Host refused cancellation no smoke detector, no carbon monoxide, and black mold

[Alan565]

Hi, I stayed at an airbnb in San Diego. 

No smoke detector, no carbon monoxide, and black mold in the washer, and the regular washer is broken and I tried to use it and the host tried to get me to use the one that worked with mold in it. On their listing the have smoke detector, carbon monoxide detector, and a washing machine listed. 

I contacted Airbnb support after the black mold in the washer After I already told the host. He said that he washes bleach every now and again and it's not a problem the clothes come out clean. Disguised. Told him it's alot of black mold and I wasn't going to use it. He didn't respond.  I told Airbnb support case manager. They asked me questions like is there a smoke detector I looked and said no and there should be. Then they contacted the host. I requested them to leave and cancle as all this is going on. They denied and said I didn't give them chance to correct issues. I didn't sign up to go live in a house where I or my kids could literally die due to their neglect and not caring about the safety features they themselves are advertising currently.

Issues they corrected, broke bed, broken shower curtain. If you say you have safety features in your home and don't this is misrepresentation and I wouldnt rent your house, my kids safety was in danger for 3 nights because of this.

Issues they didn't address or respons in direct message. Black mold, hole in ceiling letting in bugs. I didn't ask them about the smoke or CO detector as Airbnb asked me themselves. I submitted picture evidence to Airbnb support case manager, I dealt with 4, with pics of ceiling and the washer, and they reviewed the msgs between me and host. In  the end i was left with letting host fix new issues while he didn't fix mold or the ceiling hole letting bugs in, he didn't care, so why would he care about these new things?. And Airbnb left

two options and didn't consider the host in the wrong at all (ie if I died they wouldnt care , state of California and duty of care would apply in the end tho in my opinion, if I did die with no smoke/CO detector)

1. Leave and cancel and lose

, like 600$ +or stay and let them deal with the stuff when they didn't anyway already (black mold wasn't to them mold what the??) and  they misrepresented the house.... Contacted San Diego housing inspection to let them know the infraction. 

Why didn't the host or Airbnb refund me? I completely refuse the outcome. Currently I'm writing a review for the property but thought to post here first for any advice dealing with Airbnb support, even tho they already gave their decision which I do not accept.

[Dimitar27]

3 clothangers for every bed in the room, as minimum! In the real world that means at least 5. Especially for the business travelers.

[Alan565]

This price was 142 usd plus cleaning and service fee almost 190 usd a night. I moved to best western around 91  usd a night. It wasn't cheap. Another person said you expect a house to be like xyz. This is their rental property with 3 small apartments it's not their residence.

[Alice595]

@Alan565  Are you serious about the price in Best Western in San Diego around $91 per night?

And could you post the listing which you rented in San Diego from Airbnb? Please remember that hotel will only provide one bedroom 99% of times. But an Airbnb provide an entire house with 2-3 bedrooms sometimes. If you compare the price of a hotel with one queen bed and one bedroom with a 2-3 bedroom house, it is a comparison of apple and orange.

I have not seen that your profile has a review for the host yet. I wish both you and the host can leave an honest review instead of retaliatory reviews.

[Alan565]

Yes google it now, just extended two more nights. Seven seas. My other apt had all those issues and was almost double with 1 bed and a broken sofa bed. Yes I'm doing the review with negatives and the positives.

[Alan565]

Also about retaliation, Airbnb staff can check all msgs of correspondence and verify. Ppl posting things that didn't happen will get the review taken down, and for me seeing this place had like 4.5 stars review, I was really really disappointed in the "superhost". Not at PC now but it's the treetop canopy apartments in San Diego. Search for it.

[Ana1136]

@Alan565 but you can see that he didn't had CO and smoke detectors before you booked, why even book that place when you feel so strongly about not having that amenity? 

[Alan565]

No the listed features included the CO and smoke detectors, after the mold and the host not caring, that was the breaking point.

[Susan17]

@Alan565

 You wrote, 

"If you say you have safety features in your home and don't, this is misrepresentation"

That line sounds like it came straight from a CX agent's mouth. 

