I planned to go to Dothan, AL, to attend a family reunion. I searched for an Airbnb home that could accommodate at least ten. I located one that accommodated twelve that looked nice in all website photos. I read several of the reviews, which were all stellar. The home was listed to be that of one of Air Bnb’s superhost. I secured the home for $1,335.00. The period was Thursday, May 11th, through Monday, May 15th. My family and I arrived there on May 11, 2023and checked into the home between 4:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Upon entering, I walked through the home to determine the room I would select for myself and my husband. There were four bedrooms, three with queen-size beds and one with two queen-size beds. I immediately saw that the place had not been cleaned after the last family had checked out. Below, I have listed all the things I found wrong with the home.
Bedrooms: Neither of the four bedrooms had been cleaned. All the beds had been slept in, and there were dirty used bedlinen and pillows on the floor in each bedroom.
Bathrooms: Neither of the two bathrooms had been clean. Both had used towels and washcloths thrown on the floors, hairs on the countertop, and urine stains on the toilet seat. Neither the bathtubs nor showers had been cleaned and showed mold and mildew in the grout. Small pieces of used soap were in the soap dish and on the countertops. The rugs nor floors had not been cleaned. There were stains in the grout on the bathroom floor.
Kitchen: There were dirty dishes in the sink and on the countertops. There were a few dirty dishes in the dishwasher, which was also filthy with visible food participles. The kitchen sink leaked every time the water was turned on. A cake pan was placed under the sink to catch the dirty water. Once the pan was full, (which doesn’t take long to fill up a cat pan), I had to empty the dirty water in the sink and replace the cake pan to catch more dirty water. Of course, with each removal, the dirty water splashed on my hands, so I spent the weekend washing and moisturizing my hands. The bottom of the oven had remnants of food that had dripped and were now hard, black, and crusted. The refrigerator appeared clean, so I’m guessing the previous tenants ate out however, the garbage had not been taken out. The kitchen was not fully stocked re were plenty of dishes, cups, glasses, and baking pans, but a very small amount of cookware for the top of the stove, which I needed as I was making some of the side dishes for my family reunion the next day (Friday).
Floors: The floors in the entire home had not been swept or moped.
Washer: The home had a washer and dryer, which was helpful because we could at least wash loads and loads of bedlinen, comforters, towels, washcloths, rugs, etc. What I didn’t know was that the washer did not work. I discovered that after returning from Walmart armed with a load of cleaning and washing supplies. By this time, it was 10:30 p.m. Once I realized the washer was not spinning, we had to return to Walmart and purchase linen/comforter sets for the members already checked in. I had to call the family members that would arrive the next day, (Friday) and instruct them to bring bed linens, comforters, towels, and washcloths from their homes.
So, since the home had not been cleaned upon our arrival on Thursday evening, my husband and I had to:
- Go to Walmart and purchase cleaning supplies for the bathrooms including beach towels for the bathroom’s floors, and cleaning supplies for the kitchen and bedrooms along with the floors in the home.
- Once I realized the washer did not work, we had to make a second trip to Walmart to purchase beds, towels, and washcloths linens.
- We also had to clean the entire home before finally going to bed at around 2:30 am Friday morning.
As a result, I telephoned and chatted with the Airbnb ambassador, Charles, on several occasions to levy a complaint. Charles reached out to the super host on several occasions we waited about an hour or so for Charles to receive a response from the super host. When he finally received a response from the super host, he was informed that the super host would only refund $195.00 to cover the amount she pays her cleaner to clean after each departure and before each arrival.
I also corresponded with the super host via chat. I found Hannah’s first chat message and opening statement extremely disturbing. The first thing this host said to me was:
Why were e not contacted concerning cleanliness concerns prior to you contacting Airbnb?
That was it. no apology, no what can we do to correct this, no explanation as to why this occurred. Just that chastising statement/question.
Overall, I spent Thursday evening to Monday morning chatting and speaking to the Airbnb ambassador, who eventually informed me that neither their brand nor the host were willing to refund anything above the $195.00 the host had already refunded. I also messaged the super host several times, holding firm that her only responsibility in this entire comedy of horrors was to refund the amount she would have paid her cleaners.
The Airbnb ambassador did inform me that they would refund the entire amount paid for my stay if my family and I were willing to relocate to another property. But, upon researching, neither the Ambassador nor I was able to find any accommodations largest enough to hold a party of twelve adults with a full kitchen (which I needed to prepare food) in the Dothan, AL area. And, of course, the individual hotel rooms and suites also could not accommodate this large party and did not offer a full kitchen.
I took numerous pictures of all concerns and sent them to Airbnb, but this made no difference.
every person in my party is elderly and retired. None of my party members retired from careers that involved cleaning, janitorial or custodial work. We all retired from professional office careers. I’m mentioning this to emphasize that I’m not and have never wished to be a cleaner. Also, I pointed out in my messages to Charles, the Airbnb ambassador, and Hannah, the super host, that due to age and disabilities, my husband and I no longer clean my own home. We pay to have it cleaned, so why would I travel and pay on our vacation to clean her home?
Rather than staying from Thursday to Monday, my family members elected to check out at around 7:00 am Sunday morning. The experience was so upsetting that we left two days earlier than planned and paid for.
Lastly, after an entire conversation with the super host, she sent me at least, two messages stating that she hoped I enjoyed my stay and that I would review and rate my experience as 5 stars. It was as if she had mentally checked out and refused to acknowledge my concerns.