I contacted Airbnb support (while there were loud explosions going on in the background that the agent heard for herself) and they assured me they would try to help me find other accommodations (full disclosure: I do not want to spend any money to book another accommodation as I still have more than three weeks left on this one).

What I requested is that Airbnb make an exception under their Extenuating Circumstances Policy as part of the “political unrest, riots” clause. I don’t think it’s unreasonable. Airbnb is a multi-million dollar company and I have just recently booked two other places in another city. Apparently, their concern for guests is superficial, at best.

I also believe that if I had been a Caucasian woman fearing for my safety in an African country, Airbnb would have acted with much more of a sense of urgency. I think because I am not, they figured I would be fine and didn’t seem to be that concerned. There is no other explanation I can come to since I’ve provided video of smoke and police converging on the area outside my Airbnb location and also a U.S. embassy security warning sent to my email the day after the first protests started. And yet, I still haven’t heard anything from Airbnb and my supposed case manager.

The post In a Country Experiencing Political Unrest Near My Airbnb appeared first on Airbnb Hell.

I had a problem with a guest who came to my place for New Year’s Eve. Since I was away for those days I thought it would have been nice to let someone get the chance to stay in my place and, at the same time, get a little extra money. Unfortunately it didn’t turn out as expected. I was unlucky to host a guest who had never used Airbnb before, expected my house to be a hotel, and expected me to be the hotel manager.

When he booked I asked him an approximate check in time. He didn’t answer for ten days and the night before check in he told me that since he already paid for the whole sojourn, he would expect me to be at his complete disposal. As I said, it was New Year’s Eve so I had plans with some friends. I told him that if he would have answered before I would have time to arrange a proper check in.

Anyway I did my best and told him my mum’s address to get the key. He did the check in alone. I left some post-its with important stuff and told him that for any questions he could Whatsapp me. Usually when I check someone in I give more details about where some helpful stuff is but I thought that since he would be staying just a few days we could just communicate via phone.

I checked on him a few times and he always said that everything was okay. He even asked me for the wifi password which is written in the house rules, proving that he had no idea how Airbnb works: he never even read my house rules.

After check out I got a surprise: some misogynist private feedback and a terrible public review. For example, he complained that there wasn’t enough toilet paper and no Schuko adapter but both were in the house. Why hadn’t he asked me for supplies? Just so he could write there weren’t any.

On the one hand I believe some people should just keep booking hotels and, as you can imagine, it is frustrating to deal with people that are not informed to be in the Airbnb community. If things would have been like this I could have let it go, but I am deeply concerned about the direction this world is going. Since I do not like it, I have sworn to myself to always try my best to make this world a better place.

This implies that I cannot let any sort of sexist comment go that attacks based on gender. In the private feedback, this guest insulted me because on my fridge I have a little plate saying “rompicoglioni della vagina!” which was given to me during a theater show of the vagina monologues (a very important show that started off Broadway and initialized the v-day movement).

He complained about the fact that I had my vagina ring (closed in its box of course) in the fridge: the vagina ring is medicinal for me and has to be in the fridge (between 2 to 6 Celsius degree) to be effective. I was told to put it in there by a gynecologist.

Last but not least, I had two used pads in the rubbish bin and of course he complained, claiming my house was dirty. In Reggio Emilia, both the recycling and generic waste (where the pads where) are collected door to door once a week; I really had no other options.

In conclusion, I feel like I am paying with my reputation, the fact that I am a feminist woman. This is wrong and should be stopped by whoever has the power to set a good example, Airbnb. Moreover, I wonder if there are any grounds to sue. Any help would be appreciated.

The post Can Misogynist Feedback Be Deleted? appeared first on Airbnb Hell.

Honestly I was thrown, but politely suggested she might be a brainwashed victim of mass media propaganda, crony capitalism after all profits through greed and fear. Yes, I can be a bore and over intellectualize. The woman was pushy and manipulative and still wanted to rent the place. Eventually I decided not to rent to her and at the end of our interaction she claimed that I would fit right in where I live (Rockies) as “an ignorant asshole.” I looked up this woman’s history with Airbnb and noticed someone had given her free room and board due to some scheduling issue and gave her a poor tenant review. Her four other reviews were positive. She complained about the free place calling it “dank.” I also noticed the party that had given her the poor review and free rental had had their account removed. I know from hosting that tolerance of customers means more revenue for management and corporate anonymity can mask profit motives through boutique politics like political correctness (more customers due to less discrimination). I also believe in less tolerance to the intolerant and that parties should try and resolve disputes outside of the bureaucratic expensive legal system.

Anyway several months later I’ve tried restarting my account in case I ever try Airbnb as a renter. I have tried appealing through account.inquiry@airbnb.com and their customer service number. I apologized in an email similar to this story for having a personality conflict with someone and that I’d appreciate a chance to show that I’m fair, balanced, pleasant, and conscientious since Airbnb only gave me one circumstance to reveal my character. Through appealing for reconsideration I have also requested a corporate self-reflection without any expectations and have only been ignored. Since Airbnb has never responded to that one final decision the company seems to be cowardly, unjust, and bullying in their policies and tactics. I do know that being ignored is a horrible form of abuse and that corporations are allowed to hide behind anonymity and anonymous discrimination. I’ve felt the decision made against me was one sided and heavy handed. Currently I’m supporting competitors: tripping.com, Flipkey, Homeaway, VRBO, Housetrip, Vaystays, Vacayhero, Roomorama, and Couchsurfing. I’m also pursuing a legal resolution. Airbnb seems to be allowed to treat people any way they want while requiring their hosts to not discriminate and to behave to their mandates related seemingly only to profit wrapped in the marketing of community.

The post Does Anyone Deserve to be Blacklisted on Airbnb? appeared first on Airbnb Hell.