Christina's Cucina

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Home » Non Sequitur » Thinking of Using Airbnb? Think Again.

Thinking of Using Airbnb? Think Again.

May 30th, 2020 | 321 Comments

If you’re thinking of using Airbnb as an alternative to a hotel, bed and breakfast, or other type of accommodation, I urge you to read this first. 

Rufflets Country House Hotel St Andrews Scotland
Rufflets Country House Hotel, St Andrews Scotland

Our Airbnb nightmare lasted four days and ruined my daughter’s college graduation weekend, as well as my mother’s 70th birthday celebration. Know the risks you’re taking before you use Airbnb.

I have been wrestling with my thoughts for the past year. Given some factors, including a recent, poignant conversation with a stranger, and some current articles I’ve read about Airbnb, I’ve decided to publish my story. This is bad news:

“When it comes to lodging, Waliszewski said that short-term rentals such as Airbnb and VRBO could outperform hotels in the near-term as travelers attempt to avoid interactions with strangers.”      –Travel and Leisure

I try my best to keep my website a positive place, however, it’s simply unbalanced and unjust for experiences like this to be dismissed and ignored for the sake of positivity. Just as I feel strongly when I enjoy a fabulous hotel, or restaurant, and want to share my experience with you, I feel compelled to tell you about this terrible experience in order to help you avoid a similar situation.

terrace suite at Palazzo Belmonte
An immaculately clean suite at Palazzo Belmonte in Southern Italy.

My family’s Airbnb encounter last year was hellish: a Hotel California-esque ordeal which no one should ever have to experience. Airbnb not only mistreated us during the time we were there, but afterwards, too. They firmly refused to provide a full refund. This should have been the least they could have offered as a gesture of apology.

filthy floor in airbnb
Living room floor.

I realize that this year’s college (and high school) seniors won’t have a graduation weekend at all, however, I want to make sure that if Airbnb stays in business, that as many people as possible are better informed about their ethics and protocol as a multi-billion dollar company.

What my family experienced during my daughter’s university graduation weekend was nothing short of reprehensible. I hope that telling you our story may help increase the probability that it never happens to anyone else in future.

filthy floor in airbnb
Dog fur which was all over the house.

NB: I am sure that many Airbnb hosts are honest, reliable, communicative, have clean rentals and take pride in being welcoming and helpful. However, given my experience last year, clearly there are some hosts that are the antithesis of these hosts. I feel that I need to highlight how disgracefully, and unfairly Airbnb handled our situation, during, and after our stay.

When we can Safely Travel Again~

Think of how clean you want your future accommodations to be: will you trust a company like Airbnb that has no oversight on how clean or safe their rentals are? Or will you stick with hotels that have certain procedures and protocol with which they must comply?

There is literally NO ACCOUNTABILITY with Airbnb. After reading my experience, I think you’ll be opting for hotels, too.

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I love my Priority Pass membership!

Thinking of Using Airbnb? Think Again.

How a Horrible Host and Airbnb Ruined a Very SpecialWeekend for my Family

awkwardly standing in the house when we arrived
This was our awkward arrival. A flatscreen TV on the couch was one of the problems.

A weekend we’d looked forward to for four years–my daughter’s graduation from Villanova University last May–was nothing like we’d imagined. Instead of the joyous weekend, family reunion and serendipitous celebration of my mother’s 70th birthday, we found ourselves in a filthy, and disgusting situation with no other place to go. It appeared that we had arrived at our accommodation unannounced, despite the fact that I’d booked over two months in advance, and had already paid in full.

filthy couch
Dirt, dust, fur and hair was everywhere.

Background on the Booking.

Exactly one year prior to the date of needing accommodation in the Villanova area, I attempted to book at minimum, two consecutive nights in the same hotel. This was the first available date to do so, and I managed to secure two rooms, however, when I tried to book the second night the next day, the hotels were already full. 

If you’ve had a child graduate from university, I probably need not explain anything to you. However, given that there are over 60 universities and colleges in the Philadephia area, booking hotel rooms during graduation season is a major challenge. I never did manage to secure consecutive rooms in the same hotel, despite consistently checking, and waiting for cancellations. 

Enter Airbnb

In early March, someone had mentioned Airbnb to me so I checked the listings and found an entire house for rent not too far from Villanova University. The reviews looked good, one even commenting on the cleanliness of the property.

