my beef is about the airbnb review policy. it's unclear and unfair. it states that reviews are only visible if both parties review. that's not true. i deliberately decided against reviewing because i knew the host was going to be dishonest. i came to this decision once airbnb had made it clear that if i didn't review there host then the host wouldn't be able to review me. that's a lie. here's the back story:
i booked a two bedroom place on my own. i booked two bedrooms in case my partner or anyone else wanted to fly out and join me. the host then asked me to check in at 11am as opposed to 3pm and i said i had no problem with that. on the day of check in she messaged me at 7am and asked me to check in at 10. that gave me little time to clean up where i was already staying. but again i agreed. i could tell she wanted me to fit in with her plans and i really didn't have a problem with that. but when i got there she said she hadn't cleaned the apartment and that i should drop my bags and 'come back later'. that was annoying but i said nothing. when i came back and checked in, i noticed that the host had only made up the bed in one room. when i asked her to make up the other bed she refused unless i paid extra. i explained that the listing was the same price for one or two people. she said, "yes....if they sleep in the same bed as you" 🤣🤣 i also explained that if i'm paying for a two bedroom apartment then it's ME who decides which room i sleep in....not HER.
i called airbnb and explained the situation and to their credit they contacted the host and told her she was being ridiculous and that she needed to make up all the available beds as per the listing. the host came back and made up the beds then lectured me on how to use the lights. she said i mustn't leave lights on because it costs money. it was like i was back at home being ticked off by my evil mother. i then noticed that the hot water wasn't hot at all because the host had turned down the temperature control on the boiler she also turned the hot water down on the boiler so that the shower was only warm. she was again only thinking of personal profit. the mattress on the bed i slept in was old and cheap and you could feel springs digging into your body. it was poor. again.....profit.
she was a stupid and annoying person who was very keen for me to tell all my friends about how many properties she owns and that they are all peachy yawn yawn blah blah.
i left the property at the end of the stay and left it in a perfect state of cleanliness/repair. i then received requests from airbnb to review. and as you ALL know, you get told by airbnb that "once you have left a review for the host you will be able to see their review". the inference to me is clear - if you don't review then no review appears. NOT TRUE. the host reviewed me and it appeared irrespective of me ever existing. the host said she'd had a 'bad experience' because i'd booked for one but there were two'. that's it. the point is this; first of all she's a liar because the bad experience was all mine (airbnb had to intervene and tell her she was being ridiculous).
but when i spoke to airbnb about this, they were incapable of either passing on information from one team to another and i simply received nonsense responses to questions i'd never asked. more importantly, the idea that reviews can only be published if both review is not true and at the end of this crappy experience i'm now being slagged off by a money-grabbing liar with no recourse. airbnb said they looked at the review and said it was fine. that's demonstrably not true.
so now i have a 'bad' review (ok seriously....it's hardly a big deal because all she could say was i booked for one and then changed it to two (as is my right)....and she got bent out of shape as a result). BUT it makes me look like the bad guy because i haven't been able to share the facts with anyone except airbnb.
i should have had the courage to leave an honest review....but i hate having to deal with lies so i followed what i believed to be a course of action which would result in silence from all sides.....but turned out to be a lie where i was then slagged off.
airbnb response was ineffectual and shambolic.
