Airbnb

It is now 2 months and a half I am sending messages to the support inbox.
It is not the first time that they have issues with fees that you set up as host. Unfortunately the handle it in a poor way. They confirmed that is was a technical issue and confirmed they will reimbursed all cleaning fees that were not set on bookings...and the other hands they confirmed it was my error!
All companies in the world, when they confirmed they will reimburse you...They do it... It seems AIRBNB is not part of them!
The worst thing is that I felt pressured, if I cancel the guests' reservations (who are not to blame) I am penalized with cancellation fees and if I host them I lose money! It's a huge amount of money and instead of dealing with the problem urgently, it took 2 months. The moment I informed them that someone who wasn't me was trying to connect to my account, the error disappeared! But who am I, a simple host, to claim respect for guests and my company? So if "confirming" doesn't mean taking responsibility and sticking to one's commitment, I don't know the definition of "confirming". It seems that AIRBNB uses this word to lull you to sleep and that at no time did AIRBNB wish to keep its commitment.
The worst part of this story is that I was taken for a ride and out of respect for my guests and customers, I bowed out and lost revenue.
That's the solution AIRBNB offered me, so be careful and hang in there!
Oh I forgot...THEY OFFERED ME A COUPON that also confirmed it was an error from their part...AIRBNB might thought this was the reimbursement of more than 20 missing cleaning fees...what else to say!

Surprising that airbnb allows hosts to change the price from the time you see it on map, till the time you book it. Also take a screenshot of price after you put in your dates. They wrote i would get a discount for staying 7 days, then upon booking it, price changed, it went up 9.57 a night.
I told them it's bait and switch. They did not care. So document, document with a pic.

While I loved the location of my Airbnb, and the place was spotless, I was charged a cleaning fee, but required to strip sheets and place with used towels in a specific area, combine trash from all trash cans into one, wash dishes, etc. Also, the stairs to the 2nd floor apartment had no railing, which is pretty dangerous for an old lady like me who is carrying luggage. I think Airbnb should notice things like this and talk with hosts about their attitudes towards guests. I am very respectful of hosts' properties, this seemed a bit out of line to me.

Bad customer service! Takes ages to get a refunds, almost impossible to reach them via the phone. 3 out of 5

Four women rented a luxury house in Edgehill Tn minutes from the strip. The house was beautiful, new, and clean but trouble with internet and tv throughout our stay. However, the neighborhood was in a high crime area which made us uncomfortable. By the time they charged us $279 cleaning fee, for three nights, and did nothing, a service fee and tax it jacked on anther $600! Ridiculous! Wasn't worth the money.

My host was great and the place was even better that I rented. I had unfortunate circumstances and had to cancel my reservation. Airbnb took an extra 1,300 out of my account after I have already paid for the entire month in advance. Per the host, the money didn't even go to him. Airbnb took it. Well, Airbnb was shady with it and said I needed the "ok" from the host to receive it back. Even after he agreed, support told me he didn't agree and therefore I would not see my money. Thankfully the host was very determined to get my refund for me and was talking with support for the whole day. Be cautious if you need to cancel. They'll try taking your money!

Yes, I booked a stay for $758 which you have to pay as soon as you book. Then 3 days later another fee ($26) turns up on my credit card?! What do they think! Just be prepared for extra charges. And there doesn't seem to be anyone to communicate with. This computer world can be $#*!!

The properties that are available are usually clean, well maintained and well managed. The only issue is with the company itself and the payment system. It's VERY difficult to get someone on the phone and their merchant system often times rejects cards even though they are in good standing, which can be embarrassing. Hopefully these are just growing pains and they have worked this out.

The quality of airbnb depends solely on luck. You might get some amazing people who try their best to accommodate you and make the staying experience as fun as possible or you get absolute apathy from people who only care about getting some extra money in their pocket and only see you as a means to an end. It can be used if you're in a hurry, but if you have more time look into cheap hotels, booking in advance might turn out cheaper.

I used Airbnb for the first time this past July 4 for a place in Pigeon Forge TN. Pictures appeared fine, the process seemed good.
Then the first red-flag occurred. Found out the house was actually for-sale. Not good. This was not disclosed in the Airbnb ad. We found out but perusing through a Realtor site and came across the house. Fortunately, Airbnb was quick to contact the host and found out, yes, they did indeed have the house for sale, however, the host was still going to honor our reservation. No viewings and no sale until after we left. Okay, blood-pressure, go back down.
Next was traffic. We were told, by the host, the road was not busy and we would not hear the traffic. Wrong, we did. Not pleasant but we tolerated it.
Next were the accommodations. The upstairs bedroom, apparently the master suite, had a window A/C and the central was blowing-out warm air. Not comfortable. The shower was extremely small even though the pix made it appear large. The entire bathroom floor was slanting. The shower leaked. Basically, a pitiful time with lots of anxiety on the safety of the room. Also smelled mold.
Overall, I gave the place a 2 out of 5 star review and cited the issues. There was nothing the host could do since the issues would take time to rectify and we had no other places for the holiday weekend.

