Laptop and Cash stolen by intruder with key.

[Paul6269]

Hi everyone, 
I made a horrible airbnb experience about 4 months ago. I stayed at a place in Hoi An , Vietnam at an airbnb with no previous reviews. It is not the first time, since we spend about 1/3 of our time in airbnbs.
We booked the place for a week and one day before check-out someone with a key entered the apartment through a backdoor (that was always locked, and we didn't get a key for this door). We were sleeping next door in the bedroom, while someone took my Laptop and cash from the living room. Noone entered the bedroom, where my girlfriend had her laptop standing on the desk. 
In the morning doors and windows were open my backpack thrown into the yard, but nothing else was taken beside cash and my laptop. We contacted the police and airbnb immediately.
The police first told us that this airbnb is illegal, and then asked us if we want to give them our bluetooth earphones as a present. When we declined they let me write a report on blank sheet and went away. Of course we didn't spend another night at the place and left immediately. 
Something like that can happen, and so far we were lucky, but the really horrible experience was how left alone we were in this situation by airbnb support. We didn't receive any help with the communication with the police, who refused to give my any documentation of the case because the airbnb wasn't legal, so in their logic it was our fault to stay there  (later my country's embassy helped me with that) .  Although we reported that someone entered with a key and we were clearly scammed, they couldn't care less. I had to write the customer support three times the same details, since he never bothered to read the full message. Later he send us 20 USD because we didn't stay the last night and closed the case. I continued writing him, but he just told me airbnbs decisions are final, so I should stop writing. 
We left a bad review for the host telling our story, and the next day the host simply deleted the listing and our comment with it. 
At this point I didn't want to get any reimbursement anymore, but  at least report the host and also report to airbnb the incredible unfriendly and rude customer support ( or what was supposed to be support) I received. 
I contacted airbnb again, to file a complaint, and I was told to use the feedback function. No word since then.
I am really surprised how little they care if you got clearly scammed, and that there is also no effort in clearing up the situation, so others don't have the same experience.
Did anyone have similar experience, or any idea how to report such a case to airbnb without getting  totally ignored?

[Anonymous]

@Paul6269   It's not Airbnb's policy to disclose the results of a flagging or other feedback, even if they did ultimately take action on it. If the host's user profile has disappeared from the site, that's probably an indication that Airbnb has removed him from the platform. If he voluntarily deactivated the listing, your review will still appear on his profile unless it violated the content policy. Direct accusations of criminal conduct would constitute defamation, so I hope you chose your wording very carefully.

It's very unfortunate that this experience was the result of your choice to take a chance on an unreviewed host. That's a risky move, but the good hosts also have to start somewhere. I hope you've had more success with your travel insurance claims than you've had with Airbnb . But I don't think it would be realistic to expect a listing agency to take anything that might be construed as responsibility for your loss of personal property. Their terms of service are loud and clear, they're not responsible for anything - including the legality of listings, the veracity of the host's identity, or the safety standards of the property. Despite being a mainstream brand, it's still a Wild West scenario, and users absorb most of the burden of the risk involved.

[Paul6269]

I know, that airbnb won't cover my damage, and I didn't expect them to. As you said, I have an insurance for that. Anyways every insurance will need some sort of proof, which can be a police report, or something similar. 

What really bothered me about the anti-support I received is, that the police told me they won't give me this report since the apartment was rented out illegally. The host just deleted the listing, which solved the problem for him. As you said, Airbnb is a mainstream brand and active in every country of the world, still were not willing to offer me any help at all to handle the situation with the police to get the documents I need. 

Maybe I am naive, but before this event, I really didn't expect airbnb to refuse me any sort of support in an emergency case like that.

Anyways I learned my lesson, and will return to staying in Hotels in the future. Although hotel-platforms probably won't help me neither in the case of an emergency, but at least the police can't treat me like a criminal then and has to support me.

[Sang275]

poor on you