Well done Airbnb support, you are single-handedly destroying this once great company.

[Chester31]

I have had enough of the lies, deceit, and incompetence of Airbnb support. I'm done. How Airbnb is thinking it's ready to IPO is beyond me. This is everything that is wrong with tech bundled up into one company. Well done Airbnb support, you are single-handedly destroying this once great company.

[Chester31]

@Airbnb are you there? Got anything to say?

[Chester31]

If anyone at @Airbnb is wondering what happened you can look back over 8 weeks of conversations where not a single person has bothered to help me deal with a scamming host. The only thing support wants to do right now is close tickets. No empathy, no understanding, nothing. I'm so disappointed.

[Chester31]

@Liv @Lizzie 

[Helen3]

This is a community forum for hosts and guests - you have not reached Airbnb.. @Chester31 

If you can outline what has happened and how you believe you have been scammed we can see if we can offer you any advice. 

I can see you’re an experienced host on Airbnb yourself but don’t know what issues you have experienced when presumably booking with a fellow host? 

[Chester31]

Hi Helen, thanks for getting back to me!

I'm a Superhost with over fifty 5 star reviews for my hosting. I live close to Airbnb HQ and 50% of my guests are repeat visitors who work there. I take a lot of pride in sharing my home and put in a lot of effort to make sure everyone can stay in a safe, clean environment.

I don't use Airbnb much when I travel, but some friends and I saved up and went to LA for the 4th of July. When we got to the house there were numerous things wrong:

The refrigerator didn't work (completely warm)
The hot tub didn't heat up (totally cold)
The steam room didn't heat up
There was no gym as advertised
The wifi didn't work
There was nothing for us to cook with (no utensils, knives, forks, plates...nothing)
We tried getting in touch with AirBnb immediately, with no luck.

We tried finding somewhere else to stay but because of that weekend being the 4th, everything was booked. We had all just traveled 500 miles to get there... our food started to go bad, and all the reasons we booked the house were not available to us. We contacted the host who sent someone to try and fix the hot tub but was unsuccessful. They ignored our other feedback.

We are now being told by Airbnb that our complaint isn't valid because we have no photos, but all of the things above have no way of having photos taken of them. Airbnb are offering us a 3% refund.

I'm not sure how we are supposed to take photos of:
A fridge that is warm
A hot tub that is cold
Wifi not working
A gym that doesn't exist
Plates and other cooking utensils that didn't exist

I am utterly disappointed in how we have been treated. I have been a host for so long. I put a lot of effort into giving my guests a great experience. And then when I get scammed by another host, Airbnb does nothing and refuses to even have the courtesy to read my messages.

[Chester31]

Hi @Helen3 , thanks for getting back to me!

I'm a Superhost with over fifty 5 star reviews for my hosting. I live close to Airbnb HQ and 50% of my guests are repeat visitors who work there. I take a lot of pride in sharing my home and put in a lot of effort to make sure everyone can stay in a safe, clean environment.

I don't use Airbnb much when I travel, but some friends and I saved up and went to LA for the 4th of July. When we got to the house there were numerous things wrong:

The refrigerator didn't work (completely warm)
The hot tub didn't heat up (totally cold)
The steam room didn't heat up
There was no gym as advertised
The wifi didn't work
There was nothing for us to cook with (no utensils, knives, forks, plates...nothing)
We tried getting in touch with AirBnb immediately, with no luck.

We tried finding somewhere else to stay, we were unable to cook food or store it, and all the advertised features were not working. But because of that weekend being the 4th, everything was booked. We had all just traveled 500 miles to get there... our food started to go bad, and all the reasons we booked the house were not available to us. We contacted the host who sent someone to try and fix the hot tub but was unsuccessful. They ignored our other feedback.

We are now being told by Airbnb that our complaint isn't valid because we have no photos, but all of the things above have no way of having photos taken of them. Airbnb are offering us a 3% refund.

I'm not sure how we are supposed to take photos of:
A fridge that is warm
A hot tub that is cold
Wifi not working
A gym that doesn't exist
Plates and other cooking utensils that didn't exist

I am utterly disappointed in how we have been treated. I have been a host for so long. I put a lot of effort into giving my guests a great experience. And then when I get scammed by another host, Airbnb does nothing and refuses to even have the courtesy to read my messages.

[Helen3]

I really don't know @Chester31 

What outcome specifically are you looking for? @Chester31 

Personally in your situation I would have asked Airbnb to cancel the stay as the listing is not as described...I am not sure what resolution you are looking for that caused you to post here two months later?

Surely you could have taken photo's showing empty cutlery draws, fridge and hot tub temperatures, wifi not working, building details showing no gym etc.

It's not relevant to Airbnb when you are a guest that you also used to be a host.

[Chester31]

@Helen3 not sure if you read my post?

We had nowhere else to stay and had all just driven 500 miles.

The resolution we are looking for is to get some of our money back.

How do you take a photo of a warm fridge? Or a cold hot tub? Or a gym that doesn't exist?

[Helen3]

Yep I did read your post. @Chester31 

I didn't suggest you left after driving 500 miles, I suggest you contacted  Airbnb to cancel the accommodation if it was not as described rather than deciding to stay for the duration and then asking for compensation two months after your stay 🙂

You could have taken photos/videos of the temperature on the fridge and the hot tub and found information on the apartment block online that confirms there is no gym.

Sorry for your bad experience, but I can't see why Airbnb would consider a claim for compensation two months after you stayed.

[Chester31]

Any advice @Helen3 ? I really don't know what to do here and any feedback would be amazing

[Emiel1]

@Chester31 

I looked at your profile, but no active listings (anymore).

If you were happy with Airbnb as a host, why let it ruin by a bad experience as a guest ?

Report the host and/or listing to Airbnb and continue hosting.

And yes, Airbnb CS is at the moment a disaster. Better to avoid.

As someone wrote recently here: we are on our own

best regards,

Emiel

[Chester31]

@Emiel1 thanks, due to Covid I can't list in San Francisco at the moment.

I don't trust Airbnb anymore, if I can't get hold of CS, then I'm not interested in hosting anymore.

[Sarah977]

@Chester31  So when you were hosting, would you have found it reasonable if a guest claimed that a bunch of stuff wasn't working and the amenities listed weren't there and demanded a refund without providing any back-up proof or documentation? 

I'm not doubting that all you say about this listing was true, I just don't see how you think that simply saying these things weren't available, or in proper working order, should be enough for a guest to claim a refund. As Helen pointed out, there were ways you could have documented at least some of it.

I sure wouldn't be still fighting for a refund two months after the fact. I would have just chalked it up to a bummer experience, which does happen in life, left an appropriate review, flagged the listing to report it, and moved on.