Edit (June 1, 2020): due to many commenters stating that this must simply be my fault for not checking the reviews, maybe these visuals will help. The 14 reviews includes my 1 star review, so the ratings would have been even higher when I checked them.

reviews

These are two of the reviews I read. So for those of you saying I didn’t check the reviews, I guess I should also have  known these were fake?

airbnb reviews

I booked the house on March 10th, and cancelled the two separate hotel reservations. I felt so relieved that we wouldn’t have to change locations, and I also extended our stay for two more days. This way we could have a mini family reunion/vacation. I was excited!

dirt on the floor
Dirt on the floor.

Communication with the host didn’t start out on too well. As per Airbnb’s suggested protocol, I messaged her immediately after I had booked, just to say hello, who was coming to her rental, that I was looking forward to the stay, and asked details about our arrival. I texted again 12 days later, to no avail. She responded another 12 days later, which was over three weeks after my first message.  However, she still never answered my question about how to check in. Her response also goes against Airbnb recommendations to always message through Airbnb (which I had done.)

Message with Airbnb host using Airbnb

Check In

May 16th arrived and I messaged the host in the morning, but didn’t hear back, so I called later. I finally spoke to her and she said her parents would be at the home to let us in. 

Her parents were there, all right. Her mother was hanging drapes (and we wondered why the last minute drape-hanging was happening.) 

hanging drapes at Airbnb home

And her father was laying sod in the backyard. We felt like we were intruding, arriving while they were working in and out of the home. We didn’t say anything, hoping they would leave since most of us had arrived (my daughter had come with us, but she wasn’t staying there.)

laying sod

Upon our arrival, we immediately noticed how dirty the floors were and smelled a very strong dog odor. All of us noticed; it wasn’t just my mother who is usually the first to see anything that isn’t immaculately clean, or smell something bad.

dirty floors

It was also hard to miss a huge flat screen TV on the couch (see photo above.) I felt a knot in the pit of my stomach, and it kept tightening up in response to everything that I was seeing. In the back of my mind, I knew if this wasn’t going to work out, we had no place else to go. I spoke to the host’s mother about the dirty floor and the TV and she said that we could help put the TV back up. I just looked at my family in disbelief: was this really happening?

At this point, another person was in the house. A young teenager appeared, seemingly coming home from school. He didn’t acknowledge us, but walked through the house as if everything was normal (he seemed not to notice strangers were in the house.)

teenage at the door
Teen who arrived while we supposedly had possession of the house.

At this point, my whole body was starting to react to this bizarre situation as we started seeing more and more dirt, fur, hair and dust everywhere we looked. The windows looked as though they hadn’t been cleaned in years, and it became clear that we could not stay in these filthy conditions, especially since we had wanted to cook here.

I called the host since I couldn’t communicate with the host’s mother. She said things that made absolutely no sense several times. For example, “the food on the floor is from the comforter” and she brought a TV remote in from another room and called it “the internet.”

dirty floor
An example of the types of things we saw on the floor.

I told the host over the phone that the house had not been cleaned, the floors were filthy, there was a TV on the couch, and many other issues. She sounded shocked and said she was on her way.

At one point, the doorbell rang and my father opened it as we were all standing by the front door (we didn’t even want to sit anywhere.) I have no idea who it was, but he asked for the the host and then said, “Oh nevermind, I’ll come back another time” and left. If you’ve ever seen The Twilight Zone, this could easily have been an episode.

thermostat
Note: clean filter warning is lit. This beeped the entire time we were in the house. It was incredibly annoying as you can only imagine.

Before the host arrived, we had done a quick inspection of the main floor and upstairs. Both floors were disgustingly unclean.

dust upstairs
A dust covered shelf upstairs.
dust on drawer
A dresser drawer upstairs.

Even some sheets and mattresses were stained. There are simply too many photos and videos to upload all of them. Every room smelled, too, it wasn’t just the downstairs.

stained sheet
Large stain on a sheet. The mattress was also stained.

The Host Arrives

Without making assumptions about why the host wasn’t there to begin with, and why she said and did all the things she did, let me just say, she was not based in reality. She was absolutely taken aback about the fact that I said her house was filthy. She said she’d had a cleaning crew come in and clean it top to bottom! Clearly, the evidence all over the house showed that it couldn’t have been in the last six months or more! It was obvious that we weren’t going to get anywhere when I tried to show her how dirty the floor was, but she refused to look (I’m serious.)

