Tl;dr:
This Airbnb refund policy is an absolute disaster. They only grant a full service fee refund if you cancel within the free cancellation period; otherwise, you're left with zilch. When the host chooses a percentage refund, one would assume that the service fee would align with that percentage refund. But in the realm of Airbnb, the service fee is non-refundable entirely, conveniently allowing Airbnb to pocket every bit. Yet, throughout this entire process, neither the host nor I have benefited from this supposed "service". It seems like a despotic maneuver by Airbnb, padding their pockets with pointless service fees that provide zero value in return.

----- full story -----
I had an incredibly disappointing experience with Airbnb's customer service, and it's disheartening to see how little they value their customers. Recently, I encountered a situation that perfectly embodies their lack of care for customer experiences. Despite safety concerns due to a stormy weather forecast at my destination lasting the entirety of my stay, when I attempted to reschedule my booking 72 hours before the check-in time, I was met with an infuriating roadblock.

The option to "change booking" seemed straightforward enough, so I requested to shift the dates to the following week, which showed availability on the host's calendar. However, the host insisted I contact customer service, expressing a preference for cancellation. Here's where the trouble began: by canceling, the host would only refund a portion of my payment, as Airbnb requires a five-day cancellation notice for a full refund. The frustrating part? I could cancel another stay elsewhere on some reputable hotel booking website, just 48 hours before check-in, without facing any refund or exchange fees.

I understand the reduced rebooking opportunity for the host due to the short notice, and I was willing to accept the consequences and compensate accordingly. What doesn't make sense, though, is Airbnb's stance on their non-refundable service fee. The stay hadn't even started, yet I was slapped with an irremovable service fee. What service did I receive apart from being forced to cancel when a clear rescheduling option exists on their website?

During my interaction with customer service, I attempted to find a middle ground by offering to rebook the exact same listing for different dates to ensure that both the host and the platform didn't lose revenue. However, my request for a service fee refund was met with false promises. They assured me of a full refund but later reneged, stating that the host declined the rescheduling due to potential event blockings—claims that I later discovered were outright lies, as the dates remain available on the host's calendar.

It's apparent that Airbnb attempts to shift blame onto hosts for their own shortcomings. My grievance is not with the host, who has nothing to do with Airbnb's service fee. The customer service further misled me by claiming these fees go to the host's account, or maybe not, which I found utterly laughable. At this point, my frustration has surpassed the issue of refunds.

Adding to this disappointing encounter, my previous experiences with Airbnb haven't been positive: malfunctioning AC (host wouldn't fix it or offer an alternative), unreasonable host requests (take out their dirty personal clothes, put them into washer and dry them out before I leave), and cleanliness issues (unknown liquid on towels/pillows/sheets). Despite these, I never complained or left one negative review, understanding that small businesses might have occasional imperfections. But my patience with Airbnb has run out, and I've permanently deleted my account. I'll be opting for reputable hotel websites for future bookings.

I booked this healing vacation for my mom and I, to Sedona, AZ. Since we both had heavy cancer treatments for years we needed a break. Instead of taking 7 different pills a day, I use medicinal marijuana and while it's legal in Arizona I let them know my situation and mention that I'll smoke outside. Just because throughout these years the stigma, and misinformation is obvious.

Turns out the location was far from downtown, but host Vanessa says the distance is only hard when "you're handicapped" basically and belittles my 73 y/o Mom. That 30 minutes walk up a steep hill was hard for me as well...but let's move on.

She promised my bed to be comfortable. But the sheets have stains, hard spots and popcorn. Ants all over the kitchen, broken glass and the new sheets (in the closet, sitting on top of a box, paintings and other personal clutter) do not smell fresh. At this point I'm so disappointed. I sit on the bed and see the whole feet part falls down, its broken. So laying on it, your feet fall down.

I text AirBnB and here is where it goes wrong:

Even though I'm paying the host $220/night, AirBnB says that even though I have no bed for a week...and the location is off...it's upto the Host to see what she wants to do.

I forward pictures to the Host and say I'm sorry to be a bother, but the bed is broken...the sheets are dirty...and the other sheets in the closet don't smell clean. Vanessa texts me I can leave now but pay for 4 nights plus cleanings fees, AirBnB fees etc. That hardly leaves me with anything left to find another place. I try regardless because we feel unwelcome.

