How do I complain to Airbnb about a host. The place looked tidy but was very dirty. I have photos.

[Rachel1730]

Hi Community.

How do I reach Airbnb to inform them of a host who advertises with good photos but the place is very dirty.  It looks somewhat neat but I could not feel clean while being there.  

The kitchen sponge stuck to the bench I had to rip off the bench.  Then it left a powder over the bench.  The stove controls were so dirty, you could not touch them without wiping your fingers.  Months of grote left behind.  

Snot or faeces left around where you get toilet paper.  It was there before I got there and remained there while I was there.  You know how grime builds up from the bottom of the shower and grows up the shower screen, it was half way up the shower screen.  Half the screen looked like the smokey screens one can choose, but this was due to lack of cleanliness.

I had only used Airbnb several times and had great experiences and so I was shocked by what I found in the third.  

I think these hosts should be monitored somehow.  

While I stayed there, both men left the toilet seat up after they finished their business.  That was here nor there for me.  But on the fourth day, the seat was left down and urine and a pubic hair was left on the seat.  I was shell shocked.  It was intentional.  This is a host and his long term Airbnb.  When I complained and I was upset, he asked me to leave.  Not fix the problem.  He felt inconvenienced by me being inconvenienced.  One has no where to go with that type of behaviour.   

I can't believe a host believes how he lives is acceptable for his own standards let alone a paying customer.  This needs everyone to be in the know.  When you pay for a service, decency and cleanliness are the minimal one should expect.  

[Helen350]

@Rachel1730 Someone once wrote on this forum "When a host opens the door to an Airbnb guest, they expect a gracious friend, not an entitled customer."

Airbnb used to have the slogan "Live like a local!"

When you book a room in a private home, in someone's spare room, you run the risk that their standards will not be the same as yours. When a host lets more than one room to more than one guest, there is a risk that the other guest will be a slob, and leave a mess in kitchen or bathroom before it's your turn. And of course if you book a room with a shared bathroom, you run the risk that the other guest will leave a mess & not clean up after themselves. (Some guests might not realise their obligations to clean up behind them, & wrongly think the host should be running around after them?)

I host 3 rooms in my house; all 3 guests share the bathroom with me. It's clean when guests arrive, but I can't be running in with the cleaning kit EVERY time I hear the bathroom door shut! Last week a guest (not Airbnb) left her toiletries spread out on my bathroom surfaces, and her wash cloth draped over the shower hose for 5 days! I was mildly annoyed, but decided not to say anything for the sake of good will! - Now if there had been another guest, I'd have had to say something, lest the other guest should find this too yucky!

I once had a weekday lodger for 4 months who used to cook, leave the kitchen a mess, go & eat, then clean up hours later. I asked her to clean up as soon as she'd finished cooking, & she poo poo-ed it all, "Oh relax!" she said, "It doesn't matter, lighten up!" -  I told her I did not want my Airbnb guests marking me down in their reviews, or worse, complaining to Airbnb, but she didn't get it! - Thankfully, all my Airbnb guests were too easy going to care, or never went near the kitchen anyway, having eaten out, or preferring to guzzle crisps in their rooms!

- As for leaving the toilet seat up, I find MOST of my male guests do that! - NOT a hill to die on for me! I do not want to look like a crazy woman for making an issue of something SO trivial!!!

I see you've already written a review, so that's all you need to do..... Future guests, or folk considering that place can read your review, and the reviews of other guests and evaluate for themselves whether Kent's place would be a 'good fit' & meet their standards. Future guests might see your review as a useful 'Heads Up', or they may disregard it as the ludicrous rantings of one who is "better suited to a hotel!"

Remember when writing reviews that YOUR future hosts can see Kent's review of you, and by clicking his photo, can see his profile, & what you wrote about him/his place.........

[Rachel1730]

Hi Helen350

Thanks for responding on Christmas Day.  I raise my glass and tip my hat to you and say Merry Christmas. 

I don’t like to state the obvious but it should be clear, first and foremost I am paying customer.  That is a fact.  What sort of a customer I am, could be questioned for sure.  A gracious friendship can only begin with mutual respect. 

My two previous stays at Airbnb’s were delightful.  The pictures shown on the ad were what I got.  I don’t think I asked too much at all. 

