Loud neighbor

[Lena193]

Hello, I'm pretty new to AirBNB and booked a room in Sarajevo for a month for an internship. The issue is that every night, the neighbour is playing very loud bass-heavy music that I can hear through my earplugs. He starts at about 3 - 4am and does not stop until  at least 7:30am (thats when I leave the house). My host is a very nice woman, but he does not listen to her requests to be more quiet and was very rude and disrespectful to me when I asked him. 

I can bear loud music during the day and even during the weekend, and if he would just be a little more quiet so I cannot hear him THROUGH MY EARPLUGS, I would be satisfied. But I didn't read anything about loud neighbours or noises  in the apartment's description when I booked (in fact it was described as peaceful), and I need to sleep during the week to have energy for my internship.

What do you think I can do? What are my rights in this situation? I don't want to hurt my host because she's really nice and trying to help, and this is obviously not her fault. But I also cannot live like this for the next four weeks.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Lena193 

you can call the police, they have to respond to your call and they will come and warn the neighbor. If necessary you can do that every night or even a few times a night, as long as it takes him to stop.

Or you can call Airbnb, explain the situation and ask them to relocate you.

[Lena193]

Thank you for your suggestions. I would prefer not to call the police... I have personally had bad experiences with the Bosnian police in the past. Plus I don't want to escalate the situation, this neighbor was already really aggressive when I called him on the phone to ask him to be a bit more quiet (saying "this is my house, I do what I want and will not stop, shut up"). But I will try to call AirBNB if this doesn't improve. Thank you!

[Helen3]

I would see if you can cancel the booking and find somewhere else @Lena193 . Speak to the host and explain that you cannot sleep in the early hours because of the noise and this is affecting your internship. Most cities are noisy but this is sort of noise of regular early morning music from a neighbour is unacceptable.

Not the host's fault but if she is having ongoing problems with noisy neighbours she should be sympathetic to your situation and not accept long term bookings.

Ask her as the situation can't be resolved (it is her rather than you that should call the police) that you would like for the booking to be cancelled and refunded (even though it is a long term booking) so you can find alternative accommodation. Hopefully she will say yes. If not speak to Airbnb.

[Lena194]

Thank you for your support, it's really a relief.

I can live with noises - I have lived next to a busy five lane road and slept in many many hostel dorms. But  I can physically feel the bass when I lie on the pillow. I was really shocked when this neighbor flat out told me "I don't care, this is my house and I can play music when I want" and didn't turn it down. I have a roommate, and he told me that this started before my arrival, although he apparently can sleep through it (maybe his room is quiet because of the location - I can barely hear the music in our kitchen, so I assume my room is wall-to-wall to his).

I've only arrived on Sunday, so I will try one more night and then ask my host to relocate me, as she hosts four apartments in the city. Thank you for encouraging me, I really appreciate it!

[Tim-and-Holly0]

@Lena193:

I agree with the others who have posted here. Although your host may be really nice, she should be the person filing a complaint with whatever city department handles that type of complaint. In addition, it is probably bothering other neighbors too so she should be working together with them to solve the problem. If the neighbor is renting she could contact his landlord and perhaps have him evicted. There are several avenues she could take to solve the problem.

I doubt seriously that this problem started the night you arrived. It has probably been on-going. In this case you should look out for yourself and ask Airbnb to relocate you. Be sure to call Airbnb when the music is loud so they clearly understand the problem. Good luck. Please let us know how things turn out.

[Lena194]

Thank you for this message 🙂 as you can read above, the problem definitely started before my arrival. I will make a recording the next time its happening to have proof, and I will try to find a solution with my host. Only if she cannot relocate or refund me (or make him stop permanently), I will contact Airbnb. I will keep you updated!

[Lena193]

Here's the update, as promised: I haven't involved AIRBNB because I wanted to try and work this out with my host first, but I kept it in mind as a last resort. So I asked my host to either relocate me or give me a refund, and she moved me into another apartment immediately. She was very reassuring and kind. She also told me that she has called the police on this neighbour before, and yet he continues. She will now take steps to move him out. My host and I are on good terms and there was no fight at all!

I'm so glad that this got a happy end. 🙂 My new apartment is beautiful too. Thank you for all your reassurance and tips!

[Alon1]

@Lena193 

Hi Lena,

I'm glad to read your story had a happy ending.

Just to mention that last November I got stuck in Cluj for a night.

I flew in for the day only to meet someone for a few hours at the airport and then fly back to London.

Unfortunately, I wasn't warned about the seasonal fog, and with all the flights grounded it was quite a bit of chaos at the airport.

The airport staff were quite helpful in suggesting places to sleep, but no one had heard of Airbnb.... 

  I didn't have a smart phone, but someone eventually offered theirs to find me a place to sleep, and of course it was too much to expect anyone to access my email and Airbnb account, so I ended up at a hotel.

  It was still thick blanket fog in the morning, but luckily the planes took off after some more hours of delay, around midday. 

I've since checked to see as I expected some Airbnb rentals in Cluj

   But it was weird at the airport that no one knew about it.

[Donald28]

If you must, leave and find another place. Let the host figure out the **bleep** neighbor situation. That should not be your problem. You should ask for a FULL refund for all days that you were bothered even if you stayed.