AirbnbReviews 2,091

I rented an apartment in June, 2015 in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, California through
Airbnb. The host cancelled 48 hours before I was to occupy. The host tried to move me to another apartment which I found out is against company policy. Airbnb's solution? A refund and then a 10% discount if I would rent another apartment. A whole whopping $110. The apartments offered were not comparable to what I had rented. I believe Airbnb should have found me a place equal to or better than I had rented and eaten any additional cost. Instead, they left 3 women, 3000 miles from home stranded. After the fact, customer service contacted me and wanted to know how they could do a better job! Really?

As a host, airbnb did not stand behind their own terms and conditions. When I hosted clients and they broke and did damage to my house, Airbnb encouraged me to communicate directly with the client, which I did. The client wrote horrible reviews about me, and my community, and Airbnb did absolutely nothing to control this belligerent client, nor recover some of the security deposit for me. I have discontinued hosting through airbnb, and encourage others to be very very careful, as when things are good, thats all great, but if something goes wrong, your on your own, plus you've paid for their services!

This is the worst service ever. I have had the worst experience with AirBnB. They really need to vet their hosts. I just arrived from Montreal to Brooklyn to find the house I was to stay in had a broken window and glass all along the patio. The host notified me by e-mail as I was driving down, but I was already en route. Hard to cancel and find other accommodations at this point. However, that's what I did when I arrived to the sketchy neighbourhood and a broken window with easy access. My 6 yo was terrified at the prospect of staying there. Air BnB's policy? Work it out with the host. The host's response "Not My Problem" and "No refund". Air BnB's policy allows you to be sent in to unsafe conditions, ripped off by a host and if you cancel the reservation you can't even write a review to warn others. This is Bad for your brand Air BnB. At the very least allow us to write a review if we've had this kind of experience.

I tried to book a miami room. Airbnb advertised the host would contact in 24 hours. Not only did it take more than 24 hours the host NEVER contacted me. So airbnb sends me an email saying we see the host didn't get back to u and offers me other similar host to try. I tried one of the offered host and that host declined. Why wouldn't airbnb check with offered host for availability instead of offering another unreliable host? Yes it sux hotels cost more but at least hotels are reliable. Airbnb is a shot in the dark.

My gf was tricked into a listing in a high crime neighborhood. The owners defended themselves by saying, "Our listing says 'for seasoned travelers' but we understand if you don't want to stay." Which = travelers willing to deal with being solicited for sex, drug addicts, local dug dens, etc. The owners know this and thus have a 'strict' cancellation policy, ensuring that those who realized they've been conned can do nothing about getting their money back.

Customer service is a joke; the female 'supervisor' told my gf that "she understands but will not issue a refund." Since when does a woman in a position of authority not empathize with a female customer who feels in physical danger?

I'm sure there are good people out there, but new life experiences and meeting people are not worth going with this company that may leave you in the ghetto of your vacation city with no money back and no cares in the world if you live or die...

I booked an appartment in LA. It was cancelled 1 month before the travelling date. I booked another room (more expensive, of course, nothing 'cheap' was left!). It was cancelled less than 1 week before the travel!
This shows that airbnb does not carefully checks their hosts. Airbnb has a nice webpage, cashes in on quite a nice fee, withdraws the money right away from your credit card... and then delivers nothing but cancellations!
I think it is telling that airbnb does not give me (or anyone else) the opportunity to comment on hosts who have cancelled reservations... in other words, there is no way for me to check whether a potential new host is 'reliable' or also prone to short-term cancellations.
STAY AWAY! There are other platforms that are MUCH more reliable!

I reserved a house only to discover beforehand that the host had not been honest about the property. When I pointed this out and tried to cancel. This host became beligerant and over the next 10 or so messages, her insults escalated. When I involved airbnb resolutions in the dispute. I initially had my doubts. But ultimately they took a loss and refunded me. Have to be impressed by this customer service I so often do not receive.

I found a room that looked good to me, emailed the owner asking to reserve the room, and got back from airbnb a form with a very complicated and difficult sign-in process with many steps to it. In the middle of a trip, I wasn't able to complete the application, kept emailing for help, and kept getting form responses which were not helpful.

I eventually had to give up - no more time to spend trying to deal with them. I cancelled my application, but the next day I got an email saying they had already charged my credit card! And this is before they even accepted my application. Unbelievable! They wouldn't complete the reservation for me but still charged me for it.

They did eventually refund the money, but I would never try them again. Traveling with my dog, I now stay in Motel 6. They're not fancy, but clean, dependable, and you can make a reservation on the road with their staff - actual people who are helpful. And they all accept dogs! Takes the stress out of a road trip!

Don't fall for the scam. I was able to get my money back but that's because I filed a dispute with my bank!

"Dear customer,
Nice day.
Sorry to bother you again.
We have improved a lot recently, please remember that we always put our customers in the first place.
Your satisfaction is our best comfort.
Could you please give us one chance again and delete or change your review into positive one on sitajabber.com?
We really need your help.
We can give you 30% coupon as compensation.
What do you think of our proposal?
Waiting for your reply."

I just had the worst experience with this site trying to book a room in New Orleans for the Jazz fest - the proprietor offering the room was extremely rude and condescending when I tried to book the room at the price he had listed on the site. Apparently, he charges more during Jazz Fest... which is fine. I would have paid more had he asked, but he didn't - his response was rude, unprofessional, condescending, and called into question my motives and character (seriously) and I would highly advise anyone who is considering using the site to consider that the B & B's listed apparently have no standards to meet as regards professionalism, business practices or anything else. I've stayed at B & B's all over the world and have had the owners inform me that the price is higher at certain times of the year before- that's to be expected, it's okay, and it's part of the booking process - but this response was just beyond the pale obnoxious, rude behavior. Air BnB should be professionally embarrassed to be promoting such a place. I can only imagine the nightmare of staying at this individual's home. Yikes! Beware. I cancelled my account immediately.