She wanted us out since I said the bed was broken, and declined repair since that would leave me with another day of not enjoying the town and hiking. Anyway, we made sure we left everything perfect. Did the dishes, took trash out etc. Made a video how well it looked at check out.

The host left me feedback, stating we ruined the cabin, broke dishes, smoked inside and uses marijuana as a tool judge and belittle and goes off like Im a drug addict. I open a case with AirBnB to have the lies removed. They wont do it...not will they look at my video or pictures as proof.

I didn't even ask for a refund. I didn't report a lady coming by the 3rd day and a guy the 4th day. Unannounced. All I wanted was the lies taken down, but they won't do it!

We had been looking forward to this vacation for months, and were sent several emails from host Jenny stating how tranquil, and private the place was, and how she was eager to ensure we had a great experience. Unfortunately, the tiny house looks straight across the driveway to the neighbors place, and they were using power tools during our stay. When we first got to the airbnb rental the lockbox was already open, with the key in it (not secure). The first issue we faced was that the bathroom pocket door was broken. We tried to fix it, but it was not just off the track, it was broken and would take more than a borrowed screwdriver to fix. Even though we could not have privacy in the bathroom, we did not complain, and we were not going to let that impact our holiday. The next morning my partner woke up complaining of itchy bites around his ankles and lower legs. I didn't think much of it and assumed it was mosquitos or biting midges. The second night of our holiday he woke up in the middle of the night from itchiness and many more bites, and tried to sleep on the couch. This was unusual as there were no mosquitos in the tiny home when we went to sleep, and the windows were closed. So I took a close look at his legs and immediately recognized them to be flea bites. Our young son and I had slept in the other loft bed and neither of us had received even one bite. Obviously we could not expect him to go back up in that loft bed another night, and had no choice but to get a hotel in town for the rest of our vacation. I sent Jenny a polite and factual email about the situation, and then she showed her true colours. She refused to believe me, and said there were no fleas in the house (even though it turns out she was on the other side of the country and not at the property during our stay). She said we should have talked to her first before going to a hotel, but logically - what could she have done about it? She said they were no-see-ums bites not flea bites, but no-see-ums do not live in beds, and the other two of us would have been bitten as well if that were the case. I sent her photos of the bites and pointed out that there in fact was dog hair on the dog bed and blankets provided at the house, and that they may have come from there. She denied this and said she had an exterminator to the house (within one day!?) who had checked and reported no fleas. Of course, when I asked to see the report she became defensive, and accused me of "playing games". She tried to paint us as soft city-folk in her emails, saying things like I'm sorry you were so "frightened" and "terrified" by bugs. Actually we are regular campers, hikers, and members of the Four Wheel Drive Assoc. Who have always lived on the west coast of BC, are very familiar with the Squamish area, and have tons of experience with bugs. She did not offer any type of reparations in any of our countless email communications, but instead became combative, then had the nerve to send me several emails asking for a five star review!, warned me not to write about our experience of fleas in the review, and threatened to give me a bad 'guest review' on AirBnB.

The day after we'd had to leave the tiny house and get a hotel room, AirBnB Support started sending me numerous emails. I had not contacted them, but they had three different agents spamming me emails saying they are working to find a solution, not giving one, then asking repeatedly if we would like "any further support". I replied pointing out that they had not actually given us any support yet whatsoever. Their emails barely made any sense and seemed to have been auto-translated or written by someone who does not speak English. I stopped responding, as it was going nowhere and I just wanted to spend time with my family - not deal with endless, pointless emails. In the end the AirBnB Support sent me a notification saying they refunded me $29.70. They didn't ask if I wanted this refund, they just sent it and figured they had made things right. This is a joke, considering the rental cost of Jenny's tiny home was $1672.00, we could only stay for half of the time paid for without enduring more bodily harm, and were forced to pay an additional unforeseen expense of $630.00 for a hotel. It is very sad that all we wanted was a nice, relaxing holiday together, and what we got for our hard-earned money was flea bites, attitude, and the hassle of having to move accommodations in the middle of it. Not to mention the relentless, pointless email communications - I might as well have been at work. If Jenny or AirBnB had made ANY real attempt to compensate for this experience, this review could have had a very different tone. And they were given every opportunity to do so.

