deceptive listings and poor AirBnb listing standards

[Yen544]

Surprisingly I haven't found a thread with a similar experience to mine, so I wanted to see what the community opinion is on this matter...

We booked a nonrefundable property that advertised as having pool amenities, and had lots of pictures of kids and pool events.  The description listed many local attractions, but there were no additional details provided regarding the pool amenity.  Only after we were preparing for our trip did we discover that the property does not actually have access to a private pool or even a community pool.  When we asked the host, he instead offered free "concierge" pool amenities and listed 4 public pay-to-access pool attractions for us.  What this basically meant is that he would organize and pay group discounts for public pool facilities around the city, but only up to $10 access fee and he'd have to coordinate it for us days in advance.  These public pools are at least 15min driving distance from the property, so for logistics and other reasons this would be a deal-breaker for us.  We requested a refund under AirBnb refund policy, and AirBnb instead sided with the host (sticking to the mantra "our team did not consider that the host violated our listing policies").  The host pretty much advertised other businesses' pools and claimed as his own amenities, and AirBnb felt this is within their policies.  We found this unacceptable and proceeded to filing a chargeback dispute with our bank.  These events began at least 3 weeks before our check-in date...

We then called those public pool businesses the host provided, and discovered that for the dates of our travel all of those facilities are either closed or not accessible to outside guests.  We called AirBnb support and updated them with these facts, as I can't imagine how this would not violate their own refund policies.  After days and days of nothing and us following up to request updates on what seems to be a clear-cut violation and refund, their position is that they cannot come to a determination at this point in time.  We called our bank back to update them on our new findings...

I'm not sure if AirBnb's position is due to our bank working to get a chargeback or what, but this has been incredibly frustrating and AirBnb seems very unreasonable in their interpretation of their own policy.  Clearly the host was making material misrepresentations of the amenities at his property and advertising very misleading promotions.  I can't figure out why AirBnb hasn't ruled in our favor and provided us a refund.  Any thoughts?  Am I just reading the situation wrong?

**[Link removed due to safety reasons - Community Center Guidelines]

[Sarah977]

@Yen544  Could you post the URL to this listing here, so we can check if we see it as misleading and "click bait", or if you just missed reading info the host had provided?

One thing I can tell you is that if this was one of those listings managed by some big property management company with dozens or hundreds of listings,  Airbnb seems to let those big players get away with all sorts of scammy behavior that they would punish us small-time hosts for.

[Yen544]

I would gladly, except that I'm concerned that it would violate privacy and affect an open dispute.  The host has since changed his listed a little to say "shared pool", but the original and current listing advertised pool amenities and did not provide any detail/explanation that these are public pay-for-access pools that he has no operational control of.

[Sarah977]

@Yen544  It doesn't violate policy to post links to Airbnb listings here, only to name a guest or host. 

But if the host has changed the listing wording now, it won't do any good as far as anyone here checking it over. 

A host should not even be listing a pool as shared, unless it is a pool on the property or resort. In other words, If it's a condo complex or resort where all residents and guests have access to the pool, either free or for a fee, it's acceptable to list it as shared and picture it.

If it's a pool somewhere else that has nothing to do with the listing business-wise, it's false and misleading advertising. Fine for a host to mention that there are public pools in the area, but not to portray it in photos and amenities.

I hope you are able to get a refund one way or another.

[Yen544]

**[Link removed due to safety reasons - Community Center Guidelines]

[Yen544]

I added the listing url in the main body fyi

[Mark116]

@Yen544  I would think the determining factor will be whether or not the listing had any 'fine print' where the details of how the pool access worked were disclosed.  If it was written anywhere on the listing at the time you booked, then I would guess, Airbnb will count it as your oversight.  If, OTOH, there were no disclaimers or explanations of specifics outlined at all on the listing, then I would guess that you should eventually get a refund for the host having advertised an amenity that is not as advertised.

I agree that if the pool facts were not explained anywhere in the listing when you booked you have a right to be upset because that was on some level, false advertising.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Sarah977 @Mark116 The amenities list for the property @Yen544 booked says it has a shared pool. If this is a public pool 15 minutes away then the host is certainly misrepresenting the property.

[Mark116]

@Yen544  What a weird listing.  Nowhere in the text that I found do they specifically mention a pool, they talk about access to watersports.  The amenity list says 'shared pool'.  I agree it is misleading, but they might just be able to skate by.  I can say I would never book this listing for these reasons:  too many photos of things that obviously are not under the host's control, those strange angled photos that would make me think that this place isn't going to look nearly as large as those photos make it sound, and lastly, some element of 'too good to be true'  everything free free free.

It is probably worth it for you to give Airbnb another couple of go rounds about the pool, because it is misleading but like I said, it might just be 'accurate' enough with the 'shared pool' notation and nothing in the listing itself that mentions any pool access to get away with it.

[Sarah977]

@Mark116  And did you catch that his listing title includes "5 star" ?

Well, he doesn't have 5 stars, he has 4.66, so there's the first false click-bait.

I don't see how he can "skate by" listing a shared pool if there isn't any pool guests have access to on the property or on the complex where it's located. Can we say "shared laundry room" in our amenities because there's a laundromat 3 blocks away?

[Mark116]

@Sarah977  LOL, no I missed that, I did notice his lowest rating was for accuracy. 

[Mark116]

@Sarah977  Maybe because they have the verbiage about water sports and concierge services??  I don't know, its another example of Airbnb's random application of its policy. 

Didn't someone come on here not too long ago and say the guest got a 50% refund because the pool, that existed, and was exclusively on the property, wasn't heated to the guest's satisfaction?  So, you'd think that CS rep would have given @Yen544  a full refund for a 'shared pool' that isn't on the property or even in walking distance, but is shared by anyone who buys a pass and drives there.  So, yeah I can start adding 'shared pool' on my listing for people who want to pay for a day pass to a local pool, interesting.  

[Yen544]

Right on, the only thing more ridiculous than that is having to explain it to AirBnb support who didn't see what the big deal was!  Apparently any property in the world can be listed with pool amenities, so long as there's a pool somewhere in their city or region.

[Sarah977]

@Yen544   Well, he is still mentioning the "shared pool" in his amenity list, and if there is no pool on the property or in the complex, he is falsely advertising. 

As far as the photos of the pool in the photo gallery, if that is how the photos appeared when you booked, while I can see that they might be misconstrued, they are among photos of the area, not the listing itself. He also has photos of the beach and the river and major waterslides and area attractions, and it should be obvious to anyone that the host doesn't own those things. There's nothing fraudulent about picturing area attractions as long as the listing wording doesn't lead guests to think it is part of the listing.

Personally I never would have booked this property- the way it's written up is way too hard sell, like a carnival barker. Then he's trying to cram 16 people into a 4 bedroom house. It's a real turn-off to me. And he has all these warnings in his house rules about no partying and being respectful of neighbors, yet lists the place for 16 people. It isn't reasonable to fill a house with 16 people and then expect they are going to be quiet, unless it's a conference of deaf-mutes 🙂

[Yen544]

Thanks for all your feedback, it's steeling my resolve to take this as far as I need to and get relief.  The host is the classic definition of an online bully, using taunts, threats and outright lying to push my wife's buttons (I'm the hubby).

Hope you never have to cross such a character, and no names but I hope he doesn't get off Scott-free.