Airbnb

We stayed at a condo that promised multiple amenities with a picture to back it up, like a TV. When we arrived late in the evening there was no tv not a fully stocked kitchen like coffee pot etc. The host said she would bring it down. It was suppose to be air conditioned, only a small unit in the living area with fans in the bedrooms. I was traveling with my 97 year old Mom and could not leave to find a hotel. We tried using the sink in the bathroom and it was clogged. Again the host said she would fix it plus provide more towels (there was one bleached stained wash cloth, two hand towels, two bath towels (one had a huge hole in it) and a few beach towels. The host knew that there were three of us staying There was no where to hang the few towels to dry had to use door handles. When the coffee pot was left the next day, the top of the reusable pod was broken so it was not working. We left for the day expecting the issues to be resolved when we returned and nothing. When I texted the host she said they were away for the weekend and she cold not do anything else. Again it was late at night. So the next morning we left and I texted the host telling her that it was uncomfortable to stay there and I would expect a refund. Out of the 19 amenities that were suppose to be there there was only a few. I have contacted my credit card company to dispute the charges and they are working on it, BUT... I contact Airbnd several times with feedback and asking about this situation and nothing from them. My recommendation, do not believe everything on their website. Buyer Beware! You would think since they can afford to advertise on TV they would have the funds to back up their promises on their hosts. NEVER AGAIN!

Ouu Family stayed at Shelleys Beach House at 5Woonum Rd Alexandra Headlands on the Sunshine Coast QLD Australia. There was 10 of us in this wonderful place. We had 6 Adults 1 child (Family from the UK) plus 2 Adults (my husband & myself) 2 Adults (our sons from Brisbane) We also had a visit from our Daughter from Melbourne & her boyfriend. We were all happy with the amount of Bedrooms, the Kitchen was well appointed with all we needed for cooking. The Lounge Room had enough comfortable seating for everyone. Dining Area & Outdoor Area with Seating & Coffee Table. The Pool was wonderful (with glass security screen) we all spent a fair bit of our time in this area. Shelley also had a large glass vessel filled with Cold Lemon Water for us on our arrival. We loved our area downstairs with the wonderful bedroom & large glass screened shower in our bedroom. We all thoroughly enjoyed our holiday & didnt want to leave. We also had visits from friends there we havent seen for years & they were also happy with the facilities. WELL DONE SHELLEY. You were so welcoming & happy to see that we were all happy. We thoroughly recommend staying in this wonderful relaxing place.

Never using Airbnb again. STAY AWAY FROM AIRBNB!

This guy approved my reservation around 12 pm on may 7,2017. He asked me if I can come at 5 pm so he can wash bed sheets. He never mentioned if he needs me to send any type of ID. So I arrived there at 530 pm with my stuff. Then he started to ask for my passport upon arrival. I asked him why he needs my passport. Then I asked him if my drivers license or health care card would be fine he said no he wants to see my passport. I feel like he didnt want to see my ID instead he wanted to make reasonable excuses in order to cancel my trip on arrival. He also asked me if he can see my credit card and take a picture of it. So I gave him my University card with photo on it and my drivers licence with home address, name and date of birth. I even told him that I can show him my health care card but he refused again. I feel like he was predetermined to cancel my trip on arrival. I feel like this was type of discrimination when he saw me at the door he didnt want me in even though I showed him multiple IDs. I have used airbnb for many times I never had a host who has asked for my ID upon arrival. This feels like discrimination because he wants certain type of ethnicity to come into his house. As you can see reviews on airbnb he has canceled others trip too on arrival. He was also drunk and was holding beer in his one hand. I feel host should not be in situation where he or she is drunk and is not fully capable of taking right actions at the moment. It also puts the customer in very uncomfortable situation when he or she sees that the host is already drunk. Airbnb is hell to deal with. His listing was back up again after two weeks and all the bad reviews on his listing where all deleted after two weeks. I cannot believe this. Airbnb does not care about any human being, all they care is money in and money out. STAY AWAY FROM AIRBNB!

Here is the link of the host.
https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/*******

We gave them a 4 month advance notice of a cancellation due to Covid-19. They refused to reimburse us.