I only wish I had researched AirBnB before booking. I did look at the reviews specific to Jenny's property, and they were all positive. Only now after looking into it more did I find out that AirBnB removes the very negative reviews from their site. There are an overwhelming number of extremely negative reviews of AirBnB on Consumer Affairs, TrustPilot, SiteJabber, the Better Business Bureau, etc. Even found these two very revealing articles:

https://www.theinvisibletourist.com/why-you-shouldnt-use-airbnb-issues-you-didnt-know/

Https :// www.nerdwallet.com/article/travel/airbnb-terrible#:~:text=A%*******%20study%20of%20more,22%25%20were%20related%20to%20scams

I have no doubt AirBnb will not publish this review, which is why it is going on every other site available. After reading these, we really don't think ANYONE should be using AirBnB. Anyway, as for Jenny's threat to 'blacklist' me from AirBnB...no worries, we would not use this horrible service again even if you paid us.

Being a superhost of one listing for 15 months with over 117 reviews, I assumed when it came time to be an Airbnb guest my experiences would be as positive as most of my guests experiences were with me. After 7 reservations, 4 were particularly good, but Bas's place in Vista, California was the worst! In his welcome message he states ".would appreciate any feedback because" I was a fellow host. So, I did and told him: 1) my first morning there, I woke up to a pithy message reminding me of the house rule about quiet time. This is because I went in the shared kitchen to get my morning iced coffee at 5:45 a.m. I assumed this was ok as he states, "Since we all share the kitchen, guests are welcome to prepare meals (between 6am-10pm) …." It didn't say we couldn't enter the kitchen at all. Later he complained, "I woke up at 5:52 am to the kitchen cabinets being slammed shut the freezer sliding and slam closed. I truly dislike having to go over incidents that makes me uncomfortable." After I explained that he was awakened a mere 8 minutes before the end of quiet time because I found a sink full of someone else's dirty dishes which I washed, dried and put away (hence the noise), to avoid the pest problem he has; there was no apology or appreciation forthcoming. 2) I wanted to take a shower but after searching the usual places, I couldn't find any towels. His other guest helped me find one small towel in the closet. Bas said he always provides two towels, but I never received another towel. 3) He also whined about accepting my booking the same day as my request. I reminded him that as Airbnb hosts we are in the service industry and our guests needs supersede our own, even if we're "uncomfortable." It comes with the job. 4) When I notified him the ceiling fan was making a loud clicking noise, he notified me of a tower fan in the next room and to retrieve it myself. 5) He then lectured me insinuating that I was inconsiderate of him and other guests. "I'm not asking for much or being unreasonable as I host 3 listings on Airbnb and been doing this for 2 years now and as a super host with over 60 reviews. And it is not easy to keep everyone comfortable unless we all observe the rules and be mindful of one another. I hope you can appreciate that Stephanie…" When I suggested he do the math: 2 years, times 3 listings and only 60 reviews meant to me that lots of guests weren't leaving any reviews, andreviews and told him I hadn't planned on doingto do so either, he seemed insulted. So, I added two things I thought were great about his listing. 6) I told Bas that I was uncomfortable with the high temperature of the house. He suggested I open the windows, which I did. For the whole week I played my radio at the same volume level. Four days into my stay, I was awakened around 3 a.m. with loud banging on my door by the Sherriff saying that the radio was too loud. Bas never mentioned that this was a problem previously. The following are additional issues I didn't discuss that day with him and also address a Request for Reimbursement I received via Airbnb from Bas. 1) The recurring guest/friend of his I mentioned previously helped me in with my bags, but I should have been suspicious of his motives. The rest of my week there, I spent trying to nicely rebuff his unwanted attentions. I'm sure he would just say he was being friendly, but twice should have been sufficient for anyone. This guy, however, was being deliberately obtuse, and I was extremely uncomfortable the whole week as a result and felt compelled to keep my door locked. I didn't feel compelled to do this, ever, at my own listing. Not wanting to create any drama I remained silent. 2) Bas waited until my last night there to notify me that I hadn't been following house rules like not using the proper color coded refrigerator shelf for my food. I had about $80 worth of food on the top shelf and instead of letting me know the previous nights that this was a problem or placing the food on the blue shelf, he threw all of it out even though that same shelf was now empty (I have a photo of this).
When I said the faded color green looked blue to me, he smiled an said I should stop raising my voice. It was then that I realized this was an infantile, passive-aggressive retaliation for my pointing out all the problems. As I previously stated, at first I hadn't planned to leave a review and suspected that others had done the same. But now that he's taken the further action to maliciously request reimbursement of $300 for leaving the room unclean and for damages, future guests need to know about him. I actually left it cleaner than I found it, and nothing was broken before I left. The table tops were disgustingly dirty, and the carpet remnant was smelly. There was nothing I could do about the latter, but I wiped clean the table tops. He offers the washer/dryer as an amenity and being a "beach bumb" I've used numerous dryers for my damp towels with no problems, but he is saying I caused damage to his dryer. I don't even know what the other items are he's talking about, the pictures don't show this clearly, but everything in the room is pretty cheap, so even if things were broken the cost probably wouldn't exceed $5. I also find it outlandish that he nitpicks about not emptying the trash. I always do this for my own guests, again part of the job. He stated that, "As per your suggestion I will not write you a review as long as you don't either." This clearly shows that he is afraid I would write a review of my horrible stay at his Airbnb as I'm doing now and was being proactively threatening to prevent my doing so. I did my best to get along and follow the many house rules. It's my opinion that these trumped up imagined offenses are to protect himself because he knows I have these things against him.

