filthy apartment

[Eva174]

I booked an Airbnb and I arrived late as my plane was delayed. The host was very bad for contact beforehand but I got the keys from her friend and he let me in. The apartment was filthy and very untidy. The sheet on the bed was filthy the cover had no sheet and I had to sleep on my towels. There weee no guest towels, there was no toilet paper. The bedroom contained a plastic drum of gunk that looked very unsanitary, the bath had a filthy used mop in it, the toilet seat had urine all over it. The entire apartment was filthy. It was too late for me to go anywhere else so I stayed and rang Airbnb first thing and got another one as soon as I could. I send them photos of the apartment and they agreed it is not at all acceptable. I returned her keys to her friend who was very rude to me. Airbnb told on the first phone call to book somewhere else adn they would resolve it after an hour had passed. I managed to contact the host who sent me a message to appologise and admitted on the documented Airbnb message that she had not cleaned between guests and said she would issue a full refund. I rang Airbnb 13 times to resolve this issue, I was hung up on 4 times, I was told I would be called back by a 'case manager' 5 times I am still waiting and I have no resolution and the customer service has been appalling and has ruined my trip. They do not respond to emails and do not help mw on my phone. i spent an entire day phoning them. I don't know what to do now to get my money back! I have no refund and i have to pay more for another airbnb as I had to rebook last minute. Such appaling customer service.

[Linda108]

@Eva174  That is an appalling situation to be in.  You don't mention where you are but you pay Air BNB fees as a traveler for help when you need it and your report is that you did not get help at least not in a timely way.  If I understand your posting correctly you now are in another place but had to pay more money.  For the host community would you mind sharing if while you were selecting the first place the reviews were positive?  Besides the messy filth of the apartment, were the pictures accurate on the listing?

Now you are faced with getting a refund, including the Air BNB fees on the first place.  Use Air BNB Twitter.  I have found it to be a good way to get a quicker response without waiting on the phone and having the call get dropped.

Keep us posted as the host community is very interested in maintaining the quality of hosting the traveler should expect.

[Eva174]

Thank you for your kind words linda, it was just so frustrating. I can handle a dirty apt and getting a new one, but to get no help, and to be hung up on while i was crying asking for help as i stood outside in the cold for hours trying to ring them. They delibrately hung up on me, it seems to be a policy as it happened as much. All i want is a refund and i still have no resolution. 

The apt looked like the photos but with out the rubbish and filth, i will post the photos here if i can! I am trying twitter but i won't hold my breath as its the worst customer experience of my life and has ruined my trip.  

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Eva174 That is awful - and if you don't get your money back from Airbnb then if you have paid by credit card you can hand the case to them with the evidence you gave. Credit card companies are obliged to investigate and refund where a person pays for a product or services and do not receive it or it is not as described/expected.

[Eva174]

ok thank you! I had had more help here than all my phone call combined to airbnb yesterday. 

[City-Limits-Ranch0]

In addition to disputing the charge with your card carrier, you can contact Airbnb on Facebook and Twitter.  They respond quickly when the complaints are public.  You deserve more than just a refund, you deserve  compensation for their lack of help when you needed it.

Whenever I call a company's call center I immediately ask the representative to call me back if we become disconnected. I provide my name, account number or account ID and phone number.  I get their name and employee number.  If I become disconnected and they don't call me back I complain to their supervisors/management.    This has been particularly effective in many cases.

As a host I have been called by Airbnb employees twice.  On both occasions the guest  had a concern or problem and was not able to reach me directly for some reason.  One time the guest wanted to cancel without penalty after making a reservation a few minutes before.  I said sure and Airbnb made the cancellation without penalty to me.  Another time the guest had some issue unrelated to my listing, I can't remember, and I was fine with the solution that Airbnb proposed to me for the guest.

Depending on which employee you can reach, their level of training, their own intelligence and their personal desire to help the customer, you will receive different levels of service.  I recommend that you continue to reach out and request compensation.

I'm sorry this happened to you.  I can assure you it would not happen at our place!

Kerrin

[Eva174]

Hi Kerrin, I tried that on every call but they still never called me back an insisted they would and that the call wouldn't end... then it would. I will try asking for their employee number and name from now on. I hounded them on twitter and after 3 hours posting photos of the filthy apt to the founders of AirBNB asking them why they allow this to happen. They eventully offered me refund but as you say this is not enough. One for such an apalling apartment being on their site, two for the upset they have caused me over two days with not only no offer of assistance but constantly lying to me, hanging up on me and ignorng me. I will wait and see what they offer but no matter what this is appaling customer service and I will be reporting it once I do some research into who is best to contact about this stuff. They are a global brand and they let an easily resolved problem snowball into a horrendous situation for me. Anybody any advice on who to contact on reporting Airbnb for such malpractice? 

[Linda108]

@Eva174  As you can see, Air BNB hosts are as concerned as you are about service.  Sometimes host complain Air BNB does not support their perspective but your posting remind us that travelers are to be supported as well.  Just want to know, @Eva174, you are safe now, right?  I hope you can continue with your persistance that what you experienced is not what ANY host wants to have travelers experience.  We are here for you.

[Eva174]

Hi Linda,

yes I am fine now thank you! Such a horrible experience which Airbnb made so much worst for me, I am going to try get on with things and hopefully enjoy some of my holiday now!