Airbnb refusing to help with an unsafe Airbnb listing

Airbnb refusing to help with an unsafe Airbnb listing

Hello, we booked an Airbnb in Madrid, Spain, the largest city in the country, from March 3rd to 5th.
When we arrived, the door of the building was wide open and would not lock. To access the apartment, we went through a corridor where we were confronted with people doing hard drugs literally right outside the apartment door. The person went on to tell us to keep quiet about what we just witnessed them doing. We were able to access the apartment despite the risks: the Airbnb apartment itself was a real ordeal with unbreathable air, incredible dirt and no towels even though we confirmed about there being towels there. The apartment door had one lock on it and the people doing the drugs were clearly staying, probably illegally, right across the hall from us and the corridor was littered with furniture and various items including diapers. We were a group of young women and therefore felt absolutely not safe staying in this place. It is a real squat, very dangerous.
We left immediately, booked another Airbnb, and demanded a full refund from Airbnb but after calling over ten times, we received a closed case, and they said it is not in their policy to ensure a listing is safe to stay in, and it is up to the hosts if they want to refund us or not. The hosts never responded because clearly they do not care that their listing is unlivable and unsafe.
We demand the reopening of this file and the refund.

7 Replies 7
Mike-And-Jane0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

@Rebecca1884 Did you at least leave a review to warn others? What were the previous reviews of the property like?

My question also. I can’t imagine a place like this had good reviews.

When we booked it it had no reviews, the hosts had other listings with alright reviews and I believed that if anything went wrong that Airbnb would actually do something about it. Now two reviews have gone up saying it was fine, they probably just luckily didn't run into the same people we did/they had started squatting yet. My review warning others went up Sunday and the owners are still unresponsive.

Curious: And the price per night for this 'fine establishment', and for how many people?

 

Bhumika
Community Manager
Community Manager
Toronto, Canada

Hey @Rebecca1884 ,

 

We noticed your post and raised your concerns with the relevant teams a few days ago. I hope someone reaches out to you soon or has already reached out to you.

 

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Please follow the Community Guidelines

Rebecca1644
Level 2
Claremont, CA

I had something similar recently happen to me in Madrid. Airbnb did absolutely nothing to resolve it. The host was unresponsive to both myself and Airbnb and then had my review taken down and said I demanded payment or I would post a negative review. There was MOLD in the home and I am very susceptible to it. I contacted Airbnb support within ten minutes of being in the home and they did nothing.

Hi that's awful. I'm so confused if we reach out within minutes of checking out to say the Airbnb listing in inhospitable that they don't do anything?? But, after about the literal tenth and final time I was finally refunded. I had given up and was told multiple times point blank they wouldn't be doing anything about it. But another person I had rented the Airbnb with asked me to ask just one more time and it finally worked. I'd keep harassing them if I were you. I'll never use Airbnb again because how are they going to say it's not their fault if a listing they approved is unlivable and you were unable to stay there? Good luck