AirbnbReviews 2,091

I planned a trip to Australia during the New Year period and i understand during that time of the year is very difficult to get places to stay so I definitely started making arrangements on AirBnB Months in advance. I spent weeks trying to find a place because even though hosts on the website will show their place as available on their calendars when you inquire about booking they'll tell you that the place is not available or they are looking for a specific amount of days (different from what they list for minimum amount of stays listed on their pages) for booking. When i finally managed to book a place, the host cancelled on me months later as my trip had drawn near. This was probably the most frustrating thing because all AirBnB did was offer me an extra $167 for me to reserve another place. They should really have some policies in place to keep host from cancelling last minute and making ridiculous minimum stay requirements that they don't mention in their booking descriptions. It's such a headache. In the end, getting a hotel was my best option because i knew they wouldn't cancel on me a day, week, or month before i arrived.

This is the first time i used AirBnb after i heard it through my friend. Everything looked just fine and i extended my stay for week more. But my host had unforeseen family commitment and she asked me if i can find a different place. So i cancelled the new reservation without realizing they don't refund the processing fee if client cancel instead of Host. Then we both tried to contact this stupid company, On their website they don't provide any email or phone number to reach. Every link on their site takes you to some pre-written response but no where show me contact information for finding resolution. Then there is urgent button which had toll free number listed, When i dialed it was on music for like 15 minutes but no response. I got frustrated and hung up. Some how after clicking so many stupid links it took me to page to send feedback but didn't have any email ID listed. I sent them details of issue and it has been 48 hours and no response. Even my host chatted with them and they told her that they will resolve this in 48 hours and contact me with in that time. But still nothing. They just want to suck your money, I bet if i have to pay them due then they would have contacted me in minutes but not the other way. My friend warned me about this site before my reservation but i still took that chance and regret it. But on the positive side, Got to stay with a good host and nice location. There are other sites which provide similar service and people aren't are aware of this. Since Airbnb is the first one, Every one knows about it but not many knows about their ugly side. Never had this kind of experience with any companies. These people need to wake up and smell the coffee before they start going down the hill. It is time we expose this ugly side of this AirBnb and i will never recommend this to any one.

Airbnb in my opinion and experience is a HORRIBLE choice. I made the mistake of booking with them. My experience: their customer service is arrogant and they are in my example untrustworthy. I was planning a South American vacation in June and heard about Airbnb. I went to their website and thought it was a cool concept. I could save money and try something new. What a mistake. After booking and paying for my room some 35 days in advance I thought everything was set and cool. At the last minute, practically on the eve of my departure, they suspended my account and canceled my paid reservation without explanation. I only found out through a private message from my chosen host as I was packing to leave. When I tried to correct Airbnb over the matter they demanded a copy of my passport, access to my Face Book and Google accounts and reconfirmation of my cell number. I didn't want a last-minute derailment of my plans so I unwisely complied. After all that, they wrote that my already 30 days ahead paid reservation was illegitimate and that my account was suspended. Attempts to receive a reason were ignored and I was repeatedly told that they didn't have to give an explanation and were not liable in any way for the mess. Subsequently I had to revoke their permissions, change passwords and accept their corporate hubris / insulting customer service as the "final word". I am now very committed to telling the world of my wretched experience in hopes of sparing other trusting travelers a similar big steaming pile or Airbnb treatment. The good news is, my money was refunded (they had no choice really), I didn't add to their profits and my host of choice understood and received me with a nice welcome. Beware of Airbnb. They might jerk you around as you're in departure as well. I am glad to say that already 4 other friends have now dumped their plans to use Airbnb and I will continue on a righteous mission to share my experience honestly as a cautionary tale regarding Airbnb. The exponential result should make it worthwhile. Choose wisely and seek accommodations elsewhere.

We've had a "confirmed" reservation for a place in Portland ("Pent House Condo") for the last two weeks of August since April. We're supposed to leave for Portland a week from today and just yesterday the owner canceled the reservation citing an HOA rule of no rentals less than 30-days. Did he not know this before now? Curiously I checked the calendar for the unit and it shows "Updated today" (i. E., 8/4/15) and "Minimum 13 night stay". Apparently Airbnb doesn't do a very good job of vetting its listings and the people list on the site. Fishy operation!

Worst rip off ever…. Inexistent customer services. Booked a villa in Bahamas and received an email from Airbnb concerning a possible fraud scam. Cancelled immediately the booking simply to find out that I will only be reimbursed 50% of the price, where the host does not want to show good faith. Lost 3000$ on a fraud scam. Tried numerous times to contact Airbnb only to talk to a kid which has no clue. Awful experience and should avoid at ALL COSTS….

I bought a plane ticket and room in Martha's Vineyard, but 2 days before the trip as I'm getting ready for work I find out... airbnb abruptly canceled my reservation and asked me to verify my ID! I verified my ID with passport, but then my account was closed.
I didn't know what to do, because all the hotels were booked. They never gave me an explanation, but luckily my gf was able to find another bed and breakfast.
If they had called me ahead of time or given me an explanation, I wouldn't mind so much. I guess this is the way airbnb does business.