She started to tell me a sob story about how Airbnb hadn’t reimbursed her for damage to her house from some past guests, and how she works hard and didn’t like how I was speaking to her. I told her that she just didn’t like what I was telling her, and tried to speak to her rationally. I attempted to make her understand that these things had nothing to do with me; the point was that her entire house was filthy and not in any condition to be occupied. She was in denial, and seemed as though she honestly didn’t understand anything that I had said (no, there was no language barrier). It was like she was not present, mentally.

disgusting floor
The host refused to look at this.

Calling/Texting Airbnb

There was no other choice but to get Airbnb involved. My mind was blown by this woman who was telling me to my face that her house was clean. In fact, she went so far as to say the “upstairs is immaculate.” You’ve seen a few of the photos from upstairs, but here are a few more.

coaster upstairs
A coaster upstairs.
a door upstairs
A door upstairs.
floor next to a bed using airbnb
The lamp and nightstand next to a bed.

NB: I commend you if you’ve made it this far without getting physically ill from these photos, but I’m going to warn you, the worst is yet to come. So don’t go any further if you’ve just eaten a meal. I love sharing beautiful pictures, but seeing and uploading all these are making me feel sick all over again. This is so not me, it’s hard.

I barely had any battery left on my phone when I contacted Airbnb, so I asked them to call me back on another number, which they failed to do. Luckily, my phone had not yet died, and I started to explain my situation. I went outside the front door for privacy as I didn’t want the host to hear me tell the rep that her house stunk of dog in addition to the filth inside. 

fur on a window sill using airbnb
Fur and hair and dust on a window sill in the living room.

As soon as I divulged this to the Airbnb rep, the door flew open and the host reprimanded me, saying loudly, “My house does not smell of dog!” I told her that it was not okay to eavesdrop on my conversation, but clearly things were heading south.

Yes, I had tried to see if any hotel rooms were available, but it was a joke: everything had been booked for a year in advance. Note the time: we arrived at 3 pm.

no availability message
Although I knew everything had been full for a year, I still did check some places.

I cannot write every single thing that transpired because it was incredibly drawn out.  In a nutshell: 

  • I continued my communication with Airbnb over text as the call kept dropping. They said there was nothing else available and I needed to work with the host and allow her to have cleaners come in.
  • I said there was no way they could clean the house in a few hours, due to how much needed to be done, but I finally agreed, given there were no other options.
  • The host said her cleaner was in the driveway, but she was sending him away because she didn’t want him in the house with me since I wasn’t nice (!!!)
  • Her father pulled out of the driveway right after this (her father was “her cleaner.”)
  • She had someone else come over, saying he was her attorney. He stayed in the kitchen with her while she mopped one floor for over 30 minutes. At this rate it would take her over a year to clean the house.
  • The rep at Airbnb said it was time for his break and left. I honestly couldn’t believe he just left. 

using Airbnb message

  • My entire family: mother, father, husband, and son left in my son’s car to go for a tour of Villanova University with my daughter while I stayed behind and tried to deal with Airbnb and the host from hell. I felt even more sick knowing I was missing out on this special time with my family that I would never be able to get back.

No Choice but to Stay

  • I finally couldn’t take being in the house with them any longer as they were talking about the situation and how the house was clean, they had done nothing wrong, and talking about me, etc. The agent came back after more than an hour break.

using airbnb message

At this point, I asked the host and her “attorney” to leave. All she had cleaned was one floor, which was probably the cleanest floor in the house. Now it was up to me to clean what we had to use, such as the bathrooms, kitchen sink, beds, etc. However, no matter what I cleaned, it wasn’t going to help the dog odor!

No one in my family was happy about the situation, but we all knew we had no other alternative. I felt the worst  for my mother who is so meticulously clean, more than any of us. I felt like a failure, although I’d done nothing wrong.

The Backyard

flooding in the backyard
Flooding in the backyard.

I had to call the host as the backyard had a sprinkler going and was flooding a small area. The host’s father came back and turned it off. However, as my son was sitting out back reading on another day, he returned, just showed up in the backyard without any notification whatsoever.

Who knows how many times he came over as we tried to stay out as long, and as much as we possibly could. I was not happy that he felt he could just wander in whenever he wanted while we were there.

DiscoveringThe Degree of Filth in the House Using Airbnb

filthy bathroom sink using airbnb
One of the bathroom sinks.

I am not exaggerating when I say the house was FILTHY. Just look. Can you imagine being told this is “immaculate?”

dirty toilet using airbnb
One of the toilets. I had to clean feces and urine off of it.

Cleaning the toilet literally made me gag. The only reason I did it was because I had to for my family. My mother would never have been able to manage the feat, and I was the only one left at the house at this point. I truly wanted to run away from this disgusting hell-hole and the entire situation, but where could I go?

cob web on the ceiling using airbnb
Cob webs on the ceiling.

