Worest experience, bad host, however Airbnb declined my request

[Yinghao0]

After two years of COVID restrictions, all of us were looking forward to the reunion. The house looks amazing in the photos, this could have been perfect for the new year celebration. We were really looking forward to the stay. But here is what happened.
1. Host asked me to book without Airbnb several times, please see attached screenshot.

2. We drove nearly 8 hours to the house. There is no hot water to the entire house, and there is no water at all to all bedrooms upstairs. none of us can have a shower, the toilet won't even flush. We contacted to host many times, after several communications with the landlord, the landlord told us that there is nothing they can do. So we were left with the situation overnight. And the plumber only turned up around 12 o'clock the next day.

3. Bloodstain on one of the bedsheets. Please see the photo attached.

4. Dirty when check-in. (strong musty and damp smell around one side of the house, previous visitors rubbish on the toilet).

5. The host was pretty rude when communicating.

6. One of my friends has got allergic dermatitis due to the dirty bedsheet in her room.

7. One of the shared toilets won't flush after the water issue was addressed

8. Quality of the mattresses were extremely poor. It isn't reflecting how much we paid the stay for. Two of my friends had to sleep on the floor.

9. It says free WiFi in the advert, but it didn't say limited usage. The mobile network isn't the best where the house is located, but the host's WiFi package provides only 20G to a house with six bedrooms. So on day two, the usage was reached the maximum limit. As you can imagine, it isn't ideal for a group of friends.

04/01/2022 9:00: 
The host requested £400 from me. I was shocked.
The reason for the report is: My place required unexpected cleaning, Items were damaged
I know that the host is one of those people. So I took photos of all rooms when I check out. According to her photo, we only can see the unclose windows. And I double-check with my friend, the window is fine, he just forgot to close it. In this case, I declined her request.

04/01/2022 10:00
The host leaves very bad reviews on my account.

04/01/2022 10:10

I report this host on Airbnb Support.
04/01/2022  16:12

I got a message from Airbnb Support, and ask me to airbnb.com/resolutions
04/01/2022  16:44

I submitted my request on the resolutions page.
04/01/2022  18:10

The host rejected my request.
04/01/2022  13:05

I got a message from Airbnb

Unfortunately, your claim/request has been declined. I know how important this is for you and I have tried to explain the situation you've had. They advised me that we are not able to process any refund at this point. I would like to inform you as well that when issues occur during a reservation, we encourage you to inform your host and Airbnb. We had stipulated our Terms of Service on the website which you had agreed when you had signed up an account with us, and you have to provide your host ample time to get these addressed. On situations that your host has confirmed an ongoing issue and still may not reach into an agreement, that is when Airbnb gets involved and as we are not personally there to validate the situation, that is where documents become so important when we take over the case.


I do not really care about the refund, just want the host has be punished.

[Gillian166]

yes i've had two sets of guests say how they were so pleased their kids were forced to make their own fun, instead of spending time on screens. I've bought some lawn games for this purpose too, some old-fashioned fun for kids is very much appreciated by parents. 

[Mark116]

@Yinghao0  It sounds like you may have had unrealistic expectations, such as a plumber arriving late at night on a holiday week.  Getting someone by noon the next day seems perfectly satisfactory to me.  You also don't say what the plumber found, if he substantiated an existing problem or not.  As for wifi, if you are going to a rural area and super fast wifi is important, you need to clarify the offering with the host.  This is also your second negative review, which suggests that maybe your idea of 'clean' is not in keeping with most hosts.

If that sheet was really on the bed when you arrived, that is indeed vile, and I wonder you didn't ask for a recleaning and for someone to come out and put fresh linen on all the beds. 

You may not be aware of this, but it has been known that guests make a mess, take photos and then claim the mess was there when they arrived, in order get a refund.

[Yinghao0]

@Mark116 To be honest, I did not expect the plumber will arrive that night. But the host at least say something, She just told us nothing she can do now.
And the second day, the plumber told us that there is a switch and it was switched off by the host.
In this case, the property is not ready for customers to check-in.

This is also your second negative review, which suggests that maybe your idea of 'clean' is not in keeping with most hosts.

Actually, it annoys me the most. We woke up at 6 am to clean the property. And the host reports to Airbnb and give me a review about the extremely dirty. You can check the photo when we check out.

If you think it is extremely dirty, I have nothing to say.

[Sarah977]

@Yinghao0  As there are no time and date stamps on those photos, they don't prove anything, because they could have been taken when you arrived. Not saying they were, just that without that documentation, they prove nothing.

[Yinghao0]

@Sarah977  I know you may ask. lol

[Yinghao0]

@Sarah977 In this case, you agreed that we clean the property as same as check in. And you or the host thought it’s extremely dirty.

[John5097]

@Yinghao0 From what you posted the water wasn't working the first night. Did you stay somewhere else? Did host or ABB pay for the night elsewhere? 

I believe the policy is that you would have had to cancel the reservation to get full refund. For something like no running water it shouldn't be an issue to cancel. 

However if you decide to stay then you would pay the remaining rates. I would have issued a nights refund, and let guest know their options. They could cancel for full refund or stay with a nights refund. 

My guess is that its an older house with some quirks. Maybe the host isn't keeping up with maintenance, as you claim a toilet isn't working, and if host didn't bother to mention Wifi restrictions, would seem reasonable she would also put off replacing or repairing toilet. But that's just my take on it and wasn't involved. I'm sure that CS also can't figure out exactly what may have happened on many claims. 

So you have to go back to Airbnb policy. If you stay you pay. 

The ABB I stayed in didn't have Wifi or a TV but it was clearly stated in the listing so of course I was fine with it. 

My guess is that maybe some room for improvement on both sides? Maybe some dirty dishes were left or something, but host didn't take any responsibility for no running water and broken toilet? 

Its a shame both host and guest resorted to such harsh reviews when both have gotten very good reviews from everyone else. I did read one where host kept your deposit for not taking out trash and stripping bed but that seems too strict and harsh. 

At this point though guest would not be entitled to a refund as the guest kept the reservation, per ABB policy.  Sorry it was an inconvenience that fell short of your expectations. Its just the nature of using a booking platform and each host and guest is different.