Sumter Airbnbs Stay Away from them.
Just go to a hotel. It's worth the money and avoids the Airbnb scam. They took almost 4000 from me. Do not trust the Airbnb companies. We stayed at the Carolina Casa: 3 Bed 2 bath Near SHAW AFB. Host Kodee was friendly. The home is advertised somewhat deceptive. She post that it could sleep up to six however she doesn't specify that the twin bed (trundle) for the other 2 guest in in the laundry room. Also the pictures on these Airbnb sites are old and not true. Then towards the end of our check out she tried to say we scratched a table luckily I had taken pictures so I didn't have to pay. We checked out a day early and she kept the money.
The second one Tiffanie Sumter. The community is beautiful. You can tell the surrounding owners keep up their home. She is advising that check in is at 12 but when you read my correspondence with her she clearly stated we could not check in until 3. Red flag 1. We eventually checked in around 4pm. The lights in the front would not stop flickering, the home electrical had obviously been cut off because the smell was terrible. The refrigerator smelt like a dead animal was ither in it or behind it. Red flag 2. The alarm would not stop beeping. The first night we literally got no sleep. Skip to the final straw of us leaving. The water in one bathroom wouldn't get hot and in the master bathroom would barely turn on. When we went to turn it off after taking a shower the water would not stop running. We had to turn the main valve off outside to keep from getting blamed for any damage. The host refuses to give us back a refund. The worst thing is she is trying to keep the entire 3700, even though we only stayed 1 of the 3 weeks. I contacted the Airbnb support team. If I can upload all of their correspondence you will see I spoke to three different people two of who clearly stated she violated policies. However if you look at the last correspondence with their support team I am now being told I won't get a refund at all. This whole Airbnb thing may look like a good deal because they are cheaper than hotels but a hotel does not take your money upfront because they can guarantee quality service, Airbnb cannot. If you have a bad stay at a hotel the offer refunds and free stays, Airbnb doesn't need to offer anything because they took your mom upfront. The host are scammers and they will try in every way to say you damaged something so they can get more money. At the end when they tell you to review. They will only put the good reviews up there. Please get the word out that if a company is requesting your money upfront for a service you have not yet received, it's most likely a scam.

