Airbnb.com.au

It makes me nervous that Airbnb has little to no concern about their hosts and guests' safety.

Airbnb's business model rests on the idea that strangers can trust one another.

Like most unscrupulous US companies, Airbnb thrives on a growth-at-all-costs philosophy - move around cities, don't follow the rules, win the popular vote, and earn money. Normally, by the time officials start realising what's going on, it is too late.

As a result of their continuous negligence, legal battles have been raging around the world, the most toxic of which played out in New York in 2015. The city conducted covert 30-day operations into the illegal rentals managed on Airbnb, sparking years of legal fighting. In retaliation, Airbnb hired private investigators to scrutinise the profiles of its critics, and paid to expose their lives with offensive TV and billboard ads.

Most European authorities are now realising the risks and taking action against Airbnb.

One of the cases reported in Spanish news is that of an Airbnb host in Barcelona who raped two American women who had booked his shared accommodation. According to local media, when the women threatened to file a police report the next morning, their nightmare-of-a-host threatened to upload videos of the attack on the internet.

Police eventually searched his apartment and found hundreds of similar photos of other victims. The man was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Airbnb, which declined to comment on the case, paid the two women an undisclosed amount and banned the "host" for life.

Unfortunately, the only thing that really motivates Airbnb is the threat… of bad PR or a nightmare in the press. Money at all-costs is their ultimate motivation.

Airbnb has no regard for local laws. For example, in Thailand, Airbnb allows hosts to publish their properties on their platform despite knowing that it is illegal for unlicensed operators (private hosts) to host short-term rentals.

Although their review policy states that, and I quote, "Content that endorses or promotes illegal or harmful activity, OR that is profane, vulgar, obscene, threatening, or harassing", Airbnb's claim is that the following review does not breach their own policy:

"XX and XX are my worst guests ever. They are racist, selfish, dirty and really mean. They left the apartment without my checked. They even not locked the doors. They did not wash the dishes, still have rice and dirty things. The toilet is dirty with theirs s***. The trash bin is full of garbage."

On top of breaching their own policy, this review is also false, defamatory and completely misleading.

The ACCC has instituted proceedings in the Federal Court against Airbnb, Inc. and Airbnb Ireland UC (together, Airbnb) for allegedly misleading consumers into believing prices for Australian accommodation were in Australian dollars, when in fact for many consumers prices were in US dollars.

The ACCC alleges that, between at least January 2018 and August 2021, Airbnb made false or misleading representations to thousands of Australian consumers by displaying prices on its website or mobile app for Australian accommodation using only a dollar sign ($), without making it clear that those prices were in US dollars.

While on at least some occasions Airbnb referred to the price as 'USD' in small font on the last page of the booking process, this happened only after the platform had already displayed numerous dollar ('$') amounts on earlier pages, without nearby reference to US dollars, and after the consumer had clicked to 'reserve' their accommodation.

When thousands of consumers complained to Airbnb about being charged more than the displayed price, the ACCC alleges that Airbnb engaged in further misleading or deceptive conduct by telling many of them that it had displayed prices in US dollars because the user had selected this currency, when this was often not the case.

We booked '2 bdrm apartment - 6 kilometres from city'. That's in Watson, ACT, Canberra. We asked for a discount on the $932 for 7 days as its 2 bedrooms and we only need one. They accepted this but the offer came back as $897 so I asked for a breakdown and I know Airbnb also adds their 8% fee. Then they offered $725 + the Airbnb fee which came to $812. The offer was to last until 9.58am on 8 April. However, the site would not allow me to book tonight and they claim someone else has booked the place. This is completely outside Airbnb's policy and shows a total disrespect for Airbnb clients and especially clients like us with a really good reputation. This is in stark contrast to other sites like Booking.com for example who always honour their booking agreements and provide certainty for their clients.