How many times can you afford spending 2-3 hundred dollars a night when you go on a vacation? That 2-3 Hundred dollars a night can be used for entertainment purposes, which helps the city businesses. Let me explain more. My wife & I now can afford to take vacations. If it wasn't for Airbnb. We would not have the money for a plane ticket to go anywhere. We would not have money to go out during the vacation to the local restaurants, or concerts or clubs, or shop at the mall because all our savings would be going towards the Hotel fees. So before we learned about airbnb, we decided not to take any more vacations. It's a waste of money and we did not have any fun. Now that we use airbnb, we take vacations so we can visit the world. We go out during our vacations and have fun. Spend money for good food, shop at the malls and just enjoy having a great time with the money we saved. Not only Airbnb has helped us take vacations. We are also host, which airbnb helps us to pay our bills each month. Living off two jobs that don't pay that much is really hard in a economy where the city charges so much on taxes. Who can afford to live these days? Who can afford to buy homes or a new car these days? Who can afford it? Now we are hosting, we can afford our home. We can pay our bills. We can live in a better life style without worrying if our bills will be paid next month. Thank you Airbnb for making our lives better. Thank you airbnb for making the city and the citizens lives better. Thank you airbnb for showing us that you do care. Thank you airbnb for allowing a better way to live. I am a proud host and traveler who says join Airbnb, you gotta love it & you will love it.

First let me start out by saying my husband and I have been renting out home thru VRBO for over 10 years…By and large we have been pleased using their platform for renting our home. Any way we received an offer to add our home to AIRBNB.com for free… seemed like a good deal…. WRONG…. This platform and business model is terrible… FIRST and most importantly to all person advertising on AIRBNB.com chances are VERY good that their "host guarantee" does not cover apartments, villas and condos which make up 90% of the vacation rentals owned… this is buried in the fine print… this site is a scam… I am shutting down my site and want nothing to do with them… The whole idea of turning over your home to an unknown guest without first communicating with them is absurd. SECOND…they allow guests and OWNERS to cancel right up to the moment of arrival…. Can you believe that…. YOU get NO money until guests have checked in……. Absurd business model when you are dealing with your property …we are not the Holiday Inn. … right now we receive a deposit with the balance due 45 days prior to arrival. VRBO guarantees to the guest that the person renting on their site has been vetted and that they will receive their money back should there be a problem…AIRBNB…NOTHING… this web site is like I said a sham and at least a very poor business model…who the heck thought this one up…. READ the fine print…. ALSO GUESTS beware…. airbnb.com adds a 12% commission that you pay…. So you know that good deal you think you are getting…. Guess again…. Stick to vrbo.com …. We pay to advertise but at least we get to talk with our guests and make our own financial arrangements with them… and guests are completely covered by VRBO… stay away from airbnb.com

What started out as a great New Years Eve weekend with my wife ended up being screwed... Everything that was planned got messed up. I booked a Condo using AIRBNB.com a week ago and everything was confirmed by HOST ( FROM THE VACATION DEPOT). I am pleased to be able to accommodate your trip to the Ridge On Sedona, AZ Resort, studio unit!
This invoice covers everything except the following:
1.) Resort fees, plus tax (approx. $10.00 per night)
2.) Meals, incidentals, theme parks tickets, pay per
Use amenities, rides, attractions etc.
My Best,
Robin from The Vacation Depot

And they took out the money out of our account. We drove 4 1/2 hours to get to Sedona, AZ Saturday morning... only to have an email that AIRBNB.com cancelled our reservation 2 HOURS BEFORE CHECK IN... said something about the host ( The VACATION DEPOT was out of town...) Being a holiday weekend, everything is booked now and the only rooms available are $350-400 a night and they already took our money. This was the first and last time I will use The Vacation Depot... I had to drive another 4 1/2 hours home... I saved up the money to take my wife on a nice trip and ended up being the day from HELL. Oh yeah we will get our money back in 5 to 15 days... Doesn't help us get us a hotel... In cancellation email was another more expensive listing from same host..., another splat in the face. Calling hotels and the all all booked. No computer to spend hours trying to find a guaranteed room. I'm a diabetic and my insulin is getting warm now which makes it no good because I didn't expect to be turned away hours before. Really... I'm about to climb on a helicopter tour that I booked when I thought I had a reservation... Find me another Condo to stay at the same price range... don't send me more chances of a cancelled reservation at rate of $300-$400 a night. Seeing my Wife's face of disappointment hurt me and just made me more angry... we planned this trip for a while. And instead of going with a hotel (a sure thing when rooms were available) I went through you guys..

