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

[Dana1471]

Always look before even bringing your stuff in the house. The host will likely have no idea they have them since each guest can bring them in and they book back to back. It's my worst nightmare.

[Laura6699]

Hi @Jill1169 

We have a similar experience now. We stayed in an apartment that half had BB first night. They closed the connecting door and fumigated. But we still had to squeeze our group into half space, wash all of our clothes, check for BB every morning and every night.  

Now airbnb is telling me I should have told them instead of only telling the host,  and I could have claimed under Aircover. Airbnb is also questioning why we stayed ... I tried to explain 17 guests including 4 children with carseat and crib, there was no other rental option I checked! 

Did you ever get a refund? How did you manage it? 

[Louis2604]

Thanks for this comment @Jill1169 ! I recently had a similar bed bugs problem, and I'm quite concerned about how Airbnb handled the case...

As we moved in our accommodation, we spotted bed bugs running on the wall, and identified 3 bug nests. We contacted airbnb support, who reviewed our pictures and videos, and sent us a message saying: move out now, go to a hotel for 3 nights, and for the 3 remaining nights we will arrange a new accommodation. Hotel fees will be refunded up to your reservation cost +20% (950€), cleaning fees will be refunded to a reasonable extent, and your booking will be refunded.

Soon after we moved out, things became complicated. A second person wrote that our case was dismissed and we were not eligible to cancel the booking or get any refund.

We insisted: another person agreed to refund the booking and 30% of the hotel fees. 

The next day, the booking was refunded, together with 20% (166€) of the hotel cost. No possibility to discuss anything, despite all the contradictions.

The place is still listed and open for reservations.

From what I read here, it looks like quite a common behavior from Airbnb to make commitments and disregard them as soon as you left the place.

That's a quite concerning behavior since major Northern cities are facing strong bed bug cases...

I would tend to prefer competitors who have serious customer services.

[Brooke491]

This is happening to me right now. I provided so much proof and they won’t help me at all. The host went ahead and blamed me despite us having just come from a clean airbnb and the bites did not start until we got to hers. I am wanting to start a class action law suit 

[Margaret1473]

Any updates, Brooke491?

[Ali22347]

Okay so I’m not alone… I didn’t realize I had bed bug bites until the last day of a week. We were in Cali and I have allergies so I didn’t think anything of the itch. But sheesh they tore me up. I also sent Airbnb medical records and pictures. I did tell the owner their place was noticeably vacant for a while.  After visiting the doctor I was reluctant to reach back out to them because I could only imagine how they would react. I left it in airbnbs hands, I’m curious to what will happen. The most concerning part is they could have potentially traveled with us. This is a disaster. 

[Jenna489]

2 years laters and the same issue is happening to me right now. It's 2:30 in the morning and Airbnb is refusing to cover any relocation costs due to the bed bugs. Sad!