How do you file a complaint against a host?

[Tammy37]

Had a confirmed booking, had already paid, then the host said he wanted $100 in cash on arrival as a surcharge.  We disagreed, but eventually cancelled, since we knew he would eventually cancel us out so he could gouge someone else.  

Because we cancelled, we have to eat the service charge.

Two questions:

1) how do we file a complaint against this host?

2) How can we petition to get the host to eat the service charge?

thanks,

Tammy

[Leigh73]

Hi everyone  I'm a Newby on arabnb and 42 male in Australia, been staying in a room in cairns recently and I did make a mistake by not filling out my profile on here before staying at a female host, I could see she didn't want me there and had a strong impression that she had to have other males, ether by the boyfriend or another male in the house while I was there just I'm case I tried to make a move on her I also thought she might be gender selecting people to can stay there, it is illegal to do this under Australian consumer law in Australia, but I am wondering how wide spread this problem is on arabnb when it comes female hosts in Australia, it's sad for me for a Newby to pretty much forced to declare that I only choose male host on my profile just in case I make female host uncomfortable around me in their rooms for stay, cheers 

[Sarah977]

@Leigh73   It is not against airbnb policy for women who host a space in the home where they also reside to state that they only accept female guests. Nor can I believe that would be considered illegal in any country. While I realize this makes a lot of men angry, the reasons are obvious- many women have been sexually abused or at least been faced with the uncomfortable, or in some cases downright scary situation of having to fend off clearly unwelcome advances.

However, a host who wishes to be gender-specific regarding guests should clearly state this in their listing desciption. Did your host mention "females only" in her listing? 

I host a room in my home and accept both male and female guests and have had no problems whatsoever with male guests- they have always been very respectful. That said, I respect other women's prerogative to specify female guests only, if they feel uncomfortable with the alternative.

I see no reason for you to state in your profile that you only wish to book with male hosts. While I can see from your photo that you are clearly male, your name is not gender-specific, so in the future, for your own comfort level, you may just want to confirm, when requesting to book a room in a private home, that the host, if female, has no problem with you being male. 

[Miho13]

It was my first time using AirBNB but there needs to be improvements setting the guidelines and standards for the hosts, this is a  business transactions where guests pay money to stay at the host's property.  I spent the first 2 says cleaning the place in Paris starting with moldy dishwasher, bathroom, rottened bathroom counter top and few kinds of bugs that were flying around and crawing the bathroom.  Uncovered food left in the fridge which we were told not to touch.  We were told to take shoes off but the floor was so filthy I had to clean it first.

The Host came to meet with us at the check out, I was concerned about the stairs carrying 2 large suitcases, the host elegantly watched me carry down the suitcases from distance, and he also threatened me in front of my child yelling I should have been reported to the police, I have attituide problem and I should watch out for my life.

AirBNB actully got in between to let me cancel the reservation for the last 3nights out of 16 night stay with refund but it took a whole week to resolve it.  I was stressed out keeping the place safe and clean for my children.  My children's allergy to the dust flared to the maximum, but the host did not seem to care and threatened to report us to the police.

Photos should speak for itself.

Of course, no reinbursement on cleaning supplies I purchased.  I paid few thousand dollars for our 13 night stay.  The place was really **bleep**ty.  Don't I deserve some money back?really disgusting bathroom vanityi smelled something moldy in the kitchen, it was the dishwasher.Just wiping one square foot of the kitchen.That crawling bug can move around so quickly and multiplying.dental floss was left when we checked infood left int he fridge, we were told not to touch it but it was the cause of the smell.food left in the fridge

[Safronia0]

I had some post that I was a thieve and lair and I was messy. She claims I did leave the keys but yet did not open her bedroom door when I was leaving to show her the keys. The place was a dump and now I cannot do anthing about the post. I belive this is slander and you need evidence to put this up on my review. It is also abusive 

[Lyn86]

I too am having a very difficult time finding an avenue to make a complaint. I put in the location we needed. 20 choices appeared and we chose the one most suitable. Not until we made payment (PayPal) did the address appear which was 35kms away (next town) from where we wanted to stay. At no point anywhere in the process did it state this house was in the next town! We are going to an evening event, do not want to have to travel in rural area in the dark, and wanted to be able to relax and have a drink. Our host blatantly refuses to act despite contacting her within the hour of make the booking. The booking was for 1 week in advance. We have to either loose the full amount of $137. False advertising completely! Confirmation reference ** - ** Western Australia **: Host **

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[Letti0]

@Lyn86  Call AirBnB it should be clearly listed like my listing Rural area with driving times or miles from main points of interest. 

