Terrible experience with AIRBNB host as well as AIRBNB with regards to a REFUND

[Dee1063]

My first time booking with AIRBNB has been absolute disaster. I will not be using them in the future. 

I booked an accommodation for a family reunion consisting of 16 adults, the amenities advertised were non-existent. 

The place didnt have basic necessities such as water and electricity, no WIFI and was extremely unsanitary my guests had to clean the place themselves, which was extremely unfair. The host plainly told me i wasnt staying in a condo in the city i had booked a farm lodge but that is no excuse for not having electricity, water or wifi , I was also told by the farm manager of the hosting that there were just not ready for our stay. I provided all of the information to airbnb only to get told i didnt log an issue in the first 24 hours as per the refund policy so the refund will be declined. 

AIRBNB clearly has no idea how the internet works and what you need to use in order to get onto the internet, there was no cell phone service whatsoever. I assume airbnb wanted me to send letter with pigeons. 

A part from the wifi i had relevant issues with the basic necessities which was not even considered. The host in question is a "super host" she didnt care about the issues i was facing, she didnt show any remorse for all the issues i had she had an excuse for everything. 

AIRBNB service to consumers is absolutely disgusting - i understand their refund policy and i am well aware of the 24 hours in which you have to log a claim but how was I suppose to do that? They failure to understand that I couldnt communicate with them is absolutely astounding. My circumstances was completely different to the claims of other people who have wifi!!!!

I have ton and tons of evidence about this horrible listing but AIRBNB didnt consider any of this, they have no way of protecting the consumer from poor listing and horrible services from hosts. 

What was suppose to be a relaxing reunion holiday after the year we just had left a sour taste in everyone's mouth. 

AIRBNB PATHETIC AS EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

@Dee1063  Did you and your family complete the stay, or did you vacate the property before the checkout date?

[Lawrene0]

How far away from cell service were you, @Dee1063 ? 

When a place is unsanitary and advertises itself as having wifi, water, and electricity and then doesn't, you have to get out of there for your own safety! 

So you pack up, drive away, and as soon as you find a signal, call the host to see what's up, and if they say, as your host did, that they weren't ready for you and can't make it right, call Airbnb. They will get you rehoused or provide a credit/refund.

You can't stay the whole time, then say it was awful after the fact and get a refund. If you could, everyone would do that and all stays would be free. 

[Nathalie-Et-Gilles0]

@Dee1063 

Can you post the link of the listing please?

There are all types of accomodation from the palace to a tent with no confort.

It depends on the listed equipments and description.
This variety makes Airbnb special.

It is quite unusual to be super host if electricity, WiFi and water are promised and not on site.

Sometimes, travellers don’t read the listing carefully.

I don’t say you did not but I am curious (jealous) to know how to be super host with no water.

[Helen3]

How was your large group able to stay without water and electricity. Surely that meant you couldn't wash, cook, clean, use devices, use a fridge etc. A very dangerous situation to be in during Covid in a group of 16.

If the host was as dismissive as you say and refused to help, why didn't you take photo's/video's after the host gave you this response, leave and drive to a place with reception and contact Airbnb for a refund and help with finding an alternative place? @Dee1063 

Although you were an extremely large group travelling during times when many areas are under lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid,  so perhaps unless you are living in New Zealand or similar this is likely to have been difficult.

[Dee1063]

COVID-19 free Oribi Gorge Luxury Game Lodge 16 pax 

This is the listing in question, the nearest area for signal was atleast 40mins out and the access to this listing is quite difficult its not just a normal tar road to get in out. The terrain is not easy, hence the host also mentioned that we should buy all our items and bring it to the lodge (food etc) cause its not easy to go and come from the lodge. 

I have video evidence of all the items in question which was sent to airbnb.

Have a look at the listing and the amenities, our stay was during the festive season and finding accommodation for 16 adults on short notice during the peak time of Xmas was extremely difficult. 

This holiday was a reunion and I had family members traveling from far distances so it was not a case in which we could just say let's go home plus it was extremely costly. 

We used pots to boil water on a gas stove in order to fill bath tubs with water for bathing. 

My family had to use their time cleaning the facility as it was in a terrible state. 

It was a 4 day stay and during that time the helper at the listing tried his best to assist us, he informed on numerous occasions how they never expected such a large group of people and we merely not equipped or ready for us. When I mention no electricity if u look at the listing there is a main lodge and there are chalets the chalets had no electricity(where we would sleep) the main lodge had electricity. 

The bedding was disgraceful as well it was stained with blood and piss and when I informed the host she told me just get it changed with no care in the world. 

I have physical evidence of everything I've mentioned and yes I can understand the guest refund 24hr policy but apart from no wifi, what about the other items that I've had issues with. I contacted airbnb as soon as it was possible for me to do so. 

