Airbnb / Horrible Experience!
 

Airbnb in my opinion and experience is a HORRIBLE choice. I made the mistake of booking with them. My experience: their customer service is arrogant and they are in my example untrustworthy. I was planning a South American vacation in June and heard about Airbnb. I went to their website and thought it was a cool concept. I could save money and try something new. What a mistake. After booking and paying for my room some 35 days in advance I thought everything was set and cool. At the last minute, practically on the eve of my departure, they suspended my account and canceled my paid reservation without explanation. I only found out through a private message from my chosen host as I was packing to leave. When I tried to correct Airbnb over the matter they demanded a copy of my passport, access to my Face Book and Google accounts and reconfirmation of my cell number. I didn't want a last-minute derailment of my plans so I unwisely complied. After all that, they wrote that my already 30 days ahead paid reservation was illegitimate and that my account was suspended. Attempts to receive a reason were ignored and I was repeatedly told that they didn't have to give an explanation and were not liable in any way for the mess. Subsequently I had to revoke their permissions, change passwords and accept their corporate hubris / insulting customer service as the "final word". I am now very committed to telling the world of my wretched experience in hopes of sparing other trusting travelers a similar big steaming pile or Airbnb treatment. The good news is, my money was refunded (they had no choice really), I didn't add to their profits and my host of choice understood and received me with a nice welcome. Beware of Airbnb. They might jerk you around as you're in departure as well. I am glad to say that already 4 other friends have now dumped their plans to use Airbnb and I will continue on a righteous mission to share my experience honestly as a cautionary tale regarding Airbnb. The exponential result should make it worthwhile. Choose wisely and seek accommodations elsewhere.

You have seriously damaged any credibility you might have had by dredging up every single thread w/ airbnb in its title to post the same rant. Some of them are more the 5 years old so why?????

Sorry if you had a bad experience (and I'm not a big fan of airbnb myself) but IMO your screed won't convince many people.

Yes.
Plus, breaking your comments into paragraps would make it easier to read.
So now your mission in life is to tell everyone how bad Aribnb is ?
Good luck.

This story seems fishy to me. I expect there is indeed a very good reason why Airbnb cancelled the booking and I suspect the OP knows what it is. Perhaps the OP was on a no fly list, had been the source of a problem with a previous airbnb booking, was suspected of travel with some sort of criminal intent, or had used false information in making the booking. Or maybe it was case of mistaken identity and the OP was confused with someone else with the same name who had one of these issues.

Regardless, money was refunded and the OP was able to travel as planned and stay with the host that had been arranged. Worse things could happen, and have, with AirBnB and many, many other travel services.

All I've done is report what happened to me. Since Airbnb shut me down without recourse, I am venting where I can and hope to discourage others from having a similar experience.

Disparaging Airbnb in a non-libelous manner is not my "life mission". It is merely a current objective. I was abused and mistreated by Airbnb. IMO, they deserve bad publicity and press. They should loose market-share and be held responsible for this and all misconduct.

The public deserves to know about these practices of Airbnb, and their corporate hubris. I have the right to share my experience honestly with the facts.

"eliztravels2", you are totally off with your conjecture. You've made wrong guesses. Do you work for Airbnb? I stated facts. Your comments are factually irrelevant. Yes,I landed on my feet, but the stress, bewilderment and waste of my time created by Airbnb did harm by abusing my trust, energy and potentially could have really cost me. A factual cautionary tale may not be of value to you, but it may well direct others away from Airbnb. Your comment about "Worse things could happen" is true. It is also unsympathetic and insipid. In my experience Airbnb sucks and that's it. If you find my report of no value, so be it.

We just got back from Paris last month and had a wonderful experience.

Unfortunately with the tens of thousands of Airbnb rentals every month, some glitches happen.

Sorry you had a bad experience.

Alamojo, sorry if I misjudged you. I was just trying to make sense out of why a reservation would be cancelled with explanation. If it was problem with the host, why would they have requested your passport info, etc? Something at your end didn’t seem right to them, whether justified or not. Perhaps it is a case of identity theft, or you are on some government watch list for some arbitrary reason? (Stranger things have happened.)

I have only used airbnb once, (without problems), and consider them a bit dodgy, but find it hard to imagine they would cancel a fully paid reservation. If you are ever able to get to the bottom of it we would love to hear.

I sincerely appreciate and accept the apology.

The reason I am posting here and elsewhere is because Airbnb has stonewalled me and dismissed my case. They say they have no obligation to explain or recompense. Because this is unresolved without explanation I am left to vent and warn others off of Airbnb. This is completely due to their policy.

Your continued insinuation that I am on a "watch list", ect. is insulting. Please note, I FLEW to South America thus how can you presume I am on any such list. There is NO identify problem. A month prior they charged my credit card and I had already paid the bill.

There was NO problem with the host. He was a great guy and his repeated inquiries at my request as to why I was canceled also went without response. This company, Airbnb is in my case simply a stinker. I tried to resolve the issue with them. They refused. Therefore, they will receive my scorn and non-libelous negative comments in perpetuity. I understand how this works. The Airbnb shills on this site (the true "trools") can snipe at me and question my credibility till they are blue in the face as far as I'm concerned. Please judge on the FACTS of the case and not this other personal attack nonsense. Intelligent folks will both see through my ire and the others invalid snipes. Bottom line: BEWARE of AIRBNB.

