Bed bugs and refunds

[Jill1169]

Hello,

I recently stayed in an AirBnb as a guest and discovered it had bed bugs by waking up covered in bites. I took photos as proof, immediately told the host and asked for the room to be cleaned. He was extremely reluctant to pay for fumigation and did not offer to help me stay in a hotel. Instead, he suggested I wear longer clothes while sleeping in the bed to avoid bites. He also did not provide a new mattress protector or new sheets - he expected me to clean the room myself and pay for these new amenities with my own money. I've spend hundreds of euros staying in a hotel and I've missed several days of work because I've had to deal with this issue.

I called Airbnb support and they advised me to immediately vacate the listing and go to a hotel, which I did. The representative I spoke to told me that I would be refunded 100% for the time I spent in the bed bug listing, and that he would help me find a new place to stay. I'm a student so my budget is very limited, but the rep said he would provide a coupon code to help lighten my financial burden. However, once I booked a new listing, the rep withdrew all his promises. He said he couldn't provide a coupon code anymore, that I would not be refunded for the bed bugs, and that my hotel costs don't count towards a refund. 

If anyone has any advice on how to deal with this situation, I would really appreciate your input. 

Thank you in advance,

Jill

[Annie1372]

@Jill1169 

In which AirBNB did you stay?

[Jill1169]

@Annie1372  Thank you for responding to my message. The Airbnb is in Rome, Italy, called San Lorenzo Room 2 hosted by Andrea.

As I mentioned in my reply to @Kate867 below, the situation has escalated where the host is harassing me over text message and Airbnb message. He's saying that this problem is my fault and that I should be paying him more money for the cleaning and because I terminated the reservation. Airbnb has only said they will call him but didn't try to help any further.

[Jill1169]

The listing

https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/21520199?source_impression_id=p3_1655798278_5kOBdwpMHrDd9xy2

[Cynthia1181]

I had an eerily similar experience with Airbnb, house was infested with BB. We had 14 days left on our reservation, Airbnb committed to paying 1 week for new location and ghosted me once I was ready to book new location. 

I had to pay so much extra money out of pocket for the remainder of our stay. They left me stranded in a foreign country with minor children. 

[Jenny]

Hi @Cynthia1181 

I'm really sorry to hear about this.

Did you follow up with Airbnb Support about this?

Jenny

[Louis2604]

I just had exactly the same experience with Airbnb. Customer service asking you to move out and promising to cover expenses, and then once you are out, withdrawing its promises and refunding you a fraction of what they said. Even written proofs don't make any difference. It seems to be an institutionalized practice. They don't even remove the accommodation from their listing, and let the owner post a bad comment on your profile 😄

[Annie1372]

@Jill1169 

If he is dreading you, I believe you can also block the host in the AirBNB chat 

https://fr.airbnb.ca/help/article/2020/comment-signaler-un-message-ou-bloquer-un-utilisateur-sur-air...

[Kate867]

@Jill1169  Airbnb normally take these sort of complaints seriously.  Did you take photographs of the bed bugs and submit to Airbnb?  

[Jill1169]

@Kate867 Thank you for responding to my message. Yes, I took photos and submitted them to AirBnb. The host also submitted an insurance claim for bed bug fumigation, so AirBnb knows the listing undoubtedly has bed bugs.

The situation has escalated where the host is now harassing me by text message and through Airbnb message, trying to intimidate me into withdrawing my case. I've also reported this to Airbnb and they've done nothing. The rep just said "I'll call him."

[Kate867]

@Jill1169  That is really quite shocking as that number of bedbugs do not appear overnight.  How long had you stayed there before the problem became apparent?.  Please escalate this with Airbnb and also ensure that you get all communication on the Airbnb messages, particularly with the Host.  I also note that he has not left a review for you.  Have you left one for him yet?

[Jill1169]

@Kate867 It is so relieving to hear you agree that this amount of bugs clearly did not appear overnight, so thank you for that. I started getting the bites as soon as I slept in the bed, but I was unsure if they were from mosquitos or bed bugs. Once I started getting numerous, clustered bites (day 5), I knew it was bed bugs and I alerted the Host immediately. When his cleaning was unsuccessful, I reached out to AirBnb support.

I have not left a review because I'm very scared. He's threatened to seek compensation for the financial and reputational damage I've allegedly caused.

[Annie1372]

@Jill1169 

OMG !!

you must ensure you do not bring back, those bed bugs in your own home 🤞 or other AirBNB or hotel

and keep contacting AirBNB often until your issue is resolved.

 When I click on the host listing, I get an ERROR 403 !?!

[Jill1169]

@Annie1372 Yes I've washed all of my belongings several times and haven't gotten any new bites since leaving the bed bug listing. 

I think the listing has been disabled now.

[Gwen386]

I definitely recommend that you block the host’s phone number, which forces him to use Airbnb platform when contacting you. This way you have a record.