Guest Experience: Overall, I would have to say this was a horrificexperience not only from a host standpoint but from a customer experience withAirbnb. My family and I recently sold our home and were in transition, waitingfor our new home to complete construction. Therefore, we decided to utilizeAirbnb services to seek out an extended stay option, we found this host "GoodVibe Getaways" hosted by Andie & Jeremy" after reading a couple ofreviews indicating the host was very prompt with responding to messages, Idecided to send a message to inquiry about parking. The host was prompt in response tomy message. Therefore, we decided to proceed with the reservation which wasscheduled for (9) Weeks. Let me start out by providing positive feedback first regarding thishost: The booking process was easy, and the listing was very detailed regardingthe overall accommodations, house rules, etc. The accommodations looked likethe photos: a 2 bedroom, 2 bath with a den/office space with a cozy livingroom/kitchen space. The host "Andie" was courteous and prompt when respondingto my initial inquiry regarding the parking arrangements. My family and I (4) guests arrived on Friday, May 26,2023.Upon arrival there were a few minor issues but as we were scheduled for anextended stay, we decided to overlook the cleanliness issues and proceededcleaning to ensure we were comfortable, and that the cleanliness was up to ourstandards. Over the course of the next three days after settling in we noticed a fewbroken items and wanted to ensure the host was aware to avoid any confusionupon departure as to the state of the lodging prior to our stay. Therefore, Imessaged the host to inform them abut cleanliness issues mainly as a point tobring to their attention the level of service their cleaning staff wasproviding. As well as the overstate of the accommodations. Washing machine tray detergent cover broken completely off. The detergent tray itself was dirty. Kitchen sink spray head loose Kitchen cabinet Lazy-Susan door was wobbly/misaligned. Fridge was dirty and there was minor damage to the storage draws. The Couches had pet hair and smelled of pets. The Living room rug was dirty with several stains. Bathrooms were not cleaned. The Master bathroom sink cabinet door was broken. The guest bathroom sink was clogged and drained slowly. The AC vent cover contained a buildup of dust and dirt. The vacuum collection container was completely full. The Office desk draw contained tobacco residue/shavings. The host "Andie" responded and apologized for the issues. She inquired ifwe would like to have the cleaning services come back. We declined the cleaningservice as we had already cleaned as we planned an extended stay and wanted tomake the home more comfortable, and we did not have confidence in the initiallevel of service provided by the cleaners. However, we did request if they could address the guest bathroom sinkissue. The host scheduled the handymanto come out Wednesday Morning. The handyman arrived at 9:39 am to fix the sink aswell as the master bathroom cabinet door. The handyman was there for severalhours and did not finish up until after 6pm. Over the course of the day thehandyman left for several hours at a time indicating he was going back andforth to the home supply store for parts. It appeared each time he returned butthen ended up with the wrong part after several conversations with him and 4-6trips back and forth to stores he had ultimately ended up replacing the trapand placing Drano in the sink after he indicated he spoke with a representative atAC that suggested this option. This appeared to fix the issue and we thoughtthe remainder of the stay would be great. Later that week as the weather started to heat up, we noticed various bugsin the unit generally on the floor and near water sources (i.e., sink), butattributed this to the change in season and an older home. However, the nextday my daughter woke up in the morning and informed me that she noticed somesmall bugs in the bedding and had several bites in various areas of her body. So,we decided to wash all the linen. After washing the linen, we notice within themattress small bugs. The combination of these items was very alarming as thiswas a health, safety, and well-being issue. We reached out to the host again,and they asked for a picture. We sent several photos, and the host immediately stated it's not bed bugs.We were not sure what we were experiencing as this has never happened to us. Weasked them if they knew what type of bugs this could be, and the host "Dean"responded back to hold on while he was researching. I then asked the host if a phonecall would be more appropriate so we could discuss our concerns and questionsthey had. The host responded: "I am doing a little digging online at the moment.Give me just a moment and I will follow up momentarily". After a pause in communications,we began to get concerned that this was a bigger problem and washing the sheetswould not solve the issue. I then messaged the host asking to prorate the stayand refund any unused time, and we would look for other accommodations so theycould address the bug issue and we would be in a much safer and morecomfortable environment. The host then responded immediately that they would decline the refundfor any unused time and told us we