Really Horrible Airbnb nightmare- how do you warn others?

[Lauren2655]

I rented a property a few miles outside of Taos for a month to work quietly and remotely in Covid times. I drove from Wisconsin and when I got to the property it was so off the beaten path, I was given coordinates by the owner (who lives in Tennessee) to find it. It was still light out and I was having a difficult time finding the property. There were some paved roads, but my GPS was also telling me to go through mud roads. It had recently snowed and thawed-the entire area was a mud pit. My prius got stuck in the mud and neighbors thankfully helped me out, as the sun was setting, I was all alone and tow companies were either closed or said they didn't have the capacity to help with mud tows (which I found surprising). After I got out, the neighbors took me to a road they thought was the right one. I got stuck again and now it was dark and was totally alone. Crying, I walked in the mud to a trailer and knocked on the door. The neighbors revealed they had covid but would try and get someone to help. Thankfully, they did and I was pushed again out of the road. I decided to get a motel room and demand from the owner someone accompany me to the property in the morning, which he complied to. The next day his very nice property manager drove me to another mud road that I had to turn down to get to the property-the owner said it was paved. The mud was so thick, my car would never have made it and even the property manager said his truck was having trouble.   All during a month it was going to snow and thaw-this means I would have been stuck there, literally. I was able to get a full refund but after spending 200 on motels, probably damaging my car and not being able to rent anything else in the area affordably-I had booked this place in the summer. I'm thankful to have gotten a refund but I'm not even allowed to leave a review or warning for others? I checked the listing again-even after this incident, he still "recommends" 4WD for " bumpy, dirt" roads. That's not what this was. My prius could have handled that. I have used Airbnb for many years with mostly no issues, except for horrible customer service. This feels really shady. Anyways-I had nowhere else to get it off my chest. I'm still shaken up and have to drive down to Albuquerque where I could find an affordable place with help from a family member. 

[Helen350]

When I read "4WD recommended" I picture a SERIOUS off-road vehicle, NOT a little low slung Fiat Panda.... Sensible people would! 

[Sarah977]

Exactly. When someone says you need 4WD to access their property, we're talking a big-ass macho truck. Not some low-rider car that has AWD so that it grips rainy city streets and highways better. Unfortunately, many people aren't  sensible. @Helen350

[Francesco1366]

of course, a gay friendly italian style Fiat Panda 4wd is not enough. Obvious. Stupid guests! Of course! And I have also to imagine that i find mud pits. After maybe rhinos and other typical things from places where a 4wd is recommended, but please not a panda because pumas can easily overturn it 😜

Maybe, but just maybe, was the recommendation of a 4wd not quite enough? 

@Sarah977 @Helen350 

[Sarah977]

A Porsche Carrera has no clearance! Of course it couldn't get out of a mud pit. It's designed for city and highway driving, not off-roading or driving through mud. You wouldn't even be able to get over any of the prolific speed bumps in Mexico in one of those cars without scraping bottom.

@Francesco1366

[Helen350]

My thoughts exactly @Sarah977 !

[Francesco1366]

Mine was a provocative example. However, since it is evident that not all 4wd cars can come out of a mud pit, I doubt even a modern range rover, perhaps worse than the fiat panda, and that it is also very important to know how deep the mud pit is, it seems to me that you are all being crazy to defend someone who did not informed that reaching his house there could be several mud pits!

Then is not good, no clearance, and a recomendation for 4wd must necessarily mean that perhaps it is better to parachute at home because of mud pits!

@Sarah977 

[Lauren2655]

Update- I went back to the listing to see if he changed it. this is what it says which I feel is really misleading- he is recommending 4WD but saying his 2WD could handle it? And nothing about mud?

[Helen350]

I agree the reference to having made it in all seasons in a 2WD is not good @Lauren2655 ! - It rather undoes the warning that you need a 4WD, or at least negates the severity of the potential conditions, in the wettest season, before it all freezes. - Tho even frozen car ruts would not be good in a low slung 2WD!

I can understand the whole experience must have been terrifying, and thank goodness there were amazingly people around who could help you out - literally! 

At the end of the day tho', it's up to the guest to check the place meets their needs before they book, and that includes considering the possibility that a dirt road will turn to mud in wet season! - Could be a real fun adventure in @Sarah977 's "big-ass macho truck"! 

