Airbnb Business Relies on Creating Deception

I have had a few horrible experiences which I will describe below. The underlying problem is Airbnb’s self-protectionist deceptive practices. The review system is but one facet of the core problems.

I was booked a stay in an RV which the owners, who also had rooms in their house, would not let you use the bathroom. I asked if it was alright to come in at night to use the bathroom. As soon as I asked that question, the hosts (who are Superhosts) told me that the refrigerator had something smelly in it. This was the afternoon that I was to stay the night.

I told them I did not have time to change my plans (I was at work) and hoped that was the only thing wrong. The “superhost” kept trying to contact me so that I would reassure her that I would only give her positive reviews. Mind you, I had not stayed there yet and I was unable to return the contact because I was at work.

She cancelled my reservation at the last minute out of fear of the tiniest chance someone might give her a bad review and because I think she really did not want me coming in the house in the middle of the night. I ended up sleeping in my car that night and missing out on the next day at work because I had nowhere to shower and I was so tired. I missed out on making money and disappointed a lot of people. It took days to get my money back.

Another Superhost decided to sell her house and we were told we could not be in the house during the day so the realtor could show it. Also, this Superhost was never really there. She left this crazy tenant in charge who made life miserable for everyone else. When I brought my concerns to the Superhost about what was going on, she told me I could leave if I did not like it. She told me she would give me a full refund on the whole time I was there.

Then she told Airbnb she was cancelling my reservation and they told me to leave, even though I had done nothing but relay concerns to the Superhost and I was only refunded the part of the stay I was not there. It took Airbnb days to refund me. This was in the middle of my daily month-long radiation treatments and I could not work. I ended up sleeping in the BART station.

I have paid for an Airbnb in which no one ever came to the door. When I emailed the hosts they said they had forgotten and did not want visitors in their house after all. I had to email them myself for six hours to have them cancel so I could get my money back. Airbnb was no help at all and when they did finally cancel the reservation, it took days to get my money back from Airbnb. There I was again with nowhere to stay. Airbnb actually told me to get a hotel, which is $200 around here.

There are other similar incidences. Airbnb has a review system set up so that guests cannot get good reviews without giving a good review and may be penalized otherwise for not guaranteeing a good review for the hosts before the guest even arrives. This is really to Airbnb’s advantage so their company appears to be more positive than it really is. People continue to be Superhosts while other people get to sleep on the street, all for Airbnb’s profitability. This is a form of false advertising and one day there will be legal ramifications. I look forward to it.

Airbnb Hosts Gone Wrong – Lucky To Be Alive

My daughter’s stay at an Airbnb in San Leandro abruptly ended just two days ago. She’s young, working a summer internship in Oakland. The Airbnb was very expensive and run by a couple. One is a professor at a major university the other is an executive with a pharmaceutical company. They were good people, and it was a safe place just minutes from her job. She’s been staying there about six weeks.

On Sunday night she arrived there about 7:30 PM. The house was quiet. She didn’t see the hosts. She went upstairs to her room. About two hours later she heard shrieking, screaming, thumps, breaking glass, and someone saying he wanted to kill another person. It was a big fight. She called me and I told her to stay in the locked room. Within minutes she said it had gotten quiet; in next breath she says she heard sirens, then pounding, then she smelled smoke.

She went into the hallway and smelled natural gas. She headed to the front door and opened it to find the fire department, police, and ambulances. She went outside and they all went in. She was in her sleep shorts and a sweatshirt. Barefoot. The cops couldn’t find the hosts. They looked all over and finally found them in the backyard. One guy was wrapped up like a burrito, strapped to a gurney, and taken away in the ambulance. A paramedic told her he has a lot of stuff going on and he is going to the hospital to talk to someone about it. The cops took pictures and a statement from the other guy. He’s battered and bruised.

From what she learned from the cops, one of the guys turned the gas on the stove to flood the house then went to another location and started a fire. The cops told her she shouldn’t stay there anymore. Now she’s pretty much living in her car. Last night’s hotel bill was $55 for the only safe place available in Oakland.

Airbnb Booking and Reservation Issues: Can They Make Mistakes?

It’s not my first time using Airbnb. So far our first experiences have been great so we decided to use it and tried looking for a place in San Francisco. Upon checking I tried to ask some questions from 2-3 different hosts, e.g. how far their places are from downtown since it was my first time visiting. Anyway, I tried to check the dates and I’m sure that I just wanted to hold them for our reservation. I was just surprised that after a couple of days both bookings had been made and our debit card was charged. The first one was fine and I got a full refund less the Airbnb fees, but for the second one, which was more expensive, the host refunded only 50% of our payment. I tried to ask for some consideration since Airbnb’s policy states the host has the discretion of refunding the full amount since it had only been one or not even one day after they confirmed the reservation without my knowledge. Now I am trying to contact Airbnb but I have had to wait 72 hours for their replies. I have a valid reason for getting a full refund. Someone in the family just died and I hope and appreciate that someone can help me on this matter. For some people it might be a small amount of money but for me and our family and as a single parent almost $400 dollars is a huge amount for us to lose. I would appreciate if someone could at least help me resolve this issue as soon as possible. Below are some of the conversations. I have a lot of photos showing that I didn’t book the properties; I got a pre-approval (e.g. 1:39 but on the same date they charged my card as well). Thank you very much.

Listings on Airbnb Can be Deceptive. Whom can you Trust?

Airbnb’s concept is fair, but you always take a chance. How do you know that the host is a decent, law abiding person? How do you know that the host believes in keeping his place clean and as advertised? I recently spent four nights in the Bay Area, and I can tell you that I used every ounce of patience and kindness towards my host. The host was an older person who had health problems. Compound that with an extended stay in the hospital and the inability to adequately clean their home, and I was bitten by fleas for numerous nights. The stench from not being properly cleaned didn’t help either. What’s more, even after speaking to the Airbnb personnel, I didn’t get the response I expected. I asked immediately to be placed in another unit at their expense. Their response was that I had to document the host’s offenses. I was doing some important work and told them that it wasn’t fair that I had to spend my time, not to mention the possibility of humiliating the host, with the conditions forced upon me. I didn’t get a refund except for the last night, and this was due to the fact that I left two days early and actually booked with a very nice lady in another part of town. I asked them to remove this host from their listing, but I haven’t checked and seriously doubt that they will do so.

Airbnb Outrageous Cancellation Fee

I recently had a nasty surprise that others using Airbnb should definitely know about. Last week I booked an apartment in San Francisco which was advertised at 109euros a night, which ended up being 649euros for 4 nights after all the fees (Airbnb service charge, local taxes and cleaning fee). This total amount turns out to be just over the cost of booking a hotel, but we thought it would be worth it. After one week (more than a month before the date of arrival) I was offered a place to stay with a friend. So I cancelled. First I got a mail saying I would be refunded 572euros (because unlike hotels, Airbnb keeps their service fee even if you cancel), and then I was told that the host charges a $100 fee for cancellations! This of course appeared nowhere in the booking confirmation or the description of the place! Now that Airbnb is becoming more popular, they are being bolder about fleecing their customers and allowing their hosts to do the same. Beware of ‘The Suuny Upstairs Apt’ in San Francisco!