First time using this place. The system could not verify my identity so reservation canceled. But Airbnb did not need to verify my identity to take $750.11 from my bank, definitely a backwards. Reservation canceled and still no money refunded to my account day 5, I call ever few hours and get told a different time frame 2hr., 6hrs., 12hrs, 10days(I flipped out on this response) I need the money for my trip I truly can not believe how this company works. There is no headquarters told when I asked to speak with the company. Did say a supervisor will contact you in 3 hrs. I can not believe a company like this in 2022 does not have a specialized department that handles the issuin of refunds. I'm filing with my bank as soon as they open to file a dispute see if it's possible to file a complaint with BBB because this is terrible customer care and a company that handles such large transactions should be more educated and prompt along with precise including a Supervisor to oversee transactions. How can you take money without verification of my identity confirmed before remove large amounts of money out of my account. Terrible terrible terrible

After my latest issue, I would recommend extreme caution if using an Airbnb gift card. After entering my gift card information, it would not apply to my booking. A customer service rep. Said I would have to cancel the booking and rebook. Airbnb has no way that you can track your own gift card usage or balances yourself. Unlike most retailers and services, there is no way to look up your gift card information. Your balances may be eliminated without any compensation and you will have to fight to get this credit back. If you use a gift card and the 1st payment is less than the gift card, you will lose the balance. It cannot be applied to the 2nd payment according to 2 different phone reps. And several different online reps. You must select to pay a balance that is greater than the gift card. Heaven only knows how difficult it is to be credited with a gift card balance in the case of a cancellation by the host, due to weather difficulties or ill health. I have had many good stays through airbnb, sometimes a very good value, but their gift cards are very risky.
One booking was not very clean and had cosmetic issues, but it was such a good value that I felt it was worth doing some cleaning myself.
Check reviews and pay particular attention to past cancellations by the host. In many locations, it would be extremely difficult to find an alternative booking in high season. Sometimes hosts have the property for sale and they will cancel if it is sold. Ask them, especially if it is high season and an in demand location.
The other issue is that the price shown on the location map will vary greatly from in season prices and actual prices for your dates.
Look for lots of reviews to give an overall picture of the acceptability of the property.

Customer and Hosts beware. Airbnb is engaged in fraudulent business practices and read the fine print in the terms of service when downloading their app and using their platform. They force everyone to agree to an "arbitration agreement and class action waiver that apply to all claims brought against Airbnb in the United States", meaning you will have to input any dispute information into their Airbnb portal communicating with a customer service agent overseas and "Airbnb reserves the right to make final determination on all disputes". Meaning you are not entitled to a fair day in court or even a class action lawsuit against the company. There is a reason this company literally has thousands of 2 and 1 star reviews. You won't find this out until you have a problem and have to go through this process. Airbnb is clearly not screening guests and allows criminals to use the platform, they also provide no background information or credit information on the random guests they allow in your home. We are at the full mercy of Airbnb and must trust them. We recently had a guest that was staying at one of our properties for an extended period. An issue came up with plumbing where the drain under the house needed to be replaced. We immediately contacted a plumber and was in communication with the quest to schedule the needed repair and offered hotel stay to the guest during this time if they chose to need it. On the day on the scheduled repair the guests turned away our plumbing crew and would not allow access to the property. We immediately contacted Airbnb and they were of no assistance. They tried to work with the guest and they did not want to leave the property even thought the drain was not draining. Airbnb did not force them to leave and was of no assistance. The guest proceeded to allow water to sit in bathroom floor causing thousands of dollars of water damage to the bathroom. They offered us $0 in Aircover claim stating "damages weren't caused by guest, which means they aren't eligible for reimbursement under Host damage protection". Just writing this to warn others of Airbnb business practices.

AIRBnB DOESNT SERVICE THEIR RENTALS WELL

In September 2014, we rented a condo from Airbnb for 6 nights. It was represented to us as a luxury condo with a view of... The price was $2,500

Here is a list of the problems we encountered during our brief stay.

1. The toilet in the guest bathroom was running constantly. It never stopped the whole time we were there. On the second day, the toilet bowl would not refill unless I took the top off and moved a few parts around. Had to be done every time the toiled was flushed. Maintenance came up and got it to refill but not stop running about every 45 seconds. They said the whole inside needing replacing. This never happened and toilet was running when we left. The whole 6 days!

2. The light over the vanity in the same bathroom was out. This was fixed 2 days later.

3. A table light in the living room had a short in it. I didn't fix it but got it to work.

4. On day 4, we went to use the Washer only to find it full of dirty, stinky water that would not drain out. When we entered the condo on the first day, we found 3 bags of dirty laundry on the floor of utility room. It was removed and we didn't pay any more attention to it. After we tried to use the Washer and found it full of the stale water, we figured out why the dirty laundry was on the floor. Someone knew the Washer was broken when we moved in but did nothing about it. We were told it would be fixed but along with everything else, it was not. We were able to use the small washer in a unit 9 floors up and at the other end of the hall from ours. Had to make 4/5 trips to complete the wash.

