Is it possible to get ABB to respond to anything? (Dangerous conditions at property-- flooring)

[Kenneth12]

I'm going to put this on the Hosting Forum because most of us read here,  I no longer see a guests' forum,  and the issue impacts on most of us.

The below is the flooring in a property I stayed at two weeks ago.   Not only are the hardwood beams deteriorated and cracked, but *there is no subfloor*-- the hardwood is attached to the joists.

This is dangerous because,  simply,  someone could fall through and suffer severe injury.

Short of just filing a dispute,  I have been trying to get ABB to respond to this dangerous condition for two weeks.  No dice.  (On top of this, the host has filed a dispute trying to get me to pay for repair,   which has been equally Kafkaeque).

I think my next action is going to be a voicemail to the General Counsel,  pointing out that I can walk into the office of ... well,  I'll stop there.

Short of that,  any other ways to get ABB's attention,  given ABB's CS's notorious ADD?

[Robin4]

@Kenneth12

Kenneth if you are going to insist on lugging that heavy weight bench around this is what is going to happen!  I know, I know you want to keep yourself in shape but, 40Kg weights tend to do this...hahaha!

Seriously. I have spent my life in the building game and nowhere that I have ever been has it been acceptable to join flooring timber in mid air...joints must always be on a joist. What is happening here, the integrity of the floor is being relied on by a 4mm (1/4 inch) wooden tongue in groove joint...totally not on, and there is not a structural engineer that would not be right behind you here Ken. 

"It's an old floor" is not an excuse....it's a dangerous old floor. simple as that!

That is great that you have pictures of this, Airbnb could not possibly side with the host over this....come to think of it when did Airbnb ever side with the host in these sorts of disputes??

Hope it works out in your favour Kenneth., and good on you, report it to 'Worksafe', people die because shoddy sh*t like this.

Cheers.....Rob

[Kenneth12]

Ha again tonight Rob!

Yes,  the ... who ever installed like this,  anywhere?  I guess you save a lot of cost.  But it's so bad I really didn't get how bad until another clueless message from ABB's CM today and I thought about it again and realized NO SUBFLOOR!

In this case,  the CM is in the host's country,  and I've found in general that in addition to being rather clueless,  CMs have a tendency to be biased towards hosts and guests in their country.   Except in the US,  of course.

Time to get to sleep here since I have 12 hours or so in-air tomorrow,   but looking to raise a bit of **** on this one.

[Sarah977]

@Kenneth12   The second floor in my old house in Canada was like that, in that there was no subfloor, but at least there were no joins in mid-air. I love the ADD designation for CS, very apropos.

[Kenneth12]

Are those even proper joists?    Doesn't appear so!

[Robin4]

@Kenneth12

It is hard to tell from your pictures but as I look at them again, yes I agree with you, both the visible broken joints do not relate to the positioning of a hardwood joist underneath.

In my country that would only be done as the work of some 'handyman' who is not aware of building regulations and is trying to cut a corner or two with construction costs. If local authorities here saw something like that they would condem the structure until the entire flooring was brought up to a safe code standard.

I understand this is in Germany Kenneth, and not wishing to be uncharitable to the German people, I would think that much of Germany after the last major conflict would not have been rebuilt according to building codes and proper safe practices. If would have been rebuilt out of sheer neccessity to get people housed again, and many buildings would not satisfy construction safety codes such as exist in the US and here in Aust.

So for that reason it would probably not be seen as a building issue because it would be so common, and it would be seen more as a 'user' issue.

I might be wrong,  just my feeling on it!

Hope your flight home was a good one Ken.

Cheers.....Rob

[Ute42]

.

Hi @Kenneth12 ,

the condition of this floor is unacceptable, it's dangerougs. It is a lot more dangerous than the usual bedbug-stories we are getting here all the time. For bedbugs airbnb closes a listing down and cancels all future reservations. And this floor, they let it go? Can't believe it.

[Paul154]

@Kenneth0,

Of course there is a method to get Airbnb's attention. Cancel your reservation "I'm not comfortable with this listing", then go to a hotel. Airbnb will then be out that money. 

If enough people do that, the listing will be removed. 

And/or publically review the listing.

You can even call the local authorities.

Airbnb is nothing more than a bulletin board with the guarantee that you can get your money back if not satisfied. 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Kenneth12

Instead of ABB, maybe try reporting the building to the local building inspection department? I'm pretty sure ABB doesn't care about broken floorboards as long as they are getting their service fee. 

[Pete28]

The way to solve this is

- don't stay and write a review

- stay, get injured and test out the host liability by being off work, medical bills etc.

[Marie21]

@Kenneth12, why u did not left the house on arrival ?? instead of staying and complaint after ??

I have a feeling u seems to have issue with places you booked, this is not the 1st time i have noticed u have been complainted after staying somewhere

In those cases i would advice to booked more up class apartment maybe

[Kenneth12]

@Marie21:  Well,  weet u wel, this place was about 3 times the average for the city due to a major event taking up capacity.  I did leave as soon as practical,   given that this particular gem was hidden by an ottoman (though the rest of the floor was problematic).

It is the hosts' obligation to meet safety and other standards,  of course,  and they bear the obligation when they fail to do so.  And when hosts have issues such as this,  they hurt us all-- us being fellow hosts,  given that ABB's goal is to show expansion in numbers and garner investment.

Otherwise,  on that note,  I will leave you with the view out of the upper deck on one of KLM's 747 combis last night,  which may merit a small note to SkyTeam-- and the comment that there were no problems at the airport Hilton:

How long until this rusts through?

[Kenneth12]

@Marie21:  I might also postpend to that that I've stayed in several hundred ABBs in approximate 20 countries (and counting).  

From Sofia today,   I'd note that my currently hosting has a notable issue,  which is not show-stopping at all,  and which,  if there's no real problem,  will result in nothing but a "appreciate your hospitality,  but you really shouldn't do this" note to the host.

One issue I've found, is that for non-English native speakers,  ABB's documentation is very poor.  I give wide leeway and try to help.

On that note:   since the new Trips UI is screwed up:   you can alter a reservation by adding the reservation confirmation code to https://www.airbnb.com/alterations/

[Kenneth12]

The response from the ABB CM:

 [Private conversation hidden as per the community guidelines]

[Huma0]

@Kenneth12

I'm confused. What did the host claim damages for? Was he/she saying you damaged the floor, or was it something else?