Airbnb

MY PARTNER AND I MADE RESERVATION ON AIRBNB, THEY HAVE DEACTIVATED BOTH OUR ACCOUNTS. We both contacted them asking what the problem was. Customer Service could not give an answer and said our accts were being reviewed. This has been going on for 5 days now. TODAY I GOT A EMAIL SAYING (ACCT DEACTIVATED AND DECISION IS FINAL)
We have booked more than 6 airbnb rentals with NO PROBLEMS and good reviews-So I am at a loss what is going on. If someone would call us and explain to us the problem, we would be more than HAPPY to answer any questions OR TRY TO FIX IT ON OUR END
VERY VERY DISAPPOINTED IN THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE
ANYONE HAD THIS EXPERIENCE, AND WHAT DID YOU DO ABOUT IT

We have several homes that we manage and unfortunately, a couple of years ago, some of our property owners had heard of Air B&B and insisted that we try them. We now have lost half of our properties because Air B&B doesn't pay us and hence we cannot pay the property owners or our cleaning crews. The president of our company has had to get personal loans to cover the amounts that are due to be paid out to the property owners. We are talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars. It has gotten to a point where every booking we receive through Air B&B has to be verified over the phone to make sure they have sent our money to the proper / working bank account. They are still holding a huge amount of money from 2 years ago.

If you are considering trying Air B&B, I recommend that you reconsider. VRBO/HomeAway is not any better either. These companies have gotten so big that they now control most of the Internet bookings and apparently are not capable of keeping themselves organized. If you are lucky enough to talk to someone that can actually communicate with you, you can expect rude service and even hang ups.

One thing I DO recommend is that even though both Air B&B and VRBO/HomeAway will not divulge the e-mail addresses or phone numbers of the renters until they are actually booked, once they have booked one of your houses, encourage them to book directly through YOU the next time they want to rent one of your houses. I send our clients a friendly e-mail once they check out and tell them how much they could have saved if they would have booked directly through us.

I've been a host now for about 9 months. We have had almost all positive experiences (except for the one lady who begged to bring her "well behaved" dogs... but I digress). I am fine with the way the reviews are set up, I think it keeps people honest. A couple of suggestions for folks using Airbnb: (1) don't wait until the night before your visit to try to book a room. Even a usually conscientious host can forget to check their email. (2) ask questions before you book. (3) book a place where the pics were taken BY Airbnb, that helps reduce the chance of scamming (and if you're a host, at least last year it was free).

My only real complaint is their claim that they "can't" transfer the money to you over the weekend; so if you have someone at your place Friday - Monday, you probably won't see the $ in your acct until Tuesday. We are in a 24-7 financial market, I'm sure they could fix that if they wanted to.

I for one hope that (a) the # of negatives reflects the fact that people are more likely to share those than take the time to share positives; and (b) airbnb does address what seem to be some fixable situations so that I as a host can continue to meet and host folks from all around the world.

I only got onto the airbnb website after being redirected there from bringfido.com when I was looking for pet friendly accommodation for a couple of nights. I couldn't believe what a disastrous setup for renters/consumers this website is. After teaser prices of say $80 per night, once fees had been added the total was three times the advertised rate. That's right, practically every offering was three times the initial price listed thanks to all the fees. It's practically fraud. Airbnb and the property owners must be laughing all the way to the bank, passing along fees to the customers like that. The risks and costs are all on the renter who could end up out of pocket and with no place to stay (or worse), I don't know why anyone would use it when they can get a budget hotel with guaranteed room and pretty much guaranteed safety for the same price or less. I understand airbnb may be part of the hookup culture and useful for being more immersed in a place, that's all very nice if you want the social side but still why pass the cost to the renter? I'm just waiting for there to be airnbnb murders etc (like the craigslist murders). Still, my biggest issue was the price gouging. Savvy travelers will take their business elsewhere.

