Black mold - What would you do?

[Ben205]

We booked a room for a night, staying with a fellow Superhost. We arrived about 8pm. The host didn't greet us (though their listing said they would).

On entry, we found black mold on the walls in the bathroom, kitchen and bedroom. There was also a layer of hairs on the bedroom carpet.

What would you have done?

We were only staying one night and the hassle of cancelling and finding somewhere else made us decide to stay. We didn't contact the host at the time as we thought there was little if anything he could do at 8pm on a Saturday night (I'm not even sure he lives in the town). And, the ABB review system can be quite confrontational and complaining pre-review can be problematic.

I don't want a refund. I'm more disappointed that this person has Superhost status. I've since found out that they have 9 listings, and only make Superhost by averaging across all 9. This property is below the rating for Superhost status.

I've obviously left a review that lists the problems we encountered. Is there anything else we should do?

Ben

[Cormac0]

@Ben205 

Yet another example of the star rating system being complete nonsence and not fit for purpose.

[Anonymous]

@Ben205   Here's a great illustration of how meaningless the "superhost" designation is. One should never book with the assumption that possession of those orange pixels automatically makes one host or property better than any other.

But to answer your question, no there is nothing else you should do. Ideally you would have informed the host about the mold before leaving a public review, but that ship has sailed and there's no further action that makes any sense to take.

[Kenneth12]

Obviously if you complain,  you may get a cruddy review ...

[Anonymous]

@Kenneth12 So now both hosts and guests have to be silent about everything that isn't puppies and rainbows out of fear of a bad review?  What an absurd situation. 

Informing someone of a problem that they would benefit from being aware of is not necessarily "complaining." it all depends on how you communicate it. 

[Robin4]

@Anonymous 

Andrew, that is unfortunately the reality of the Airbnb review system, We all pat each other on the back and say what outstanding examples of humanity we each are!

We do it for self preservation Andrew. I take no notice of a guests past reviews when they book with me, what's the point. I am going to find nothing useful that will influence how I go about that hosting. If the guest was an absolutely shocker review complaints against him will be removed. Bad reviews are sanitized like personal information in the message stream prior to a booking! So, the guest I really do not want to get, will come as a surprise, he will have a shining past. That host who has accumulated  pages of scathing guest complaints on another site, is a Superhost, has been for the past 5 years, would be seen to the casual observer to one of Airbnb's star hosts! The reality is far different!

Andrew, the review system is, as you say....and absurd situation. With one exception, when I have left  poor reviews, even though they were written with the height of diplomacy, they were removed because they offended the guests sensitivities.

I just give up these days, tell the world how good they were, fix up the damage they did and move on to the next guest.......It's self preservation Andrew!

Cheers......Rob

[Anonymous]

@Robin4 if that's what floats your boat, then so be it! We all know the "review system" is engineered against our interests. I use the scare quotes because I find the entire concept of reviewing subjective human experiences with quantitative data absurd in all its forms.

I've chosen for years not to be controlled by fear of a review, and at no point has this presented a threat to my self-preservation. Last time I checked, Airbnb's ToS do not allow them to confiscate my home (though they change them so often, who knows) 

[Emilia42]

Wow. Things like mold really don't bother me. I've been living with mold for years and years and I am not stressed or scared of the consequences. But that is unsightly and concerning in a rental. I'm with you on the fact that this person should not be a superhost and how is this space still achieving excellent reviews? We hear A TON of complaints when a host gets a low star rating but in reality 5 star reviews are so over saturated on Airbnb. 

[Kenneth12]

Black mold can produce toxins as well as allergic reactions.

[Emilia42]

Still alive. Really not concerned about it.

[Laura2592]

@Emilia42  I am one of those people who are in no way bothered by mold (growing up in the damp environs of the US east coast I am pretty much bulletproof to most allergens). But If I saw this, I would think it was unsightly. It could be a completely harmless variety of mold or it could be one that people can have a severe reaction to. There is no way to know without testing. Surely the host can see this. Those pics are pretty intense. 

@Ben205  I think you did all you could. Mentioning it in a review will help others to avoid that booking if they are sensitive. 

[Piotr48]

Why can't this person be a superhost? At least they put scented sticks in front of the mold 😉

[Ben205]

@Piotr48  Ha ha! There were also some in front of the window reveal, which I removed for the pic. Perhaps they are some sort of mold remover? Only joking. The carpet was almost as bad. There was hair like this everywhere.

Ben

[Mark116]

@Ben205  That's gross.  Didn't any of the previous reviews mention the mold, because that looks like something that has taken months to get to that point.  

[Helen3 · Accepted solution]

Personally, I would have done what Airbnb suggests you do on your booking confirmation and contacted the host to flag that with them when you discovered it.

As you know it's not about whether the host could have done anything that evening,  but you flagging it appropriately at the time so there is a record with the host and Airbnb.

In your situation I would share the images with Airbnb and let them know what happened.