Nightmare experience with a host

[Jose4245]

Back in Oct of 2019 I had the most unpleasant experience while staying at a rental in Mexico, there where multiple issues with her apartment one bing no how water and for some days no water at all, there was also a big hole in the ceiling and bugs and rain came into the apartment. The host was apparently on  vacation and not there to resolve anything. To makes matters worse the host was not to happy that I was messaging her about the issues I was having and said that I was ruining her vacation that I when she began to send me verbal threats  to leave her apartment or she would have her police friend and her brother in law to come have me removed from the property and that I should hide all my valuables and my passport because the are not friendly people and that are known to work with the Mexican Narcos. In short I wrote a review for the host and air bnb took it down even though I submitted pictures and messages that where sent to me from the host. On the other hand the host wrote a really nasty and negative review on me witch air bnb allowed for her to post. The host had no proof to back up her review about the bogus claims she made on me. I feel that I was  ripped off ,disrespected and humiliated and yet air bb did not about it.

Any advise on what I should do next any legal actions I should take on this?

Thanks

[Alexandra316]

@Jose4245I don't see a review on your profile from this person, so I assume it has also been removed at this point, so there's nothing to worry about there. 

I'm assuming you already tried calling Airbnb to discuss a refund: if not, that would be the place to start. If you have and your case has been closed, have you tried reaching out to them on social media?

[Anonymous]

@Jose4245   The negative review to which you refer is not visible on your profile; perhaps it's been taken down?

You have to be careful to check the Content Policy before posting a negative review. Any comments that reference an Airbnb investigation or could be legally construed as libelous are off-limits. Based on your comments here - especially with reference to the "Mexican narcos" - suggest that your review might have ventured into the prohibited territory.

Airbnb's Guest Refund Policy would have entitled you to a full refund if you had reported the Travel Issues to Airbnb on your arrival date, when it was already clear that the property was not in acceptable condition and the host was not able or willing to fix the problems, and relocate to another accommodation. There's no reason this should have escalated to the point where the host had to demand that you leave the property, and I don't understand why you hadn't already done so voluntarily.  It's understandable that you feel ripped off, but the compensation scheme is only for situations in which you're unable to complete the stay due to the home's conditions - and only for the unused nights.

Legal actions? Well...every moment that you stayed in the property after the host told you to leave, you were legally trespassing. 

[Shannon531]

Hello, I am also dealing with an absolute nightmare of a situation. We booked an Airbnb and upon arrival the host asked us to pay for additional electricity which was not stated in ad. I was a little blindsided and signed the sheet not really thinking it through and just wanting the host to leave after driving 4000kms from northern Alberta with a dog and get settled and off the road. My boyfriends name is Shannon and she also exclaimed “that’s a girls name” as soon as she met us (very rude). We contacted Airbnb and they investigated and told us since it was not stated in her ad that there was an additional charge for electricity we did not have to pay it and if she asked us for more money to tell her to contact Airbnb. Then close to the end of our stay I noticed I started to get bites and they kept getting worse. I brushed it off at first as some kind of bug bites. Then my friend said they looked like bed bug bites. I immediately went in and stripped the bed and found what appeared to be bed bug drippings, urine stains on the mattress, blood on the pillowcase and my bites resembled photos of bed bug bites online. I immediately called Airbnb and told them everything we were finding was consistent with bed bugs. I sent in photos and was told by Airbnb to leave immediately, go get out laundry sanatized and book a hotel as we were not allowed to go to another Airbnb for risk of spreading. They refunded us our nights not stayed, paid for our laundry and 50% of our impacted stay. They told us they would contact the host. They told us the host did not respond in the time frame they had given them so they were moving forward with their policies when a host is non responsive in this type of situation. When our check out time came a few days later, the host texted us and told us she was on her way over for check out. We told her she needed to contact Airbnb as we were already left as per their instruction. Then she told us we had to pay for the electricity, we again told her she needed to contact Airbnb on this matter, as per their instruction. Then she proceeded to tell us she had never seen a house so dirty there was pet hair everywhere (it was a pet friendly rental) and grime. I put all dishes in dishwasher before we left, we brought out all the garbage to the bins outside (I did forget to bring out bathroom garbage) and we put all towels used in the wash before we left. Everything was tidy, I just did not scrub floors, sinks or showers or vacuum pet fur - I feel starting the laundry was going over and above considering a $300 cleaning fee was charged and I am quite embarrassed at being accused of being a dirty guest when I left things tidy just did not do the deep cleaning. She left us a review and said we were squatters and to beware of such guests we got a refund and claimed bedbugs for no reason. We left her a review and said we would not be back and left it at that. Then she replied to the review and said that we left the place dirty, and left without notice and did not pay electricity. I cannot believe Airbnb has let her post this considering we did not leave without notice, we left at Airbnb’s direction which they communicated to her and she did not respond. Also, it is true we did not pay the electricity, but again, that was at Airbnb’s direction as it was not explicitly stated in her ad that these extra fees would be charged. 
I left a review on her Facebook Rental page as well and she commented back that “she is in contact with her attorney and Airbnb about my lies and all this was just a good try to get my money back...we will see” so now I am being threatened with legal action for I don’t evenow what?!? I have screenshots of every single conversation with Airbnb instructing me to do everything I did and proving that everything she is saying is untrue, but that doesn’t change the fact that she is leaving these reviews on the internet accusing us of being squatters, dirty, not paying things we are supposed to and trying to just get things for free. It’s so humiliating! I did everything as instructed by Airbnb and am still publicly portrayed this way! It is still under investigation but I’m just wondering what some opinions on this situation are? Has anyone been in a similar situation?! I appreciate any feedback or advice on this situation! Not only was our vacation ruined, but the stress of this aftermath has left an extremely bad taste for Airbnb and the impact it can have after the fact when a host turns on you. 

[Stacey115]

@Shannon531 I would continue to call/message airbnb to take down this review! If you get no response post an abbreviated version of this post to Airbnb social media accounts. It usually get's a lot more attention from customer service because it's public and everyone can see your post. Ask to have your issue escalated to a CS manager. Good luck!

EDIT: I just checked your profile and do not see a negative review so ABB must have removed it.