An awful company that is negatively impacting small tourist towns and people who have lived here with their families for centuries! I think we need to take a stand and ban Airbnb from mountain towns especially Big Bear Lake, California, Green Valley Lake, California, and Lake Arrowhead, California. There are amazing clean hotel facilities here and residents are not left with unpleasant scenery and TRASH everywhere! Airbnb renters are disrespectful, trashy, and messy. They do NOT regard the residents at all. This is completely unfair to local residents that have been here living in peace and quiet for years! I see countless people talking about the trash and disrespect that is occurring from Airbnb rentals, this commonly happens in tourist towns like ours especially. I came across this article just FYI. Please take this into consideration and let's get Airbnb banned from Southern California mountain communities and any small communities that want their trashy and messy people to stay OUT!

https://lodgingrevs.com/can-a-city-ban-airbnb-why-the-short-term-rental-service-is-facing-legal-challenges/

What a pain in the neck! Where to start. First let me say that my experience is that AirBnB takes NO responsibility for their errors. Then there's their claim of 24/7 customer service. It's easier to find president Obama's home number than to navigate through the BS AirBnB puts you through just so you can send them an email. Can't blame them for doing this: the site is complete crap half the time (the other half of the time I'm using different sites now) so they'd probably get tons of complaints and they probably want to avoid that.

The only solution I found was to call their emergency number, where I'm yet to speak with a rep who's fluent in English.

And the glitches with the site. O. M. G.! The pricing for my listing mysteriously lowered itself and of course AirBnB wouldn't take responsibility for that. All they had to do was waive my fee and/or the guests' fee but they couldn't even be apologetic about the situation let alone take responsibility for it. And today a guest who was going to book backed out. I thought it was strange then I saw that the site had put in a special offer to the guest of 5 TIMES my asking price per night!

And their fees. Yeah, you'd think you could get some sort of service because they take in a crapload of fees from guest AND host.

Super disappointed. Hopefully the other sites where I'm registering are less crappy.

As a host on airbnb I can say - besides many site functionality problem, it is also a poor business model and bad operations. The site is poorly tested and malfunctions often. If not an ordinary booking taking place - any slight modification on the booking request throw the whole thing in disarray. The customer service is below the poor. To reach them by phone - impossible, by email - upto 48 hours, and then you will get a kid giving you a lecture on how to operate their site. Then, after 6-8 exchanges, when screenshot being sent to them to prove that the magic button they sending you to is not there, they will say "Ohhh" and send it to the technical guys to sort it out. And that is endless with them. They take a pose to get upset with you if you are upset with them. They are polite, but mostly incompetent and will never admit to the site's malfunctions. And, finally, they take a big advantage of charging travelers 100% upfront and holding their money sometimes 6 months or more! Money should work. I think they are working only for Airbnb and not for the host. They are doomed. They are living their heydays, but they will not survive - this business is being re-arnged under pressure from governments and many hosts are seeking better representations, while travelers looking for more security. Airbnb does not offer neither security for hosts, nor for travelers. Nor they offer a good and sound service for us - they take advantage of us, hosts. I don't feel that I got a good deal.

I recently visited Boston to assist a friend who was relocating to my home state of North Carolina. My friend lived in the downtown area, several blocks from Fenway Park, so naturally she couldn't find any rooms for under $300 except through Airbnb. (The Red Sox were playing that night, which didn't help.) The room itself was clean and acceptable, and the people I communicated with via text and phone seemed friendly, although we had to play several hours of "phone tag" to finally settle things. When I reached the building where the room was located, and attempted to gain entry via intercom, I was told, by a gentleman who sounded very indignant, that the building was a private condo, and that residents were not allowed to use Airbnb to "sub-let" rooms. I finally got in when a maid or service person took pity on me. Obviously, my hosts were/are playing fast and loose with the house rules. I did not appreciate being put in the position of staying where I was not, by policy, supposed to be.

My friend and I made no attempt to get a refund. She booked a bed, I got a bed, so we don't exactly feel cheated. But we do not make a practice of dealing with unscrupulous people. I will not use Airbnb again. In this case, it would have been less hassle to spend the night in the airport lobby.