could seek alternative accommodationsotherwise he could order us pizza to help lighten the mood and could place acall to see if they could get pest control but could not guarantee if theycould get pest services or any general ETA. As we had already experienced their handymanservice, we were concerned that this would result in the same type of response to someone who may not be fully equipped to do their job and would not be promptlyaddressed. In this case we lost faith and "Pizza to lighten the mood" was notan acceptable solution and was a very insensitive response to bugs in your bed. As it was now late into the evening, we began to look for alternativeaccommodation and the next morning I called Airbnb to discuss next steps and asolution to our problem. I spoke with a representative "John" who after myinitial encounter he transferred me to a specialized team to take down myconcerns, collect photos documentation and follow up with the host. Afterspeaking with the host, the host declined any refund for unused time and didnot provide any additional remedies to the issue. Even though we only started at home 2 weeks and had 3 weeks left on the 1st month'sinstallment. My family and I need to find an alternative arrangement as this is notacceptable. I booked another Airbnb for the next (7) weeks which ended upbeing (2) separate bookings as there was not a host in the area to accommodatethe full (7) weeks in such short notice. I also confirmed with the Airbnbrepresentative that no additional installment would be taken formy reservation with "Good Vibes" as initially the current reservationwas for 2 month and the next payment installment was scheduled for 10 day laterfor the month of July. They indicated that I would not incur anyadditional fees moving forward relating to this host. In speaking with theAirbnb representative as well as message with the current host "Good Vibes" weagreed that after work I would remove my belongings and then cancel thereservation the next day this would allow me at least 24 hours to retrieve mybelongings and relocate to the new Airbnb as check-in time was after 4pm. Shortly after my call with the Airbnb customer service I received amessage from a representative that the host cancelled my reservation and then thehost submitted a request to process a charge of ($1,606.40). I reached out to Airbnb,and they told me they would follow up as this should not have been processed. After research Airbnb reversed ($1,209.47) but the remainder ($396.93)they refused as they indicated this was the Airbnb service fee. Which was confusingas we already paid the 1st month fee of ($3,259.20) which should have alreadyincluded the first month's service fee. After Airbnb reversed the fee, the hostproceeded to change the access code as retaliation as well as an attempt to makeit difficult for us to collect our belongings. Fortunately for us one member of my family had just got back from workand was in the Airbnb otherwise we would have been locked out and unable toretrieve our belongings. After work I headed straight to the Airbnb to beginloading our car. From there things became more aggressive from the host "Dean"he began to send messages that we need to get out even after earlier thatafternoon he as well as the Airbnb representative said we had until the end ofday (EOD). Which is why I told them I would cancel the reservation effectivethe next day to allow time for us to collect our belongings after work. "Dean" madethreatening statements over the ring camera telling us to vacate now or he wouldcall the cops and tell them we were trespassers. We were collecting our items as fast as we could. We did not want to be aswell, he continued to be aggressive in his tone as well as messages which madeus uncomfortable and worried for our safety. Once we collected our belongings,cleaned up and locked up we sent him a message to inform him that we hadfinished retrieving our items and that the house was locked up. This experience has made me, and my family troubled about the Airbnbexperience not only from the host and guest interaction but also due to the lackof care, empathy or consideration of guest experience. Airbnb has displayedpoor business practices and made it very apparent that they do not value theirguests. This experience was traumatizing as well as costly and severely increasedmy moving cost above and beyond what we budget. Not only was I charged for 3weeks of unused time but also for a service fee for the month they hadcancelled, and charged a partial month in error, then refunded the partialmonth and then immediately charged me a service fee for the partial month theyhad refunded. This made no sense as theservice fee should have been processed when they charged the 1stinstallment upon booking the reservation. In addition, Airbnb was fully aware that I had (2) additional reservationswhich they are benefiting from and for some reason they see no issue with theircourse of action or lack of adequate remedies. If I did not have these two reservations that I cannot get refunded forI would no longer use Airbnb service. This will be the last time I use Airbnb. They have lost a customer and I will not recommend their services to anyfriends, family, or colleagues. This is a horrific experience and honestly ahuge disappointment in the Airbnb brand.

