Airbnb bedbug problem

[Filippo12]

While staying at a Airbnb rental in Ithaca, NY from June 19th 2016 to July 5th 2016 I started developing a severe skin rush on my face, neck, back, arms and legs. As you have seen from the pictures, my body that day became quickly covered with about 100 to 200 red spots that were painful and itchy. The red spots on my skin soon became blisters, forming a red liquid inside.

That same day I had to seek urgent medical attention. The doctor told me it was probably due to bedbugs, so I decided to do a visual inspection of the bed in the room where I was staying. By just removing the sheets from the bed in the room I immediately noticed the presence of several dozens of live Bedbugs and (as you can see from the pictures I took that same day of these insects and which I submitted to Airbnb) many of them were fully grown and developed adults.

As soon as I realised that my room was infested by bedbugs, I informed the host, who called a pest control company and I then contacted also Airbnb to inform them of the situation. In the following days, Airbnb cancelled my reservation and provided me with a new accommodation in Ithaca for the rest of my stay. I also had to sanitise all my clothes and personal belonging and get rid of several of my items which could not be sanitised in this process or which were too severely damaged by the bedbug infestation because I feared to spread the insects somewhere else.

On the insurance policies page, Airbnb says that it does not provide insurance coverage neither compensation for damage or injuries for bedbug infestation. Also, since Airbnb simply canceled my reservation, I was not able to leave any comment on the host or the rental, and I know for a fact that he is still renting rooms in his apartment.

I think those policies are unfair, since I was not allowed to receive compensation and I was not even able to comment on the host to let other people know about the risk in booking at this place. I think Airbnb should change this policy.

[Sarah977]

@Filip12    I would suggest you contact airbnb, tell them that you just got a call from a recent guest alerting you to the fact that she told you she may have brought in bedbugs to your place (perhaps you could ask her to say this in an airbnb message so they can see it), that you need to have the place checked out to make sure there aren't any bugs in there, and treated if they are found. Make sure they understand that you aren't saying you have a bedbug infestation, but you can't ignore a guest telling you she may have brought some to your house- that you need to make sure before allowing any more guests to stay. They should be willing to cancel the guests who are booked for the time it takes you to do this without you incurring penalties. 

I can assure you that if you do have bedbugs, that you will get guest cancellations, they will be refunded, and leave really bad reviews- therefore your Superhost status would be lost anyway.

It's pretty strange to me to be more concerned about a loss of Superhost for cancelling than possibly exposing your guests to bedbugs, which could even lead to being delisted if enough guests get bitten. Think you need to re-examine your priorities. I would never want to book with a host who considered the penalties he might incur by cancelling outweighed the health and safety of his guests.

Hopefully none will be found (use a professional service), if there are some, at least you caught it and can have it dealt with before it becomes an infestation, and you can resume hosting your guests.

[Carrie188]

Everyone here needs to know a little,  inexpensive way to get rid of bedbugs and keep them away.  There's this stuff called  Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth (DE for short)  powder.  It is usually at feed stores or garden  stores or hardware stores.  Get a good face mask and eye goggles.  Get a little puffer  to puff the powder into  baseboards, under mattresses, beind headboards, in back of dressers and under dresser drawers etc.  It is ground up shells of marine animals that cut through the exoskeleton of the bedbugs (and other bugs) and dries them out.  It keeps on killing them  forever.  Natural pest control.  Some vets use it on animals at the base of their fur to kill  fleas that are resistant to flea powder.  

The thing is, it cannot be inhaled as the  teeny sharp shells will harm the lungs.  So use your mask and goggles, wipe up any excess and make sure it is not on anything people or animals breathe on.  

We bought some used frniture from a thrift store and found  out it had been  from a local hotel because it had bedbugs in it.  We used that DE powder  all under the couch and in every crevice and baseboard  and the bedbugs all DIED and we never had any new hatchlings because they also crawled through it and died.   A local pest congtrol guy told us about it;  what a cool guy!  We have been referring people t him for pest control ever since.   Now when we get thrift store  stuff, we dust it with DE powder and leave it in the garage for a week or so and  we have never had bedbugs since. 