I have stayed in three different houses through Airbnb. I had different experiences in all of them. The first place was in Geneva, Switzerland. The apartment was filthy, in addition to the fact the hosts smoked inside the house all day long. The second was in Lausanne, Switzerland as well, and the place was dirty, noisy, and there were many hidden charges by the owner not mentioned at Airbnb. The third place was in Milano, Italy, and this one was really clean, and really nice, but the hosts was kind of rude. I think I ended up paying too much for the two first places I've stayed.

What I really disliked about Airbnb are their sneakiness for somethings: (1) I've had my review slightly changed once when I didn't use any vulgar language; I was simply criticizing the cleanness of the place I've stayed. (2) They bugged me for days to review one of the places I've stayed. In the end, they gave me a $25 dollars coupon to redeem in my next trip. Except that they sent me a coupon to expire in 24 hours!

I had enough of them that I even deleted my account!

I just had 2 bad experiences trying to book a place to stay for 12 days in July 2018, only 4 months away!
1st company couldnt show me the actual place as they have over 30 units in the area. The original price was CAD $103.00 but after his 1st e-mail it went to $188.00 a night, and still no photos of the actual place my family and I would be staying at.
2nd place just sent me a message
Hello Steve.
Thanks for your interest in my place.
The price will change for your dates. I wouldnt be able to book for these dates now.
Please message me 15-20 days before arrival.
Thanks.

Is this a joke or what. Seems the whole site for at least Mississauga Ontario Canada is full of BS and the old Bait and Switch scam.

I would rather book a hotel room for $150.00 a night at least knowing that I am dealing with a reputable hotel chain than Airbnb who seems to be a site, not a company who cares about or can control what goes on between I the end user and the unit magament teams.

Im looking elsewhere, and so should you!

AIRBNB DOES NOT COVER ALL DAMAGES WHEN YOUR HOUSE IS TRASHED. I rented my house and the renter threw a 2,000 person party. My house was TRASHED. The damages to the house and furnishings and pool totaled $50,000+. Airbnb paid less than half, I spent hours trying to pull receipts, reports for insurance company, organizing the work to fix the house, etc.; they would not negotiate the amount and paid whatever they felt. AWFUL - DO NOT BELIEVE WHEN THEY SAY "DAMAGES ARE COVERED." Text me if you have any questions *******191.

I am a host. I tried advertising on airbnb but was still in the start up( only 1 day)and did not have my calendars synced yet. I was assured I had final say on ALL bookings before they were confirmed, so didn't see it as too much of a problem. That turned out not to be true. I received a confirmed booking from airbnb called an express booking for a time that was not available. When I called airbnb for help with turning these express bookings off, I was told this could not be done and I had no control if the guest wanted to go ahead and express book my condo. When I asked the agent how to cancel my listing, as I was now on my way to thinking of the scheduling nightmare, I was told he was advised not to talk with me anymore, till I had entered my financial details on my listing to accept payment... of a booking I was not in a position to accept!
I had to now contact this guest, who had already paid airbnb, and break the news that she really did not have a reservation! Once this was done, airbnb immediately put a review on my listing saying the host had cancelled a reservation 9 days before the guest checked in, not that it was not even an hour after the host even know about this reservation!
I have serious concerns about the companies professionalism and business practises, and found there were quite a few lies. If their agents are lying to overcome the companies policies, then I have a hard time trusting this company with my business.

Unfortunately, you have to give a star here. I booked an Airbnb in March for a period of four weeks in August. Payment and confirmation went smoothly and 6 hours before my departure, I was asked by the host for another 300 EUR. If I refuse to pay the amount, I would not receive the key to the property. I immediately contacted customer service by phone and was let down after a full 3 hours of discussion.

Airbnb did not contact the host and left me the only option to cancel free of charge. But this was not an option at that time, as I needed the accommodation arriving at 11 pm in the destination country. Alternative accommodation could not be organised or neither the stay in a hotel would be paid until an alternative accommodation would be found for me. I should agree with the host if I need an accommodation or they could cancel without any accommodation.

