Guest at Airbnb apartment with dog barking above us

Brian540
Level 2
Sunnyvale, CA

Guest at Airbnb apartment with dog barking above us

Hi, we're currently on day 5 of a 30 day reservation. The walls here are pretty thin, and while we're able to ignore most of the noise around us, the upstairs neighbor has a dog that barks daily, sometimes for several hours on end.

 

As a guest, what should I do? I could talk to the neighbor or the property management, but I'm not sure how seriously my complaint would be received when we don't actually live here. I could contact the host, but I'm unsure whether neighbor noise falls under the host's responsibility. I could contact Airbnb, but I don't know what rights I have (does lack of quiet enjoyment warrant a refundable cancellation?).

 

For what it's worth, the listing made no mention of barking dogs.

1 Reply 1
Rowena29
Level 10
Australia

@Brian540 

this is a tricky one.

You're right it doesn't really fall under the hosts responsibility as it's not something under their control.

It's like complaining to your landlord that the people next door are too loud, too messy - highly irritating but beyond their control.  

Quite possibly the host has no idea re the barking dog -= who knows when it started?

this is of no help to you however.

In the first instance I would be inclined to contact the host and share your concerns. It is certainly very bad form to approach airbnb  customer service with a complaint without first trying to sort things out with the host who may be oblivious and very keen to help.

  I can understand you are reluctant to approach property management  - but this may be something that the host is willing and able to do and it may be quickly sorted.

If the barking is really that bad I'm sure others will also be annoyed. 

 Reach out to the host and if I were you I"d make very sure to state you are aware it's not their fault (because it isn't) but that it's really impacting om your enjoyment of the listing as it's going on for hours at a time.  This will make it clear to her that you are reasonable adn not complaining about trivial things.  Remember that a host rates and ranks you as a guest and that this will impact on you ability to book future listings. Being fair and reasonable ( as you sound in this post) should help ensure a reasonable outcome for all. 

On the basis of the hosts response, you may or may not elect to then ring airbnb customer service.   If the host doesn't seem to care and it's really driving you mad, then definitely ring CS.   If you do ring airbnb it's important to have an idea of what you want as an outcome.  YOu seem to think cancellation and that's certainly something you could broach with CS.

If the host does their best to help and is accomodating, regardless of the final outcome,  then I would most definitely factor that into any review you left, particularly in relation to  overall stars left. By all means leave a comment  to forewarn future guests, but personally I think it's  unfair to knock down stars on a hosts listing for areas outside their control - especially in an apartment complex.

This is just my opinion - other people may think differently.

Hope this helps