[Rachel703]

I have multiple, painful, itchy bites from an Airbnb stay last weekend. Not only does the host refuse to have anyone assess the bug problem, she is also refusing any sort of compensation. I only asked for a 50% refund due to the difficulties experienced. These welts wake me up at night because they are still so itchy four days later. I had to wash all mine and my kids' clothes and spray down our bags prior to bringing them in our house...such a pain and it might not have even worked if there were bugs in them. So far, Airbnb has sided with this host even though I have photos and documentation from a doctor that the bites are typical of bedbugs and not chiggers as the host claims. My main concern is that this host has a pest control professional out to check it out and treat, if needed. I stayed 2 nights and have 7 bites so maybe it is just the beginning of an infestation. Maybe the place didn't have bedbugs before but they do now. The host just refuses to believe it may be a possibility. I feel sad for her future guests considering she refuses to do anything.

[Cynthia73]

The bedbug problem has become epidemic world wide. What used to be a rare anomoly has now become the usual. Bedbugs are literally everywhere people congregate. The Palo Alto library has another infestation. Movie theaters, and even Starbucks has dealt with these critters.

Currently Airbnb does not have a cohesive policy for the prevention and treatment of bedbugs. They have nothing posted on the website regarding a very serious issu.

  In most circumstances the guest is refunded and relocated... taking the bugs with them to the next location.

Because the rental term is short with Airbnb it is difficult if not impossible to tell which guest brought the bugs into the home.  The problem for hosts is that they are mostly innocent in that the home did not bring the bedbugs to the guests. It was guests who brought in bugs to infest the home.

Currently Airbnb will if a report is made cancel all listings for a host for 3-to4 weeks.. that is a loss of thousands of dollars to a host. In addition the host must pay up several thousand dolloars of treatment for the home and get a clearance from a pest treatment company. 

All of this can cost up thousands fo dollars to a host family depending on the income. So Airbnb  makes the host bear the entire cost of the issue without help or direction.

This problem will not get better by ignoring the issue. All guests and hosts need to work together to create a safe community for all of us. Guests need to be vigilent about their luggage. and spreading the infestations to other homes or their own.

Hosts can implement preventitive procedures to minimize the chance of infestation or minimize duration.

But nothing will happen to change for the better unless we remove the stigma of the bedbugs  and get some real policies  in placefor the prevention of the spread of the bedbug epidemic.. 

[Kristin216]