Absolutely nowhere. My daughter’s graduation ceremonies were being held the next two days and my husband and parents’ flights weren’t until Monday (and this was Thursday!) We were stuck here.

filthy window
One of the windows.

I would have considered sleeping in a car over this house, but we didn’t rent a car and my son just had a Honda Civic. Then where would we shower and dress? It was an impossibility.

one of the couches
One of the couches.

Let me Show you the Kitchen

mouse poop in frying pan using airbnb
Mouse poop in a frying pan.

For those of you who don’t know, this is mouse poop. And it happens to be in a frying pan. How does that strike you? Can you believe that all these photos and documentation meant nothing to Airbnb? Let me show you more and we’ll get to that in a bit.

pots and pans
Pans in the kitchen drawer.

The back of the drawer. No clue what this is, but it shouldn’t be here. Everything was reprehensible.

kitchen drawer
Who lives like this?

See the photo below? That’s the inside of the freezer door. See the dog fur/hair? Yep, that’s in the freezer; not kidding. Remember, I can only show you some of the kitchen, and the house. There was so much more!

dog fur in the freezer
Freezer door.

Want to see the dishwasher? Probably not, right?

dishwasher door

dishwasher

Looked like these had not been used or cleaned in YEARS.

dirty kitchen

The microwave was revolting. Who am I kidding, everything was revolting.

 

Downstairs/Basement Using Airbnb

And finally, let’s take a walk downstairs to the basement. This is just a little part of the disgustingly dirty floor.

basement floor using airbnb
Filthy basement floor.

This wall is disgraceful.

wall downstairs
No words.

Thank goodness we didn’t do laundry here. I’m adding a video clip below that I took downstairs.

washing machine using airbnb
Part of the washing machine.

 

My Mother’s 70th Birthday Celebration that Didn’t Happen

My elated mother with her culatello board!
No, unfortunately this isn’t her birthday celebration. Taken in Italy the year before.

I already had a huge bottle of bubbly and planned on making Mum a nice dinner, buying a cake, and celebrating her 70th birthday with our family since her birthday was a week later. My family lives all over the US, so this was the perfect time to celebrate my mother’s special birthday.

Alas, there was no special dinner being made in that kitchen. No cake was going in that fridge. Proper restaurants were slammed with existing reservations due to the graduations, so we just popped the bubbly at my daughter’s house where everyone didn’t even have a seat, and that was it. The most pathetic 70th “birthday party”, ever.

Airbnb’s Lack of Successful Resolution and Pathetic Customer Service

I called Airbnb upon my return to Los Angeles, but even though they had all the documentation and photos (more than I’ve shared here), they refused to take into account the fact that we COULD NOT LEAVE. They stated that if we complained about the condition of the house, we should have left in order to receive a full refund! It was a vicious circle of me telling them there was no place to go, and Airbnb saying, if it was so bad, you should have left. 

After weeks of spending valuable time on the phone and waiting for them to make a decision, they refunded 50% of my payment and offered a $100 towards a future stay! What a joke–after this experience? At minimum, a full refund should have been given, and that still isn’t even close to making up for our ruined weekend! No amount of money can fix lost and ruined time with family.

Also, I discovered that although the listing says the home sleeps 8 (with 4 beds),  there are only 3 beds and one is a twin, so it only sleeps 5. It still has not been corrected. How does Airbnb monitor these listings? There is simply no accountability.

Here’s why Airbnb Failed Miserably~
  • The fact that Airbnb absolutely refused to look at the facts and realize that there was literally nowhere for my family to go during those four days says a lot about the company. They are focused on making and keeping money, not doing the right thing, and providing good customer service.
  • Airbnb didn’t take into account that we left the premises CLEANER than when we arrived. When has that ever happened? They also didn’t take into account our wasted time and the time we spent cleaning.
  • Airbnb also blamed the victim by saying that I should have allowed the host to have someone come to clean WHILE WE WERE THERE. When this woman had over two months to prepare for our arrival, it’s okay to have hours and hours of our time taken away when we should have come to a clean house in the first place? Why is the responsibility never laid on the correct shoulders anymore?

Graduation

Graduation at Villanova

Given that this year no one will be able to graduate in the manner shown in the photo above, I’m grateful that my daughter was able to participate in her ceremony. However, our weekend hardly went as planned, all due to some bizarre lack of planning on our host’s part. Had she hired a cleaning crew to do a major (and I mean, MAJOR) cleaning inside her house before our arrival, things would have turned out much differently.

mopping the floor with her foot using Airbnb
The host’s mother wiping the floor with her foot after I complained that it was dirty.

