Hosts Who Lie & Airbnb's resonse.

[Tom4333]

What do you do when hosts lie to you in order to get you to book? Airbnb support just does not seem to care.

1.  I reserved a place in Thailand. Before booking contacted host & asked if she can provide document needed to extend visa (TM30). She said locally TM30 not needed but IF I reserved for a month, she’d give necessary documents. Reserved on this basis; however, after arrived found out from immigration TM30 is 100% necessary. Host continually insisted it was not ,then said I should go & file it myself at local office. To be clear, OWNER is required BY LAW to file it within 24 hours of arrival (or faces a fine) & can do online in 5 minutes, but she wanted her GUEST to lie about arrival date & take half a day to try do it in person in next town.

AIRBNB REPONSE?   When i told Airbnb customer servcie they just said this is not covered by Aircover and  help with visa is not mentioned in the listing. So that the hiost messaged me to say if i booked she would provide the necessary document and tht she has broken the law by not registering me for TM30...airbnb did not cre. The airbnb agent said "she has not broker airbnb law". I asked her to get a Thai agent to call me and she agreed. After the call  (same day) however she cloised the case with no further input fomr me and no call from a Thai agent.

2. I then moved to another apartment to be legal.  It was advertised as having wifi in the unit & a smart TV with “seamless streaming”. However, there was NO wifi. The juristic office confirmed ZERO wifi in the room. Additionally, was annoyed to see there was no stove. While it was not openly stated there was a stove, the listing stated there was a kitchen with pots, saucepans, salt, pepper. There were NO pots and pans + “stove” did not appear in list of things NOT included. I’m vegetarian and need to cook every day - the area offers nothing. The TV itself is completely pointless without wifi. Moreover, I needed wifi to work.

After I complained about this to owner a few hours elapsed & then she mailed me about the “misunderstanding” saying she had stated “clearly” that wifi was only available in public spaces. I then checked the listing and noticed she had EDITED the page AFTER my mail to suit her own purposes (for both wifi and stove). Fortunately, I had kept screenshots of parts of the original posting. She admitted editing the page after my mail but said it was only to help “future guests”.  Mow the listing included wifi among the things NOT included and has removed "seamless streaming" from the  samrt TV and says you tourself need to provide wifi.

AIRBNB RESPONSE? They said it was clear from the posting that wifi was not included even though I informed them she had just edited the page a few hours earlier and sen them scrrenshots. Another agent maikled me (when i had asked for a call) and claied she had trid to call me but got no repsonse so she was closing the case.

.......

For both these instances the agents have disregarded screenshois, Thai law, promises from the host, editting of posts to reframe facilites and instead have just sought to close the case as soon as possible without any agreed resolution or consultation.

[Tom4333]

1. I seem to be getting some progress with the first case with a call yesterday from "Alice" at Airbnb supprt acknowledging finally that the host should have obeyed the law and filed the TM30 and also not lied in order to get me t reserve the unit. She said she will assist in me getting a refund for the days I did not use (I had to leave almost two weeks early cos I could. not extend my visa without th TM30).

she even sent me an airbnb article which states hosts in Thailand MUST comply with TM30.

While this is positive i will not hold my breath because my experience with airbnb support has been a messy mass of contradictions and ignorance and inconsistency so far.

2. For the second case (the place I moved to cos of #1 above) it was advertised as havng wifi in the amenities,  a description that said it was the public wifi of the building but ithat t worked "on the balcony and even in the unit",  wifi was the third listed amenity, it also said there was a smart TV with "seamless streaming". I provided screensots of this to airbnb. 

All of this was edited out by the host an hour or so after i coplained on the day I arrived to find there was zero wifi in the apartment.

The Airbnb response has been to say (quote)  "the wifi was informed in the description of the resevation ad,  before the reservation was made, that the wifi was public and not prior (?).  Furthermore it woud only have access to common areas".

This is after i actually provided them with SCREESHOTS (i wish i could attach them here) of the original ad saying it worked in the apartment.

What has made this worse is that I never seem to deal with the same person, sometimes i receive mails that agree with my complaint and then some that say, like the above, that there was never wifi in the unit. I  have been contacted in multiple threads within the airbnb system; then  anonymous confusing emails to my hotmail outside  the system.

Such a mess.