[Helen350]

....... Where I live, people can travel to me via main roads. OR they can choose to cross the Lake District via a high mountain road which is very narrow, has sharp hairpin bends, and occasional gradients of 1 in 3, on a bend! At the bottom are signs warning that the road is closed in snow & ice conditions.

Some of my guests arrive reporting a hair raising & unexpected experience with this road, saying it's where the satnav sent them; most travel via the easy route! I often tell guests about this road as a day trip suggestion, warning them that they might find it terrifying  or thrilling, or something in between! Only one of my guests has ever been really freaked out, a retiree from New Zealand! (Someone said he must have been from North Island, @Helen427 !) A recent Hungarian husband arrived in a grumpy cantankerous mood, dragged here by his wife.... "It was much better in Iceland" he said! - I sent them on the mountain road...He came back beaming & gushing about how exciting it all was! - Different strokes for different folks!

[Helen427]

Oh thanks @Helen350 , what year was that person from New Zealand?

I might have to see who it is...

Those narrow windy roads may be hair raising however one must reflect on the era they are originally created , means they had & how they traveled.

We need to keep those roads as they are to remind current & future generations what those before us contributed to as part of our wider History/ Heritage including engineering, transport modes , importance of animals & nature in general. 

Besides underneath our roads was once a safe haven Home for our underground Living Creatures that make up our World with without we would be poorer & with them are richer...

[Helen427]

This one @Lauren2655 .

Delve into historic newspaper/ photographic archives to.

There's nothing more scary than been lost on one's own, or having a vehicle breakdown in unknown locations out in the wilderness.

We are very fortunate to live in the days of mobile technology & it's great you had kind people in the area to help you.

[Helen350]

My nervy New Zealander stayed in June 2018, @Helen427 . His wife said she'd never seen him in such a state, in 40 years of marriage. - Actually, I've just remembered, they DIDN'T drive the scary road! I'd suggested it, but hubby was so freaked out on the normal roads, that wife said she absolutely would NOT be going up the scary one!

[Francesco1366]

@Lauren2655,

the stubbornness of the host makes me laugh: "as .... many locations in Taos". But I don't even know where Taos is and does the host think that in a description seen by millions of people around the world it could be crucial to make similar comparisons? And not be clearer? My goodness. The ad was noticed by assistance due to the cancellation, isn't one of the millions of new listings. Airbnb has to teach the host how to make a description here on Airbnb, not the Taos magazine. It must have courage as it does while asking us for many intrusive things like lower the price, discounts on our policies and much more.

Sorry everyone, @Anonymous , @Sarah977 , @Helen350 and all, I get very angry to see these things and I did not speak calmly. Your advices was excellent and very practical, it was a pleasure to speak with you.

[Anonymous]

@Francesco1366  It would be pretty extraordinary if an Airbnb listing text was seen by "millions of people around the world," so I hope your business plan doesn't require that kind of exposure. 🙂  Primarily, a listing in Taos (in the US state of New Mexico) is going to be viewed by people who are already planning a trip to Taos and have both their own research on the area and other listings in their search results as reference points.

It's doubtful that any host would be motivated to lose more money on cancelled bookings every time the road gets muddy. But it's not necessary for every disclosure to be spelled out in the listing. Hosts and guests alike can use pre-booking correspondence to discuss the potential issues that might become relevant based on the the guests' individual circumstances (season, group size, children, pets, disabilities, etc).  And this is where Instant Book is a problem. It may work just fine for generic apartments in town centers, but when you have listings in hard-to-reach places or conditions that many would find dangerous or inaccessible, Airbnb does hosts and guests alike a disservice by pushing a fast booking process rather than cautious dialogue.

[Francesco1366]

@Anonymous,

thanks for message.

Sorry, you are right. I had to write "potentially". I though the concept was clear: the incredible "force" that Airbnb offers you in terms of visibility, real and potential, from all over the world 😊

This must always be taken into consideration and we must not rely on too many assumptions: here anything can happen, even if an Italian idiot named Francesco decides to go to Taos! And it happens! This is the incredible force of Airbnb, of the internet. It will happen more and more and.

I understand your approach, however I don't agree with it. It is too risky, too little based on what it is and too much based on what it should. But probably we think the same: you are absolutely right, with pre-booking you can give all these info. So you agree that you have to give them: absolutely I agree with you! In this story, did the host give them? I do not think.