Help, customer service won’t help me

[Ryan527]

I have recently stayed at an Airbnb which I intended to stay in for 30 days upon arriving in the area I could tell this was not an area I wanted to stay by the people around the location, however being new to the city and low on funds I had no choice but to stay till I could get someone from work to help me. In total I stayed there for 4 nights out of the 30, customer service are saying the host can’t be responsible for the area. But when booking safety is implied I even mentioned it when messaging her. This has caused me a great deal of stress and anxiety, also causing me to cut my year stay short and return home, the area was full of gangs and drug dealers can anyone advise on how to proceed now that my case has been “closed”?

[Emiel1]

Hi @Ryan527 ,

If the case is closed, it will be hard to reopen it. I understand you stayed in an accomodation, located in an area you felt unsafe. if this is really the case, you can report the listing ("the flag") to Airbnb. You did not mention you had any refund, 30 nights is a long term stay anyway., including the long term stay cancellation policy. indeed the host is  not responsible for the area, but if it is really bad some warning should be given. And offcourse you can check also yourself (on the Internet) the area you booked your accomodation, to prevent disappointment.

[Ryan527]

I did check on google maps and the flat building doesn’t look bad in maps, it’s the people that make it unsafe gangs drug users, didn’t feel safe in the listing at all. No refund has been given I understand it’s the policy however feel it’s very harsh considering I did ask about safety and nothing got mentioned

[Laurent308]

Welcome to Airbnb. People are abusing that great idea. I recently stayed at an Airbnb in a great location but it was on the 1st floor of a very busy intersection. Could not close my eyes all night. So the bottom line is you will never know what you get and have to read the reviews carefully and read between the lines. 

[Sandra126]

@Ryan527, I looked up your profile to see where you had stayed, so I could look that up to see what the listing and reviews say. I could not find any review under your profile so couldn't do it. There have been a few discussions here on the forum with hosts who live in shady areas, about how to accurately describe them. One of the best listing descriptions I have seen included photos of the (quite scary) people hanging out in the park, the stuff going on in the area etc. Super accurate, and no complaints in the reviews as guests know what they are in for. As a Brit moving to Atlanta I guess you have no local info and I am sorry this happened to you.

@Laurent308, there is an option for hosts to tick regarding noise, was introduced not that long ago. I guess that if we do not disclose, you can complain. If we disclose, you cannot.