Non-Airbnb booking in Hounslow West

[Man11340]

**[The title of the thread has changed in line with - Community Center Guidelines]

The house was well equipped, i.e. with all the utensils you needed, but the host is greedy and tricky.

At the last day of living, the host charged me £30 for accusing me not cleaning the room clean enough.
Such a reason was kind of okay, but then from my further conversation with her, I can tell this is her normal practice and she is sophisticated to use such excuse to charge when a guest is about to hand back the key to her.

The day for me to handover the key and room inspection was on Saturday. The regular day for the cleaner to come was Thursday, i.e. two days ago. But for this week the cleaner didn't come on Thursday but instead she came on Friday, which was one day before I was about to leave. 
On Saturday's room inspection, the host complained to me that I should have used the last chance to ask the cleaner to clean for my room. 

However, on Friday, in fact, the cleaner did not ask if I needed any help from her, at all. Just as usual and before, we just said hi and bye only.

I can't believe that all the things happened as coincidence. Only for this week did not come on the day as everyone expected and then the host complained for not asking for help on the day after??! By looking back, the host is just so well planned to charge me extra fees.

What is more, similar things, around two months ago, happened before. At that time, there where two cleaners, who were paid by us, all the tenants in the house. We originally agreed to pay £6 per month by everybody. Then one day the host suddenly announced that because of their cooperation problems, she requested us to pay £2.5 more per month. Then one of us found it ridiculous as the problem between the cleaners was indeed none of our business, so she discussed to issue with the host. Just because of this issue, the host very soon did not talk to her publicly on our Whatsapp group and kicked her out of the house by terminating the contract with the guest. 

The room itself is comfortable but the way that the host treats her tenants is uncomfortable.

Lastly, the house I live in was on the Rosemary Avenue, which is very close to the Hounslow West Station.
I hope you all will not meet any host who like use house rules to make extra money for himself/ herself.

[Sarah977]

@Man11340 What does the host's race or nationality have to do with any of this?

If you didn't like the way the host was dealing with guests, you had the option to cancel the rest of your stay at any point. And you had no obligation to pay her any extra for not cleaning if that wasn't something you agreed to when you booked.

I'm not sure what you expect from posting this. You have an opportunity to leave a review if you feel you need to warn future guests.

[Man11340]

First, I am not saying race or nationality of the host has to do with any of this, but in fact, my host, either the old cleaners, or the new cleaner are in the same nationality. No offence, but I really felt like they all well planned to take my money when I was writing this passage.

Second, there's no way to cancel the rest of your stay, as there was no "the rest of your stay".  She charged me at the moment when I had already packed my luggage and about to leave.

Third, today I went to that house just to collect my letter. I asked other tenants if there's really anyone would arrive right after I left, they told me someone is coming, but not on last Saturday. It showed that there's no rush to hand in the room right away and the host lied to legitimise herself to charge me. 

This is my first time to rent a room. So I am here to see if anyone shares a similar experiences with me so that I can be more alert and remind myself in future. 

[Helen350]

@Man11340 

1) It looks as if you are mentioning your host's nationality as a criticism - which is not 'done' in this community! (And I don't see why it should be relevant to your perception of their character?)

2) It IS normal in an Airbnb to leave the place as you found it = clean! - In this respect, Airbnb is different from other accommodation providers; you may not be aware of this, as you have no reviews so are presumably new to the platform?

3) This is a member's discussion forum, not a department of Airbnb which you complain to.It is unlikely that future guests of the place you stayed will see this, and if they do, the address will have probably been deleted by the moderators by then!  

[Man11340]

First, I am not saying race or nationality of the host has to do with any of this, but in fact, my host, either the 2 previous cleaners, or the new cleaner are in the same nationality. No offence, but I really felt like they all well planned to take my money when I was writing this passage, especially when what happened last Saturday was just too close to the day I left, and my host didn't tell anyone the cleaner couldn't come. This was the only time the host did not inform-- it seems fishy to me. Anyway, sorry for letting you feeling offended, if I did.

