HELP

[Victoria1147]

PLEASE HELP. IT'S MIDNIGHT ON CHRISTMAS DAY AND I AM SO WORRIED. ITS A LONG STORY BUT BASICALLY I TOOK MY HUSBAND AWAY FOR HIS 4OTH BIRTHDAY. I SAVED ALL YEAR TO BE ABLE TO TAKE HIM TO A LUXURIOUS CONDOMINIUM IN BIRMINGHAM. SOUNDS SILLY BUT WITH NURSERY FEES AND A 7 YEAR OLD AND A 3 YEAR OLD, WE DONT HAVE MUCH SPARE CASH. ON THE DAY WE ARRIVED, THE HOST TOLD ME THAT WE WERE NOW UNABLE TO STAY THE SECOND NIGHT AS THERE WERE PLANNED WORKS IN THE BUILDING. HE HAD PREVIOUSLY AGREED THAT HE WOULD BE CHECKING US IN BUT WAS NOT AVAILABLE OR CONTACTABLE UPON ARRIVAL. WE SPOKE TO THE RECEPTIONIST IN THE BUILDING WHO WARNED US THIS MAN WAS NOT ALLOWED TO EVEN DO AIRBNB IN THE BUILDING. THIS IMMEDIATELY RANG ALARM BELLS WITH ME BUT WE HAD DINNER RESERVATIONS AT 8PM AND IT WAS NOW 6.30PM ISH. HE FINALLY RETURNED OUR CALL AFTER WAITING IN RECEPTION FOR ABOUT 45 MINS AND SEEMED SHOCKED THAT WE STILL WANTED TO STAY. AND AFTER LONG DISCUSSIONS AGREED TO GIVE ME MY MONEY BACK FOR THE SECOND NIGHT. WE OBTAINED THE KEY AND WENT TO THE PENTHOUSE APARTMENT ONLY TO SEE THAT THE BED HADNT BEEN MADE AND IT WAS QUITE DIRTY. I TOOK PICTURES AND WE SENT THESE TO THE HOST. HE SEEMED ANGRY WITH US FOR POINTING THIS OUT BUT OFFERED TO SEND £25 BACK. WE WERE OUT ALL EVENING, CAME BACK AND WASHED THE BEDDING OURSELVES AND DRIED IT. WENT TO SLEEP, GOT UP EARLY, HAD A SHOWER AND LEFT BY 9.30AM. HE IS NOW SAYING THAT WE HAVE CAUSED £700 WORTH OF DAMAGE. I SWEAR ON MY CHILDRENS LIVES WE DIDNT DAMAGE ANYTHING. HE IS SAYING THINGS LIKE THE CURTAIN POLE, THE CUTLERY, THE DOOR LOCK. NONE OF THE ABOVE DID WE TOUCH. WE DIDNT EAT THERE, WE DIDNT USE ANYTHING. I AM SO UPSET AND WORRYING ABOUT THIS, I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO, I AM NOT VERY GOOD ON THE COMPUTER AND THEY ARE EMAILING ME AND I AM NOT SURE WHAT I AM DOING IS CORRECT. I LOST ONE OF MY CLOSES FRIENDS TO CANCER THIS WEEK, I CARE FOR MY MUM AND I AM UP ON Christmas Day PANICKING ABOUT ALL OF THIS. IS ANYBODY ABLE TO HELP AT ALL OR OFFER ADVICE. IT IS OBVIOUSLY HIS WORD AGAINST OURS AND FOR ALL I KNOW HE COULD GO ROUND DAMAGING HIS PROPERTY ON PURPOSE TO BLAME US FOR IT. I JUST DONT KNOW WHAT I CAN DO TO PROVE OUR INNOCENCE. I NEED TO RESPOND BY 8.30AM ON Boxing Day. ANY HELP OR ADVICE, I WOULD BE SO IMMENSELY GRATEFUL. I AM NOT A DISHONEST OF NASTY PERSON AND WAS COMPLETELY SHOCKED AND IN TEARS WHEN I SAW THE REQUEST. I RANG AIRBNB DIRECT AND COULDNT EVEN SPEAK, I HAD TO PASS THE PHONE TO MY HUSBAND. I WORK AT THE LOCAL HOSPITAL AND I KNOW ANYONE WOULD BE WILLING TO GIVE ME A REFERENCE THAT I AM A NICE HUMAN BEING, HONEST AND RELIABLE AND TRUSTWORTHY, I WOULD NEVER DAMAGE SOMEBODYS APARTMENT AND NOT OWN UP TO IT. THIS IS MY FIRST TIME USING AIRBNB AND I AM SO UPSET THAT THIS IS THE KIND OF THING THAT GOES ON .

[Anonymous]

@Victoria1147 I'm so sorry you're in this awful situation, no less on Christmas day. Unfortunately you have been the victim of a scammer. Disturbingly, there are a lot of these bad actors out there giving the decent majority of hosts a bad name When the urgency of the moment has passed, do come back for tips on how to identify suspicious listngs and reduce your risk.

