive follow up on several phone calls – always being connected with a different person who promised that our case manager would get back to us – we have become very frustrated since a full refund has been requested given the dirty premises and equally the very dangerous and poor quality of the accommodations.

I can guarantee that I will never engage the services of Airbnb and will let my friends and family know of our concerns. I may also seek legal advice to settle this outrageous problem to our satisfaction.What a scam.

Welcome to Airbnb, where we don’t care about you

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Here I am in Memphis staying at a record house hostel listed on Airbnb. At first, things seemed to be going okay. I have been doing this for about seven weeks now, traveling and staying in various hostels and Airbnbs. I arrived in Memphis and the house manager warned me that there was a homeless lady who was staying in the room next to mine and that sometimes she isn’t very nice. “Okay, cool,” I thought, “thanks for the warning… but why are you letting her stay here?”

Anyways, I went about my business. not paying this lady any attention. That was until she made me do so. I had put my things in the washing machine and ran up the road to the gas station. I wasn’t gone long enough for my things to finish. When I arrived back at the hostel, she had thrown her clothes in with mine. Immediately I was pissed. Obviously, I mean… who the hell does that?

I left a note on the dryer letting this person know that it’s not okay to touch other people’s things. When she saw the note a few minutes later, she flipped out. She started screaming at me, calling me racist, and telling me to go to hell. Instead of dealing with it, I just messaged the hosts and told them what was going on. They then called Airbnb and reported the lady.

The next day, Airbnb had removed that lady’s reservation and said that the host could remove her from the house. So they did. When they did, she was even madder at me. She threatened to slash my throat and she sat in the street waiting for me to come outside. I had to call the police to get her to leave. The police wanted the report that was filed with Airbnb, and guess what? They wouldn’t give it to me.

What the hell? Are you serious right now? I have the police in the yard, Airbnb on the phone (only after waiting for 45 minutes) and they won’t email me the damn report. What did they do? They sent me a form to give them feedback instead.

The customer service representative essentially said, “I’m sorry you’re having a bad experience with Airbnb. Here, fill out this form so you can waste even more time, explaining something that we don’t care about in the first place. “

Airbnb sucks. Aside from having poor customer service, they don’t offer anything after you’ve had a bad experience. It’s like the CEO’s just said: “we’ve got our money; let them fend for themselves.”

Welcome to Airbnb, where we don’t care about you: that’s what it should say on their website.

Airbnb Guest from Hell Lies About Everything

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On July 27th – only last week – I hosted a guest from the UK at my apartment in Spain who arrived with wife and two children at 4:00 PM. He was met by my third party meet and greet lady (who also cleans and looks after apartment for me). Within two hours he was sending me emails complaining, first about a gas bottle in the kitchen. He quoted health and safety and demanded that it be removed immediately. He also complained about cleanliness, a standing fan in the bedroom, and various other issues including he couldn’t work the TV.

I responded to each and every issue and explained that it was common practice to have gas bottles in Spain as there was no main gas line. However, if it worried him, I would get it moved the next day. He continued to complain all evening just about everything, sending pictures of a few grains of sand on the floor (we are next to the beach), hats that are there for guests, and other really petty issues, e.g. one toilet was not working.

The next day my third party went around there to address all issues and apparently he had all the china out of the cupboards and the pillows uncovered, taking pictures. Any solution to appease him did not seem to satisfy him. Later in the evening I discovered that he had called Airbnb and told them there was a gas leak and the second toilet had broken (two in 24 hours).

The booking was cancelled but instead of leaving he asked could he stay an extra night as it would be more convenient for him. I said yes and he sent me a very polite message saying how grateful he was and appreciated my generosity. If there was a gas leak who would put their children at risk?

I explained this to Airbnb, that there couldn’t be a gas leak as there was no main gas line and the bottle had been removed. However, they cancelled all subsequent bookings without even informing me. I received several emails from guests asking why. They explained that it is now being dealt with a case manager from the resolution center and the health and safety team is investigating.