I never asked airbnb for a full refund, i was requesting some sort of compensation. Im not being unreasonable im just saying apart from the wifi this listing should be removed from the airbnb site as its completely misleading and doesn't represent what is advertised, basic necessities are needed. 

You can't expect your guests to be spending their holiday cleaning ur place It is completely unfair. 

[Sarah977]

@Dee1063  You need to provide the link to this listing for others to view it, not just the name.

You say the manager told you they didn't expect so many people- did you actually enter the correct number of guests, 16, when you booked, or did you mistakenly assume that just because 16 is the max guest count that can be accommodated, that you could just show up with any amount of people?

[Dee1063]

**[Sensitive information removed in line with - Community Center Guidelines]

Here is the link to the listing - if this has indeed been removed from airbnb it would say alot as to my claim. 

Yes i entered the correct amount of guests and the host was well aware of the number of guests booked as i discussed sleeping arrangements in the different chalets with her. 

I booked and paid for 16 adults. 

This was my first time using airbnb - the experience wasn't good at all. I am just trying to understand due to the exceptional circumstances why AIRBNB has turned a blind eye to my claims. It is just extremely frustrating. 

[Helen350]

I found it by typing the name + Airbnb  into a search @Sarah977  - but it's been delisted. You can still glean a lot from the synopsis/ opening lines on the search page (crafty eh?) 

It is a luxury lodge for 16, in Kwa Zulu Natal province South Africa! (Yikes, the Covid police on here will be horrified!) - Or maybe that's their other listing & Dee booked a budget option, the not so luxury chalets??

@Dee1063 DID say the problem was that it was not ready - suggesting the owner ambitiously listed it prematurely, before work was finished! - Which would explain why the host can be a superhost, she probably has other places from which she built SH status.

[Sue714]

@Sarah977 @I believe it’s against rules to name and shame.

[Sarah977]

@Sue714  Nothing to do with shaming. Other posters have asked the OP to post a link to the listing so we can see if the place was accurately described, or the guest just didn't read through the information thoroughly to understand what was offered. 

That is done all the time on this forum and is perfectly acceptable. When someone posts about a listing being not what they were led to expect, we are only getting one side of the story, and in order to give on point advice, it's useful to see what the listing actually says. Sometimes the guest has a quite legitimate complaint and the host is obviously at fault, sometimes they just made assumptions because they didn't fully read or understand the info provided.

And sometimes a host will post about issues with a guest, but when other hosts check out that listing write-up, we can see why the host was having these issues, because the info would have been confusing to guests in the way it was stated, or the host had neglected to state something they expected guests to understand.

[Anonymous]

@Sarah977  A google search shows the listing title the OP referenced as an Airbnb, but the link is dead; it's not currently an active listing.

It boggles the mind, though, that Airbnb allowed hosts to put "Covid-19 Free" in listing titles. It's obviously false advertising, as it's not humanly possible for a business (one with staff onsite, no less) to guarantee that it's magically free of the virus that is still rampaging throughout its region. It's like a brothel calling itself chlamydia-free.

@Dee1063  honestly, that implausible claim to be virus-free  would have made me deeply skeptical of anything else the business claimed to offer. But @Lawrene0 is right; Airbnb's Guest Refund Policy generally only applies when you can't complete your stay. If you decide to stay despite the conditions, any compensation you're likely to get is at the discretion of the host, so you'd really want to reach an agreement about that before continuing to occupy the property. 

Undoubtedly you're in quite a bind if you have to find new accommodation for a group of 16 at the last minute during both peak season and a pandemic.  So while the host probably should have just cancelled and refunded your booking on Day 1, this might not have yielded a better outcome.

[Laura2484]

What a regrettable experience for your group @Dee1063 and a listing with a Superhost as well. Checking your profile the host has not left a review , but neither did you? Why ? 

It was all unacceptable, the listing, service, amenities and your stay   so why did you not leave an honest review? 

So sorry this turned your reunion into what it did, It will certainly be the most unforgettable.

[Dee1063]

I did leave a review, i am not sure why you aren't able to view it. 

Not sure if the host can enable reviews or disable it?

[Sarah977]

@Dee1063  Apparently the listing is not active, so if it isn't showing up on the site, then your review would also not show up. And if the host didn't leave a review, then it takes 14 days after check-out for your review to appear. No, a host can't disable reviews.

Your experience does sound awful. What sort of previous reviews did this place have? 

Unfortunately Airbnb reps mostly stick to script, so the fact that you stayed without reporting the conditions within 24 hours is going against you. You can try being persistent and eventually may get someone who will take a closer look at this.

I'm sorry this was your first Airbnb experience and so bad. Honestly, there are so many great places on Airbnb, you just had the bad luck to book something unacceptable.