 

Is my story not enough to dissuade you from using Airbnb?
Then maybe the thousands of other submissions on this site will be. 

Airbnb Hell

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. Please share the word about my experience. Have you had a nightmare experience with Airbnb? Would you have done anything differently than me if you would have been in this situation? Let me know.

✧

Two Last Things.

  1. I never took one photo of my daughter alone in her cap and gown that weekend. I honestly think that the chaos, anxiety, and stress from staying in that horrible filth was the reason I just wasn’t thinking clearly. I’ve been a professional wedding photographer, and I shoot photos all the time. This is just not like me, and it breaks my heart that I didn’t get just one of her alone. This is a shot from the week before with her friends; Denisa is in the center.

Villanova graduates 2019

2. On Monday, after leaving Hotel California (I cannot tell you just how incredible it felt leaving that place), Denisa and I took my parents into Philadelphia. After having Philly cheesesteaks for lunch at Reading Terminal Market, I witnessed a pedestrian being hit in a crosswalk by an SUV. I got the license plate and gave it to the victim (luckily he wasn’t badly hurt.)

Within 5 minutes, I had my new iPhone stolen right out of my hand as we were walking down the street! My 83 year old dad started chasing the thief and fell on the sidewalk, injuring his chin, chest and later his legs would become completely bruised!

my dad's chin

I yelled, “Stop him, he stole my phone!” and someone actually did! I got my phone back, but not after the man who had been hit by the SUV tried to subdue the thief and also fell, injuring his hand quite badly. He had been waiting for the police to arrive. Meanwhile, my daughter took my dad inside a Dunkin’ Donuts as he thought he was going to pass out. I also got two photos of the thief right after getting my phone back! Sounds like a movie, no? This photo says it all: the aftermath.

the aftermath: sitting on a bench

Let’s just say, it wasn’t the best weekend we’ve ever had.

Stay tuned for a recipe next time!
I promise it won’t have any horrible photos.

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Country, My Rants & Recommendations, Non Sequitur, Uncategorized, USA · Travel

Reader Interactions

321 Responses

  1. Simone Avedian says:
    February 15, 2022 at 7:15 pm

    Christina! I am so, so sorry you and your beautiful family had this horrible experience. It breaks my heart knowing this happened during such monumental life events. From personal experience, my husband and I just returned from an Airbnb from the 9th circle of hell- filthy, bad odor, etc.- you know the deal! It’s really awful that some people don’t care about basic cleanliness, let alone hospitality.

    Sending you good vibes from Southern Oregon. Btw big fan of your blog! Xoxo

    Reply
  2. Linda says:
    February 7, 2022 at 1:10 pm

    Thank you for this article, Christina! …I wish I had read it before booking though :-(

    I’m from wintry Norway and was so looking forward to my stay right outside of Malaga, Spain from 1st February!

    I’m on my own, besides my little furbaby (a small dog, only five pounds) and was met by a cranky receptionist upon arriving. And when I tried to question him, he threatened me. These are his exact words:
    – I know where you live!

    Which has made me terrified of walking outside without bringing my dog, in case this person hurts my little one.

    Had it only stopped here? When I got into the flat it was freezing cold, and in comparison, it is warmer outside.

    The first night I woke up so cold I had to run into the shower. The next day a got a fever and a cold and slept for several days.

    There is this heat pump at the end of the living room, but it only warms the sofa area, so the kitchen (in the same room) is ice cold, same as the bedroom and the bathroom which has no heat elements at all. Also, a booster controls the heat pump, and must be turned on every second hour, so during night there is no heat in the apartment whatsoever.

    The host? I tried to be cooperative and suggested she brought an oven and a duvet, since the “duvet” is a sheet, and I must sleep with all my clothes on. She then got angry with me and said Airbnb should handle it from there on, and Airbnb? This is their reply:

    “Thanks for your report. On this occasion, what you’ve described doesn’t go against our hosting standards. There are certain things for which we can’t hold a Host responsible, and this is one of those cases.”

    I then replied:

    “I have now sent a complaint to the European Customer Council, due to false marketing. You might not be aware of your obligations when renting out, but there is no such thing as heat in this apartment, besides a small area at the end of the living room. When you write “heat” under facilities, that’s also what you are obligated to provide your customers. Falsk marketing is illegal in all of Europe.”