"I didn't ask them about the smoke or CO detector as Airbnb asked me themselves"

"I told Airbnb support case manager. They asked me questions like is there a smoke detector I looked and said no and there should be"

Seeing a lot of these "misrepresentation" claims popping up on various groups recently, always with Airbnb's precise terminology being used by the refund-seeking guests. A cynic would say that it almost seems as if the guests are being schooled by CX agents in finding all the best/easiest ways to screw their hosts over for a refund, even where none is warranted. (For example, how on earth  has a bit of mould in the rubber seal of a washing machine, got any association whatsoever with the presence or non-presence of a smoke alarm or carbon monoxide detector?)

Oh, and let's not forget all those little "glitches" in the system that mysteriously check/uncheck settings we've already manually set, advertise our listings to guests at a fraction of the price we listed them at, unblock our unavailable dates, add and subtract rooms, beds and sleeping spaces to our listings without our knowledge, classify private spaces as shared (and vice versa) etc etc. Hosts are routinely being forced to pay harsh penalties for these "misrepresentations" too - regardless of the fact that the misrepresentations are very often caused by Airbnb's dysfunctional system, not by the hosts themselves. 

Be afraid hosts... be very afraid. 

[Alan565]

I'm sorry but if you say you list you have a pool and don't, what is it called.

If you list you have smoke detectors and CO and don't??

Literally a case manager asked me with the gas grill if there were smoke detectors and CO, I felt so bad I didn't check it myself as both are listed, I would never stay in a home with my children without those features. Thanks  your Susan  for your condensing attitude though, and nice to see you feel hosts can list whatever they want and not provide it from the beginning of a rental!

[Susan17]

@Alan565 

"The major infraction tho, and the thing that made me upset was listing carbon monoxide and smoke alarm while there was none(I only found this out and looked when case manager literally asked me if they were there on the phone at 12am after calli g to complain about the mold"

As you're clearly a person to whom the presence of smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors in your chosen accommodation is of such vital importance - so much so, in fact, that you felt compelled to report your host to the San Diego Housing Inspection department for their "major infraction"  - surely it would have occurred to you to confirm for yourself immediately upon arrival that these items actually were present in the space... as opposed to clean forgetting all about such crucial safety factors until your helpful CX agent gave you the little nudge in the right direction? 

[Alan565]

The Airbnb CASE MANAGER who literallya  dme to me to check about the safety features told me when you hosts have a listed feature ammemnitie that's not in the home it's misreprenting and an infraction on Airbnb platform that they take very seriously! 

[Mark116]

@Alan565   Yeah, sure everyone  knows that, any host on this forum as seen dozens and dozens of guests get refunds for all kinds of things, getting refunds for cameras that were disclosed in the listing, getting refunds for noise, anything really.

I think the point is, that you never noticed whether they were there or not until someone else prompted you, which suggests that they are not really important to you until it became a wedge issue to get your refund and screw this host.  And, I assume the gas grill is outside, so I am not sure why anyone would need a CM detector for something that is outside.  

[Alan565]

The gas grill is in their kitchen, I dunno what they call it here, propane or gas? It was in the kitchen. 

They also had a propane gas BBQ outside.

[Alan565]

The point is they and it listed and didn't provide it.

They didn't want to fix the mold or care.

The hole in ceiling with bugs coming in they ignored and I fixed it with 4 plastic water bottles and cloth!

[Alan565]

I probably wasn't clear but for me I want the refund for the days I'm not there leaving due to the reasons in this thread. Airbnb case manager dismissed all evidence I provided that is:

The hole in ceiling and bugs and pictures and the msgs over Airbnb - dismissed

The mold and pictures and the host saying it's "black stuff" and clothes come out clean, ie use it anyway. Didn't answer when I said it's too much mold not using it.

Listing lists features not there and pics video of the house, no even place where the CO could be, all dismissed. 

Cancellation policy applied when I left. 

Is it fair? To Airbnb and the host sure.

To me no.