My grotesque experience with AirBnB. A warning to all hosts:
I recently started AirBnBing my downtown condo after being encouraged by a friend. My first few experiences were promising as I was learning the ropes and getting into the swing of things. I even got 5 star reviews! However, I quickly realized that the extra income I was making came at a steep price.
I was away on a business trip and allowed a guest to Airbnb my place for a few days. During work, I got a call from my condo’s security guards… To my complete shock, the police were called in due to domestic violence in my unit! My AirBnB guest was escorted out of the unit for abusing his partner! If that wasn’t bad enough, I came home later that week to find my place in shambles. There was so much damage I couldn’t believe it! Even my doors were split right down the middle! When I tried to report this to AirBnB, I kept getting canned responses and being told that someone would call me back… no one did for weeks. I had to call back multiple times a day in order to get anyone to listen. Great customer support... :S This situation took over a month to get straightened out. It was a nightmare.
Now, I thought I would give AirBnB one more chance.. I kept receiving those emails tailored to hosts, encouraging me to host again. I thought, it can’t happen again… what are the odds I get another bad guest?
Well, I was dead wrong!
This nightmare guest threw a party in my condo, consumed all of my very very expensive alcohol (hundreds of dollars worth), left stains on my couch, wall, carpet, and floor! She even stole my towels, wine glasses, and other items. And left a bunch of things broken!
The damage was in the thousands! I was horrified.
I contacted AirBnB about the damages and it (once again) took them forever to get back to me. Finally someone got back to me and after weeks of deliberation, I was approved for a partial claim. Now this is where the story gets interesting… and the truth about AirBnB’s customer service gets revealed.
So, I was approved for a claim and was sent an email stating that I had 24 hours to click on a link in order to accept the amount - strong arming me to settle. Now, I was still debating the reimbursement with the agent as she did not acknowledge a few damaged items and forgot to add the tax to the reimbursement amount. The email was also worded in a way that sounded like her and I could still discuss the amount before she would close the case. I responded to her within a few hours of receiving the link and nothing… radio silence for 2 whole days! Of course, now I am freaking out because this link she sent me apparently expired and I was being ignored. (Horrendous customer service.)
Then I get another email (48 hours later) stating that the case has been closed because I failed to respond and that I could still reopen the case by responding to the email.
What?! I responded to each and every email and got ignored multiple times. How could this case be closed? And guess what… the case was definitely not reopened (as promised) after I responded thus leaving me with thousands of dollars worth of damage.
I called support multiple times to resolve this matter and got blocked each and every time. On multiple occasions, the case managers told me that I am owed the initial amount and that they would get the decision to close the case appealed… and then, guess what… radio silence.
I feel hurt, manipulated, and taken advantage of by the AirBnB team. I feel like they never wanted to help me with my claim, rather use any delay to meet their own agenda (not paying out legitimate claims).
I learned a valuable lesson from all of this.
AirBnB claims to support their hosts and ensure their safety and that their home will be well kept but at the end of the day, I don’t feel safe hosting with AirBnB and I especially don’t trust their ‘Trust and Safety’ team.