A very upsetting vacation rental in Boston, MA

[Kacy1]

Hello, 

I have used Airbnb many times and love the experience. As well, I am preparing a place of my own in Williams, AZ to list on Airbnb in the spring.

I am rather upset with an Airbnb vacation rental experience I had last week. A friend and I went to Boston, MA and stayed in a "Theater District 1BR 1Bath Cityview" apartment, that was very much misrepresented. I am having trouble coming to resolution with this stay. We booked the apartment through my friends Airbnb account and she is affraid that sharing our experience will result in negative recourse against her as a guest. I, as a current vacation rental owner (though not through this site), feel very strongly that our experience needs to be known by Airbnb and future guests. We paid good money for a place to comfortably spend 4-nights in. We were provided an apartment that was not the one pictured in the listing. We stayed in what I can only describe as a bachlore pad, where the owner stepped out for a few days. All of the owners personal belongings where throughout the house, including his clothes, batroom products, personal lubricants (and other items), and even his marijuana products next to the bed. I have several pictures to provide. It was dirty, very dirty. There was loose dirt and hair on the floors and something sticky spilled in the kitchen. Toothpaste splatter all over the bathroom sink and mirror, and the toilette had not been properly cleaned. The shower curtain was covered in pink mold and the shower also contained so many partial bottles of shower products that we had no place to put our own. We found upon our arrival (at midnight) that the pillow cases had hair on them, so we removed the bedding to wash it, only to find the pillows provided were so stained with yellow, brown, and dried blood that I nearly lost the contents of my stomach. I can continue with further details as needed. I will continue to
say that this is the apartment that we were given and it did not even have the same layout or view as the listing that we booked. 

I need to know who to contact about this stay, as we did not book through my account, and my friend is affraid of a negative visit showing on her guest account. 

Please help us to find resolution with this stay. 

Thank you, 

Kacy Garfield

[Sarah977]

@Kacy1   Awful. I'd venture a guess that this supposed "host" isn't even the owner of the place and doesn't have permission to sublet, he just thought it was an easy way to make money while he went to sleep on a friend's couch. 

I'm not sure why you actually stayed there. The thing to do would have been when you walked in and saw the state of affairs, to immediately call Airbnb, get them to cancel the reservation and rehome you. If they can't find a comparable place, you ask for a refund and they will add $10 to soften the higher priceyou may have to pay for a hotel or upgrade.

Tell your friend that reviews are blind- the host can't see what the guest has written, or vice versa, until after the reviews are published. If only one party reviews, that review will be published 14 days after check-out. It's important that your friend understand that she needs to leave a review to warn other guests. Thumbs down, 1 star all across the board, and flag this host's account. Also phone Airbnb to tell them that the photos are of another place,  and all the rest of it. This host should be delisted. 

The worst he can do is respond to your friend's review (but only if he has also submitted a review) and if he does, it will probably be nasty and full of lies. What your friend needs to know is that it's usually easy to see who is the guilty party in these scenarios. If your friend states what you guys found, and how it was misrepresented, in a non-emotional way,  just the facts, she will come across looking reasonable and truthful. Maybe you can write it with her for emotional support. I don't think she has anything to worry about, but that host sure does.

[Kacy1]

Sarah, 

Thank you for your response and information. Being that we arrived at midnight, I did not think that anything could be done that night, so we washed the bed sheets and attempted to get some sleep with no pillows. The next morning we contacted the "host" who told us he would be by the apartment that day while we were out, and we would return to a fully cleaned apartment. This was a business trip and we had meetings that we had to be at throughout the day. Sadly, we trusted that this "host" would improve our situation. He did not sow up that day. I have never had such a negative Airbnb experience, or such a negative experience as a vacation rental hostes. I did not know how to best handle the situation. I am very grateful that you shared this info with me. I am hopeful that this will not happen again, but if it does I will contact Airbnb immediately for rehousing. 

Thank you again,

Kacy 

[Helen56]

In the review you should write the same description you have in your post here- it's all factual and not hysterical.  Leave it until the 13th day so that he has less time to review you.  I certainly don't want to stay there!

Hope your next stay on airbnb is much better 🙂

[Kacy1]

Helen, 

Thank you for your response. I will be getting together with the friend I traveled with to use my post above in the review. 

I am sure that my next stay will be much better! ... I couldn't imagine it being worse!  

Thank you again, 

Kacy

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Kacy1

Uf, it sounds bad 😞

Third party bookings are not allowed and you shouldn't book through your friend's account if she was not a part of your group (if I understood you correctly) . So even if you did call airbnb at midnight you couldn't resolve anything.

You should make your own account for the next trip .

[Kacy1]

Thank you for your response Branka & Silvia. You did not understand correctly. I did not book through my friends account. I have an account of my own. My friend booked for our stay together (she and I stayed there). If you read my post, that is very clear. 

[Carol731]

I read your post and was also under the impression that you had booked through your friends account. You never mentioned that your friend was there as well, or if you did it wasn’t clear. Thanks for clarifying. (That place sounds disgusting, btw.. sorry for your bad experience.)

[Helen3]

Unfortunately there are some appalling hosts out there, but they are definitely in the minority. Presumably previous reviews didn't tell your friend that the place advertised is not the ones guests find when they arrive at the listing?

I really don't understand though why your friend didn't follow Airbnb's advice on her booking confirmation, and  alert the host and Airbnb within 24 hours of arrival  that the photos and description of the listing is not the same as the one you were staying at (this is what you said in your initial post didn't you?). And that the place was filthy and bedding not clean.

Has she provided airbnb with photos and video to demonstrate this.

She could have done this on the night of your arrival and Airbnb would have  cancelled the booking and helped you find something else.

I am beyond shocked that you chose to stay there for four nights in the conditions you describe.

You can't contact anyone about the stay. You didn't make the booking.

All your friend can do, is leave an honest review and next time, contact Airbnb if the listing is not as described.

[Cormac0]

@Kacy

This scoundrel has essentially taken the money out of a genuine Hosts pocket and given the platform a poor reputation, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again Airbnb need to be doing more to weed out this scum (hosts and guests alike).

Airbnb as part of their due diligent need to ensure that accommodation they are displaying on their website has all the necessary permissions and agreements with landlords where applicable.

I'm curious did he have a cleaning fee?