AirBnB Australia +61 2 8520 3333   

[Liza75]

Hi my name is Liza Mc Nabb,,im very ill at the moment and allowed younger kids have nice holiday aunt,,Portugal,,

I maid a instint booking for my kids and aunt,,

We phne host immediately she spoke to us she behaive as if

she dnt no wht we were talking about,drop the phne and switch her phne off,,

We tried phne two different phnes send mesages to her she never responded ,,i send mesages air bnb nothing,,

She send mesage this morning that she was waiting for us flat lied and say our phnes did not have signal and we must gt money from airbnb,,

I

How do i gt money back and do i have pay service charges 

Im sure it was a race issue,no other explination for it ,,

[Sarah977]

@Liza75    I  have no way of knowing why the host behaved the way she did, so I'm not saying you're wrong about the discrimination. But you can't make a booking for someone else on your account unless you are going to also be one of the guests on that booking. It's called a third party booking and is against the terms of service of Airbnb. Your aunt would have to open her own account to book if it's just her and the kids.

To get your money back, you have to cancel your booking. Talk to airbnb- the contact info is near the top of the Help pages on this forum in a big post "Contacting Airbnb".

[Trisha40]

Help! First time booking with Airbnb and it is already a disappointment. Our family of 14 booked a house through Airbnb last night. The process was quick and easy. Our dates were available, we paid, and received our confirmation number, and booked our flights. Our dream vacation has become a reality. 

My mother received an email this morning, 12 hours later, from the owner stating “oh, looks like you got to my calendar before I could.” He went on to say that our arrival date was no longer available and asked if we could arrive a day later. Some might think, that’s not an issue. For us, that means changing flights, costing more money, taking off an additional day of work, etc. My mom explained our situation and instead of him replying, even with a simple, I’m sorry, he canceled our reservation. As an owner in Airbnb, you should have a responsibility of keeping your calendar up to date. No excuses. 

[Trisha40]

Oh and how and where can I file a

complaint

[Sarah977]

@Trisha40  You're perfectly right-  it is the host's responsibility to keep their calendar up-to-date. If it's any consolation, the host will be penalized for the cancellation and have their calendar blocked by airbnb, so they won't be able to rebook those dates.

I assume you Instant Booked this place? A suggestion, especially when so much rides on knowing you have a secure place to stay- don't Instant Book- contact the host first, either through an Inquiry, or a Booking Request. Ask whatever questions you feel you need to, to allow you to feel confident that the host won't cancel on you after you've booked flights and such.

[Geraldine133]

I had a terrible experience at a house. No more than 4 hours into our stay we were kicked out around 8:30pm and the host and her husband was verbally assaulting us. And they baracaded the door and wouldn’t let us leave without demanding to take photos of our IDs or DL. Who can I contact to request a refund?  and how can I get the terrible host removed from Airbnb because apparently it’s happened before. Might I add most of our belongings were left behind because she gave us a time limit to gather our things and go or else we would be fined over $5,000. Please help!

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[Syl11]

@Geraldine133  

This is from Dave & Deb helpguide on the top on this forumn, page 1

Step 1: Log into Twitter

Step 2: Search for @Airbnbhelp and choose "Follow" them.

Step 3: Send a Direct Message (DM) explaining your issue and wait for their response.  They may ask for information such as your listing but always provide it over DM so it is not public.

3. Calling Airbnb's Customer Experience Line

 ***Please note that these phone numbers and any numbers below are meant for URGENT MATTERS so it is best to use the above two methods first***

Here are the phone numbers for Airbnb.  If the area where you are hosting is not listed, check out the two ways below this list in order to find their number for your area.

United States and Canada

+1-415-800-5959 +1-855-424-7262 (toll-free)

[Jim382]

In May my wife and I reserved a room from this host:

**

The reservation was for August 5-15, and on August 4th I texted and left a voicemail to get the check in info.  There was no response, and on August 5th I drive to the apartment complex and text him.  He calls back and says that he doesn't have the apartment anymore and the listing shouldn't be on airbnb.  Now I have nowhere to stay and have to find a motel room at the last minute.  This is completely inexusable and a very poor reflection on airbnb.  I'm beyond livid.  I called airbnb and got a refund.  However, since they canceled the reservation, I can't review this host since I've never stayed at his place.  Ridiculous.  If anyone reads this, do not rent from this host.  What he did was not only extremely rude, unprofessional and dishonest, it could have had consequences for the first part of my trip, which was for business.  He should be banned from ever using airbnb.

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[Mohammed69]

I have a problem with my host I already paid for the home before the check in maybe like 1 week and when we reach to the home we find rooms not clean not clean not clean pillows and blanket and the big problem with the AC all the home is too hot and the host said i will bring company to fix it and they already come after that doesn’t changed and i told him again the problem is still same problem and he replied me yesterday and told me the company will come again today and there is no one come and he said they will come tomorrow I cannot go with this dealing because This is not the way to deal we cannot sleep we cannot wait because we will get back to our home We did not enjoy our travel knowing that it is our right to enjoy our travel and we get full respect from the host and provide the services mentioned in the program at the time of rental