    Which they responded by blocking me.

    Unfortunately, I have paid for a full month, and I have also paid for next month in Madrid (which I’m trying to cancel now).

    I will find a hotel as soon as I get my salary on the 15th and never use Airbnb again, even though the host in Madrid has seventy-eight complimentary reviews and has promised heat. I have a social anxiety disorder that has finally weakened after 15 years of hardly ever leaving my hometown and I will therefore not trigger it anymore.

    I will find a hotel for the rest of my stay and never look back on this horrible experience.

    Thank you once again for sharing your story!

    Reply
  3. Marci says:
    February 2, 2022 at 2:39 pm

    I wish I had read this article before embarking on our own AirBnB rental from hell. I really want to write an article that describes in detail a different kind of AirBnB hell my husband and I went through Jan 2022 and continues to this day trying to get a refund from them.

    If we would have read this article before jumping into the AirBnB world, we certainly would never have done it and here we are in another kind of AirBnB hell. Wasted vacation, wasted time, wasted money.

    My husband and I drank the AirBnB koolaid with their marketing advertisements and so-called superhost reviews.

    Its turning into a collusion between scammer hosts and their AIrBnB enabler.

    Reply
    • Christina says:
      February 2, 2022 at 4:47 pm

      I am SO sorry, Marci. I know I’m going to be getting a lot more message like yours, unfortunately. Airbnb is the devil of rental accommodations and growing worse day by day. It’s really disheartening. I hope you are able to get your money refunded somehow. Try Elliott.org.

      Reply
      • Marci says:
        February 3, 2022 at 2:37 pm

        Thank you Christina, we will try Elliot.org.

        My husband and I have now entered a different phase of this AirBnB horror story. We call it the refund trap door. We arrived at the property only to find the host gave us a bogus access code. There we were, outside the locked gated entrance to RV, groceries sitting in the hot Florida weather in the back seat of the rental car, people driving by staring at us like we were trying to break into the place while we kept trying and trying to use the bogus code to unlock the lock to the gate. Hours passed without any response from either the host or AirBnB.

        A lady from another RV called us over and asked us “Are you the delivery people with our groceries?” To this day, we swear this lady was the actual host playing an evil trick on us.

        At any rate, we made a police report while abandoned there at this RV camp in Key Largo. The officer taking the report said they are having more and more of these incidents happen. From fake AirBnB listings, where some random person creates a host account and lists a property complete with photos from Zillow. To hosts just not providing access and double booking the property, all in the hopes the guests would give up trying to get a refund.

        After a couple of hours in the hot Florida sun, we called the credit card company and asked them to dispute the AirBnB charge.

        9 days later we get an Ambassador from AirBnB texting us that they will refund us the amount, but we have to cancel our dispute with the credit card company in order for the refund to go through.

        Great! We cancelled the dispute with the credit card company.

        We then waiting the 15 days for the refund to materialize, and of course it never did.

        We contacted AirBnB and they told us since we made a dispute, they could not process the refund.

        We tried to further communicate to AirBnB, telling them that we had cancelled the dispute as per their last email. Waited and waited, no response from AirBnB.

        Fed up by this trickory,wee went back to the credit card company and told them all of this, and they re-opened the dispute and took all of our evidences.

        The next day AirBnB contacts us again saying that yes they will give us a refund, but they need proof we do not have any open disputes open with the credit card.

        Yes, we feel like Charlie Brown, being egged on to kick that same football. Would we be foolish to walk into their trap a second time?

        We went fell into that trap door once and wasted a month. This time we will take our chances on the credit card company doing a chargeback.

        If AirBnB succeeds in tricking the bank, then we will pursue a refund and costs through small claims court.

        Reply
        • Christina says:
          February 3, 2022 at 3:40 pm

          What a hellish nightmare! You cannot trust them for one second!! Good luck, and please update here to let us know the end result. People might be saved this same experience if they read what we have gone through. Thanks for updating!

          Reply
          • Kay says:
            February 3, 2022 at 8:23 pm

            I will never book with Airbnb again. I am currently starving bc my “host” did not replace the broken refrigerator before a snow storm hit us yesterday. All of the food I purchased three days ago has spoiled and the roads have not been paved so I am literally snowed in with no food. No one is delivering and most restaurants are closed anyway for a couple of days due to snow storm.

            My host has a very smart mouth and is very nonchalant. Or should I say she WAS nonchalant before she just decided to ignore me. So, she’s the “co host”, right? I decided to contact the “big host” and received no response either. I’ve received no remorse or apologies of any sort. I was “approved” for a grocery credit that they both are refusing to send.