For now,  you've done the right things by taking photo evidence of the apartment's condition and presumably reporting the whole situation to Airbnb. Your correspondence with the host is also going to be useful as evidence, and a statement from the building's receptionist would be even better as this person witnessed the whole situation and can verify that the listing is not allowed. I hope you're fortunate enough to get a competent and understanding case manager, but prepare yourself for a long back and forth in which your ticket is bounced between a lot of people giving conflicting information and no straight answers. 

Go ahead and write an honest review of the host in the meantime, but please stick only to details that would be relevant to future guests and keep it concise. Take a breather first to enjoy your holiday and revisit the review topic when your nerves are a little calmer. 

And please, never ever write in all caps again. It makes it lookiks you're screaming and it's hard to read. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Victoria1147  I am so sorry your holiday trip is ruined by a scummer host. Just decline his request within a given period, try to calm down and contact Airbnb CS. You can call them or contact through their contact page (https://www.airbnb.com/help/contact-us/topic)

Be concise and short as possible so the CS rep can easily understand your problem.

I hope Airbnb will do the right thing, refund you for your entire stay and decline your host's damage claim. Be prepared to send them evidence photos you took.

If you ever decide to use Airbnb again then choose a listing with a lot of very positive reviews and rating over 4,8* (superhosts) Look how many listings your prospective host has - if it is up to 3-4 that's OK, if he has more then be careful, it may be a commercial agency, hotel, b&b or a scummer.

[Susan17]

@Victoria1147 

What a horrible, stressful situation for you - hope it didn't spoil your Christmas with your little ones. Did you respond to the Boxing Day deadline? 

It's crystal clear that you've been targeted by a rogue host here, who obviously made the damages claim to deflect negative attention from  themselves, as they were fully aware they'd screwed up and that you'd most likely be lodging a complaint/refund request with Airbnb (this is one of the scammers' favourite go-to tactics)

Stay calm, and try not to panic. The ball is entirely in your court here. As per the information you received from building management, this is an illegal listing, and as such, should not be on the platform. Airbnb has received a lot of extremely bad publicity just recently, regarding scamming hosts offering substandard accommodation, and the very last thing they need right now is even more stories circulating about guests being cheated in a similar manner.  

So if Airbnb persists in allowing the false damages claim, politely but firmly, you tell them this... you're aware of the bad press surrounding rogue hosts and illegal listings on Airbnb, and under no circumstances are you going to allow yourself to become a victim of one such scammer. Insist that you wish to be refunded - in full - for your disastrous  stay, and explain that if Airbnb continues to knowingly support and enable a shady unscrupulous operator of an illegal listing, in trying to cheat you out of £700 by making false claims against you, that you'll be left with absolutely no choice but to take your story to the national media, and to report the attempted fraud to the relevant UK authorities, and to the EU Commission's Online Dispute Resolution body. That should sort the problem pretty sharpish. 

Sometimes, you gotta fight fire, with fire. Best of luck to you, and hope all works out well!

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/43k7z3/nationwide-fake-host-scam-on-airbnb

[Susan17]

@Victoria1147 

Airbnb UK Customer Service -

0203 318 1111

If you don't get a satisfactory response from the first support agent(s) you speak with, just hang up and keep calling back until you reach a sympathetic and knowledgeable ear. 

[John1080]

@Victoria1147, I can second this. I have done this on a number of occasions myself, and it is really the luck of the draw, who you get on the other end. 

[John1080]

@Victoria1147, my heart goes out to you and I'm sorry you're going through this! As others have said, do not agree to send any money and remain calm with him and in your review. Stick to the facts and details in the review.

I would get in touch with customer service and explain things. Hopefully, they will see him for what he is and maybe refund your stay entirely, if you ask for and push for that - again, calmly. 

This type of person, whether a host or a guest needs to be removed from the Airbnb platform! 

Best of luck to you! 

[Victoria1147]

Thank you all so much for taking the time to respond. I'm so very grateful to you all. I put my email together and sent it through to airbnb (as they had been asked to step in and mediate the claim). I replied with a time frame of events and offered proof of everything I could offer. They were fantastic and responded within 24 hours confirming that I would not have to pay for any of the damages that he was saying that we had made. I'm so upset that somebody could do this to someone else and that it happened to us on what was meant to be such a special time, hubby's 40th. It took me a year to organise and save up for it and it was ruined by this host who has since caused so much more stress and anxiety over Christmas too. I'm so happy to be rid of him but do feel he shouldn't be able to do this to anyone else. I don't know whether to leave this be or whether I should put a review of what has happened to us? What do you guys all think? Thank you again for all your help and advice. It was so kind of you to take the time to respond even during the Christmas period. Thank you xxxxx

[Sarah977]

@Victoria1147  Absolutely leave an honest review. Hopefully they will remove this host from the platform, but if they don't, or it takes awhile while they investigate, at least other prospective guests will be warned.

Stick to the facts in a calm, non-emotional, and brief manner and don't mention any Airbnb involvement in the issues, as mentioning Airbnb intervention is against their review policy and can lead to them removing the review.

I'm curious- did this listing have other reviews, and if so, how were they?