Never Use Airbnb — Hosts Will Leave You High and Dry

[Anand191]

I booked a private room with Airbnb for accommodation in Dubai for five nights. I paid for this in advance. Upon reaching Dubai, the Airbnb host told me that he could no longer accommodate me. He provided me a different address and asked me to go and stay there for two nights and he would shift me to original booking place after that.

Upon reaching the other address, I found that the flat was locked and no one was there. I had to ask reception for help to contact the Airbnb host as my phone was not working there. Upon contact the host he said he couldn’t accommodate me at the new address either. He did not provide any explanation and left me without a roof over my head in an unknown city. I was left to sort out my own accommodation with limited internet connectivity and battery life left on my phone.

In this situation I had to take whatever was available. I ended up staying in a hostel sharing a room with five unknown people and also sharing other facilities. Airbnb put me in this situation as they failed to fulfil their responsibility. My safety was at risk. My health was at risk as I had to share things with five other people for five nights. I could not get proper sleep.

The entire experience not only totally ruined my trip but also left me in distress and with negative effects on my mental well being. I was constantly anxious and worried about my health and safely due to the pandemic. I informed Airbnb about this incident the evening of Dec. 30. I received a call and provided all the information to customer service. They said they were unable to contact their own host to find out why he could not accommodate me. They also did not offer me any help to find an alternative suitable accommodation.

The entire trip turned into a nightmare. Airbnb staff were totally unhelpful. They could not even contact their own host after I provided a different number that he was using. Airbnb neither provided any immediate help or help to find alternative accommodation. On top of that, they also closed my case without reaching any conclusion. This company should not be allowed to operate in the hospitality sector at all.

Apparently Airbnb is unregulated company .  When you book accommodation your contact is with host and not with Airbnb.  They would put their hands up if things go wrong.  You are putting your self in danger by trusting a total stranger. You are better off staying in a hotel. 

[Anand191]

@Mark116  Hi Mark . I did not use airbnb to get refund. I was happy to pay in advance for booking. All I wanted was my accommodation and not being left out on street in  a foreign country.  

airbnb failed to provide the very basic thing they exist for. 

[Anand191]

What airbnb dosen't tell you is that when you book accommodation your contract is with host and not airbnb.  They have structured their business in a way so that they have minimum responsibility.

As per lawyers apparently its an unregulated sector as well. There is no one particular Govt department or law which regulates airbnb.  So when some thing goes wrong they can just put their hands up. 

[Mark116]

@Anand191  Your experience is fairly rare, but yes, airbnb is the booking platform, they don't own the inventory so the deal is between the guest and the host.  As for regulation it varies widely by country and even city.  Many countries/cities mandate that Airbnbs have permits and are inspected every year, but in some places yes its still largely unregulated.  I wouldn't give up on the platform, but you would want to find a host that has a lot of reviews and ensure that there is good communication in advance of arrival in the future.

[Sarah977]

@Anand191  Your topic title is untrue- "hosts", plural, won't leave you high and dry, one host did.

There are millions of Airbnb listings. The company doesn't go door to door to make sure all listings are legitimate and that all hosts are honest. The way bad hosts and bad guests get removed from the platform or warned about their behavior is by receiving reports from users and by bad ratings and reviews.

Nor will Airbnb share info about the actions they have taken against a user.

And if the host was ignoring phone calls and messages from Airbnb, I don't see how you expected them to be able to contact him.

No doubt this host's behavior was unacceptable and you got refunded because of it. And I understand that it was a big hassle for you.

But no one forced you to move to a hostel situation where you were in danger of being exposed to COVID. I realize it would have been more expensive, but you could have booked a hotel room, which is what most people who wanted to be in a pandemic-safe situation would have done.

[Anonymous]

@Anand191  You are correct that when someone books an Airbnb, their arrangement is with the host and not with Airbnb. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure that out - Airbnb doesn't own or manage any of the properties, and it's very much a use-at-your-own-risk situation.

But incredibly, after your really bad experience (which I think all hosts would agree was unacceptable), you found a really awesome host who took you in and gave you an experience that you reviewed very favorably, as @Elena87 pointed out. So you're being totally dishonest when you say "Airbnb hosts will leave you high and dry" - the person who apparently treated you to great hospitality is one example of how  flawed the premise of your argument is, and if anyone were paying attention to your crusade against Airbnb hosts it would only hurt people like Lala who showed you kindness.

