Abandoned on the street with an infant after being assaulted trying to check in.

[Laiha0]

Airbnb encourages customers to post in the community. So here is our experience.

Having booked a property listed with parking on premises we arrived at the entrance of the property where we had arranged to meet the host to find out how to access the property. The host came out and told us he had no parking on the premises but we could park on the street. However there were no spaces on the street. Whilst we were discussing with him where to park a car drove up behind us and demanded that we move our car as it was blocking the road. However the road loops on two sides of the public parking area and the other side was not blocked. The person then got out of their car and, what can only be described as a racially motivated attack, physically assualted my partner.

Stressful? No, this is only where it starts to get stressful. We called airbnb 4 times, once on the local french number and 3 times on the general US number. Each time we were told we had to be transferred to another department and each time, despite giving the agent our telephone number and practically begging them not to cut us off - yes each time time we were cut off. All this time we are waiting in our car, in an environment which is clearly not safe, with an infant who is distressed.

2.5 hours later we have checked into a hotel. We have had no call or message from airbnb. Quite simply, airbnb should not be in business if this is the reality of how they treat their guests. 

[Emiel1]

@Laiha0,

I think both the Host and Airbnb are not doing a great job here. The host has misleading information on the  listing (about parking) and Airbnb not respondnig in a way you may expect from a Customer Service.

I assume you cancelled your reservation and also reported the host (the listing) to Airbnb as misleading ? After that you should ask for a full refund + compensation for extra costs made to book a hotel.

BTW Was there more communication between you and the host after the attack-incident ?

best regards, Emiel

[Laiha0]

When I spoke with another case manager just now it seems that our case has to be handled by the trust and safety team because of the assault, which takes longer i.e. not same day. But no-one bothered to contact us to advise on the situation. Apparantly some effort way made to find alternative accommodation for us (no evidence of this) but it seems it was just left to us to assume the reservation was cancelled and check in to a hotel.

We were waiting for airbnb to contact the host to see if there was any solution, such as the host paying for secure parking, but it seems that the comunication between host and airbnb will not be resolved until the next day, ruling out any resolutuion with the host.

Airbnb asked for documents of our hotel costs, photo of bruises etc but they will not allow us to open a thread to post them...because it has to he handled by the trust and safety team!

At the end of the process I am confident we will get back our reservation payment and out of pocket expenses.  But nothing will be done about the lack of assistance and non-existant customer service and the fact that we were left in an unsafe environment. The bottom line is if you want a quick resolution do not mention anything that needs to be investigated by a more senior team. In order to protect their guests in dangerous situations, airbnb's process leaves them in a dangerous situation overnight so that a more senior team can protect them. If this happened in a hotel you would expect the hotel to assist the guest, even call the police if necessary, or if the hotel was unsafe you would expect the local police to be able to help because the hotel is a licenced business and part of the local tourism. But the police are not going to help with airbnb because it is seen as a private matter which is why airbnb must not be allowed to get away with unsafe practices. (OK, nothing forced us to wait near the premises but that is what a person would do while they wait for airbnb to get back to them.)

The reason for this post is to 'name and shame' airbnb, as this is the only way they will change.

[Sarah977]

@Laiha0  Someone assaulting your husband on the street is indeed a police matter, and a serious one. The host did not assault you, nor were you assaulted in the listing, so the more immediate report needed to be to the police. I would have taken the assaulter's license plate number and immediately phoned the police.

While the lack of stated parking is an Airbnb matter, which the host should be taken to task for, and you should certainly be refunded due to the issue of safe parking, the assault was public- some crazy, random, violent person who thinks a traffic issue is grounds for assault, nothing to do with the listing.

As it stands, this person was allowed to get away with criminal behavior and is out there free to do it to others because you didn't involve the police.

[Laiha0]

Response from airbnb

We have been trying to call your number but was not able to reach you. We were able to get in touch with our security team and discussed your case with them. Since the incident happened outside the listing and neither the host or the guest was the one who assaulted you I am afraid that the security team of Airbnb will not be able to get involved. This is an incident that needs to be reported to the local authorities for them to handle. We also made sure that your experience was documented accurately in your ticket.

Regarding your reservation, I was advised that you already left the listing and checked in to a hotel. I can cancel your reservation with the host and issue a full refund to you for the amount that you paid for. I just need to talk to your host regarding this so we can process it immediately. You will also be given a chance to put a public review on your host's listing specific to the experience that you had.

I also understand that you were asking for the reimbursement of your cost for the airtime on your phone bill when you called Airbnb due to this issue, please send us a copy of your phone bill once you have it for us to review the claim.

I am really sorry to hear about your experience and we do hope that this gets resolved by the local authorities.

All the best,
Riza

[Laiha0]

The issue on this post is not about the act of assualt. It is about how airbnb handles this situation be ensuring that the guest can move to alternative accommodation in a safe place.

[Ellen33]

I am sorry for you and hope that you found nice accomodation to continue your holiday....but seriously: you got insulted by a random person on the street and you decide to call it an unsafe area, dont check inn and move to a hotel. Thats weird....

Airbnb and host have nothing to do with it. Good luck...i would let it go

[Rachel0]

@Laiha0 This should have  been a matter for the police as the assault took place in a public area.  The assault was not instigated by the Airbnb host.  I would have thought that you knew the issues about parking by now as you have a lot of reviews, not all of them good, plus you posted on this CC last September about a similar matter and received a number of helpful responses. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

Hm... I see half of your reviews from your hosts are negative.

I also see your host clearly mentioned at his  listings's description as follows "....The house has no closed garage but you can easily reach by car in front of the house to drop your luggage and park after all around."

I also see at your host's reviews someone mentioned that "free parking is just arround the corner"

So, clearly, you  booked this accomodation without reading a description and reviews from his guests and you just ASSUMED he has a private parking at his yard. As we say "assumption is a mother of all fu**ups"

According to Airbnb if "free parking on premises" is ticked it means there is a free parking somewhere near by, not necessarily private and not necessarily in front/at back of the house. It could be on the street or in the nearby public parking or your host may have a monthly ticket for a public garage.

Unfortunatelly, most guests don't read before booking and then we all have a problem.

 So, dear @Laiha0 next time you should read the full description before you book .