Airbnb and the host did communicate with us, however, the host also demonstrated lots of attitude, especially upon seeing my negative review. They actually demanded, in e-mail, to have it changed. I refused.
Guess what?
That review is no longer on their Airbnb listing. Sweet Starlene I believe is the name. The host removed my review there, so, figured leave something about it here.
We've NEVER had issues like this with VRBO. And like I said, Airbnb themselves seemed fine. Its just that Airbnb let the host remove an honest review. That I do not like about the platform. If we're not allowed to have our reviews which meet the Airbnb standards be left, whats the use in using them?

I'll give it three stars only because when I booked apartments earlier here, everything was fine. But this time I've booked a place I liked, paid for it, then it was canceled for no reason. And no one has yet returned me my money!

I had two absolutely different experiences with Airbnb the first time I used it on a trip to the Catskills. The first Airbnb experience was phenomenal, the owner provided us with more than what was listed and he was not even a super host. However, the 2nd experience was much below average and provided false information about rooms, bathrooms etc and this person was apparently a super host. The property listing still remains the same even after we requested to correct it for future bookings. The owner literally stalked us, and every one of the 9 people on our trip felt he was crazy, who after my review wrote back false allegations which Airbnb refuses to verify. We have all the correspondence and photos to prove everything we wrote. We were accused of leaving the place dirty which doesn't make sense anyway. They charge a hefty cleaning fee and we did NOT leave it dirty. We have photos to prove that.
I'm including here the address of the property which had incorrect information. It claims to have 6 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms but the property has 5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and for 3 families. For 9 people it was extremely inconvenient and wrong information. When I asked the host he asked why do 9 people need 2 bathrooms!
The 6th bedroom and 3rd bathroom was in another property a drive away and it wasn't even ready for us.

A host is asked 6 items: to rate the guest from 1-5 on cleanliness, communication, and observance of rules, for a narrative review, and an optional private message only the guest will see. Then the host is then asked would you host this guest again - yes or no.

A guest is asked many more questions. It's been awhile so I can't remember how many.
If a guest gives less than a 5 rating, they are asked what the host could do to improve. Then there are more specific questions about decor, amenities, etc.

Hosts are not told what the guests will be asked - only that they will be asked to provide a review. Guests only see the narrative review. If they get lower ratings from a host, they don't know about it. The public sees the narrative, and a poor review from a host can make the HOST look like the difficult one. Airbnb needs to be transparent with both parties, and make the review process balanced and fair to both host and guest.

Cancelled my booking on march 13th at exactly 21:29 and they are refusing to give me any sort of refund. When I questioned this I was advised that if i cancelled on the 14th of march (bearing in mind this the 14th was a little over 2 and a half hours away) that I am not entitled to a refund. I've used this company multiple times and it seems when the going is good they're grand but as soon as there is an issue nevermind a global pandemic they seem to lack an sort of human empathy. Absolute corporate greed. I know there are a lot of cancellations that they are dealing with but I hope that they know when this is all said and done nobody will touch them. For the sake of 2 and a half hours you are ROBBING me of 600 euros. Absolute sham will never ever come near your company again. I'd rather sleep in a sewer for my next destination that ever do business with you again. Well done AirBnB the face of human empathy.

My husband & I have used Airbnb for years. In the past we can say the accommodation we have used has been quite good. We have been quite disappointed with the properties in the last couple of years as they have been generally inferior.

We are currently staying in a house in Iceland. This property had numerous good reviews. The cost to us was considered to be on the top end ($600 AUD per night)
We have five in our family & we expected to find a lovely property in good condition for this price. Unfortunately the property is in very bad repair & has so many problems that need attention.

We are now not trusting Airbnb listings. It is too difficult to resolve any issues & there seems to be nothing that can be done in our situation (which is grocely overcharging for the condition of the property). We are comparing this home to others we have stayed in in Iceland so we understand the cost base of this country.

Airbnb needs to stand behind the properties they are making so much profit on & make sure they are of suitable standard for what they are charging the customer. I also note that Airbnb appear that they do not reufund their own margin if the customer has a refund owing?

This is a difficult review to write as nothing horrendous occurred. We booked three accommodations, one was great, one had to cancel for very legitimate reasons and one was just ok. The accommodation that had to cancel did so because the island had no water so it was the responsible thing to do. Unfortunately it occurred one day before we were to arrive. We were able to find another place and with the help of the owner received a full refund. Without his help however my feeling is that we would not have received it so quickly. Trying to contact Airbnb with concerns is not easy.

My complaint with the company is there is no consistency in how places are rated so you are never really confident about what you might be getting. In the two places we stayed they were rated the same, hosts were both super hosts and there was a world of difference between the two... the accommodations were also rated the same and yet again there was a big discrepancy.