You definitely learned a lesson from your experience, but unfortunately it was the wrong one. Can you at least muster a few words for the fact that you still had a great stay in one of the world's most hysterically awful cities despite your first host there being a dud?

[Anand191]

@Anonymous  Hi Andrew , Yes but I learned it only after my experience . So why would I use a company who has no responsibility at all when things go wrong.  May be you are happy to give your money to a company who would not take any responsibility, I am not. 

As per your logic it seems you would be happy with Airbnb to treat you badly just because you would found an alternative roof over your head. And forge every thing else that has happened .

I provided a great review for Lala because she was the only one who came back to quickly and after I messaged 3-4 different hosts for booking and also she arranged for my accommodation even thought she has placed initially only for 1 night . Check my booking on airbnb I booked only 1 night at her hostel. So I wouldn't put any bad review for some one who has been extremely helpful to me.

All the best to you with Airbnb , I hope you won't end up on a street in a foreign country like me .

Regards

Anand

[Anonymous]

@Anand191  It has happened to me before, that a host cancelled my booking mere hours before the scheduled check-in. It was not a pleasant experience, but I was well aware of the risk I took when I chose to book a room in a stranger's house instead of an established hotel. Left with no choice but to make a last-minute booking, I ultimately chose a hotel, because Airbnb is never a good resource for same-day reservations. 

Had this unexpected disruption incurred a lot of costs, that's actually something my travel insurance would have covered - I can definitely recommend making sure you have that benefit in your insurance plan - but luckily in this case the change in plans actually saved a few euros.

There are about 7 million listings on Airbnb. Anyone with an internet connection can create one, and there's no vetting or inspection process to verify that any standards are met. It can't make any guarantees of how a stay will work out, any more than a dating app can guarantee that a relationship will work out. Your odds of having a great stay are much higher if you book somewhere with lots of excellent recent reviews, but if your priority is safety and guaranteed standards, a peer-to-peer platform like Airbnb is unsuitable for you. Better in that case to increase your travel budget and choose a name-brand hotel. 

[Anand191]

@Anonymous  Thanks for information Andrew.   

I will do that and book hotel for any future trips . 

At least I wont end up on street for hours in foreign country. 

And a Hotel will not have to contact their host to find out what has happened. 

I don't want to put my self at risk specially when the company is totally unregulated has no standards and has no legal or moral responsibility , And I would advise every else to do the same as well.

[Helen350]

Do you live in Tunbridge Wells, @Anand191 ??? 😄

[Anand191]

No I don't. 

[Helen350]

.... Sorry, very OLD English joke, @Anand191 ! 😄

[Anand191]

There are a few defenders of airbnb here , and I would like to ask them a question.

Can some one please explain that all most after one month  and even after airbnb unable to contact the host , why that property is still on airbnb for renting ? 

Does it not show that airbnb has no concern about my experience with that host and all they care about is getting their share of money from bookings. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Anand191 I don't think anyone here is saying that Airbnb have done the right thing in your case. What they have said is that one bad host doesn't mean that the rest of the platform is rotten. If you think about it, if even a thousandth of the guests had bad experiences then the platform would have folded long ago. It is testament to all the good hosts out there that the platform is thriving.

[Anand191]

@Mike-And-Jane0  Hello Mike. 

You are missing the point. My question is why that host is still online and able to rent his property ? 

That means airbnb has not taken any action against that host who caused me so much distress.   So airbnb is not interested in taking any action against such hosts . This will be still booked and airbnb will still make money out of it. Just like they made money out of my booking. 

If you check online there are thousands of horror story of airbnb .

If they start removing all those hosts , they wont have a business. 

So its quite clear why they are thriving.  By causing trouble to thousands of people and keeping their money.  Problem is that not enough people are bothered to get together and take action against this kind of behaviour. And its an unregulated business so they can find loopholes and get away with it. 

[Colleen253]

@Anand191

 "My question is why that host is still online and able to rent his property ?" You yourself indicated this host has some good reviews. Your experience may or may not be isolated and certainly is not necessarily going to warrant Airbnb instantly removing this host and their listing from the platform. Maybe they do need to be removed, who knows, but one would at least expect an investigation first, which could  take some time. 

I definitely agree with you, that you are best suited to hotels for your future travels.