Airbnb

If I could give zero I would. Eight days ago I booked a trip and was double charged. They charged both the gift card I used for the transaction as well as an additional credit card which I did not authorize. I have called numerous times, been on hold for several hours, sent emails, sent private messages via their Facebook, and used all available contact forms on their website and this is still not resolved. They keep assuring me will happen in a timely manner but no one has a time estimate. Only managers can handle this they say but no manager is ever available. Im out over $700 which they admit is their error but are u willing to refund. I will NEVER book with them again. They assured me that the delay is just do to a high number of current incidents (is that supposed to be reassuring?). Buyer beware! This company does NOT care!

Unfortunately, my reservation has been cancelled for the third time in the last two months. I had planned this trip six months ago and was supposed to leave next Thursday. The host was not properly checked before being posted on the website, which is not my fault but this is the reason why airbnb cancelled my reservation. Despite advertising a 24-hour response time, the support team took more than 30 hours to respond. They have now offered me a 70 euro voucher, but the prices have already doubled and they have not helped me find alternative accommodation or cover the price difference which is 250 euros. It's impossible to find a similar apartment at the same price as six months ago. They haven't done anything to assist me.
I would rather pay more with Booking.com than risk having my holiday ruined again.

Reading all the nightmare stories below would definitely make me hesitant to use airbnb. I've only stayed at two properties, one in California and Florida from hosts who had previous reviews and seemed to be well vetted. I also messaged back a few times to get a sense of who I was dealing with. Obviously there's some horror stories out there, so it seems to be a risk either way so just look for those properties and hosts with good reviews from previous travelers. I've never had an issue anytime my family and I have used the platform, but every experience is obviously different.

I have tried to work with Airbnb after a host failed to make everything right after our visit. They did nothing and blamed it on their existing 'policies'. We have pictures, communication and everything. It got us nowhere and no return of any money, or at least housekeeping fee refunded. Beds were not made upon arrival, appliances not working, pool issues, and the list could go on.

I posted a recent complaint about Airbnb on their facebook page, not only did they remove it. They sent me a personal message acting like they had good intentions, only to lead me to a dead end like all of their other representatives. My bank will reimburse the funds I recently wasted on an airbnb trip, but my advice to future airbnb users, please read their terms and conditions. If there are any issues with the property you're staying at, document it in videos and photos, because airbnb will not reimburse you in anyway. Their customer service is completely despicable, don't waste your time with them. Contact a lawyer and seek advice before proceeding.

We booked a family trip to Mexico and used Airbnb for two of our family members. With only 23 days before our trip, the host cancelled. Then he re-listed his property under a different name and raised the price by 50.00 per night. Then he took advantage of the high demand over New Years and it was unavailable for us to book. We were left with no accommodation. Airbnb customer service strategy is basically to pass you off from one person to the next with no resolution. After spending thousands of dollars on airfare we learned a few lessons - buyer beware and don't take a risk with this shady business.

I was completely unhappy with the way they do business. I booked through them for Daytona Bike Week several weeks in advance. 3 days before the event in which they are pretty much booked everywhere I get a late-night text message saying they canceled me and sent me back my refund with no explanation. So therefore I panicked and struggle to find something to be able to stay or cancel my trip. I ended up finding something that cost double in price pretty much my only option. So I'm going to try to make the best of the trip but I'm extremely upset with this company and also the property owner... Odette. I would hardly stay away from her. Completely rude and unfair and unprofessional

There's quite a lot i could say right now.

I'll keep it simple.

My reservation that i made weeks ago was cancelled because someone came in after me and booked for slightly longer (confirmed).

The support ambassador assigned to me named Harvey offered little to no help at all. Had to talk over him to get a single word out as he is a professional customer service word vomiter.

After much arguing, he came at me with a $35 discount on a $1400 reservation I had made.

This was also after deciding to put my problem on hold for about 3-4 days (see attached photo)

As i said to Harvey, this offer was comical and insulting after experiencing what I did.

Will never use Airbnb again

No accountability. Homeowners are much more important to Airbnb than customers. So if you have a bad experience at a location, like we did, they will side with the property owner. Even if the property listing has other complaints from guests Airbnb won't pull it and loose the revenue. Their system is corrupt. Use a strong credit card like Amex so you have a chance of disputing your issues, or book VBRO.