Afterwards, I contacted Airbnb with the situation. Unfortunately, I met with incomprehension and I would have behaved wrong. I shouldn't have paid the money. The colleague on the phone had not advised me to do this in any situation. He said I should pay if I needed the accommodation otherwise he could cancel the booking. I would have to look for something else on my own. He is sorry for me but can't help me in this case.

Apart from the money, this is coercion and fraud. Sadly, Airbnb seems to fully support this. I can really only advise against booking through this portal, because if you have a problem, then it is simply ignored.

Here's my situation "in a nutshell". There is a location in which I was interested. The map shows it only as a wide circle, so I asked for the address and owners' last name. They will not provide this unless I "book" the place. Then if it is not what I want, they will refund my money, LESS THEIR FEES. Oh, and their fees. They not only charge the lessor like most other sites, but also charge the LESSEE (that's me) an additional 6 to 12 percent.

Before I rent a place, I research both the address and the purported owner. They deny me the basic information (last name and address) for me to do that.

A few day prevously, I tried for a vacation location, but that time I was able to get the address. I did a title search and found that the person listing the apt was NOT the owner. Airbnb could not tell me how this unknown (to me) person had the right to lease. Then I searched the address and found the condo was FOR SALE. I could get no satisfactory answer as to what assurance I would have that. If sold, the new owner(s) would honor my lease, other than, well just trust us, our site is based on trust. Just a sort of "trust us".

I will say one thing for airbnb. Their reps were very good as fielding my questions and avoiding the issues, and even when I mentions this site (SiteJabber) they just casually responded, that others are entitled to their opinion.

"A normal person learns from his mistates. A smart person learns from the mistakes of others."

When I booked the initial reservation with airbnb, I had no idea that devastating storms would take out huge mature trees that subsequently took out many power lines months later. There were over 225,000 residents in Shreveport without power and left to clean up a massive mess that will probably take months to clear. The initial host refunded in full the amount paid. We stayed at a hotel for a night, but had to leave because of an electricity outage. When the electricity came back on, the ac was not working. I quickly scrambled to locate a new host. Having found an available rental, I booked it asap. Upon arrival the next day, I found out there was no electricity. The host offered us a refund for that night. We didn't receive that refund until today. The host only refunded the amount for the night. They said that I would have to contact airbnb directly to get the prorated refund for the service fees and taxes. When I spoke with them, they informed of a loop hole they have. Since the refund didn't happen while the reservation was "live", then they are not responsible to refund the prorated amounts. I just want everyone to be aware of this unfair loop hole they have hidden in the small print. This will not happen to me again and I will be looking into other websites and apps for future stays. They apologized, but I feel that it was not sincere. Instead, I think the customer service rep apologized because they know this is right or fair. I didn't want to cancel any reservation. It was cancelled due to unfortunate weather.

Customer service extremely unhelpful. I made a reservation and chose the option to pay 50% now, 50% later. I paid for the initial 50% with my credit card. I received a gift card after I made the reservation and contacted customer service to see if I could apply the gift card toward the remaining balance. They put me on hold for 5-7 minutes and came back saying I could not, I had to pay the rest with credit card. I said that was ridiculous and unacceptable, let me speak with someone that could help me. They said no one could help me. They put me on hold for a bit longer. They came back and said they would have to cancel the entire reservation and rebook it with the seller if I wanted to pay part of the balance with gift card. I had already signed contracts with the owner, etc. They didn't care. On top of that, they are making at least $100 of the $500 reservation in fees, based on the contract from the owner. $100 should by some level of service, but not with AirBnB. First and last time using AirBnB.