Elizabeth Ransom

I stayed at 98 Osseo Park Rd
Monroe, NY
United States by the host Kevin from the spartan competition in April of 2023. I had a horrible stay at Kevin cabin and left a very fair review which I'll repost on the bottoms of this review. Note I was very fine with leaving the review and going on with my life until I started receiving phone calls, voice mails and text messages from Kevin begging for me to remove my review due to was his only means of income. Kevin promised a refund of 603 but only paid back 300. When I contacted airbnb about the issue they informed me I had 60 days to file for a refund which I did after the 3 week promised by the host for the remaining 300$ promised. Airbnb told me they cannot make the host refund me and Kevin did not refund even through he did state hand to god to me about getting my refund. Keep in mind airbnb will not take your back if any host calls and harasses you. Original review posted below on Kevin cozy cabin.

Pros:
-The host was available by phone when needed.
-Kevin provided us with information about the cabin.
-Information about surrounding areas including great restaurant recommendations.
-Strong Wi-Fi service
-Nice landscape
-Firewood
-Cool vintage lunch boxes
-Fire pit

Cons:
-No AC as advertised in the description which definitely could have been used during our mid April stay where the temperature is known to be unpredictable.(first night was uncomfortably hot).
-Could not open windows in the bedroom due to no screens, when asked we were told they were taken out to be cleaned but not brought back yet.
-Upon arrival we quickly noticed the cabin was having issues with Termite Swarmers, dropping their wings throughout the cabin and walking around. (We are in woodsy areas so I guess there should be no surprise there).
-When we left the cabin for our outings we unfortunately had no choice but to leave the door unlocked due to a defect in the dead bolt which Kevin told us he knew about.
-We were told where to plug the outside lights in but that too didn't work due to a damaged outlet which again Kevin did know about when asked.

In closing:
Although I don't believe this place was 100% ready to be rented out and I will say despite the cons I mentioned. This cozy lakeside cabin has great potential to be a great escape from the city and we would consider returning if those issues were addressed. We did especially enjoy sitting around the fire pit by the lake at sunset which made this stay a 3 1/2 star experience.

The idea of Airbnb is great. I love having the opportunity to travel literally anywhere and stay at interesting, modern, luxury homes, but at what cost?

I created my account last Fall (2022). The point of creating the account was so that I could book a place to stay for the weekend, this is where I hit my first roadblock with Airbnb. After setting up my account and things, I went to book and kept getting a notification saying that I was unable to book, with that being said I called customer service. I was told that my account hadn't passed the verification process so that was the reason why I couldn't book, I was then notified that it takes about 2-3 days to confirm the identity and whatnot, for me that was no biggie. Because of that mishap I wasn't able to book my getaway trip for the weekend and I had to go through a family member of mines to book it through their account and add me as one of the guests, it worked out fine and we had a lovely trip and the host even left a really nice review on my account.

Fast forward to 4 days ago, April of (2023, mind you as I'm writing this the day is almost over, so with that being said it'll technically be almost a week by the time anyone has read this) I again was looking to book a weekend trip for myself and some family. I find the perfect spot, I go through the payment process and here we are waiting for the payment to go through until I'm stopped in my tracks with another message saying that I was unable to book this home. I close out of the app and try to do it again, because by this point it's been 6 months since I created the account, so I know it's not a verification issue, I try again but to no avail. I call support and ask what's going on, I tell them my previous encounter with the identity verification process and that there should be no further issues, they looked into it and I was informed that there was a "Party prevention" ban on my account. After asking for more information regarding what that all entails, I was told that it means that whenever I try to book, the host will get a warning that I may throw some type of party. This was mind boggling to me due to the fact that I've only stayed in one Airbnb before trying to book this one and the host even left me a good review. I told the customer service rep this information and he proceeded to escalate the case to "higher ups" as they are the only ones who can remove this. I was told that I would get updates regarding this and to this day I have yet to receive any type of update and every-time I call I get told the exact same thing. With that being said, I'm never using Airbnbs services again, this clearly shows that they do not take priority in helping the consumers of the app, rather the safety of the hosts is being held of high esteem, which is great if you're hosting, but in my case that is not happening so I'm receiving the short end of the stick.

