Noise Complaints in Japan for MONTHS yet nothing has been done! HELP!

[Steven1239]

My partner and I have been staying long term and have been battling to get a refund for not being able to sleep for months due to loud neighbors. We have called the police on multiple occasions, but in Japan nothing can be done even though cops have admitted to hearing them as well. Documented them as well as sent them to our host who claims to "not be able to hear them" but that cannot be true, the videos are just too loud for that to be the case.

Here are some general details:(apologies if some details are unnecessary. I am upset 😞 )

We feel we have been done wrong for simply asking the loud neighbors to consider us initially since we have jobs and need to be up in the morning, which they ignored. Instead our host contacted us to get this, reprimand us for ringing their doorbell to ask them to be quite. That is how the dialogue about this issue even started, we tried to handle this like adults and not bother the host but the host told us to not bother them. Anyway, we asked the host to contact them. Asked staff to speak to them which the other guests claimed to have "called the police on us" (the staff knows they're lying by the way). The staff witnessed them being loud 5 minutes after having a discussion with them. Lastly, we called the police where they are able to do nothing to stop them in Japan. I feel helpless here! Originally I just wanted their stay terminated and asked for that from the beginning but nothing was done. Their stay and our stay are over at the end of December so that would not do much given the timeframe now. They were able to do what they were and are continuing to do. 

I have contacted CS to try and mediate and currently am in the middle of trying to come to an agreement of financial compensation. However, I feel as though this case is being delayed until we are done with our stay here which again is soon! I was passed off to literally 8 different employees because there shift was ending! 

Please if there is any sort of advice or anything we can or should do to rectify this situation it would be much appreciated or if you think what we are trying is unjustified please let me know. Thank you 

[Emiel1]

@Steven1239 

Some questions rised:

- The loud neighbours are also Airbnb guests ?

- In what way are they loud and at which times ?

- Did you discuss shortening the reservation with the host ?

(I would not stay in a place "not being able to sleep for months")

- Why did you not contacted Airbnb immediatelly when the issues started ?

If you stay until the end of the reservation, it will be difficult to have some refund. If the host is unwillling to provide some financial compensation (as he does not acknowledge there is a issue), then Airbnb can not do much for you (at the best  give you a small voucher for your next trip).

[Steven1239]

Yes they are also guests of Airbnb. They are loud by stomping, banging things, yelling and laughter mainly until 3am-7am on average. I have already shortened it as much as I could while still using the money I could not get back as much as possible. That cost an additional fee. The reason for staying is just that, we would not be getting this money back so we need to use this place for as long as we paid for. 

I contacted the neighborhood emergency service about a week or so into their stay, I had a cordial conversation and expressed how upset I was having this kind of situation. I tried to call them back the next day as it the noise continued only to have my number blocked. Like the button request a phone call did not load but on my girlfriends phone it did. I had no idea why, but it just piled up the frustration naturally.

The reason for not contacting CS sooner was because for this same stay there was another group just as loud, and our host claimed to kick them out. Only for another group to book the same room and do the same things and check out the same date the original group did. However, seeing as she "kicked" out the other group I was hoping the same would happen. Originally we just wanted termination but seeing as nothing was done I decided compensation seems appropriate. Hence contacting CS to try to come some compensation agreement since having them removed at this point seems trivial. I hope there can be something done, they know what they are doing. It just seems wrong to just want sleep and have people disrespect you with no repercussions. 

Anyway I appreciate your feedback and taking the time to respond. 

[Sarah977]

@Steven1239  If there are conditions at a listing that are unacceptable to you, you should cancel and leave. 

You cannot just continue to stay and expect to get a refund. That isn't how things work on Airbnb or in life.

Would you buy a piece of clothing, find that it was uncomfortably tight, yet continue to wear it for a months, then bring it back to the store expecting to get your money back for it?

I can't imagine why you continued to stay somewhere for months where you couldn't sleep.

[Steven1239]

Hello @Sarah977 

After being in contact with CS and the host less than a week into the guests stay I thought seeing this process through was the right thing. After reading what’s accepted in the community policy and what the host put in the description I thought no way would they be able to stay.

I have little faith we’d be compensated for leaving earlier than we paid for so going towards a termination of stay seemed to be best. This now refund situation was secondary. Seeing how this situation was/is being dragged out, I have no faith that we’d be refunded even if we left earlier. Not the way this was handled. 

I find your enology off, it’s not like when we bought the clothes and they were tight. If it were that simple then wow, life’s a walk in the park huh?

Like I’ve said earlier if we cancelled our stay and left we would be out on the money we already paid for the time period. Seeing this process unfold with anything being done other than verbal warnings gave me little to no faith that we’d be receiving any sort of refund even upon leaving earlier than the already adjusted time period. 

thanks for your perspective 

[Sarah977]

@Steven1239  Here's the thing-Airbnb can't enforce rules like guests being quiet and not disturbing the neighbors. They don't have some SWAT team that appears in person to evict bad guests. All they can do is tell the guests to behave themselves if there's a complaint, but it's up to the host to actually enforce it. 

It seems from your account like this was going on since the beginning of your stay. If you arrive and right away there is some intolerable condition that the host can't or won't deal with,  you report to Airbnb saying you can't possibly be expected to stay there, and you likely will be refunded. 

The longer you stay, the more unlikely a refund would be considered, because then it seems like, well, it can't be that bad if you aren't moving out.

So yes, the protocol is to first report a problem to the host, but if nothing changes quite quickly, it's best to report it, cancel and hopefully get refunded. 

[Steven1239]

First of all I do not know why you feel the need to form some outlandish ideals about SWAT or anything of that nature. What you are stating here is has already been done, which is why there is an issue. Terminating ones stay is clear via the policy which as a host you are aware of or at least I hope that would be the case. Since it is in writing I had hoped for something to change during the time here. It is clear you yourself are a host and are not able to look at this from a guests perspective. I was hoping to get some advice not be talked to like a child. 

We have been at this property since February, so no to make an assumption instead of asking questions like the individual above you was obnoxious to say the least. That's why your little "the clothes don't fit why are you wearing them?" enology didn't suffice. Judging by peoples past experiences with this online and having my personal experience with CS which is designed to come to the aid of hosts like you and not the guests it is unlikely we would get a refund and more likely for the guests stay to be terminated. 

Thank you for your take, though you are not adding any sort of value to this discussion due to your clear bias. I kindly ask that you move on.  

[Sarah977]

@Steven1239  You clearly misunderstood my responses. I was trying to point out a guest's best chances of getting refunded  and totally sympathize with the intolerable noise situation and the seemingly uncaring attitude of the host you have been dealing with.

No, Airbnb doesn't favor hosts- they are equally bad at dealing appropriately with both guest and host issues. Good hosts are not biased- bad hosts who aren't responsive to legitimate guest issues give Airbnb and therefore all hosts a bad name. A host who allows loud partying to go on unabated should be booted off the platform.

Airbnb customer service is outsourced to a 3rd party, with  reps who are untrained, unhelpful, give out erroneous and bad advice, and act like robots reading from a script rather than assessing a situation on its unique circumstances.

Hosts and guests are not antagonists- it's a symbiotic relationship that works great when both parties behave responsibly and respectfully. 

When one end of that falls down, in your case the host allowing this disturbance to continue, and Airbnb gets involved, things can really go south.

You should have been allowed to cancel and get refunded for unstayed days as soon as it was clear that the host refused to deal with the noise issue. If I worked for Airbnb that sure would have been my decision.