5. Last but not least, The view out the bedroom window was of the roof level of the parking garage and the view out of the living room area was a continuation of the parking garage roof full of cigarette butts and garbage. Looked like it had not been cleaned in years.

I sent this to Airbnb, but needless to say, I never heard a word from them

Rented a home in Kirkwood section of Georgia. Listed as 2 bedroom, 2 bath, sleeps 5. Complete kitchen to prepare meals. Fireplace. Close to shopping, dining. When we arrived found 3 bath towels in the master bath and 2 in the guest bedroom. Total of 3 renters, there for 4 days. No washer, dryer (which we knew up front) expectation is that we would have more than 5 towels for 3 people for 4 day stay. No hot water water in the kitchen sink... had to bowl water to wash the 2 dinner plates & 4 soup bowls. One medium size sauce pan, 1 small fry pan, and 2 small veg pans. Dishwasher with no cleaning products. 1 roll of paper towel. Fireplace with no wood, no fireplace screen. Day 2 of our stay, no HEAT - temps went down to 36 degrees. No extra blankets in the home. Host was contacted 3 times. Heat was never fixed. Front door handle on day 2 came off in our hands which controlled the access to the home. Contacted host -- sent his Admin person to "fix" never fixed. The purpose of our visit was to see our sons who were flipping a house in the neighborhood. Expected to be able to prepare meals for them during our stay. Thanks to Walmart we purchased additional towels, cookware and paper plates to eat from. Along with a case of paper towels, napkins, can opener. If not for the proximity to where our sons were working. We would have stayed with friends of ours in Roswell. Idea was to be across the street from the Flip property. This stay was horrendous and our refund on a 491.00 was a total of 125.00 NEVER AGAIN. FROM NOW ON VRBO. How this host and home qualified as a SUPERHOST is beyond comprehension. Who is vetting these properties? Renter beware with AirBnB!

My experience was similar to another recent review - I booked an apartment for 28 days in NYC. Several amenities that were listed were not there, such as tv. There was even a picture of a flat screen tv in the ad for this apartment and the tv amenity had been checked off on the site. The description of the apartment was generally misleading. I tried to sort it out with the host, but it wasn't working and I decided to cancel my reservation. I raised a dispute with airbnb. I've rented successfully on airbnb a bunch of times, have good reviews and enjoy the human element of it, But this one time I had a problem and actually needed help from Airbnb, they really seemed to side with the host from the beginning. Before the dispute I was prepared to just pay for the nights I was there and really expected them to refund the entire balance, since the listing clearly violated the policies and standards they listed on their website. But they said a cancellation fee of $50 a night would apply to every night I had booked, which I may get back if the host rebooks. The host sent me a really rude email blaming me for treating him like a hotelier and saying I should have double checked if he had tv…eeeerrr… yes. Airbnb seemed to think this was reasonable.
I really like the idea of what Airbnb is doing, but this experience gave me an uneasy feeling. Their approach seemed more about a policy decision to keep hosts at all costs, even when they violate the Airbnb policy. THey kept the whole fee I had to pay based on a 28 day booking, even though I cancelled that booking and they will collect new fees during that period of time.

Customer service is absolutely horrible. I stayed in an Airbnb abroad and had a bar located right below the apartment. The noise level was unbelievable: the floors, the walls and furniture were shaking in the apartment until 5AM (!) daily. The apartment filled up with smoke during the hours of operations of the bar. I stayed with a minor and had to move out 4 days earlier. The host ghosted me and Airbnb customer service was no where to be found. Airbnb finally got back to me 3 days later after I moved out and kept bouncing my case from person to person. None of these people spoke English. They ended up declining my offer for a refund of unused nights because they claimed that the host disclosed it in the posting (but only partially). The host's post said there was a bar that operated on weekends until 3AM. No mentioning weekdays or that this place has such enormous noise levels that you can't do anything there other than party (and definitely not sleep). Also, no mentioning of the smoke. Airbnb made me sound like I was crazy in asking for a refund for unused nights. They could care less I was with a minor who was exposed to secondary smoking. Customer service was very preferential towards the host. Seems like a very transactional business model. I will never stay at an Airbnb again. I mean it. Also, they didn't post my review because I put the name of the bar in it and it violated the policy but they refused to give me rights to re-write it or edit out the name of the bar on their end. Also, they allowed the host to leave me a review that was not true. The host said that I "trashed" the place. I told them that I cleaned the place and left it in the same condition I found it and even took a video of the apartment when I moved out and have proof. The didn't care to see it. I called me credit card company and they refunded my money. UNBELIVEABLE that this company would be in business.

