Safety Issues

[David-And-Vanessa0]

I am astounded at the difficulty I have had ruching airbnb for support on my rent two stays in Oregon.

There was a serious safety issue with a natural gas leak. 

On the night of the 11th I did stay there, in spite of a bad odor I could not quite put my finger on. I open windows and set up a fan to blow the smell out. I was ill the next morning. Nausea, dizziness, heart palpitations, etc.. One of my family members came to pick me up, upon entering the space, they remarked that the smell of gas was quite strong.

I meant to contact the owner the next AM, but as I was joining my larger family party for a trip to the coast of Oregon, in all the excitement of packing up and driving the 3 hours to our coastal reservation I forgot.

I contacted him the AM of the 14th, to let him know there is a problem and it all went downhill after that. He did not seem adequately concerned, apologized and said he would get it looked into later. I had to emphatically insist that it it a serious safety issue. He contacted me later to say it was a leak and it had been repaired. I went to the unit at about 8;30 PM the 14th. Upon opening the door the smell of gas was completely overwhelming. I contacted him immediately, attempting to make him aware that  this is not just a safety issue for me staying there, but a risk to the neighboring houses. If anyone had light a match or lighter the place would surely have gone up! He informed me he was having the gas company out. Shortly after that I received the following text.

I have repeated contact Airbnb as he has not refunded me for my two reservation as of today Monday Aug. 17th.

The issue I am having with your company is one of great disappointment. Having been hosts for many years I am appalled at the lack of response, especially regarding a safety issue such as this.

I have contacted the owner as to his promise of a full refund and have also not heard back from him. I will be contacting my bank tomorrow if I do not hear anything from Airbnb or the owner today. This is shameful your company is making huge amounts of money from customers and hosts, with little accountability. I will not likely ever book agin with Airbnb after so many years of good service.

[Linda108]

@David-And-Vanessa0   Sounds like you did everything right and I am glad you were not more seriously harmed.  I presume your communication with the host was on the Air BNB system so the customer service people can see that the host assumed responsibility and promised a refund.  They will contact him and initiated the refund process.  As to timing, I am afraid both hosts and guests alke are experiencing serious delays in customer service response.  I would dispute the Air BNB charges on your credit card, go through that process with the proof you have, and meanwhile you might have a response to your claim from Air BNB.  Since you did stay one night, right?, you might not be reimburse for that night unless the host agrees to that.  Good luck and hopefully your patience will win. 🙂