            The maintenance man that looked at the refrigerator for all of 1 minute was more concerned with staring at my breast. Once he “diagnosed” the refrigerator as being complete crap he said I’d be receiving a phone call and a new frig. Neither happened. I’ve had to track everyone down myself with no results. She’s claiming she can’t get a frig here bc of the storm. The maintenance guy left this place at 9am. They had the entire day to replace it or find a temporary solution. We all knew a storm was coming.

            I contacted Airbnb customer service which is a joke. The connection was so bad he asked to chat online and he never responded. I am never doing this again and I will be discouraging everyone from doing business with this company.

  4. Hope says:
    January 25, 2022 at 11:21 am

    People always berate a person for not reading reviews after they dare to criticize a property/host or Airbnb itself.

    Reviews aren’t foolproof. Same with any other hotel, resort, etc. The difference is you have very little help and support from Airbnb if something goes wrong compared to more professional businesses.

    Even if there are 100 glowing reviews for a listing before you, that still doesn’t mean YOU won’t have an issue. Some may even be no fault of the host’s own (plumbing, air, heating, broken major appliances) but that still doesn’t mean you should be left to suffer with no or not much recourse.

    Some people are even afraid to leave bad reviews for fear of the host ruining their guest ratings in retaliation. That’s one reason some of these less than desirable properties maintain higher ratings than they should. Airbnb has also been known to remove negative reviews. Especially if it’s a superhost with a property that makes them a lot of money. They’ll say the review violates TOS or whatever even if it doesn’t.

    Airbnb just isn’t worth the risk for me any more.

    Reply
    • Christina says:
      January 25, 2022 at 11:33 am

      Wholeheartedly agree, not to mention the damage the company is doing to cities with residents having to move from their homes due to rising prices from Airbnb’s inflating their home prices. It’s so sad and completely avoidable. A horrible company.

      Reply
  5. Should You Use Airbnb? 8 Troubling Problems You Didn’t Know – Sweet Saw says:
    January 7, 2022 at 1:20 pm

    […] time, mouse droppings were in the kitchen and other accommodation options nearby were all sold out. Here’s how Airbnb treated these guests in this actual […]

    Reply
  6. J.E. says:
    October 22, 2021 at 11:43 am

    Wow… this is just an incredible ‘bitch-fest.’ I have stayed in FAR worse Airbnbs, with no recourse.

    Airbnb staff are allowed to take breaks… did you really think someone shouldn’t get their scheduled lunch because of YOU?

    Your photos are mostly extreme close-ups of tiny scratches or pieces of hair. For someone to actually take the time to write and post photos for such a long article and call this a nightmare is f-ing amazing. And you ignored the people at the house instead of trying to talk to them, which is frankly weirder on your part than theirs. It’s someone’s home, the kid was probably meeting his parents, who you already said were there.

    Frankly, reading some of this article (I couldn’t even stomach reading the whole thing), and some of the comment responses, you sound like the kind of person we would have asked to leave from a luxury property in Vail for being too demanding and uptight. This article has left me feeling worse about humanity… if this is a nightmare to you, you live in an alternate universe, truly. I can’t even imagine how you’d handle travel in another country where people are actually human…

    Reply
    • Christina says:
      October 23, 2021 at 11:38 am

      You are clearly a troll and have an alliance with Airbnb so while you came here to blame the victim, I will not accept any of your denigrations.

      Most of what you have written is completely erroneous, and you have totally twisted what I have written. No, I do not expect anyone not to take their break, but a multi-billion dollar company should have another employee on hand to continue assisting me; a basic assumption which you missed.

      -You stated that you didn’t read the entire article, so you have no right to claim that most of my photos were closeups because they are not. I even included a video clip.
      -I never said I ignored anyone in that house, so you are fabricating “facts” as well. It was the teenager who ignored us.
      -I had prepaid for the rental in full, and it was supposed to be in our possession at the time the boy came home, so no, he should NOT have been there along with the others in the house.

      While I’m willing to accept differing standards in accommodations, I expect health and safety standards to be observed in the USA; clearly you don’t. YOU may also think this level of filth in your Airbnb is acceptable, but I can tell you the majority of people in North America would not. If mouse excrement in cooking equipment is not a problem for you, then I think that is all I need to say. If you believe that rented accommodations like the photos in my post are acceptable then YOU are the one living in an alternate universe. Your last sentence also makes absolutely no sense.

