How to deal with a very rude and defensive host?

[Maria3210]

I recently stayed at an AirBnB, it was a beautiful home and my partner and I had a wonderful stay however on arrival we were greeted by the host who spoke very rudely to us and told us "if you use the aircon I will be a bitch tomorrow" I was taken back by this as in the amenities it was stated that there would be aircon(one of the main things that drew us to the house), It was an extremely hot weekend, therefore we found it hard to sleep due to not being able to use the aircon, the amenities also stated that there was a pool, spa and gamming centre, the spa and gaming centre were broken and the pool was murky and looked like it needed a good clean, so we didnt use any of these, as you can imagine I was dissapointed by this and felt that we should have been made aware that we were not able to use any of these. I left my host a review which i thought was nice! i gave her 5 stars and said that we had a lovely stay and I would recommend others to stay here, however we were disappointed that we were told not to use the amenities and that due to no aircon we got hardly any sleep both nights. She then proceeded to harrass me in personal messages, as a host I thought she handled it very unprofessionally, Im unsure of what to do next? any advise or thoughts would be great! TIA

[Alexandra316]

@Maria3210 You say that she sent you harrasing personal messages: was that through Airbnb messenger, or some other form of communication? I would call Airbnb or message them on Twitter @airbnbhelp and let them know what you're experiencing. Harrasing you after the fact for leaving an honest review isn't okay.

I'm pretty surprised that you still gave her 5 stars: that doesn't seem like a five-star stay to me. Multiple isssues with the listing and a rude host don't deserve it. If there are limitations on amenities, such as air conditioning can only be used between certain dates or if the temperature is above a certain level, that should be clearly disclosed in the listing.

[Mark116]

@Maria3210 I don't think I would have left 5 stars if the pool, spa and game room weren't available.  But, I'm curious, since you left a great review, what is this host harassing you about?

[Maria3210]

She harrassed me because she didnt like the fact that I had mentioned the aircon in the review,  she said she "didnt appreciate me criticising her hosting" which I dont believe I did, I just left an honest review, but this went on throughout about 5-6 messages and she keeps accusing me of lying about it, which is not the case at al.

[Mark116]

@Maria3210  I guess it is possible that you misunderstood what she said about the air conditioning or making she meant it as a joke or something, but in any case, you gave her a 5 star review, despite a few issues, which you didn't even mention in the review, and mentioning the A/C in the review was hardly negative...she addressed it in her response, so she needs to act like an adult here.  I'd tell her to stop contacting you and maybe if you feel like being mean, tell her you regret that you gave her 5 stars.

[Gordon0]

Like @Alexandra316 says, why the five-star rating? I'd have been on to CS faster than a rat up a drainpipe if all these amenities were out of service on arrival. 

[Maria3210]

I only gave a 5-star rating because the house itself was beautiful and communication wise before the stay she was very good. I have been told I am too nice by many people, I definitly would change it to 2 stars if I had the chance!

[Helen3]

What a shame you didn't contact Airbnb within 24 hours of arrival as they advise guests to do on your booking confirmation if your listing isn't as advertised and the host can't/won't fix it.

They would have cancelled the booking and helped you find something else.

Anyway this host is bang out of order. She should be grateful you gave her 5 stars. Screen shot her remarks, then block her.

Call Airbnb and share her harassing remarks. You can flag her profile, but AIRBNB won't review unless they get multiple complaints so please call.

[Maria3210]

Hi Alexandra! Thanks for your reply! It was through the app, I will be sure to do that.

I totally agree, I think as a host you need to be aware that you will recieve all kinds of reviews and people will be honest, she obviously didnt like that! I gave her 5 stars because it was a lovely house and before the stay she communicated very well and I felt bad leaving anything less than 5, but after seeing the way she has treated me i should have given her less, I hope she doesnt treat other guests the way she has me.

[Alexandra316]

@Maria3210 Yes, that's definitely not okay! Glad she kept it to Airbnb messenger.

Hope that this is a one-off, and the rest of your Airbnb travels are better experiences!

[Susan1404]

In my opinion, the house was misrepresented to you because 3 things that were promised to you were unusable.  I am like you and tend to be overly nice, but 3 items is 2 items too many.  I agree with @Helen3.  Airbnb should be apprised of the compromise and perhaps you might even ask for some sort of reimbursement from Airbnb since she has been harrassing you.  I would cease any and all contact with the host for now and deal only with Airbnb CS.