Dodgy Superhost cheated on us and lied to us - what to do?

[Dwi1]

Hello. We have a very bad experience with this host and figured we need to get this resolved so the same thing doesn't happen to their other guests at the very least.

So we have decided to book this place

**[Link hidden]

As we wanted a private place and it looked like it is - as it says  *Stylish 1BR* it looks like it's a 1bedroom apartment but OK it is our fault we thought it's a private place while it's not, although the title is very confusing - this place is actually 2 bedroom apartment!  (not 1 bedroom apartment)

Anyway after we book we got a default message from the host - from there it was clear it's shared. It really should be clear from the title or description at least but OK. So we decided to cancel then (right after we see it's shared from the message - so after like 10 minutes from the booking). However the issue was it couldn't be refunded even 10mins after booking. So we contacted the hosts. At first it was a bit hard to communicate but then they gave us their phone number and WHat's App. We called with them for like 15-30 minutes explaining our issue. We said we will cancel ONLY and ONLY if they can provide us a full refund as it's a bit unconvenient for us to have a shared 2bedroom apartment instead of a 1bedroom and it was not clear from the title and description.

They have been nice and** (the owner) promised she will give us full refund. She said things like "I give you my word, you can trust me, I promise you will get the full refund". Just to be clear I have asked her to write this as a proof in the Airbnb message. She said she will not do that for some *random* reason, a bit dodgy I thought but OK she assured me again tot rust her and gave me her word etc. Looks like they have only good reviews so I trusted her.

We have canceled the reservation and patiently waited for the full refund - from time to time I have checked with her how is it going and she just kept telling me be patient I'm in contact with Airbnb etc.

Do I have proof? Yes! See screenshots attached.

As you can see she kept telling me she is contact with Airbnb while I'm pretty sure was doing nothing. Also she said she needs to ring Airbnb while all she needs to do is to approve the refund by herself. After 3 weeks she blocked our numbers with no responses. We contacted Airbnb and they said they cannot do anything. The hosts were most likely planning this from the VERY START!

If you are an honest person you can help us by reporting these dishonest and cheating people on the platform:

**[Link hidden]

Since Airbnb doesn't want to help, only us users can make this right.

This all resulted in wasting money, time and reduced trust in Airbnb platform and hosts. With hosts like these why even use Airbnb if they don't care about having dishonest people on the platform and giving them extra privilegies like superhost status?

As far as I know superhosts are suppose to provide only great/good experiences for their guests. This is very far from that.

**[Private conversation removed in line with Community Center Guidelines]

[Sandra126]

A host wishing to issue a refund does not need to contact Airbnb, they just click a button. So yes, dodgy from the start sorry. Listing does say ''shared bath'' which should give you an idea. Also says ''private room in apartment'' which also is clear, it is the first words you read. Always best to stick with Airbnb messaging! But what I really don't understand is why you didn't automatically get a refund, I thought you could cancel within a window of 48 hours penalty free unless short notice, maybe that is what you had?.

[Dwi1]

I don't know we canceled within 1 hour after the booking and didn't get a full refund (only the small airbnb fee)

[Daniel1992]

It depends on the type of cancellation policy the host has in place.  If it's strict, it must be at least 14 days out.

[Jeff158]

You have to book more than 14days away from checkin day to get a full refund within 48hrs of booking @Dwi1

Myself and lots of hosts would have refunded you

[Alexandra316]

@Dwi1  @Sandra126 You are only entitled to the 48 hour refund window if the dates are more than 14 days away. 

I have to say, though, that this doesn't seem like the host's issue. You didn't read the listing. Over 40 guests before you did, and seemed to have a great time. They have 5 stars across the board. I don't think that you can blame them for your reading comprehension. Literally the first words in the listing are private room in apartment. Nowhere does it say anything else. You made a mistake: simple as that. It doesn't make what they did right with the refund, but they are not at fault for your booking and subsequent cancellation. They could have refused you any refund at all from the beginning, if they were really in it to scam people. 

If they did give you a refund, you should have it within a few days. I would just call Airbnb at this point and ask them to look into it. It's really unfortunate that you kept your communication off of the Airbnb platform. In future, make sure that all communication happens within the platform. Why not try sending them a message on Airbnb now, saying something like, "As per our conversation via text, I'm just wondering about the status of my refund. Can you please let me know?" Maybe she will respond there and provide some corroboration. 

[Dwi1]

It seems you haven't read the whole post, so let me repeat. Yes it was our mistake to make the booking (again you can read it in the post, I have clearly mentioned it) but this issue is not about this but about the refund.

