Strangers being let into the AirBnb I booked. Opinions?

[Lana44]

Hi everyone,

I already started a conversation on this topic in the German AirBnb community so I'll try to make it short:

Is it acceptable that a stranger entered the AirBnb I had booked?

This was my first AirBnb vacation, and I was out and about discovering the city when I got a message on my last night at 5:20 pm from the host, saying: "I'm sorry but someone will visit the apartment at 6:30pm . Have a nice evening in [city name]. Best regards, [host name]".

I was shocked. I had no idea what was going on, and who "someone" was going to be, but I knew I had to be there because all my STUFF was there, so I hurried back to my AirBnb to tidy up the place (it wasn't dirty of course, but some of my clothes were laying around, my laptop was on the sofa-bed, there were dishes in the sink, etc.). I was a few miles away from my AirBnb when I got the message.

I quickly went there by public transport, worried about the time, and nervously tidied up what I could.

At about 6.45 a REALTOR arrived - she had a key - it turned out that the host is planning to sell the place, and the realtor was going to show it to a potential buyer, who hadn't shown up yet. The realtor asked me to tidy up with her a bit, and, speechless, I did.

Eventually I asked if I should leave before the potential buyer would show up, and she said that yes that would be better, and gave me her business card and suggested that I call her later in the evening to ASK IF IT'S OK to come back yet.

I went out to get dinner in the neighborhood and returned to my AirBnb at about 9 pm.

The place almost looked like no one had been living in it for 3 days.

Many of my (worn and unworn) clothes had been put into my bag by the realtor. My laptop had been placed elsewhere. Shoes had been put from one spot to another. The sofa-bed had been turned into a normal sofa, and I had to pull it out again to make it into a bed. My toothbrush had been put from the edge of the bathroom sink into my cosmetics bag.

As you can tell, the realtor had clearly touched many of my personal belongings in order to make the apartment look presentable for the potential buyer.

Now, since this was my first AirBnb experience, I don't know how bad this actually is, and if I'm overreacting, but I feel like it's pretty bad...?

I don't know what my options are here. I do know that the last night of my vacation was pretty much ruined, as I had to race back from where I was to my AirBnb to clean and tidy up for the "someone" that was going to enter my place. I had had other plans for the evening, in a whole different part of the city. This was a massive amount of stress. I don't want to just write a bad review and leave it at that, as I personally believe I'm entitled to some kind of reimbursement for the time I lost, the stress I was put under, and the invasion of my privacy.

What do you think I can do?

What do you guys think about what happened? Is this maybe something that's to be expected with AirBnb places...? But I doubt that. 😕

I'm grateful for any replies.

[Ben205]

Not good! I would never do that as a host - I don't enter my property myself if I have guests, unless they invite me in.

I would certainly include detail in your review (though keep it brief, people don't read more than a few lines).

In terms of what else, I'm afraid I doubt there's much you can do. If the flat is sold, it won't be rented out again. You could contact the host to ask for a refund, but if you do that, be aware that this may affect the review they leave of you. It shouldn't, but they may retaliate through the review system.

I'm sorry you had a poor experience. We're not all like that, honest!

[Lana44]

Thank you for your reply, @Ben146. I'd really like to avoid contacting the host about this as I already know from her messages (and her tone) that she truly doesn't think she did anything wrong. If anything, I'd like to contact Airbnb instead. Surely considering the fee they take, any reimbursements are covered by them?

[Ben205]

@Lana44

Do contact Airbnb. I'm just trying to be realistic, I don't think they'll give you a refund. Yes, the host's behaviour was not acceptable and must be reported but was it a breach of contract? Probably not, she sent you a message albeit one with little detail and not much notice.

This doesn't make it right, I just wonder if you may spend a lot of effort and end up frustrated (and no better off).

[Linda108]

This is unacceptable behavior on the part of the host, @Lana44.  I suggest that you use the flag on the host profile, under the name, to report this unacceptable behavior to Air BNB.  The host should not be allowed to continue hosting if a realtor is invading your privacy and handling your stuff.

In addition, please call Air BNB to also report this behavior and request a refund for the last night of your stay.  Here is a guide for contacting Air BNB.  

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Contact-Airbnb-A-Community-Help-Guide/m-p/16165#M728

Do not worry about a retalitory review as you will be able to respond with a couple of sentences about the disruption of your stay.

Please keep us advised as to how Air BNB assists you.

[Ben205]

@Linda108@Lana44

I'm afraid I don't agree about the line 'Do not worry about a retalitory review'. I've read so many posts on this forum from people trying to get bad reviews removed, then finding their own review has also disappeared. Or both are left up and there appear to have been no consequences for the perpetrator.

If you asked me would I risk a negative review to make a point about a poor host, I'd probably say no. Sorry, but the way the Airbnb system works, it's not always on the side of those hard done by.

[Lana44]

@Ben146 I actually couldn't care less about a retalitory review, to be honest. This would be my first review, so I have no problem deleting my account and making a new one later, as I have no other reviews that I could lose. 🙂 If getting a bad review in return means I potentially get money back, then I'm absolutely OK with that.

@Linda108 Thank you for your helpful reply!

[Ben205]

@Lana44

Go get them! It would be really helpful if you could post back here when you find out what Airbnb will do. Often, we don't hear what the outcome is but it would be useful to know what's been said and if you've had any success.

Good luck.

[Kati18]

Hi @Lana44

Not sure if this will be helpful but I remember another host got into a bit of a situation when he entered a guest's space/room.  Airbnb was on the side of the guest because of the expectation of privacy.  For the life of me I can't find where this is noted in their terms but I would definitely contact Airbnb to let them know what happened.  Nothing may come of it but if the host is going to continue renting a space on this platform they need to be made aware of what is acceptable or not.

[Lana44]

Thank you again for your replies.

I was busy the past days, and just sent a message to support. It was very detailed (because I feel like that was necessary) so I hope they'll read it regardless. @Ben205 @Linda108

I'll follow up here with any results.

I sent a message on the German support page by the way (I'm German and booked through the German Airbnb site), if they don't answer quickly I'll write them on the English-language site too.

[Cormac0]

@Lana44

In my opinion this is absolutely not acceptable, and you should demand a full refund, this Host (if in fact he/she is the owner?) wants vacant possesion and at the same time wants to Airbnb the property.

I'm wondering is the Realtor Airbnbing the property without the owners knowledge and concent?

Regards

Cormac

The Explorer's Club Krakow III

[Lana44]

Another update (since you guys asked me to keep updating):

I got a reply rather quickly from a German 'experts community member', telling me to use the mediation center at www.airbnb.de/resolutions. So I did, even though I didn't like the thought of contacting the host, of course. Awkward.

I had to enter the amount of money I requested back from the host, and I entered a bit less than the cost for a night; I feel like that's fair, and I attached a very detailed message to her, explaining why all of this was so stressful for me.

@Cormac0 I'm afraid I don't understand your sentence "I'm wondering is the Realtor Airbnbing the property without the owners knowledge and concent?" ?

[Lana44]

Update: ( @Kati18 @Linda108 and others)

As I told you on Saturday, I used the mediation center to ask for a refund, as I was told to by Airbnb support.

The host rejected my request for a refund yesterday, only commenting "We did things according to the rules" in her own language (oddly and impolitely enough, not in English, which was the language that she and I had always used to communicate).

So I clicked the button to bring in Airbnb, described the whole situation AGAIN, and hit send.

I also made sure to tell them that if they decide not to act on this, and tolerate hosts letting realtors and potential buyers into booked Airbnb apartments with no consequences, it will have been my first and last Airbnb stay.