AirbnbReviews 2,091

Airbnb does not pay out the hosts enough to make hosting a room on their website to random strangers worth it. You take a massive risk with Airbnb, as their insurance does not actually provide any useful protection or insurance. Even to apply for such protection in the case of an emergency is a massive headache and time sink that does not equate the effort it takes to apply.

Airbnb takes 3% for their own cut, a standard 28% for taxes regardless of your state, and can randomly charge you all several additional penalties, such as $50 for any cancellation you might make, even if that cancellation is due to an emergency or because you feel highly uncomfortable with a guest.

Realize that you are unable to interview a guest by phone or email before inviting them into your home. Communication through Airbnb is highly restricted and censored. So you're just hoping that the person's Airbnb profile is accurate.

It's simply not worth the headache of hosting some stranger that you cannot interview before handing them the keys to your home with zero protection. Imagine if one of those guests who you so willing give your keys to for a measly payout goes an makes a copy of your key, and breaks in after their stay and robs your home--or much worse.

I feel terrible for guests for getting overcharged on the room, and much worse for hosts who have to put their lives and property at risk for a second petty income. If you need the money so desperately, do something else. Walk people's dogs, pick up a random babysitting shift, whatever you want to do -- just don't host on Airbnb. The payout is simply not worth the risk and the effort.

Awful stay at Hotel Gabrielle in Brooklyn, New York. The pictures definetely did not depict the home. The description was deceitful claiming there was two bedrooms when there was one. If you slept in the "second bedroom" which is truly a living room with a curtain, you had to sleep with cats. We got charged extra for a futon that was broken before we arrived. The place had roaches and you had to feed her three cats.

When we first arrived she had us waiting outside a cafe for almost two hours trying to get a key and ignoring calls.

I will never use air bnb again because they are useless mediaters. Never again!

This was my first experience and last with airbnb, i wanted to rent out flat so opted for the free session with photographer, he came took pictures, and never uploaded them to the site, i contacted airbnb 5 weeks later as he said it will take 4 weeks, they just messed me around, and said shall we send another one, i said no it's a waste of my time, they sent me emails weeks after the trail had gone cold...
I ended up getting a mate to do it, who done a good job, but nobody rented the flat anyway.
After reading the reviews I'm glad it was not rented..

I have a listing on airbnb and saw that they offered free photography sessions and put in a request for it. I was contacted by a photographer to set up an appointment. The home is our vacation home and is hours away from my actual residence so careful planning was required. I made certain accommodations for the trip and we scheduled it for Sunday at 10am. I contacted Zoe that morning at 7am to give her the gate code to be able to enter the residence and did not receive a response until 9:30am saying that she will simply not be making the appointment. No explanation was given and was only given less than an hours notice. I understand that it is a free service but the money spent on travel and cleaning total to over $400. I contacted airbnb and waited 30 minutes on hold just to get a rep to tell me she is going to forward my issue to another department and they will call me back. I still have not received a call back. I doubt any action will be taken toward the extremely unprofessional photographer, for anyone looking to request this service please beware.

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.

As a couple we stayed 2 nts in one place and 4 nts in another. I wrote a negative review for one and good reviews for the other. The negative did not get published a week later. This is a conflict of interest of Airbnb. Either they convert the reviews to a choice of anonymous with email confirmation, or else I will pass future renting, as this seems to be a passing phase until more like me feel cheated and quit using Airbnb. Airbnb HAS to weed out bad hosts.

I spent hours writing a careful review, following AirBnB guidelines. After a 9 day stay in an apartment that was not as advertised, AirBnb was impossible to get on the phone to help me with the situation. Customer service is non-existent! A month after writing my review, I noticed it was deleted. From what I'm seeing, there is a pattern of AirBnB deleting negative reviews, which is why all of these rentals have such glowing reviews. NEVER AGAIN. I just deleted my AirBnB account.

Having used Airbnb on 4 occasions, I have been impressed not only with the hosts but with the customer service of Airbnb when our last apartment wasn't up to scratch. We booked an apartment in New York and was told by the host the day before that cockroaches had appeared in the bathroom and that she was getting rid of them. Having backpacked before, I was used to this in hot climates, so a couple in the bathroom wasn't an issue. 2 days after our arrival, there were many in the bath and under the bed, so we told the host. She was amazing and offered a full refund. I didn't even have to contact Airbnb as they had been informed and sent the refund straight to us, not only that, but as we had to move into a hotel for the remaining 3 nights (which was considerably more expensive), Airbnb offered to pay the difference and were very good in answering our questions via email whilst we were travelling. Massive thanks to Emilee F at Airbnb, who sorted all this out for us.
We will definitely use Airbnb again.

I RENTED MY UNIT FOR LONG TERM IN DOWNTOWN TORONTO THE SHORT TERM ITS NOT ALLOWED IN OUR COND MY TENANTS OPEN ACCOUNT ON AIRBNB WITH DIFFERENT NAMES AND RE RENTED THE UNIT FOR SHORT TERMS! I I HAD SHOWING TODAY AND MEET TENANTS FROM AIRBNB BECAUSE COME EARLIER THEY STAY UNLEGAL IN MY APPARTMENT (((( THEY LEFT BUT AIRBNB DONT RETERN THE MONEY YET AND JUST OFFER THEM COUPON JUST FOR 200$ BUT THE PAID ALREADY 2000$ SO ALL BECAREFUL! ALWAYS ASK PROOF OF OWNERSHIP

I have read some of these complaints about this site. All I have to say is you get what you pay for. You want to be CHEAP! Book homes for $19 dollars a day. What the hell do you all think your going to get? A 5 Star Hotel? Lol. Well if your booking from me and your on your way to Argentina, Buenos Aires and you want to stay at the Faena Hotel. Then YES! You will for sure have a beyond amazing holiday, but its still not $50 dollars a day. All theses people that are complaining about this site are CHEAP! So be cheap and get cheap, beds, sheet, homes, apartments everything! I love this site! I have been a host and been hosted. I also know not to be cheap and look for quality.
Check out my amazing suite at the Faena Hotel
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/*******

I hosted with Airbnb for over a year and always went the extra mile for my guests. I met many wonderful people and they gave me five star reviews. Airbnb reaped the benefits of my conscientious efforts and until the final two payments always sent me my checks reasonably quickly. Now I have a new address and the post office returned my checks to Airbnb. I know because Airbnb sent me several emails saying as much. I tried to change my address prior to moving but Airbnb insisted on sending my check to the old address even though I told them that it would not reach me. Still they send me emails saying that they want to pay me. I've have tried repeatedly both by phone and email to reach customer service but apparently the place is run by robots who dutifully recommend a fix that can not work. A human being with a telephone could fix the problem in one minute but apparently Airbnb's policy is to never actually speak with a customer. I can get a live person at Amazon, Apple or Netflix on the phone in one minute and they'll fix almost any problem on the spot. They value their customers while Airbnb holds theirs in contempt. They"lol no doubt end up beating me out of $173. No fun but I'm glad that I never had a serious problem. You are taking huge risks if you become an Airbnb host. It's not worth it

Don't believe in prices in site! You don't know the last price until the end of reservation. I booked a house for three nights and the price was 250 dollars per night but airbnb decided that I should pay 83 Dollars more!
The ask commission between 6 to 12 % from the customer and also ask it from the house owner, Be ready for any unusual commission at the end. Also I could not cancel the reservation because they ask you full amount of payment not only the first night.
So the prices are all fake on the site. Think twice before booking.