Behave like a local I read from your response.  So, I should just leave urine and pubic hair on the toilet seat.  That’s my experience.  I should lower my standard because others want me to behave like a gracious friend.     

I did not walk into this place with high expectations.  Actually I had driven 8 hours and was extremely tired.  I unloaded my fully packed car and prepared for sleep. 

Your first paragraph dismisses how unhygienic the place was.  Months of neglect.  This was not an untidy place it was a dirty place.  It was obvious this place had not been cleaned or even attempted to be cleaned.  It was also obvious whoever left the mess on the toilet seat had changed their behaviour.   Yet it seems from what you wrote this is acceptable behaviour, which it is very much not. 

I was not complaining about the toilet seat, I said clearly, ‘it was here nor there with me’.  I was sharing this information to show a change in behaviour.  Did you read my write up or are you just dismissing what matters to me.  I am not trival, but it seems you want my experience to be willy nilly, yet you share your stories about how you wanted your place kept clean and the person cooking and cleaning up hours later should matter but someone leaving urine on the seat should be okay.

Yes it was a necessary review as I don’t want another woman to experience this and if I am dismissed as a ranting person better suited to a hotel, then they enter at their own risk.  But more importantly I hope Kent cleans the place up for himself before others. 

I am very aware of what I wrote, I did not write it hastily nor in anger.  I think it necessary when one has a horrible experience, that we take care of one another and keep a standard of living acceptable, not be scared to share our experience.  I actually have shocking photos from my experience.

I wanted advice on how to contact Airbnb so this person could come under a watch list or something because nobody should have to experience what I did. 

[Kia272]

@Rachel1730  I'm sorry you ended up in this situation, but I do believe that if you had paid more attention to your host's reviews, you might have seen that his cleanliness ratings were not so good, and a couple of reviews remarked on that. No doubt your rating took him down a notch, but they still were not great before that. Pictures generally won't show dirt. Reviews are important, and there's a lot of nuance in what you see on the page. Guests tend to not call out hosts in a public review unless something really horrible has transpired. They are more likely to leave a very general remark, like "Nice place!", or "convenient location and comfortable" and then let their star ratings reflect their real feelings. Just FYI.....

Best, Kia

[Rachel1730]

Hi Kia272

Thank you for the tip it is most useful.  It was not that I was sloppy about the reviews, I did go and read them, I decided I would increase the number of days I stay there due to the feedback.  

I saw a number of people with Kent.  The reviews were short yet gave nothing away.  I did not really look at the star ratings.  Thanks for pointing that out.  You have taught me how to read the reviews in a new light.  It is very much appreciated.    

[Rachel1730]

Hi Kia272

Thanks for your useful tip on how to read reviews.  I must say I did go and check out the reviews.   How I calculated it was, there were a number of people who had stayed.  In my mind, that meant they had a good experience.  The reviews seemed okay to me.  

Now I will read them differently.  I have to admit I took no notice of the stars.  That was poor judgement on my behalf.  It was out of ignorance more so than anything else.  I think after a couple of good stays with Airbnb, I got a bit sloppy.  That won't happen again.  

Cheers

[Rachel1730]

Hi Kia272

Thanks for your useful tip on how to read reviews.  I must say I did go and check out the reviews.   How I calculated it was, there were a number of people who had stayed.  In my mind, that meant they had a good experience.  The reviews seemed okay to me.  

Now I will read them differently.  I have to admit I took no notice of the stars.  That was poor judgement on my behalf.  It was out of ignorance more so than anything else.  I think after a couple of good stays with Airbnb, I got a bit sloppy.  That won't happen again.  

[Sarah977]

You have to take star ratings with a grain of salt, especially for things like location and value. Also even a great host's rating can take a dive from a retaliation review- a bad guest gets asked to pay for damages they caused, or gets called out for sneaking in extra guests or ignoring house rules, like no smoking, and then turns around and leaves a 1* review out of vengeance. But the cleanliness rating is something to note, and you should definitely read the written reviews, which tell you more than an arbitrary star. A revenge review will usually look like some kind of rant and the host generally will leave a response that makes it clear that it is an untrue review.