I booked our Airbnb in Brooklyn for two nights for my boyfriend and myself. The price for both days was $119. It was nothing fancy. We were ok with that. We simply wanted a place to sleep. I had sent the host a message a week before we were due to leave. I never heard from him. I messaged him again. I also contacted Airbnb. This is because we were due to leave for NYC not long after. I didn’t like the fact that the host wasn’t responding to me. I got a message from him shortly thereafter and he answered my questions. The day of our reservations we arrived in Brooklyn an hour before check in. I contacted him to see if there was any way to get in an hour early. He had no problem w/this. He then told me that there is a leak in the Airbnb (it had been raining a lot). He stated that he was going to get someone out there. I found it weird that I am only finding this out upon check in but whatever. We went to the Airbnb space and the leaks were in nowhere that we couldn’t work around. I thought we would have our own space. We did in a way. You follow the stairs up to the 3rd floor (which I knew we would be on the 3rd floor as that was in the ad). When we get to the top of the stairs to our right was a room with a couch in a tv. Straight ahead was a bedroom. If you took a left at the top of the stairs you would encounter the bathroom (there was a leak in here but nothing you couldn’t work around), a little room with the mini fridge and microwave (the 2nd leak was in here but again it could be worked around). The second bedroom was there as well. Anyone in the house could come up to the 3rd floor. I guess when it comes to private space in this instance it mean that both bedrooms had a door that locked from the inside and outside. There was also a key you could keep with you so no one went into the bedrooms. This was a bit pointless as the doors didn’t close very well (it is an old house). It wasn’t the best place but again. We simply wanted a place to stay and we booked @ a cheap rate so we understood it was going to be basic. So we leave to go get food and explore. Around 10:30pm (I think) that night we returned back to the Airbnb. We went upstairs and we were watching tv. We had decided to sleep in sleep in separate rooms. The bed was so bad that when either one of us moved it would feel like we were in a waterbed. Wasn’t too thrilled about the beds but whatever I knew I would just deal with it. I had taken my evening meds (which included the meds I take to sleep) I left the bedroom to go to the bathroom prior to going to bed. I am in the bathroom and I notice a bug moving on the floor. I reached down and picked it up. I put it in a ziplock baggy. This is when my boyfriend and I realized they were bed bugs. We were like oh hell no we are not staying here. So I tried to get in touch with the host by phone. I kept calling & calling no answer. I knew he also lived in the house so we went looking for him. I kept having to sit down as I was very tired. We finally get the host who takes the ziplock bag with the bug in it. He said he was going to figure out another place to put us. My boyfriend I took this to mean a hotel. No the host apparently mean another room in the house. I said I am not staying here. He goes there are no bed bugs on that side of the house. I said no it doesn’t work that way they travel. He had made a comment to my bf when  I was not there. He apparently claimed he had the exterminator out and the exterminator probably caused them to come into the house. He finally goes off to find us a hotel. I asked if I could leave my car there for the night since driving that night was not a wise idea do to my meds. HE agreed to take us. We got in his car and he drove. We had no idea where we were going. He drove so chaotic. I thought I was going to throw up in his car. He stopped off at the atm on the way there. Wasn’t sure why but we went with it. We got to the hotel & and he talked to the front desk. He gave me $120 in cash as a refund of the original charge we were billed for.  The hotel we were at was $200 a night. I said so we can put the $120 towards the room and then how are you paying the difference. He goes I am not. I said yes you are. He goes this is $200 a night and my place was $62 a night. I said yes I know. He goes I don’t have that money. I said neither do we. If we readily had the resources to spend $200 a night we would have stayed somewhere else. He just kept saying that he didn’t have the money. We said charge it. He said I do not have a credit card. In the end it came to the fact that I had to go through Airbnb to get my money. We had arrived in Brooklyn about 2pm Monday afternoon and we were leaving on Wednesday. We had plans to do things. Things changed. I had to get up the next morning. Take an UBER to a target that was near me. I bought new outfits for my boyfriend & I (including shoes), I got a giant plastic tub to put stuff in, and I bought these extremely large ziplocks bags After the cash the host gave me and the reimbursement from Airbnb I still ended up paying the $119.Between the clothes I bought, the money spent on new clothes, quarters to do laundry, and other odds and ends I ended up paying aprox an extra $450 that I could have done something with. I took another UBER back to the hotel. Then my we spend the rest of the day in a laundry mat in Brooklyn. We washed everything we had in hopes that they would dry fine. Some things we just had to throw away. This man should never be allowed to rent his house with AIRBNB. I want to get the money back for everything i sent but i do not have the money to sue him nor do i have time to go back to NYC. If he wasnt going to pay for the hotel i cant see him forking over the cash 

[Victoria567]

Hi I would contact Air bnb by phone asap.

My only comment as a retired medical professional, iscwhy on earth after the first nights stay did you NOT leave this sub standard accommodation asap?

I personally would have left 

[Christine615]

First - I think you should bill the host for the medical follow-up. Anyone who has their space cleaned regularly would have spotted the problem. Hosts should be removing all linens and bedding between guests and inspect to make sure the guest didn't bring a "visitor" with them. And if there have been no guests for a while, they should be inspecting anyway.

I can't see how Airbnb doesn't allow you to warn other guests. I've heard bed bugs are notoriously hard to kill, so one pest control visit isn't going to make things safe if someone else is coming immediately.

I want to know if the host is still listing on the platform. And if so, why wouldn't Airbnb pull them off?

[Julia1155]

Definitely no more airbnb in the future.  

[Kaylee18 · Accepted solution]

@Filippo12  You 100% have the right to leave a review since you stayed there. I would be talking to the higher ups at airbnb about that one. 

I had a guest stay who airbnb cancelled their reservation for breaking a house rule and they were still able to leave a review.

Sounds like someone messed up and took that option away from you. 