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.

Book through Airbnb if you don't mind having your reservation (for the international trip you booked 7 months prior) cancelled unilaterally by the host 3 weeks before your arrival. An Airbnb customer rep will respond to your concerns with the utmost respect by kindly reminding you that they are "just the middle man who takes your money."

At the very least, avoid this host (Frederic C): https://www.airbnb.com/users/show/*******

Pay the extra money and stay at a hotel- at least a hotel won't cancel your reservation at the last minute, leaving you scrambling to find a place to stay. Our apartment was $345/night- now the only apartments available in the area where we planned to stay are $500+/night.

Earlier this month I was taken in by a scammer on the website of Airbnb. I found a property in Greece in early June and started querying it with the owner through Airbnb. Having never used Airbnb before I arranged the dates with the owner and emailed back and forth a few times. Somehow he got direct access to my email. Then I received an email different from the one I had used with the owner which looked like an Airbnb email address. The email included an invoice which had the Airbnb logo, dates, confirmation number, photo of the villa, what was available at the villa, including the summary of costs and any extras like a cleaner and then bank details for a bank with an Airbnb account name. The whole thing was very professional and looked like a bonafide invoice. The money was paid and when I tried to confirm something, the supposed owner stopped replying. By this stage the villa had been taken off the Airbnb website and it became clear that it was a scam as soon as we informed Airbnb. This has obviously happened more than once and Airbnb when contacted did nothing. They are very difficult to get hold of and didn't reply to most of my emails. They don't want to take any responsibility at all and there is no compensation as I had not followed their terms and conditions. Why do they not have warnings up of their procedures as you go? I have of course learnt a valuable lesson but I have also lost my graduation holiday in addition to losing Euro1,900 and airline tickets. I tried for 10 days to get a response from Airbnb and they don't seem to care that there is a sophisticated fraudster using their site to scam their customers. They even had the temerity to say when we finally got a reply that they are sorry about our experience and I quote 'we hope you'll go on to have many positive experiences on Airbnb in the future.' Seriously, why would I ever use this company again?
As Airbnb would not help I went to the bank to try and get the funds back this way. The bank eventually got through to the bank in Spain who told us that the Airbnb account we used had now been closed. The scammers obviously know what they are doing and Airbnb don't care that they have people on their site stealing from their potential customers.

I recently had my trip cancelled, TWO DAYS BEFORE the trip. To add insult to injury, I was offered either a refund, or that if I re-booked with Airbnb, they would credit me up to $75 if the new host charged more- all this with TWO days notice.

When I contacted the host directly, she said it was due to an Airbnb error in double-booking some of the days of my stay- and since they paid a slightly higher price, my reservation was the one chosen to be cancelled.

I coudn't find anything decent on AirCrapNB, so I ended up paying nearly $1,000 more to book a hotel with 2 days notice.

Absolutely LOATH aircrapnb, and please think CAREFULLY before using, either as a customer (you WILL be screwed) or as a host (they are concerned SOLELY with maximizing THEIR income, and not concerned AT ALL with your finances OR reputation).

DO NOT USE!

So, my review of the so-called "accommodation" which was a bed outside, yes outside, in the back yard covered patio lit with only white xmas lights and open to the rest of the house, with 4 roommates. Yes, 4 and me made 5 to share the small bathroom. I could go on but -- ridiculous. Takes a lot of digging to find "help" and then Airbandb took 4 days to send me and email that they hoped I got their email. Uh, no. There is no immediate feedback, phone number much less refund. The "host" who was not present by the way, never got back to me. What a crock! Where's my review? Does not appear. Had to find a hotel which took a while and of course cost more. I'm out of there AirBandB should be AirBandBS.

I 'requested' my long weekend stay with a host I had previously spoken too, sadly they had forgotten to amend the times that their B&B would be available and the dates I chose were not up for grabs. Therefore, even if your request is denied Air B&B IMMEDIATELY take your money and 'HOLD' it for up to 7 days (I'm on day 6 and the money is not in my bank). They claim that they 'release' the money immediately when this happens and that it is up to the bank to get the funds back to you. Sorry, but I contacted my bank and no. It has nothing to do with the bank returning the money, it's because Air B&B TOOK money without even providing any service. So I am without the use of my £200+ now. Please be aware of this happening to you before booking and if possible contact the hosts privately before booking through the website. Certainly not worth the hassle. If you do not receive any service you should not have to pay a thing... or have your money 'on hold' for ANY length of time.

I just had my first bad experience when my host canceled a reservation I booked months ago for a place near the beach the week of 4th of July. Just be aware that when this happens to you, you only get the exact amount you paid back as a refund. They will give you a credit of 10% of what you paid toward another AirBnB location IF you can find another place on AirBnB, but maybe your experience would be like mine, where 2 weeks before the 4th of July, the only (one!) other place available in the area is 4x the price of what I rented. Even the hotel room I was able to find is more than 2x the price.
It does not make a difference whether the cancellation policy is strict or flexible, that policy only applies to guests, not the host. They have assured me that the host did have some serious personal reason for having to take her place down, and it's not just because she wanted to stay in a great place on the beach that week.
I'm not going to trash AirBnB because I've had a few successful stays with great hosts and places that turned out to be exactly what was described. Also, their customer service is good. When this type of thing happens, it's a bit lame that you can't talk to someone by phone, but the email back and forth has been prompt and informative, and they kindly gave me a coupon toward a future rental in the next year since the 10% credit policy wouldn't apply.