SCAM ALERT Lakeview Cottage at Lake Weir hosted by Frank and cohosted by Eileen. CON ARTISTS! AirBnB and host totally ripped me off.

Host advertised his place as a LAKE VIEW cottage NEXT DOOR to a restaurant. When in fact this mobile type home (advertised as a cottage) is across the street from the lake, behind houses and trees, there is no lake view, and it is not next-door to the restaurant. When I asked for a refund, the host was arrogant and rude and refused to refund my money. Air BnB customer service gave me the runaround for weeks and wasted hours of my time. They would not refund my money, even when it stated in the guest refund policy that, "the listing's description or depiction of the Accommodation is materially inaccurate with respect to: the physical location of the Accommodation (proximity)." and "the place isn't as it was described in the listing description."

The host actually edited his pictures of this "lake-view cottage" AFTER we booked it. Thankful we looked at the pictures later, so not to have wasted a weekend with 2 families and kids hanging out in a carport of a mobile home potentially getting bedbugs. The host also changed his description from next-door to "walking distance" because his original description was a lie. I am absolutely disgusted by how this situation was handled by AirBnB. They would never let me talk to a supervisor and just closed my case.

This was my first time booking with this company and I was totally conned.

You can see in the 6th picture, "the blue circle". Is the supposed cottage, nestled next-door to Gator Joe's (Red arrow pointing to it) and the houses and line of threes that clearly exhibits that this carport "cottage" is not Lake-view.

They outsource to India, so don't expect ANY customer service. After having an awful experience at a serene cabin in Green Valley Lake, CA, where the horrendous "hosts" denied using exposed rat poison blocks in their pet friendly cabin despite me having photos which necessitated me instantly leaving, AirBnB support strung me along for WEEKS until I couldn't even leave a review. Hosts wouldn't give a refund, AirBnB shielded them and wouldn't help get a refund, and then they say we only had 14 days to leave a review (responding to a review gets 30 days grace, though). Since all customer service is in India, nobody ever called despite saying they would, they got me in touch with 13 different "ambassadors" to "help," each one asking the same questions and said the same thing, yet nobody did a thing. The last thing to do would be to leave a review of this blatantly misleading & dangerous cabin to warn others with pets that their animal may be poisoned, but AirBnB took that away, too, for their own ineptitude. I will never again use AirBnB, and I would suggest everyone watches their backs... take photos from the moment you walk into your rental, write everything down, and record it all. Hosts will use specially curated photos to deceive you into thinking their homes are different than they are. See attached photos of what AirBnB protects. AirBnB is a scam as any "host" can bait-and-switch on this app while this company covers its butt, so you'll find a lot of sheisters. Point is, you book these places based on the information provided by hosts on the AirBnB site, but that doesn't mean the hosts are telling the truth. AirBnB shields their hosts and themselves by saying no refund, but there's no way anyone could know they were being lied to until they got to a location. Stay away from AirBnB for your own safety as they care more about protecting their "hosts" than they do about people spending money to use their service.

Great until you need help. The costumer service is truly terrible. Check out reviews here and on trustpilot.

I used to manage many AirBnb's on the platform but use it less for several reasons:

1. Last 2016, I had a guest who needed emergency services and I was on hold for 6 hours on the phone waiting for an AirBnb representative to assist us.
2. So far, the customer service agents that I have spoken to who help in AirBnb resolutions are untrained and they are not equipped to assist in these matters. Often times I have had to cover charges for guest for cleaning overcharges as when provided with proof with invoices of the cleaning charges, the agent would only mention that the charges that we charge for cleaning should only be the charge that the guest should pay for, even if the guest has left a mess and we have had at often times cover for the cleaning charges even surpassing hundreds of dollars (our guest have stayed for several months and we deep clean after their stay).
3. I have, on several occasions, attempted to speak to AirBnb agents and when I bring up an issue, they put the phone down.
4. There was a $2,868 charge on our credit card account from AirBnb in which they could not explain why our credit card was charged this amount and have requested for me to reach out to my bank. The bank can't assist in these matters, it is AirBnb who charged our account.

It has been disappointing doing business at AirBnb and I have slowly moved my business outside of Airbnb due to the unprofessionalism and system that is not pro-host and unorganized. I gave this review a 2 since I was at the AirBnb Open and thought it was inspiring. Other than that, the platform needs several improvements and adjustments and the customer service needs improvements as well.