Please can anyone offer me some advice.
I am new to Airbnb and booked a 2 nights stay in Dublin.
My husband and I checked in at 4pm and when doing so we were met with the most foul smell and the place was filthy.
We got a message to tell us that there was a problem with the internet and we replied back about the smell. At that point we did not want to cause a fuss as we had not paid very much for the stay and our show was about to start. We informed the host about the smell and asked for a local taxi number...no reply.
On our way out to the show I was scratched by the landlord dog that was tied up at the entrance and saw rats near the overflowing bins so I was really disgusted now at that point.
We went to the theatre and that is when the trip turned disastrous.
My husband had been assaulted and robbed, his wallet was took as was his phone.
Panicking, he wanted to get back to the Airbnb however when we got there, the door would not open. I knew the code and it would not work and I tried over 200 times. We were sat outside the door for 2 hours. I had no way of contacting the host, police or emergency services. The host was in the building looking out the window at us!
By some sort of miracle the code that I tried over 200 times eventually worked. We got inside the building THEN the apartment door would not open. Disaster after disaster! Almost 4 hours later we got inside and it was then I noticed the significance of the injuries that my husband had.
I begged and pleaded with him to let me call the police and an ambulance when we got a knock on the door, it was the landlord to tell us to keep the noise down.
I told him that the noise was only made because I was desperate to get in for nearly 4 hours!!! I then politely informed him of the smell, the dog, the rats, the dirt, the bins, the locks and informed him about the incident with my husband. I could not clean any wounds as there was no first aid kit and the water in the apartment was black and smelled foul. Luckily I had some wet wipes!
My husband did not want to go to A&E and I had to keep him awake as I didn’t want him to fall asleep within the 6 hour period of a head injury. I stayed awake completely and when he woke, he was severely confused, he did not know where he was or remember how he got there.
Frantic I demanded that he let me call an ambulance but he agreed to go in a taxi. To cut a long story short on our way to the hospital we got a phone call from Airbnb rep. He introduced himself as calling from the head office in Dublin and that we are NOT to return to the apartment also our possessions would be sent on to us!!!! I explained the situation and apologised but the situation could have been avoided if the apartment had working doors. I also explained that we are both registered disabled and that our medication is in the room.
I immediately contacted Airbnb for help as I was stranded. I had no money, no bank card, nowhere to stay that night, nor did I have anyway of contacting my family or friends to ask for help. I contacted Airbnb through the train companies WiFi. Airbnb did not answer me and have now confirmed that they have received no complaints about our stay nor did they ever instruct us to leave. I have received a full refund as I provided plenty of evidence to support my claim.
A week later and I am still trying to understand why the host put us out knowing fine well that the doors was faulty. There was no shouting nor was there any disrespect to the property or landlord in anyway. I’m also left baffled as to why Airbnb didn’t help us on the night. It cost us almost £300 to get home. I also find myself worrying about anyone else staying with this host.
they could clearly see that we had disabilities and also the fact that we were new to Airbnb and used this to deceive us and put us in further despair. I have provided Airbnb with the text messages sent to us. As I have won the claim for a refund will this host be warned? Is there anything further I need to do to make sure that nothing like this happens to someone else?
