My sister called about a friend’s bad experience at an Airbnb

[Rhonda45]

I am a host and my sister called me about a really bad experience a good friend had at an Airbnb.  They paid a cleaning fee and when they got there it was filthy.  They cleaned it up as they did not want to wait for the host and they wanted to enjoy being with family.  After they got home they got a notice from Airbnb about a $40 charge for something they supposedly broke.  They have videos and photos of the place and nothing was broken.  My sister didn’t know the specifics but her friend was trying to get it resolved an Airbnb was not cooperating.  

I gave my sister the numbers to call and told her to tell her friend to dispute the charge.  Her friend said she will NEVER stay in an Airbnb again.  It’s hosts like these that hurt responsible hosts.  My sister also had a bad experience at an Airbnb in Colorado with food in the fridge, clothes in the closets and drawers.  And the host rules were to vacuum before leaving yet she was charged a cleaning fee.  There was also a used bar of soap in the shower.  She too says she will not stay in an Airbnb.  Both will use VRBO in the future.

I told my sister she should have written an honest review and her friend should have done so as well.  

It’s hosts like this who hurt us.  Any ideas I can pass on to her friend? 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Rhonda45 I have a lot of sympathy when a guest comes up against a bad host. However the suggestion to use VRBO instead of Airbnb is laughable. A lot of hosts list on both and there is certainly nothing more on VRBO that will weed out bad hosts vs Airbnb.

[Rhonda45]

True.  After I posted this, one of our guests told us her sister stayed at an Airbnb in my town and came back from being out and found the host in their rental!  The host said they had “left a watermelon” on the counter and it would draw ants.  Really???  A host has NO RIGHT to enter any Airbnb unless invited.  They think she was actually there going through their things and being nosey.   My guests didn’t know who the host was nor location.  Wow!  

The same place my sister stayed with food in the fridge told her host that a lightbulb was out and the host asked her if it was on when they got there!  Also, used soap in the shower.  Gross.  I told my sister that the shower was probably never cleaned between guests.  

I would have lodged a major complaint against these hosts!