I have had the most abysmal customer service I have ever endured this past week. I used to deal with complaints in a professional capacity, but airbnb do not follow any reasonable practices. They quote from a crib sheet, and despite what a host has suffered they take the side of a customer always, despite any evidence provided. This is my story, my experience and my complete disappointment. We had a guest stay, family of 4, 2 adults, 2 children and a dog, they booked for 4 days 30th October 2024. Checkin.....my latest checkin is 10pm,they arrived at almost midnight despite saying they would arrive 21.30 to 22 hrs. The next morning they asked if they could have a bbq, all now put away as out of season, but we agreed and went out and bought coals (stupid us....but it's what you do to keep your customer happy hey ??) They then asked to use the mini golf, again closed for the season, but we agreed and spent 1 hr sweeping up wet leaves so they could play. Later that afternoon they alleged the brand new 7kg washer would not spin. We immediately messaged to say we could come straight away to take a look....they took hrs to respond and it was too late to go into the gite as their children were now in bed, so told them we would come first thing the next morning. The offending item was still in the drum.....just a single item!!! The machine would not spin. Who puts a wash cycle on for a single item ?? The load balance indicator activated on the new washing machine thus preventing damage to the machine. We took the offending item out of the drum whilst in the presence of the customer. We put the machine on spin, and no problem what so ever!! Could not believe the state of the gite in 24 hrs, so so very messy, unclean....and dirty puppy pads all over the floor. The
very next day (day 2 of 4) we noticed bedding off one of the bunk beds on the clothes airer, it was in full view infront of the glass door. My heart sank, knowing how dirty the gite was the day before !! The bedding remained there for day 3 and 4 ie checkout....... Before the guests checked out (1 hr late by the way) I entered the gite, as I had major concerns about the beds and mattresses (brand new 2024) and state of the place. OMG!! Disgusting.....but ran upstairs to check mattresses as the mattress had had no protection at this point for 2 days!! Thankfully no pee stains from their 10yr old, but dog hair everywhere !! Books, toys and cushions from the sofa downstairs all over the bedroom floor 😡. When coming back downstairs I saw my kitchen bench was damaged....dog damaged!! A chew mark 2 inches by 1 inch, I was devastated 💔. I called the customer inside, they seemed mortified, and offered to pay for the damage....I said OK...they left. Later that day I contacted the client to tell them the replacement cost.....he saw his backside and refused to pay anything. I contacted Airbnb who reimbursed me for the damages. All was quiet for a few days then the abuse began !! ...I had to block him on airbnb and WhatsApp. Now this is where things changed for me..........I did not review this man as I hab nothing positive to Say about him, so agreed with my husband that it would be best to say nothing at all. He reviewed me at the on the 14th day!!! I immediately contacted airbnb as it was just a REVENGE review, full of lies and untruths and needed taking down!! Air said they would get back to me asap, I was conscious I had just hrs to review him back, they looked at his review and came back some hrs later to say it didn't breach their policies!! It was false, so did break their Content Policy!! I sent evidence in to them where he even confirmed it was a revenge review.....no still didn't break Policy apparently!! I called Airbnb that same evening as I still had time to review him back, but it did not or would not work. I called 4 times that evening as I rightly wanted to review this awful guest, no one came back to me !!! I called the following day, explaining everything but the window to review had this morning expired so I could not leave a fair review. I was furious, I had spent 2/3 hrs on the phone expressing my concerns about the time frame. Sorry for the long thread and waffle, but in a nutshell I had 2 complaints, one was the review that they refused to take down, the second the fact that the IT issue was not resolved in time for me to review him back. Despite promised calls to rectify, time has elapsed, no resolution made, no attempt to allow me to review the guest, God help any other host that ends upstairs accomodating them. This experience has been traumatic, upsetting, and devastating for me, personally and professionally. My perfect 5* reviews now ruined by his 2* revenge review. Air bnb have no morals, their Content Policy states nothing false, discriminative etc.....this review is exactly what this is...and the fact that customer service have failed me as a host is terrible. PS am still waiting for an ambassador supervisor to call, was supposed to be Wednesday 15.30.....still waiting despite me ringing them a further 2 times since... .. terrible service......maybe time to look for another platform??
