Terrible Recent Experience w/ AirBnB (No smoke detectors, caved in floor in the kitchen, rats in the walls)

[Jonathan1945]

During my recent move from Colorado to Illinios my family and I stayed in 3 sequential AirBnB locations. The first two were fine and had zero issues. In the stay at the last location we pulled up after a long day of driving and we arrived and moved our things in. I had trouble parking my truck in the garage because there were broken air conditioners in the middle of the floor but I moved them onto the counter and inside. Looking around, I noticed: 

-all smoke detectors missing

-chipped paint everywhere

-wall anchors and holes in the walls from previous objects hanging

-a caved in floor in the kitchen that is just covered with a throw rug

-a tiny stained bathroom not pictured in the listing photos-

-frayed carpet layed over other dirty and frayed carpet

-one bedroom had a flickering light bulb that would not turn off and I had to unscrew

- a second with the only light fixture missing its cover and just an exposed light bulb

Being exhausted from driving all day I just said screw it and tried to sleep which is when the worst part happened. At about midnight just after I had fallen asleep I hear an animal crawling in the front wall of the house. The animal would move around houly and kept waking us up but did not enter the unit.

This place is just totally gross and should not be in circulation especially when compred to the other great options available. When I packed up my things and filed a complaing the next day AirBnB claimed that since I chose to stay at the place they could not refund me or do anything about the disgusting unit.

This is just totally absurd, while I realize other people may have chosen to leave, it was the middle of the night and I was just trying to get through the night and I am now being penalized for this decision. Shame on AirBnB for not handling this appropriately and penalizing me instead of the host who is shirking responsibility. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Jonathan1945 sadly there are scammers out there who stay in perfectly good homes and then demand a refund. The best you can do now is to leave an honest review to warn future travellers about the place.

[Jonathan1945]

Yes I did. The argued back that I should have let them know. Its not my responsibility to inspect the host's place and make them aware of every issue. They are obviously aware of many of them as they intentionally through a throw rug over the sunken floor in the kitchen. 

[Helen3]

Hi @Jonathan1945 

If you are looking for any type of refund then it is your responsibility to follow the guidance on your booking confirmation and alert the host of any issues on arrival.

That doesn't mean you need to move in the middle of the night but you do need to flag with your host and Airbnb, rather than staying and then seeking a refund after your stay. 

[Jonathan1945]

Yeah that would be cool if I wasn't exhausted moving across country with my family and I hadn't been woken up at night by best animals crawling in the walls. I documented all with photographs, total garbage way to run a "business".

[Mark116]

@Jonathan1945  If what you say is true, then the host isn't very good.  If you have photos of the kitchen floor 'caved in' that would help with an Airbnb refund.

But, on balance, yes if you want a refund you have to complain in a timely manner.  Otherwise, it's akin to eating your entire meal in a restaurant and then, after dessert, complaining it was terrible and  asking for a refund.  You won't get it.  You will still be free to leave a bad review, as you did, but using services, then complaining about them after the fact, and then asking for a refund is not a fair method for the provider.

[Jonathan1945]

You are right and your comments are very helpful. I should have arrived and spent my time document all of the things that the host knew was wrong with the place. I should pay full price then help them remedy all of the issues including the problems including the pests that I didn’t hear until 1AM. It’s my responsibility to let them know that the lights don’t work and that they don’t have any smoke detectors which is an illegal safety hazard. Thank you so much for all of your help! 

[Fred13]

Just curious, what was the price per night of this establishment?

[Jonathan1945]

~$100 but mostly irrelevant considering the conditions. 

[Fred13]

Why did you stay there, what were their reviews?

[Jonathan1945]

Was just looking for affordable place passing through. Very few pictures, three very vague reviews. I was glad to write them up but AirBnB has blamed me for staying there and not refunded me. 

Rats in the walls are where I draw the line but finding another place at 1AM isn’t easy either 

[Fred13]

Aye, that explains it.  Was more a crash site, no punt intended.

I do believe there is no better time for Airbnb to clean up its inventory. The true dumps need to go.

[Jonathan1945]

It’s rotten. And some folks think the responsibility is on the customer which it just garbage. 

[Frances3408 · Accepted solution]

@Jonathan1945. Sorry to hear of your experience. I think your review was fair from your perspective. I gather it was a one night booking? Otherwise I would expect Airbnb to have refunded unused nights if you moved out the next day.

The only thing I can suggest now is to report this listing to the local authorities as no working smoke alarms is a big no no. It may help to have them undertake the fixes more quickly. I am wondering if the alarms were hard wired and therefore he was waiting for an electrician to be available to fix, along with the lights? Not an excuse, I know.

You are clearly a frequent Airbnb user so yes as other hosts here have already said, in future cover yourself by contacting the host via Airbnb messages as soon as you arrive with any issues, especially if you would have chosen not to stay.

All the best.