I don't know where to post this on this forum, but i had a horrible experiece as a GUEST. I am a SuperHost in Washington, DC.
I just returned from a 9 city tour of Europe, using as many Airbnb's as i could that were in neighborhoods that i wanted. Started in Stockholm and finished in Paris. (Amsterdam and Berlin are very regulated now). I had 2 bookings in Stockholm, one in the Old City and the second in the Sodermalm area. Thefirst booking went well. Lovely place, great host, although, as is most common, i did not personally meet the host. The second booking, the host, who had said he would greet me at the space to gain entry, NEVER SHOWED UP. I had messaged several times, the day before and the morning of the arrival. Once at the location, i double check the address, waited outside the apartment building for over an hour. I called his cell multiple times, getting only an ansering service. I messaged multiple times through Airbnb. No response. After 1- 1/2 hours gave up and thanks to Google maps, found a very nice room (cheaper, by the way), a couple blocks away. Once checked in, i called AirBNB, who ALSO tried to contact the host, to no avail. Of course, AirBNB refunded the booking.
BUT......after my very negative review, the host, the listing that the host posted as "Lovely, cosy, flat, the nicest area of the city", is no longer available. The host simply re-listed as a new host, the same apartment, now known as "Lovely flat in the most cosy area of the city". The host had replied to me (not to my review, which never appeared) that he had trouble contacting me. Before the listing was removed (and after I had booked and paid and found myself stuck without a "space") I dug deeper into his reviews and saw numerous cancellations ,by him, in some cases less than a week before the guest arrival. Lesson learned there - real ALL the reviews. I am thankful that it wasn't freezing cold and a blinding snowstorm when I arrived). In addition, that space had a double listing..one as entire space and one as shared. My question is this: How is it possible that he was able to become a host again? and, did he remove the listing or did AirBNB. (I suspect he did, to prevent my review from appearing). I don't think AirBNB has any mechanism to prevent unscruplous or very bad hosts from simply pulling their listing and coming back on board as a new host. This hosts appears now as "New" , with no reviews yet. In my opinion any host who fails to show up or does not make entry possible should NEVER HOST again. But, lets get real, that is not going to happen. Business is business. Has anyone else ever encountered this situation?