Booked a retreat in Bimini called ARC (owned by some entitled snob named Jenny). All flights that evening were cancelled due to storms and outages in Bimini and none available the whole weekend. I communicated very clearly to the host, who knew well before I did what the deal was. She kept the whole payment stating it was Air BNB's fault on returns (when she lied and actually it is her policy). Then stated she had to cover expenses, what expenses did I incur if i didn't use anything? Another lie. Well AirBNB and these folks are a perfect match.
I contact the rep at ABNB and they tell me to send them the emails showing the host stating there are storms and outages. To cancel the reservation and they will refund my money if the host doesn't. Next day I inquire cause the host denied within an hr of my refund request. Now the ABNB rep states I need a letter from the airline - I still cooperated doubting that they would honor their word. But fortunately they did refund my money immediately. I'm grateful for that and may try them again if nothing else is available out there like my normal hotel chains.

They will cheat you on the exchange rate. I noticed that it was not adding up and so emailed them about it and this is when I got in response:

Thank you for reaching out to Airbnb. I'm Maraiah from the Customer Experience Team. I understand that you're a bit confused on the price breakdown of the latest reservation request that you're trying to submit.

I assume that this is your request for Marc's listing. Please see price breakdown below:

Exchange Rate: 1.03
In CAD: $211 CAD (2*nights) + $59 CAD (Cleaning fee) + $31 CAD (Airbnb Service Fee) = $301 TOTAL
In USD: $204 (2*nights) + $57 (Cleaning Fee) + $31 (Airbnb Service Fee) = $292 TOTAL

The rates have been converted to USD, The exchange rate is just minimal and we round it to the nearest whole amount that's why sometimes it just equates to the previous currency.

I hope I was able to clarify things out for you. Please feel free to contact me if you have more questions or concerns. I will always be ready to help.

Best Wishes,

Maraiah C
www.airbnb.com/help

Well the exchange rate is not 1.03 it's 1.33 CAD to USD. So the booking is supposed to be $226. They just stole 74 dollars from you. By the way the nearest whole number even with her dumb calculation is still 292, not 300... They can't be that stupid, they are just thieves.
It's too bad cause what a great idea, hope a more legit site arises from this madness with more integrity.
Makes me mad... Hopefully venting about it makes it better.

First of all, the pool steps are too steep. There are no handrails for the pool. We almost fell and slipped on the murky water he calls a pool. We had planned this trip for months due to the demand for these homes. The pool did not looked shocked or clean. Also, my other biggest complaint is the fact that the pictures on the platform do not reflect what was going on on the inside. It felt like we were being lured by a few good pictures. If you are going to be a super host, be super honest. Post all pictures of your home, even if they aren't all flattering. From a huge stain on several furniture, to a black bug, to scuffs and dents on the wall, to red dots in kitchen floor, to water damage in the corner of one or two restrooms... show it ALL. Be honest. Don't post only the few flattering pictures of your place. The fact that we were treated like cattle instead of guests, is what leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Host literally said, " No one is forcing you to stay. You can leave when you want", when all the issues were brought up to him. Very disappointing. The fact that we planned for this trip for months and had expectations that weren't met, crushes your spirit. If you recognize this pool, stay away.

I rented a room where the host said he would clean it after he got off work at 6. Check in is at 3, but I didn't feel like I could force him to come back earlier so I planned around his schedule. When I came back around 730 the sheets were dirty and there were dirty towels from the previous guest. The toilet had urine on it and the apartment smelled bad. Airbnb wanted him to come home and remedy the situation instead of reimbursing me. When he was not home by 9 they finally agreed to reimburse me. Which is great, but I had to go back and forth with them for almost an hour and get a supervisor involved. They also agreed to pay up to $150 for my first night in a hotel. So I get a hotel for 2 nights thinking everything will be ok. Then this morning I find the case manager has sent me 2 emails between 9 and midnight stating she needs the receipt and then that she is not paying for the hotel anymore. When I call back i'm told I just have to wait for her to return and they can't give me a timeline. Way to ruin a vacation! I wouldn't have been upset with the dirty room if customer service had responded to the situation quickly and fairly and I was able to put it all behind me but I'm still having to deal with them for who knows how much longer.