      I would normally delete comments as vile as yours, but I’m leaving it for others to see that there are people who will rashly attack the victim and defend the offenders (a horrible host and the unethical company) as you have done. Your statements are simply despicable.

      Reply
      • Gemma Stalwart says:
        January 4, 2022 at 4:40 pm

        Anybody else here think “J. E.” is the host, or related to the host? Too absurd of a message which sounds strangely like the drivel you, Christina, unfortunately encountered at the ‘Hotel California.’

        So very sorry for your horrible experience. I recently attempted to book through Air BnB and was astounded that they asked for photos, prior to booking, of everyone who’d be staying in the house. The ‘customer’ gives far too much and the ‘hosts’ apparently never have to take responsibility.

        Thank you for the very enlightening and useful article, Christina, and I wish you and yours the best in the coming New Year!

        Reply
        • Christina says:
          January 4, 2022 at 5:28 pm

          Thank you, Gemma. I appreciate you taking the time to write this comment. Sadly, I think most people will never know just how bad a company Airbnb really is. I’m happy when just one person realizes it and refuses to use them in future. Happy new year to you and yours as well!

          Reply
    • Ina Patience says:
      October 23, 2021 at 11:40 am

      IF I HAD BEEN IN THAT POSITION, I WOULD HAVE CONTACTED THE CITY’S HEALTH DEPARTMENT.
      ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE.

      Reply
      • Christina says:
        October 23, 2021 at 1:49 pm

        Thanks, Ina. I should have, but never thought about it at the time. :(

        Reply
    • MJ says:
      January 15, 2022 at 8:27 am

      What is WRONG with you, J.E.?! Are you a barbarian, happy to live in FILTH?! You have an agenda here and I think you’re associated with the disgusting Super Fund house that was unfit for human occupation. I will NEVER stay in an Air B&B after hearing of sexual assaults and appalling conditions that corporate sweeps under the rug. I will certainly NOT be staying with you! I know great places in Vail and Beaver Creek that are CLEAN and where people don’t accept horrific treatment.

      Reply
      • Christina says:
        January 15, 2022 at 8:29 am

        Hear, hear, MJ! 100% agree!

        Reply
  7. Clover Cardoza says:
    September 26, 2021 at 5:07 pm

    Thank you for enlightening readers about the dubious business practices of Airbnb. I had a similar experience over the summer staying in an Airbnb listing. The place clearly hadn’t been cleaned in ages and, like you, my family had no other option for accommodations. So I ended up cleaning it myself the best I could & we slummed it for a few days. Needless to say Airbnb took zero responsibility & the only refund they offered was the $50 service fee. Also, I found out the listing was illegal. I’ll never use Airbnb in the future because of this. I feel less alone in my plight after reading about your experience. Also, fun to discover your blog!

    Reply
    • Christina says:
      September 26, 2021 at 5:56 pm

      Oh, there are too many stories like ours, unfortunately, Clover. :( It’s sickening that they are a multibillion dollar company, too. So very sad that they are so incredibly greedy and uncaring. Oh well, you know what they say about karma. Hope you enjoy my travel and recipe posts! They’re much less depressing than this Airbnb post, I promise! :)

      Reply
  8. Gael Wood says:
    August 27, 2021 at 10:44 am

    I had a similar experience with VRBO and after submitting all of my photos and messages with VRBO and the homeowner the bank did a charge back and returned our money.

    VRBO didn’t help me at all. There was mold so bad that MUSHROOMS 🍄 were growing in the bathroom. My mothers bed broke and we couldn’t use one of the bedrooms at all because of the mildew smell.

    Now we rent only from rental companies with housekeeping and maintenance departments or hotels.

    Reply
    • Christina says:
      August 27, 2021 at 1:45 pm

      Absolutely unconscionable!! Glad you got your $ back!

      Reply
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  1. Should You Use Airbnb? 8 Troubling Problems You Didn’t Know – Sweet Saw says:
    January 7, 2022 at 1:20 pm

    […] time, mouse droppings were in the kitchen and other accommodation options nearby were all sold out. Here’s how Airbnb treated these guests in this actual […]

    Reply

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Meet Christina

A Scottish Italian cook living in Los Angeles, Christina is usually cooking, baking or (cr)eating something scrumptious. When she isn't in the kitchen, she loves to travel, near and far, as long as good food is involved. Christina is on a mission to save authentic Italian dishes from extinction, and is constantly promoting Scottish (and British) food as some of the best cuisine the world has to offer—one steak pie and sticky toffee pudding at a time.



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