Booking was a complete nightmare. Certain amenities listed in contract will not be accessible during our stay, such as beach access from property. We specifically paid for this location because it's beachfront with direct access on a NO DRIVE beach. Asked for fair compensation for this HUGE inconvenience. We were offered $34 out of our total paid, $842 for 2 nights. Remember, Can't access beach from property! We're told to drive down to a public access location! Our concerns and disappointments have been constantly dismissed and gas lighted. We are so upset at how our trip turned out and how Airbnb and the property handled our issues. Make sure you read the fine print on BOTH contracts (airbnb and property) before you commit to any contract. Ask any and all questions prior to payment and have them put it in writing. This will be a valuable lesson learned for us. Never again.

Air Bnb exist just to make money, once you're booked, you have no protection if the place is not what it said to be, they don't inspect these places, they don't work personally with owners. We stayed at three places, all filthy. I'm in london for cancer treatments and the place we got had mites and we all got infested, the landlord said it is our responsibility to keep things clean, how is that when we don't own the mice infested bed? This could cause my death to be honest. You are better off at a hotel where there is quality control. You get what you pay for, they're not exactly cheap anyway we just wanted a kitchen, a serviced apartment would be better, hard hard lesson learned. I would not recommend airbnb to my enemy. I won't even give airbnb one star, the worst company I know.

Airbnb can be a scam. I booked a home for a family event in Raleigh NC and the photos on the site showed a nice home with bright light and clean bathrooms. Arrived to a filthy dirty frat house. The bathroom was so filthy that the shower curtain had brown mold stains all over the floor was caked with black dirt. The Window sill had a piece of chewed gum stuck to it. We didn't even stay one hour in the house and all said we could not sleep in this environment so we went and paid for hotel rooms. Airbnb was not helpful and the host told us that we had to give them time to fix the issue. We only booked for 2 nights so they could not fix all the dirt, bugs, mold and grime in that time. Airbnb said they would give us $500 back (one third of the price) and the host did nothing and told us they brought over new shower curtain for us to hang. I next went to my Barclay credit card (after this I no longer use Barclay) and they did nothing saying that Airbnb has a cancellation policy that they have to honor even though I did not cancel. I am sure that Airbnb does have good homes but this 10 sleeping house in Raleigh made it so I will never ever book with them again. I also tell everyone to book a hotel since they stand behind the rooms and you would not have this fight with a major hotel brand. Buyer beware as you can end up losing all your money with the Airbnb scam that they allow Hosts to post photos that are not current or accurate. It ruined the family bridal weekend and if we booked a hotel this would not have happened

Airbnb should be a last resort option. I have only used them when I can't find a hotel availability and have almost always been disappointed. Most guests seem reluctant to post honest reviews for fear of offending the host and Airbnb does not actually inspect the properties to determine the accuracy of the hosts descriptions so its a crap shoot. Over the years the fees have also escalated in price with insanely high cleaning fees and Airbnb "service" charges which can be several hundreds of dollars. Their customer service and website platform are also horrible. They have shed many of their customer service reps so its pretty much all web based, another reason for opting for a hotel.

I have used AirBnB quite a bit, initially as a guest, and more recently as a host. For those like myself who detest hotels, it is a great option when traveling. I have had nothing but positive experiences so far with the company, the hosts, and my guests.

Yes, in order to use AirBnB you do have to send them a photo of your ID, verify your email address and phone number, etc. But this is just due diligence on their part, to ensure a minimum level of safety for their hosts and their guests, and I would not use their service without these basic precautions.

Perhaps most of the AirBnB reviews here are negative because most people don't bother to seek out a reviewing site unless they have had a bad experience.

As a landlord, I just found out my tenant was using his apartment illegally for AirBnB. He is now being evicted.
I was planning on evicting him before this because his behavior has been literally insane since I rented to him towards the end of 2013.
After what I've found out about him, I cringe to think of anyone staying with him especially since he lists his studio as "family friendly". OMG.
All of you who are considering this do not know the backgrounds of these people and you're taking a great risk with your safety.