That was six days ago. Until this point I had never had a complaint. Previously the rental I used was well below average and I think this guest was expecting a five-star hotel for a two-star price. Prior to booking, he did not ask me anything regarding the apartment. However, the photos are accurate so it should not have been a surprise. It is a private family apartment used for holidays, not a hotel.

I do not believe this is the first time this man has done this to get a free or upgraded holiday. The thing that has upset me the most was he frightened neighbours on the block that there was a gas leak, which obviously scared several residents. This has since been confirmed to be completely untrue and I am now seeking compensation through Airbnb’s host guarantee for £2400 in lost bookings as a direct result of this guest’s lies, not to mention the distress it has caused both myself and the lady who looks after the apartment for me. She said she looks after over 20 apartments in Spain for over 20 years and never encountered a guest like him. As for telling everyone there was a gas leak I think he should be prosecuted.

Airbnb Helped My Ex Steal $1700 From Me

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Airbnb assisted my ex-girlfriend in stealing $1700 from me, effectively involved themselves in my breakup, and sided with my ex-girlfriend. My ex-girlfriend and I shared an account with Airbnb, during which time I was the primary account holder. The email address on file was my email address. My ex and I also shared a credit card account, from which we each had our own cards. I was the cardholder of the credit card on file, and my name was the name on that credit card.

On June 24, while still together, my girlfriend and I confirmed a two-month reservation in France, as we were to relocate. Accompanying me to France was my six-year-old daughter. A charge of $1700 was made to my card, and the reservation was confirmed. Shortly after making the reservations, the relationship ended, and as part of our separation, my ex took sole control of the credit card account. I turned my card over and had myself removed from the shared credit card account on or around July 6th.

During the account separation, I provided my ex with $1700 to cover the expense of the Airbnb on our card; she of course was not coming to France. On or around July 8th, I updated the Airbnb account information to reflect only my name, and removed my ex’s contact information from the account. During this update, I also provided Airbnb with a new credit card number to charge the remaining balance of approximately $800. This new credit card was also in my name.

On July 18, my ex contacted Airbnb and claimed that she was the cardholder of the card that had been on the account. This was false. She further claimed that the charge of $1700 made was unauthorized. This too was false. She apparently went on to claim that she was being restricted from staying in the Airbnb, and again this was false as she chose not to travel to France (not that it’s relevant or even remotely appropriate for Airbnb to have asked this – keep reading).

I received an email from Airbnb stating that I had 48 hours to reply to a dispute by the authorized cardholder. I replied promptly stating that the dispute was not valid, and that I needed to be contacted via phone to discuss it further. About one hour later, I received notification that the refund had been issued to the card, and that I now had a balance of $1700 with Airbnb.

As I stated above, I no longer had access to this card. I made several attempts via email and phone to dispute this, including speaking with a man at Airbnb, who explained to me that my ex was the authorized cardholder, which was not true. Regardless, he apparently had no interest in understanding what I was trying to explain to him. He went so far as to tell me that the money was refunded to my ex because she was not allowed to stay in the Airbnb. At this point I began to wonder if I was dreaming, or in the twilight zone, or both.

I called back and got another agent on the phone. That agent quickly transferred me to someone in the experience department. He seemed to understand the gravity of the situation and stated that he would work on it and call me back in the morning. When I heard back from him, he explained that his supervisor was not letting him work on the case and that it had to be deferred to Trust and Safety. He legitimately wanted to help, however it is my opinion that was he prevented from doing so.

I am now waiting to hear from someone at Airbnb to resolve this. In summary, I have been cheated out of $1700, Airbnb inappropriately refunded the wrong person for a charge that was in fact authorized, Airbnb did not provide a forum to me to discuss and explain, and the result is that I am now without a place to live in France when I move there on August 20th.

Boycotting Airbnb Until They Stop Advertising Falsely

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I recently experienced a truly unpleasant encounter with Airbnb that has left me and my partner totally guttered and disappointed at the way Airbnb management has handled our complaint. They have given me no other alternative than to take to social media on all platforms to make others aware of a system that puts profits before honesty and integrity.

