HOST FROM HELL

[Galway-House0]

Hi former 5-year Host with Airbnb.. couldn't deal with Airbnb customer service anymore..... but now I'm traveling as a guest and experiencing the same horrible customer service. Hoping one of you Airbnb pro's can help me get through to a resolution!?!   We booked a room in Rome, checked in at 3 pm, told the host ~9 pm that the internet was not working. She messaged me the next morning that it was working fine. I worked another day, couldn't get it to work properly. I messaged her today that we need to depart early because I have spent 2 days unable to work. She is refusing to let me alter the booking. We booked the morning we arrived, mind you..... She wants us to cancel to get the penalty. Her response was "[my] job is not [her] problem." Airbnb will not help us because we are trying to change the booking 36 hours after arrival and the limit is 24 hours. Does anyone have any suggestions? We will be out $1k for something for trying to be patient with the host!!   Furthermore, there is no AC in the room, even though her listing said there was. We reported THAT to Airbnb within 24 hours and then she removed it from her listing after they contacted her. We were fine with windows open and fan, but now it's extremely hot and we have no AC. Airbnb hasn't been able to fix the AC issue even though its within the 24 hours of the issue.   Lastly, in regards to Covid.. she did not inform us that she would have a packed house -- we've met 4 solo guests throughout the day and a half we've been here. We looked at her page prior to booking and she had 1 other bedroom listed, so idk where these guests came from.. but its also very unsafe/frustrating that the wifi only works sitting next to the router, so multiple people that have been traveling all around the world are all sitting at the dining table trying to access it. Airbnb said they couldn't do anything about this because we *only* booked a room.. she didn't have to disclose anything for Covid precautions... 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Galway-House0  interesting..., it seems Airbnb changed a lot after IPO and Covid, just a year ago no AC and no or week wifi would be enough to get a full refund even when it wasn't working for just a few hours.

I have no idea what else you can do.

I suppose you already tried to restart a router? Is the cord long enough to place it somewhere away from other electrical appliances, or somewhere higher and far from any obstacles like walls and massive furniture?

If you plan to stay for another few weeks you can google if there are some digital nomads / tourists internet packages to purchase without a subscription. For example in Croatia is possible to buy a prepaid card, it costs 9€ per week and it is offered to digital nomads. They say they are satisfied with the speed.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

what I do to cool my flat without AC is to close the window and pull down window blinds when the sun came and open all the windows during the night when the temperature goes down. Summer dress and quick shower help as well.

I hate AC and would turn it on for a few hours only when the temperature rises above 36 C. I also can't use the ventilator bc I have very sensitive eyes. I survived for more than half of the century so I hope you will survive this summer as well 🙂  (not trying to be ironic, just to comfort you) The good news - next week will be cloudy and rainy and temps will not go above 30 C 🙂