Our Airbnb experience at Cabanas Los Colibries in Playa Estacahuite, Oaxaca, Mexico:
We booked a room with A/C but when we got there realized there were only fans. No more rooms were available so we tried to sleep in hot room to no avail. The host Michael J moved us the next day to a room with A/C after suggesting we pay more for the room. We booked a room with A/C so no we would not pay more. We went to bed in the next room and at 1:30 AM I woke to a burning feeling on my wrist. Looking at my wrist it was covered in 9 big welts in a row. We checked the mattress and noticed it had a bedbug protector cover on it and saw little rust colored stains at each corner which I learned is a tell tale sign of bed bug presence. I informed the host who tried to convince me the bites were from a new type of mosquito in the area. He moved us to another room and two days later we left. I began questioning what type of bites I had and by the time I learned that they were bed bugs we had no access to the room and had left the accommodations. I did however have photos of the bites that in the photos you can see we were sitting on the deck of the listed room compared to the photos on the listing. We moved on to a hotel for the remainder of our trip and my travel mate started getting bites on his leg. We believe the bug got into his luggage as it was opened right next to the bed where I was bit. This completely gave us mental anguish and fear that we would bring the bugs home with us. I've travelled the world and only ever had to deal with ants and mosquitos. This is GROSS! The host was aware he had bed bugs as he had plastic encasements on the two beds in that room only. The other two rooms we stayed on had no plastic protectors. During the remaining 5 days we had on our vacation we slowly realized the extent of the problem we had and so when we got home I contacted Airbnb and sent them pics of the bites. They refused to do anything about it, saying I needed to provide a picture of the bug that bit me. WHAT? How is that possible when they bite in the middle of the night and hide all day. Impossible! Then they tried to tell me the bites were from fleas. Not even close to a flea bite. I didn't ask for a refund, only some action taken. Airbnb guarantees are pointless as they do nothing to support the guest. They said they would refund me $21 for the first night because of the lack of A/C but I have seen nothing so far. This is the last time I stay at an Airbnb. Hotels cost the same and have actual safe professional service and don't try to gaslight you into silence. Undoubtedly the worse accommodations experience I've ever had.

Update: After tons of communication with Airbnb they said they would give me a partial refund for the room not having A/C. The support person told me that over the phone, not on their online support. Now they are reneging on it and I have no documented proof as it was verbal. That promise was given by their support supervisor. They are shady and untrustworthy. They have devised a system that screws over the guest and only protects the host. Their guarantees are fake. The other posters here are correct. Airbnb will never give anything back. They are liars. I will never use Airbnb again. Booking.com has always dealt with problems with curtesy and good outcomes. It's so not worth risking your vacation experience by staying at armature accommodations.

El peor lugar en que se podia estar Ni el Dueño ni Air B&B se hisieron resposables de nada No habia internet en el lugar Se metia el agua por las paredes y ventanas El aire acondicionado no servia Y para colmo la seguridad en la entrada que con todo y llaves no nos dejaba entrar que acosaba y agredia se la aviso al Dueño y al Air B&B y no hisieron nada mejor nos salimos antes de que terminara el tiempo que habiamos pagado por que el acoso por parte del personal de seguridad era demasiado y la agrecion era mucha y no se hacen responsables de nada ni regresan el dinero de los dias que no estubimos que es por parte de ellos la culpa por tener pernal de tan baja calidad NO LES RECOMIENDO USAR NI ESTE LUGAR NI ESTA APLICACION YA QUE SON UNOS RATEROS YA QUE SOLO SE PASAN LA RESPONSABILIDAD SIN DAR SOLUCIONES.
The worst place you could be Neither the Owner nor Air B&B took responsibility for anything There was no internet in the place Water got in through the walls and windows The air conditioning did not work, and to make matters worse the security at the entrance that with everything and keys did not let us enter that harassed and assaulted the Owner and to Air B&B and they did nothing better We left before the end of the time we had paid for because the harassment by the security personnel was too much and the aggression was great and they are not responsible for anything or return the money for the days that we were not aware that it is their fault for having such low quality pernal I DO NOT RECOMMEND YOU TO USE THIS PLACE OR THIS APPLICATION SINCE THEY ARE SOME THICKENS SINCE THEY ONLY PASS THE RESPONSIBILITY WITHOUT GIVING SOLUTIONS.