We booked a stay on Airbnb for two nights and informed the host two days prior that there were two of us staying and the approximate time of arrival. On arrival, the host was unable to meet us but had another person check us in. The room was not as listed and so I insisted that I speak with the host; he said that I could find another place if I wasn’t happy with the room booked but he wouldn’t refund our money.

I took photos (attached) and forwarded them to Airbnb. At the time they gave us a 50% refund which was satisfactory as we were not in a position to argue the difference, let alone try to find another place at the last minute. Airbnb also informed me that the host was in breach of Airbnb policies and would address the matter directly with him.

During our stay, the linen we believe to have been from an “Op Shop” had a musky smell and the Doona for a child’s single bed with teddy bears on it for a listed king-size bed was in fact for a queen-size bed. The listing stated there was a bathroom (not listed as shared nor did Airbnb state that within the house that all the other rooms were rented out as well) and at our time of stay we had to share the bathroom with six people; the house can accommodate up to nine people at any one time with only one bathroom.

The other issue with the listing was that most of the door handles had one screw holding in the handle which could result in the handle falling off into either the bedroom or bathroom, leaving a person locked inside as the host doesn’t live at the house. On my return some three weeks later I checked to see if the listing was still listed as we saw it; to my surprise, it was.

I messaged Airbnb about the situation and instead of addressing my concerns, they removed my comments that I left on the host’s page that provided an honest description of our stay. Second to that, the host at the same time left a message about us, trying to swing the situation around. I decided to ring Airbnb, which went to an offshore call center. I explained my experience with the stay and how I was extremely disappointed with the fact the host was still listing the property exactly the same as when we booked and stayed. I told Airbnb that it appears profit has been put forward over integrity and requested a full refund for my stay, including having the host’s untrue comments erased.

I mentioned all of the above to an Airbnb senior case manager who informed me via message that the case was closed and no further actions will occur. As a loyal customer for the past several years with multiple listings worldwide, I have now decided to boycott Airbnb until they can address my concerns in a professional manner, including making the changes that I believe are truly overdue with falsely advertising listings so that the customer is aware of all the facts prior to committing to a booking. Airbnb gave me no alternative than to take my concerns to social media on all levels. This was conveyed to Airbnb prior to this post with little to no concern as profit appears to be the governing factor at play rather than addressing genuine complaints.

Why do I have to pay for Airbnb services I didn’t use?

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We booked and prepaid for an Airbnb apartment in Malta, Sliema in April 2018 for our summer holiday from June 26th to July 24th. Surprisingly, when we arrived, the apartment was not ready at all (green smelly / brown tab water, mold, broken sofa, fridge with a lot of frost in it (I had to defrost and clean it), broken light in the kitchen hood, broken shower nozzle), which we directly reported to the host.

We stayed six nights (seven days) struggling, hearing from the host excuse “stories” about sandstorms, African rains, and government construction works. We were expecting a quick resolution, however after several unsuccessful attempts by the host to fix these issue, we had to move to other apartment at our own cost. As you can imagine it was absolutely necessary to ensure the safety of our kids and ourselves.

The host didn’t intend to solve the problem immediately, telling us that the plumber would cost him too much during public holidays which meant for us to stay three more days without water. We had to involve Airbnb. The water issue was solved on the seventh day of our stay and after a warning call from Airbnb, the owner had to change the water tank and water heater. We didn’t want to stay in that place any longer.

Moreover, the host has threatened us with legal action for an early contract termination, which is completely unacceptable. Based on that we have applied for a refund of the remaining 22 nights, however, our request was declined by the host and by Airbnb representatives as well. We are very disappointed in Airbnb and their position on declining our request about the refund for the unspent nights. We had to go through the Resolution Center and their final solution was to refund us only for six nights spent in the apartment. We found the solution really unfair. Why should we give our money to a dishonest host and pay for services we didn’t use?