I rented what looked like a great apartment in South Yarra Melbourne and when I arrived I was greeted to clothings in the wardrobe, food in the kitchen, no washing up equipment, a blow up mattress leading against the wall and have been waiting 51 days for the refund of my deposit. Apparently an internal system has caused the issues. No communication with customers. They want to get your money but certainly take their sweet time in returning it. Would not rent from them again after finding out that people actually live in the units but vacate (with all of their stuff still there) while you occupy for your holiday. I don't want to wake up seeing other people's stuff in the bathroom or kitchen. Was definitely not what I expected.

Still chasing payment for for hosting people 12-1-17 guests pay airbnb but airbnb dont pay hosts.Is any other host affected?

UTTERLY DEPRESSING/DIRTY/TOTALLY OVERPRICED never again!

Air BNB act only as in intermediary, with No authority or real concern, Basically AirBnb ask you to sort it out with the Owner,

The review on your site are from his relatives. Not impartial reviews at all.

When you book with airbnb be prepared to throw your money on a nonexistence service, unreliable host, false promises. And if you send your complains to airbnb, they don't even bother to reply you. Host can get away practically with every thing. We booked our accommodation in New York with a airbnb host, called Ehab, who claimed to have a beautiful, clean apartment in Manhattan. Our trouble started right from airport- host refused to meet us in apartment to give us keys because it was 10.30 o'clock at night and he thought our arriving time,( which we informed him well in advance)22.30 means 8.30 pm. After hours of delay and lots of difficulties we managed to get inside only to find the place full of dirt and filthy bed linens. There was no TV as was promised in host's advertisement, toilet sink knob was broken and there were hardly any utensils in kitchen. But our high lighted holiday horror was still to come. There was some confusion of our check out date while we were making booking, we wanted to check out one day later than our date. When we called host over the phone he promised us that we can stay one day extra and balance of payment would be settled on check out time. He even assured us by email. But to our shock, we forced to get out of the apartment day before we were suppose to leave. We were told by host that place has to be vacant he does not care whether we stay on road or where ever we go. We also found out that he was not owner of the apartment he was only sub ranting it. It is hard to explain what kind of trouble we had to face in a strange country without knowing any body. I informed airbnb about every thing and even offered them to show their host's emails as a proof. It is all most one and half month now, till today there is no response airbnb.

My advise to every body- Don't take risk, STAY AWAY FROM AIRBNB. I seriously believe airbnb kind of businesses must be closed down ASAP.

The first place I booked was a disaster. It was for a school reunion and I lived 4 hours away so needed to stay the night. Turned out the host had sold the property but I didn't find out till 2 days before. It all got sorted in the end and I decided to give them another go, which I'm glad I did. Spent a glorious week in Cairns with my son and granddaughter in a gorgeous tree top house with pool and spa. Stayed at another house in Yeppoon on the way home, both 3 bedrooms, and both bookings were quick and easy. The prices are much cheaper than a hotel, resort, or caravan park, for a place with privacy and a lot more space. If you're going to the local attractions and it's busy and noisy, you get to go home to peace and quiet in a fully self contained house or unit. Prices in comparison per night - 2/3 bedroom cabin in a caravan park, starts at about $110 on average with kitchen, but very small space. Hotel, starts at about $150 for 2 tiny rooms with interconnecting door, and just a kettle and bathroom. Resorts, start at about $200, which was what I paid for the place at Cairns, which was totally worth it. And there are also cheaper, really nice places on this site, starting from as low as $70/night, with out the service fee (8%), for a 3 bedroom unit or house and going up from there, most with heaps of extras, like internet, DVD's, cable tv, games/toys for the kids, books, basic cooking ingredients such as sauces etc, a dishwasher, yay, and other individual cool things unique to each place. So far we've stayed in 4 places this year, and they've all been really nice, clean, unique, and fun to stay in. I've done hotel, caravan park, and resort, and this has by far been the better deal all round! We'll only be staying anywhere with air bnb from now on!