Second, there's no way for me to leave to place and cut the rest of my stay, as there was no "the rest of my stay".  She charged me at the moment when I had already packed my luggage and about to leave. She ripped me off at the last moment- the moment I packed and was ready to leave.

Thirld, please give me the link of the forum. I am new to airbnb, but I want to be more alert from now on, thank you very much.

[Man11340]

Correction for my reply point: 3) Of course I do not ask Airbnb to help with cases, but I type here to see if anyone shares a similar experiences with me so that I can be more alert and remind myself in future. 

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[Sarah977]

@Man11340 If race or nationality have nothing to do with it, why do you continue to mention it as if it's relevant?You're being quite racist and yes, it is offensive.

[Man11340]

ok sorry. After I calmed down a bit and thought about  it again, now I don't feel like all the people gathered together and planned to rip me off. It seemed like all the tricks are done by the host individually and has nothing to do with the cleaner, although they all are in the same race.

Sorry for thinking in the wrong way.

[Helen350]

@Man11340 Are you sure it was an Airbnb booking? I looked up listings in Hounslow West, and zoomed in on the map to the road you mentioned, - but not a single Airbnb is shown on that road.....

You mention Whatsapp... - Just a tip, when staying in an Airbnb, both hosts and guests are advised to communicate via the Airbnb messaging, so there is a record in case of dispute! - This would have been especially useful in your case!

[Man11340]

No, actually it was not an Airbnb booking. I rented there by a contract. It was my friend first arrived that house then he invited me to live in. We both lived in that house but only he booked there by Airbnb. That house is divided into 7 rooms and being rented by many ways.
 
Thank you for your advice, it is my first time to rent a room. You reminded my friend that he didn't experience the same thing as I did, although we lived in the same house and hosted by the same person- he was not requested to pay for the cleaning fee for not cleaning properly when leaving , in contrast I was requested by the host privately, although there's no such term in the contract (which I have just read again)  that I agreed to pay for the cleaning fee when I leave. I should have asked her to stick to the contract. I lost my guard and she ripped me off. A thousand regret for now...
 
Thanks for your advice. It seems like renting by Airbnb is much more safer for a tenant and here in Airbnb hosts have less chance to take advantages over the tenants, hope I get what you meant.
 
Anyway I write here to see if anyone shares similar experiences with me, so that I can be more alert. If there's any, please feel free to write here, thank you.

[Helen3]

If it was not an Airbnb booking but a standard rental why on earth are you posting on here? 

Hounslow West is an area with an extremely high BAME population so not unusual to have  people from various background providing support services. 

The person you rented from was not a host but a landlord and you were a temporary tenant/lodger.

[Sarah977]

@Man11340  Well one thing I can tell you is that if you leave a space you rented on Airbnb dirty and messy, you will get a bad review. Many listings have a cleaning fee, but that is to cover the heavy duty cleaning, and all the laundry that hosts or their cleaners do to prepare a place for the next guests. Airbnb guests are still expected to clean up their own personal mess, like wash their dishes, clean the stovetop and counters, and make sure all garbage is put in the bins provided.

I have no idea how you left the room you stayed in, or if the host was just exaggerating that you left it dirty, so I'm not accusing you of that, just letting you know the expectations for an Airbnb guest.

[Man11340]

Thank you for your reminders.

As long as a host does not add rules suddenly and try to charge more, I am happy with it.

[Marit-Anne0]

@Man11340 if you entered the contract outside of airbnb and payments were not through airbnb, the issues have nothing to do with airbnb, it is between you and the landlord.

As we are unable to find the actual listing, it may have been taken down due to the fact that the host is acting outside the airbnb terms and conditions.

As for the cleaning, it seems that a weekly cleaning were included in the rent, for the rest it all depends what is written in the contract you signed with the landlord. 

[Man11340]

yes, I know it is between me and the landlord. I just write to see if there is anyone shares similar experiences with me- being hosted by a host who seeks every chance to charge you, even it is not your business and problem.

We only agreed to pay for a regular cleaning fee, but none of an increase in the fee for any reasons had been discussed at all,  still suddenly she asked all of us to pay more, which I found inappropriate, that's why I couldn't stand anymore and wrote here as the memories came back to my mind.