Dirty room/refusal to refund me

[Laura4838]

Hi, went to an AirBnB last week and on arrival we opened the door to what can only be described as the smell of a teenage boys bedroom (dirty,musty, sprayed heavily with Lynx to try to disguise the smell).

The bathroom had hairs on the sink and the toilet had small faeces marks on it. 
I didn’t stay, complained and asked for a refund as the place just felt run down & dirty, not what the photos showed. 
He is now getting abusive, saying I’m using the compliant/pictures as blackmail and AirBnB resolution centre keep sending me back to “Resolution Centre” page!!! 

Help!!! 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Laura4838 Did you call Airbnb to cancel your booking? If you don't follow the precise, Airbnb defined path, then Airbnb are often not overly sympathetic when it comes to refunds.

[Laura4838]

I jumped on the app which directed me to message him (he did not respond for 26 hours) & then to the resolution centre when he refused a refund 

[Helen3]

Not clear from your post . What stage are you at in the process of claiming a refund ? @Laura4838 

presumably you followed Airbnb's process and gave the host an opportunity to address the issues  you raised before cancelling ?

if so I presume you've submitted evidence and the host is refusing the refund. In which case Airbnb will arbitrate .

if the host is harassing you complain to Airbnb 

[Laura4838]

Thanks, I have spoken to them now and they have asked for more detail and have sent it on for “immediate review”.

I have never had a bad experience with an AirBnB  place before, so I messaged him and jumped back on the AirBnB app while we sat in the car. 
He responded 26 hours later, saying my claims weren’t true and that his cleaner says to report me for blackmail, as I am falsely making claims to get the money back. 
I’ve sent the pictures to AirBnB again, so they can see the evidence. They were very nice, so hopefully they will let me know soon 

[Anonymous]

@Laura4838 when you have what Airbnb calls a "Travel issue," you're expected to report the problem to your host and give them an opportunity to correct it within 24 hours. So if the issue was that the home needed more cleaning, that would be a fixable thing that the host could have resolved for you.

If you made no attempt to resolve the problem and instead just ran away, there's no reason to just assume that you're going to get a refund.

Your experience sounds unpleasant, but it's hard to imagine a reputable host delivering a home in the condition you described. What were the previous reviews of this listing like? 

[Laura4838]

Wow! Rude and judgemental! 
The host did not reply for 26 hours, so he was not a reputable host and the previous review had similar issues to me but sadly she had arrived a few days before me and I did not see her review until I went back on the app to complain.
If you are going to make assumptions about me, please just refrain from answering at all! 

[Sarah977]

@Laura4838  When you don't state in your original post that the host did not respond to your message about the place being dirty, and didn't say the host took 26 hours to respond, it's easy to misconstrue what steps you took. In fact,  it also sounded to me, from your post, like you just left without giving the host a chance to respond.

But it still sounds like you just messaged the host about the issue, and then immediately filed a complaint with Airbnb asking for a refund.

"I messaged him and jumped on the Airbnb app".That may be why he didn't respond in the moment. 

He may indeed be a very irresponsible host, who wouldn't have offered to send a cleaner over right away, but did you really give him a chance to do that before contacting Airbnb and leaving?

[Laura4838]

Wow! I heard about the forum not being the best place to ask questions as you get unkind messages rather than help and guidance and instead of people asking me for more detail, they jump to conclusions and are extremely judgemental, which proves the comments true!!!

I will take down my request for help, as I don’t need to be judged when I’m only asking for some help.

Maybe some people should remember the #bekind movement before criticising people 

[Sarah977]

@Laura4838  You aren't being "judged". We are pointing out the correct procedures, which it doesn't sound like you followed.

Attacking those who responded because you don't like the answers, and probably did not follow the protocol, isn't the way to get helpful responses. Of which guests recieve plenty on this forum. 

[Laura4838]

Please see Andrews second comment. THAT is how to respond to someone who is already upset and looking for advice as they are unclear on how this all works! 

[Anonymous]

@Laura4838  I'm sorry that you felt judged, but that wasn't meant in a personal way. As others have noted, the procedure you follow tends to determine the results. The procedure is outlined here: https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2868/airbnb-guest-refund-policy

If your correspondence in the Airbnb messenger shows that the host took over 24 hours to respond, that should work in your favor. So be sure to push that point in your call to customer service. Your odds of success are highest if the correspondence shows that you tried to resolve the cleanliness problem and only left because the host failed to respond.

And here's Captain Hindsight speaking:  it sounds like when you booked the place, it had no prior reviews - in which case it's not surprising that the home wasn't ready for prime time. You probably would have made a better choice if you had known that Airbnb doesn't vet or inspect listings before they go live, and that hosts' reputability relies solely on reviews. It's not your fault that you got a bad apple this time, but if you rent an Airbnb again I hope you choose one with an established reputation and plenty of recent positive reviews. 

[Laura4838]

Andrew, thank you, I really appreciate the message. 
Yes hindsight is a great thing and I’ve always had amazing experiences at AirBnB’s in the past, so walking into this place after 3 hours driving, having to arrange last minute accommodation and thankfully never having to make a complaint before, I just jumped on the app and messaged the host immediately, thinking I was doing the right thing. 

I have sent pictures and the help centre have now said that they are reading the messages between me and the host, so hopefully they will be able to help. 

I wasn’t aware that AirBnB don’t vet the host/accommodation, so that’s a hard lesson learnt and I will take your advice and base my decisions on reviews in the future. 

Thanks again and have a good evening x

[Anonymous]

@Laura4838  That does sound like a really bad experience - honestly I don't think this host has a future on Airbnb. But established hosts like the ones who have visited this thread are passionate about hospitality - we'd rather swallow thumbtacks than deliver a dirty home. There are plenty of those out there, just always remember to check the reviews. Best of luck with customer service - once again, push hard on the late response as your issue!

[M199]

@Laura4838do not berate the hosts who are trying to help and guide you.  You have yet to answer if you followed Airbnb protocol. 

If you can't provide enough details to the people who are guiding you.  Don't blame them.