"They could have refused you any refund at all from the beginning, if they were really in it to scam people. "

This is incorrect. As mentioned in the post we said we will cancel ONLY if they give us full refund otherwise we would continue with the booking.  Hence they cannot scam us if they don't promise us refund - like this they can get free money

"Over 40 guests before you did, and seemed to have a great time. They have 5 stars across the board"

Again this is incorrect. People who get canceled booking for whatever reason cannot leave review. We cannot leave a review and so does any other people who could get issues with them.  They could be scamming people on a regular basis and nobody would know - unless we tell people about them which we are doing now

"It's really unfortunate that you kept your communication off of the Airbnb platform"

Again, they gave us their contact and refused to talk on Airbnb platform - why? I'm telling you, it was planned from the start

[Alexandra316]

@Dwi1You very specifically say that it was their fault because they had a "misleading title and desription". This isn't the case: you just didn't bother to read what was on offer. There is nothing ambiguous about the listing. You say that this is some kind of strategy by them, but how could it be when they lay out the listing clearly? The listing says that it's just a room in an aparment, and hopefully most guests read and interpreted that correctly. 

As for getting scammed: follow Airbnb's rules about communicating through the platform and you would have been fine. Now you're in a he said, she said situation. 

[Dwi1]

Ok sorry for that, we did read it but it was very late at night that time. Anyways not saying the strategy is to scamm with the listing but to scam with the refund(s) as they promised us (maybe to others too) to give full refund and try to keep us patient for 3 weeks while not doing anything.

[Linda108]

If your search was limited by type of listing for entire apartment or house, a private room would not show up.  Did you do that?  If so, then you need to contact Air BNB as the search function was in error.  If you didn't do that, then it is your error, not the host or the system.  Name or title of listing is not how to search.  If you wanted to cancel, then you would initiate the cancellation and the host would not be involved.  If you required the host to waive their cancellation policy based on your error of selection, that is a negotiation you could have after the automatic system cancelled and the host could opt to do so.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Dwi1

you did the classic mistake which many Airbnb guests do

- You didn't read carefully the whole listing and didn't pay attention to what kind of cancellation policy this listing have.

- Then you cancelled without understanding how cancellation policy work.

- then you faced a problem, lost your money, spent your time, sent hundreds of messages to your host and now you are angry .

Isn't that childish?

It is time to READ CAREFULLY about all pollicies (flexible, moderate, strict ... etc...)

https://www.airbnb.com/home/cancellation_policies

(Ok, your host could explain everything to you instead fulling you arround and it wasn't nice of her, but it is not her duty to educate guests.)

[Dwi1]

No it's not childish (unless getting scammed and lied to is childish?) and we did read all the policies and about cancellation as well. We did discuss this with the host. We knew about their policy. That's why we asked about the full refund. It's not fooling us around it's straight up lying and scamming.

I'm telling you we discussed this in detail with the host on a 15-30 minute phone call and they ASSURED us they will give the full refund so we can cancel the booking - otherwise we wouldn't have canceled.

[Robin4]

People    will     just     not    read    the    listings    description.

Goodness me, how often do we come across this....."Oh I am terribly sorry we did not have time to engage a builder to stick that extra couple of bedrooms on the end of the house you thought you were going to get"!!!

@Dwi1, we try very hard to offer the best that we can! We want happy experiences, we chase good reviews and we do our utmost to make each guests stay special....and along comes you, and spoils everything we do! You are seduced by a few photos and don't bother to read what is actually on offer!

You must learn to thoroughly read what a host is offering before you decide to book a hosts listing!

I am sorry but we in the hosting community all live in fear of guests like you who feel that your mistake is our responsibility!

Cheers......Rob

[Dwi1]

Yes we are the bad ones here, the ones that got scammed. Thank you, very helpful.

[Robin4]

@Dwi1

Dwi, you are not the 'bad one'....you are a victim and I do not condone what this host has done. They have mucked you around, although Dwi, I can't understand why you did not just cancel the booking yourself. My feeling is that CX has told you the only way you can have all your money refunded is if you can get the host to cancel the booking!

Dwi, that is not fair.....the host didn't make the mistake, you did, and you want the host to pay for your mistake.....can you see what I am saying? A host is not going to cancel a guests booking because it has serious implications which will affect the host for years to come!

If you make the mistake Dwi, you fix it.....don't expect others to!!!

Cheers.....Rob