When I looked at Kent's reviews, they were mostly all good, but 2 besides yours did mention that the place wasn't clean. The older reviews said it was clean, so it may be that he has slacked off on cleaning, or used to have a good cleaner and now doesn't, and  maybe you just had the bad luck to book when he had dirty guests. But it sounds like the place is grimy far beyond a mess a few guests could make and needs a thorough deep clean.

@Rachel1730

[Rachel1730]

After I replied to your correspondence I did go back over Kent's  reviews.  I thought; I have new tips I want to try out.  I wanted to see if I could gauge anything different.  I did see a few warning signs.  Comments like, good for a night, and a few reviews did talk about the cleanliness negatively.  

He has been operating for some time and the older reviews give good feedback.  Like you said maybe he had a good cleaner way back then.  And that is all he would have had to do, hire a cleaner for two or three hours, fortnightly or monthly.  And as you stated a deep clean to get it off the ground.  

I understand what you are saying about the revenge review, I actually had thought about it seriously.  Did I want to write a review like I did, or did I want to skimp on it.  My decision was made to share a detailed write up because had I had the slightest idea this might have turned into a horrible experience I would have gone elsewhere, I would have been better off for it, so too would have Kent the host.  

I actually felt a responsibility toward my fellow sisters (as I always do) to share.  Not to rant and rave but to warn, describe.  Make the best decision according to some accurate detailed feedback.  That is why I was motivated.  Had I had anything like that, you and I would not be corresponding.

But I do appreciate your time and effort.  It has not gone unnoticed.  

[Helen350]

@Rachel1730 

It's not Kent's fault if his other guest was deliberately leaving poo & pubes to upset you. And maybe Kent works full time & is not there all the time to clean up? Every time I need the loo, I have a quick look to see if one guest has made any sort of mess which needs cleaning to honour the other guest(s). But I can't be there every minute of every day like a lavatory attendant waiting to pounce with a wet rag, and neither can Kent!

Regarding reviews, and regarding honouring fellow members of the Airbnb community, I think it is gracious NOT to report/punish a host for the bad behaviour of another guest....

@Kia272 's response was spot on! When reading reviews you have to look at what people DON'T say........ And read between the lines!

Caveat emptor! Buyer beware!

[Sarah977]

@Helen350 While you may not scurry into the bathroom after each of your guests uses it, to make sure it's fastidiously clean at every moment, I highly doubt that there are questionable and disgusting-looking things stuck to the wall for days, or that your house is deeply grimey. I doubt your kitchen countertops and dishcloths and sponges are so sticky and dirty that they are glued to the countertops.

Of course when a guest books a home-share, they might end up with a host who's super clean and tidy and minimalistic, or one who tends to be messy, leaving their paperwork and stuff spread over the dining table, and lives with a lot of knicknacks and clutter around. The guest in a home-share takes their chances and has to accept the host's lifestyle. But I think it's reasonable for a guest to expect a basic level of cleanliness. Messy and clean aren't the same things.

If I were a host who worked outside the home all day, didn't have time or interest in keeping things clean, and hosted multiple unrelated guests at the same time, I would rent one room full time to someone who worked from home, for a reduced rent, in exchange for them being in charge of keeping communal spaces clean. 

[Rachel1730]

[Helen350]

As someone exclaimed when I told her of a potential lodger on sabbatical saying he was willing to "muck in", "Oh No, You don't want them to muck in; you want them to get out!" 

@Sarah977  

[Sarah977]

If I checked into a place which was dirty, I'd leave. Other than that, it's something to address in the review.

@Rachel1730

[Rachel1730]

Thanks for your response on Christmas Day Sarah 977.  I raise my glass to you and say Merry Christmas. 

It was not as cut and dry as packing up and leaving.  I had driven 8 hours and was exhausted.  I unpacked my car and prepared for sleep.  The following morning I left for a two day adventure not to return until the fourth day.  So the second and third night I was away, I just left my stuff there. 

On the fourth and fifth day I was busy, in and out of the place.  I booked this Airbnb and planned around it.  Moving was inconvenient.  Anytime I book now, I will be more careful with planning to allow what you recommended.  Leaving if the standard of living is not minimally substantial. 

I did not stay as long as I had intended and was refunded which I expected.  

I left an honest review.  Cheers.