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Olivia A.

Contributor Level

Total Points
80

1 Review by Olivia

  • Airbnb

12/4/20

I am disheartened and appalled by my most recent experience with Airbnb. Looking back, I have been an avid user of Airbnb along with my friends and family, and up until now, I've never had an experience that was anything less than fantastic. My most recent experience cost me over $1,000, hours of my time, added travel, and unnecessary stress at a time when stress is paramount given the current pandemic. The listing I booked was falsely advertised and reeked horribly of cigarette smoke, but this wasn't the worst part. The worst part is that Airbnb offered me no refund (aside from a measly service fee), and made me feel as though this was somehow my fault. The "2-bedroom" listing was in fact a one bedroom, with the tiny bedroom closet converted into a 2nd bedroom. The property was listed as an "entire home" and "bungalow" when it was a mother in law suite in the main house, and was connected by a door. (We are in the middle of an airborne pandemic. We never would have booked this listing if we knew it was apart of another home). And worst of all, the powerful odor of cigarette smoke filled the entire property, even with the air purifier running and us opening all of the windows for over an hour. One of my guests who attended the stay with me has severe asthma, so this was not only an enormous irritation for the rest of us, it was a severe health issue for her. After nearly two hours of trying to make the listing work, we realized the issue was unresolvable. The host was not going to be able to erect a standalone property as advertised, build a second bedroom as advertised, or remove what was clearly years of smoke damage. We were forced to find another listing last minute. The only listing available was in Santa Cruz, meaning that I had to spend another almost $1,000, travel over an hour to get to the new listing (after traveling over 3 hours to get to the first one), and scramble to try and save our vacation. When we visited the help page, we were instructed through Airbnb chat services to submit a refund request to the host to remedy the issue, which we did within the required 24 hour time period. Now, I am told that there is nothing they can do aside from refund me the $20 service fee. The listing cost over $1,300. I am outraged and in disbelief at this lack of customer service. Let me be clear that I own my own part-time business, I work full-time in public affairs, and the bulk of my work experience is in customer service. I have never in my life encountered or been instructed to provide such a poor customer experience. Not only did Airbnb side with a host that's falsely advertising a property and subjecting guests to health risks, they did nothing to rectify the issue. At a time when we really needed a vacation given the state of our world, we were instead left penniless and without recourse. Airbnb - you are a multi-million dollar company with infinite resources, and you had every opportunity to make this right. Shame on you.

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