Created an Airbnb account and booked a house rental, so far so good. Then tried to make a second booking and Airbnb indicated that I have to verify my account with a driver's license or passport. Not going to do that, WAY too invasive. Now my account is locked in the verify step and I can't edit my account or make any other bookings until it is verified with a government issued ID. The guy on the phone (after finding their phone number through a Google search) confirmed that the account cannot be used until the overly invasive verification step is completed. He said that nobody would see the ID! Huh? Why do they insist on having it submitted if nobody is going to see it? Unbelievable! Wow, they really don't want to work with real people and will never see any more business from me.
Here is the "Part 2". We worked with AirBnB from July through September. We continued to have a reservation showing as current for our daughter's wedding, but were still blocked from accessing anything on the website, including the details of our own, paid, reservation. After numerous phone calls and emails (we wait days and days for replies) they finally said, "verfiy or we cancel the reservation". They claim that they have to know we weren't "bots" (um, you're talking to me) or a rapist (but they claim they don't do background checks). We cancelled. Found accommodations through VRBO, deal done in less than 24 hours. I agree with another reviewer that the "verification" progress may be a way to allow hosts to avoid renting to ethnicities and religions they don't like. I mentioned that to them and had a fairly hostile response. Just saying.

Must be the worst company out there to deal with. Very unhelpful. Take your money for your booking in full plus their costs without it showing it properly on their website. When you contact them and try to get a refund oh they will only refund 50% even though you have not taken the holiday. Also they don't even pay the holiday owner until you have been. Luckily we have been in direct contact with the owner now and all is ok but I would never ever ever recommend using Airbnb for anything. They are rubbish

We booked a place in London and the host cancelled on us. Airbnb did give us some compensation towards booking another place, which we duly did.

Low and behold, the new place was cancelled on us by the host, 3 days after he had accepted and we had paid him.

This site is overrun with unreliable, unprofessional host who are dipping their toes in the water for a few extra pounds.

When it suits them, they will accept your booking, when it it doesn't they will cancel your booking and the hosts don't give two hoots about ruining your trip and plans.

I have spent a total of 6 hours on the phone dealing with this nightmare. In the end I called a hotel that was cheaper and took me 5 minutes to book, GO FIGURE!

TAKE MY ADVICE, STICK TO PROFESSIONAL RELIABLE HOTELS AS YOU HAVE ALWAYS DONE AND SAVE YOURSELF THE AGGRAVATION AND RISK.

I would sooner sleep stood up in a field than go anywhere near this idea ever again.

We rented a condo last week in Oceanside, CA and the listing/ad said sleeps 4, Air Conditioned, quiet place; well when we got there the first night about 10pm we opened the door and it was about 92 degrees in the condo, humid and we could not find any air conditioning thermostat. So we opened the windows and found out there were train tracks right below the windows and balcony, the went by every 20 minutes blowing the whistle and you could not sleep it stopped at 2am and started back again at 5am! Then we found out the place only slept 2 really, the couch was hard as a rock and did not pull out like the ad state (sofa bed). We tried to cancel and they charged us half of what we paid! We had to get of this hot hell whole! So we got ripped off excessively! DO NOT USE AIRBNB!

Absolutely AWFUL experience. I booked two condos for a family trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. BOTH condos were canceled by the owners, one about three months prior to our stay and another ONE WEEK PRIOR to our stay. I had to book other arrangements at nearly double the cost due to having to book so late! Not only that, there is no way to leave a negative review on an owner if they cancel your reservation so who knows how often this stuff is happening! To top it all off, it's nearly impossible to actually SPEAK to anyone at AirBNB about complaints or issues. I called their number and was on eternal hold. DO NOT USE THIS SITE!

Airbnb works for some folks, but god forbid you have any problems setting up a rental. Techincal glitches are met with friendly telephone agents who assure you the problem is solved ( if you can even find their number! You have to google search it. Not offered on theor web site). But you quickly learn it has not been solved... and round and round you will go with these people. It is maddening. The right hand doesnt knoe what the left hand is doing at airbnb. Very sloppy.

I booked an apartment in NYC for 21 day. Upon arrival I found that the place was dirty and in not livable condition. I canceled my reservation immediately even though I didn't have a place to go. Later on Airbnb refunded only 42% and stated that the rest of the amount is completely up to host. It was obvious that the host didn't want to refund. End of story. I lost money, had to find a place to stay and had no help from Airbnb at all. I wish I would read more reviews here before booked the apartment. Booking through Airbnb gives you a good chance to lose your money and ruin your vacation.

UPDATE: One week passed and I never received a response/update from Airbnb or from the host. I received the refund I was seeking only after I disputed the charge on AMEX and they got in touch with Airbnb. Original post below:

I'm contesting a "cleaning fee" and an "extra charge per person" fee. The apartment wasn't clean and we didn't stay (I accidentally booked a shared not a private) so I'm only contesting the two charges previously listed. Airbnb encourages you to try and work it out with the renter. I'm not getting anywhere with him. Now I've seen that my credit card has been billed the full amount. I'm not feeling confident that Airbnb is going to get back to me. Especially after reading all of these reviews. I don't think that this is worth booking with Airbnb. If something goes wrong, you're screwed!