Good luck and hope your next airbnb experience is much better!

[Edlyn0]

Hi, 

We just came back from Portugal! My husband had been bitten by bed bugs and it was severe. Very itchy, red and inflamed skin. He has to take 2 tablets anthistamine which didn’t work.. our host accused us of bringing the  bed bugs and asking for an additional payment of £220 for the fumigation.We have been travelling to different  places and stayed in hotels and airbnbs.. We never had any BAD experince and bed bugs.. Coming home is a night mare as I have to wash everything to make sure we won’t be introducing bed bugs in our home.. the host write a review on my profile and blaming us. How can He be sure that is was US.. it could be anyone even the cleaner can bring bed bugs if they cleaned another apartment.. I emailed the airbnb, still waiting for their reply and I refused to pay the additional charges.. I told the host that my husband must have been bitten on our first day. If a bed bug bites your  skin, you won't feel it right away because the bugs excrete a tiny amount of anesthetic before feeding on people. It can sometimes take a few days for symptoms of bed bug bites to develop. And the last 2 days of our holiday are night mare as my husband has been suffering. I put a bin cover on the chairs as we used to seat to prevent from being bitten and the host told is that we must have know n that we have bed bugs bec we covers the furnitures which is Not true as I only cover the chairs as soon as my husband realised He was bitten. 

I Will never put my Family or other people to be at risk to be bitten by bed bugs and the possibility of introducing it to our home .And I will never put my whole Family on a situation that can lead to a  horrendous and painful experience. We always put our luggages far away as posible from beds and never put them on TOP of beds or sofa. The apartment itself is clean, location is perfect and care taker are really nice people it just the bed bugs incident and the attitude of the host..

Accusing is unacceptable!!! I am not condeming all airbnbs as we had some lovely experince previously..Just this one! Leaving a BAD review and against/ blaming us on my profile!!! 

[Jopestkil0]

I am so on board with public knowledge of these things. The more people know about them.. the more they can be prepared at home. If someone has them at home… & goes somewhere else to stay the night, you have a problem. I have been told to put items in the dryer to shock them with heat.. it kills them. For many of us with young children, I tell everyone I talk to about Bed bugs. Prevention is going to the be the number one defense against these… the next defense is preparation. I have bad bags on all of my mattresses as well as box springs. I have had an exterminator come out 1 full blown time.. & 1 time following to spot treat. I am still holding my breath to see if we are completely free.. but what does that mean? If someone brings them in again.. it’s back to square one. KNOWLEDGE… I sent phamplets to the kids’ school to pass them out… Parents & grandparents need to know about this… so we can be prepared.
The first time I ran across one of these.. I thought it was a tick...**

**[Link removed due to safety reasons - Community Center Guidelines

[Yan89]

Same here, I think airbnb is really slow and also trying to push whatever problems they encounter down, I booked a room for bed bugs, they have immidatly booked another one but reject to booked for the second night, also, they reject to refund any money claimed that host decclined to refund, which is not a solution at all. 

I will fight this until they gets right, and next time I will be super careful on their listing rooms, moreover, I don't think I will ever gets to book them like before, they have lost my trust... 

[Lorenza81]

Same thing happened to me at another country... Worst experience ever. 

[Lauren2376]

How long does it take for airbnb to respond? I sent photos last night

[Sean433]

@Lauren2376 

Airbnb doesn't own any of the homes on the platform. They are just a technology that allows guests to book homes. What do you expect airbnb to do?  Send an agent to the house to inspect the beds? That won't happen. They also have no way of verifying where you got the bites. It's like complaining to Hotels.com about one of the several thousand independent hotels on their website.

Your better off sending photos to the host who will deal with it. Any host will act urgently because they know this is serious. They will likely call an infestation specialist and get rid of it. Airbnb will not be doing that on the hosts behalf nor do they have a way of verifying whether you got it at the hosts home or somewhere else. Pictures or no pictures.

I have seen reviews by guests who thought they got bitten by bed bugs which were actually the result of bites they had gotten on the beach or while hiking and they then falsely blamed the host. So without being able to verify this, airbnb cannot do anything.