We have used VRBO often and there has never been such a discrepancy. There seems to be more scrutiny and control over who can put there accommodation on VRBO vs. Airbnb. I have not heard of last minute cancellations by owners on VRBO either. It is important to feel confident when booking your accommodation and after this experience I won't use Airbnb again unless there is no other possible option.

First, communication with airbnb is a real nightmare. Direct email is best, but messages seem to be flying about in some ethernet and I have no confidence that all messages are being received, read, and responded to.

Second, I have multiple times stated the basis for my displeasure with the property and the way airbnb has handled things. Airbnb is misleading from the get go. The "Hosts" are not Stephan and Stephanie. The property is owned by someone else, and airbnb gives the impression that these two lovely individuals who love their property will be the hosts. Not true, and it is impossible to ever communicate with them.

Third, it is very misleading to include one little sentence in the listing that the property is "not ADA accessible", and leave out that the main living floor requires 20 steep stairs and then another 15 steep stairs to the third floor or that the room containing the pool table requires the guests to go up and down the 20 steep stairs and go outside and around the house to another room! It is also misleading to list the property for 12 guests but not inform the guests that they can't sit together for meals when the only eating tables provide 4 chairs and two of the tables are in a separate room! This doesn't provide for group (in our case, a family of 10) togetherness. It is also misleading to indicate two TVs but that there is only seating for 3-4 people for one of the TVs and the second TV is on the third level with no seating!

Fourth, this is a very old property that has been added to in a piece-meal fashion by non-professionals. For example, access to the third floor bedroom is through the kitchen and there is no bathroom on the third level. Also, light switches are placed in bizarre locations. The hot tub is outside under very large pine trees where they drop their "needles" onto and into the hot tub. It is weird at best.

Fifth, there is no way this property should rent out at $850 a night! At best, it should rent for no more than $250/night!

I discovered landlords working the US system, taking advantage, changed conditions, check-in at impossible hours, claiming the money, flaring up over ageism, refusing to deny access and lodging, taking money for a ride. The system's computerized causing disregard. Check in before 12:30 or after 22:00 hours? Go away.

As a guest... you never know what your are getting at a stay with an AirBandB host.

Some venues are lovely and clean... while others are dumps.

While on one hand I endorse the idea of cottage industry within the hospitality industry, I do have security and quality concerns about this concept.

I think from now on I will only go by word of mouth... as images can be misleading.

Three stars from me...

We've been hosting on Airbnb over 2 years now and I must say their notification system has been failing big time lately. We no longer receive SMS notifications and sometimes we don't get emails either. We've contacted Airbnb about the issue but it's been months and no change. Other than that all is good.

I tried to cancel a reservation 3 weeks in advance, I even called the host, as well as Corporate Airbnb. I was never given any assurances that I would receive a 100% refund. I could get a 50% refund and then put in for an exception to the policy for Airbnb to issue the remaining 50%. I was not going to do that. The place we stayed was dirty, cobwebs, difficult to unload and load. The savings from a hotel was not worth it. We were told that yo0u couldn't stay in the facility if you were hosting a bachelor / bachelorette party, well, that was a flat out lie. While checking in we ran into 5 guys already feeling no pain at 4 in the afternoon and were there for a bachelor party. Just kinda funny..

I had a bad experience with a host, i booked a room for the night but he wasnt there and would not answer his phone when i arrived i was told he didnt even live there i ended up staying in a hostel. After explaining what had happened to airbnb and after giving them a copy of my phone log and other travel documents to support my claims after a few days i was given a full refund and a £50 coupon off my next reservation using airbnb so in the end i feel they did compensate me and i am gratefull for their good customer service.

I am hosting on airbnb for more than 2 years. I can't express how disappointed I am as a host by my guests. While in the beginning, I seemed to deal with normal people, now that the site got more expensive, only rude, clueless people seem to be using that website. I have zero cancellation rate as a host; all my apartments are exactly as shown and cleaned by professional crew. However, I deal with guests who call me drunk at night demanding parking that is not even advertised on the listing; guests smoking in the apartments even though we have non-smoking in the house rules. Recently, a guest attempted to hack (!) the building router that produces wifi for the all other tenants by installing his personal password on it. We prevented it, sending a technician. The guest left a review saying "apparently wifi was shared and others in the building didn't like it". What kind of a person expects NON-SHARED wifi nowadays and, after not receiving it, writes a negative review? Wifi by definition is a shared facility, even in Marriott or Hilton.

I don't know what hosts will soon remain on airbnb, but their reviews policy is clearly encouraging scams like that to put down good hosts. This encourages hosts to offer lesser quality services or not leave any reviews to good guests, since guests will write whatever, anyway, without much thinking and knowing that the host won't see their review or have any recourse.

On a positive side, airbnb allows me to earn 25% net extra income vs my long term rentals, this being the only reason I work with and continue being listed on that website.