Correct protocol for bed bug discovery?

[Caren223]

Hello - first time poster to the community here, but I've found earlier conversations very helpful to read. 

Long story short: we found bed bugs in our AirBnb this past weekend (confirmed by a pest control report) and I am concerned Airbnb and the host are not taking this as seriously as they should. Also, I am conflicted on leaving a review...

Upon finding actual adult and baby bugs in all 3 bedrooms (probably 5-7 bugs, blood stains, casings/molting shells), we vacated the house immediately and took everything out to the backyard. The host replied to me immediately and said she was sending over pest control which was very responsive. The pest control professional confirmed a bed bug problem and said it had likely been present for a few weeks or so. The host offered us another house of hers (smaller and we would have to share rooms) but when we said we didn't want that given we would be sharing space and possibly transferring bugs to each other and also it was a downgrade in size and space, Airbnb said they couldn't help since she made us another offer. It took approximately 12 hours of phone calls and messaging support to finally get a full refund.  They insisted we needed pictures of bites (it had only been a few hours and no one had bites yet), and also insisted that we show pictures of multiple bugs together. We could only get photos of individual bugs - but why do they need to be together?? They also wanted a medical report - I don't even know what that means. Thankfully the pest control expert wrote up a report and gave it to the host but it took almost the entire day for us to get her to offer that to Airbnb. Meanwhile, we missed our vacation day, had to book 4 rooms in an overpriced hotel last minute, and also lost groceries (we had just stocked the house and couldn't take it all in the car in 90+ degree heat), etc etc. Not to mention the exhaustion and psychological effects of dealing with this.

Airbnb said they would only consider it a host violation "if it happens again". That seems ridiculous to me. Her listing is still up and bookable for the very near future. So it needs to happen again?? That seems wild to me. It reminds me of when I was a kid and we lived near a risky intersection where someone died and they said they would only put up a stoplight if 5 people die. What in the world.

Anyway, while the host was responsive initially, she kept telling me how much work it was going to be for her and that she didn't feel well and that she also missed a girls weekend because she was sick. It was just one whiny excuse after another - this was about us, not her, but she made us feel so bad about it. She was not willing to refund us until Airbnb did it. 

Finally at my questions (sorry, very emotionally stressed about this):

- Should. Airbnb have asked her to take down her listing until she can show the problem is gone?

- Wouldn't the nice thing to do be to immediately refund us and offer assistance with the hundreds of extra dollars we've spent since?

- What do I do about a review of her/her property? I don't want to ruin her business, but I also feel like future travelers should know that they need to be diligent, etc?

Thank you ❤️

[Lorina14]

@Caren223,

I’m so sorry to hear about your ordeal with your booking. Bedbugs are a serious health matter and Airbnb should have a standard to address this on the host front. I don’t know what their policies are about this, but send them a recommendation to review their policies on situations as this through the feedback option. 

You should have been able to be refunded immediately due to the situation and in the future you should have reported this issue to the host and airbnb at the same time. They always say you should give the host a chance to remedy the situation but there really is nothing to do with bedbugs except vacate and treat (hoping none hitched a ride on your luggage or clothes). 

I don’t understand how Airbnb couldn’t help because the host offered another residence (that was not comparable) and you can submit a claim in the resolution center for loss of food, housing not presented as advertised, etc. This was a stressful experience, emotionally, time consuming and it appears that they were not quick in remedying the issue (proving the refund asap given the circumstance).

As for the review, hosts and guests depend on honest reviews, so I would encourage you to tell the facts and your side of the story addressing that the host did respond quickly initially and offered an alternative that was unfortunately not suitable to your family’s needs. Reviews should be honest, factual and reflect your experience.

Please review the terms and conditions of reviews to see what is or is not allowed (discriminatory remarks, defamatory remarks, retaliatory remarks, etc.). If guests or hosts do not follow the terms and conditions of Airbnb their reviews could be flagged for removal. I feel you should review the experience as to let others know what happened. Then they can choose whether or not to book with the host.

[Caren223]

Thank you for the tip on going through the resolution center. Since they marked the case as closed, I don't know what else they will do, but they should take the feedback at a minimum. And yes, I am feeling more and more like I need to be honest. But I may not mention bed bugs (that part probably isn't her fault) but will mention a cleanliness issue that was not resolved professionally...I have several days more days to write a review so will give this good thought. Thank you!

[Lorina14]

@Caren223 

The resolution center is where hosts could ask for a damage expense if the guest caused damage to their space, request money for extra guests if the guest had extra guests that were not listed in the reservation and it cost more per person, request money for charging an EV, request for doing a load of laundry, etc.

Guests could use it to request for things such as losses incurred during the booking (maybe like water damage that ruined their belongings) or if an amenity was not working as advertised. The amenity not working as advertised should have been addressed by customer service if you called to complain but sometimes you can still make a case for it in the resolution center as this goes to a different team to address if you feel they did not adequately address your needs.

The review is reviewed by a special team and they apply the Airbnb terms and conditions as described on the platform (you can go to the resource center for this info). Then they will come up with an answer. You can provide all evidence (Airbnb dialogue on the platform, pics with time and date stamps, any reports given by third party assessors, police reports (if applicable)). 

Let us know how it turns out.

[Marie8425]

@Caren223 

I know Bedbugs are stressful dealt with ikt years ago in a Hawaii rental.  The only comment I have is write your factual review.  I just want to mention our bedbug problem raised because we were unaware a mentally challenged man the we were giving him extra money for some odd jobs like sweep the outside stairs.  Just thinkinking we are doing a good thing put his knapsack on the couch.  He asked my husband to get something in his bag  It was full bedbugs. He never told us where he was staying was infested and had been bringing them over all that time.

We blamed the Guest  The Guest blamed us.  The Guest had sat on the couch and transferred to the bedroom.