I eventually realized after responding to several Airbnb inquiries on Fodor's Travel that I could simply post my own topic. I initially was just going down the list. I stopped and posted this. The reason I posted on several topics was because they were asking about Airbnb or they were also disseminating reports of bad behavior by Airbnb. Old topics are STILL relevant to ardent researchers, especially when updated. I wanted to chime in with hopes that in addition to a warning, the top management of Airbnb would ultimately take notice. If that's "trolling", okay; sorry. I WANT people to be cautioned by my undeserved experience. I have NO criminal record. My credit (FICO) is close to perfect and has been at 840 or higher for ages. I have actually flown over 2 million miles due to commuting to Europe & Africa for work. Again, I have NEVER dealt with such wretched and arrogant customer service as I've experienced with Airbnb. I have NEVER been canceled fur ANY reason in ALL my numerous travels over 30+ years. Travel businesses solicit my custom; not this! This is simply Airbnb corporate culture and they deserve my scorn. The facts stand as do I; straightforward and unabashed.

To those who criticize my "run-on" paragraph, I understand. Many sites don't want paragraphs due to space usage. I will adapt accordingly. Please pay attention to CONTENT. Isn't that the most important factor?

As to content, I don't mind being questioned. I do take exception to being personally attacked. That's not fair play or civilized. Please don't shoot the messenger. Consider the message with an open mind. Why would I make up such a story? My ax is ground to a sharp edge regarding Airbnb. I will eventually be vented and move on. Life is too short to dwell here... but bad guys need to be spanked / punished for their dark deeds. Hopefully, hundreds if not thousands of individuals will turn elsewhere for booking as a result and thereby avoid a similar "...HORRBLE EXPERIENCE!".

Peace and love to ALL of goodwill. To the others, deal with it and adios!

>> <i>A factual cautionary tale may not be of value to you, but it may well direct others away from Airbnb. Your comment about "Worse things could happen" is true. It is also unsympathetic and insipid. In my experience Airbnb sucks and that's it. If you find my report of no value, so be it.</i><<

You gave no relevant facts why airbnb thought your booking was invalid, use overblown/emotional language, AND plastered several Fodors forums topping every single, old, moldy thread you could find (there are more threads but luckily, apparently you haven't figured out Fodors search function so you only found about 8 or 9) . . .

I don't/won't use airbnb myself -- but NOTHING you've posted (and re-posted and re-posted) will convince anyone. Just sounds irrational and emotional and weird . . .

<In my experience Airbnb sucks and that's it>

Unfortunately for the many tens of thousands of Airbnb customers, you are the anomaly.

I know, as I have been the anomaly a few time.

Having rented about 28 cars in Europe, Europecar was one time when I was over charged and had a difficult time getting money returned.

Just two years ago with Hertz in Spain, they gave me the most dinged car imaginable and on returning the car, a scrape was found on the bumper. I was incensed, but it was a losing battle.

In the scheme of things, I was an anomaly, just like you.

These companies rent unimaginable numbers and with any human element at times things go wrong.--get over it.

Alamojo, recompense you for WHAT?? You didn't lose anything! Your dignity you have thrown away yourself with both hands by repeating your immoderate ranting.

Honestly? I hope this is the worst thing that ever happens to you, because in spite of your ridiculous terminology (dark deeds? lol), what you suffered was an inconvenience, not a grievous injury.

Alamo

You chose this name because you want ot fight to death ?

I fully agree with what posters say here : you give no facts and you turn to bite at everybody making a comment.

Your posts will then more and more look a rant and nobody will pay any attention.

If your goal is to make everyone see how bad Airbnb is, well, you will just not reach it. Try to be more factual, less emotional more convinincg and less agressive.

I suppose you'll say I'm insulting you, but maybe you simply sent some mails like the posts you make here and Airbnb decided they didn't a client like you ?

Could it just be it ?

Okay. I admit that I was venting (ranting). I further admit that I take the point that posting on several threads here was inappropriate. I thought I had already addressed this moving forward, but I see that as my error. I lead a busy life and don't actually spend much time on Forums, albeit good ones like this. This is an "anomaly" for me.

Every group has a culture and style which I did not take time to appreciate in this forum. I should have been more objective. Allow me to attempt to amend any misunderstanding. I mean no insult to anyone personally. I do mean to call Airbnb into question with the sincere hopes that no others experience a similar situation.

Please consider the facts I presented. I should have done a better job of it and not undermined my criticism of Airbnb with what is perceived as "weird" and emotional diatribe. I offer the following as an alternative submission in hopes that I can correct my presentation and more appropriately address my grievance against Airbnb.

I mistrust and disparage the use of Airbnb because:

1. In planing a trip to South America, I heard about Airbnb and thought on examination I'd give it a try. It seemed there were (and are) many happy customers. I did not do my due diligence and look for negatives. I simply whet to their site. This was my first mistake and a rookie one at that. My bad.

2. I opened an account and communicated with a host who appeared to be (and was) a good fit for my visit.

3. Over 30 days prior to my departure, everything was set and paid for. I had fulfilled all the requirements that Airbnb set forth. I was confirmed by my host, had paid the bill in full and as far as I was concerned, my booking to my new first time visit to the country in reference was as perfectly in place as a booking could be. At this juncture, all was okay and Airbnb was of value to me.

4. Roughly 24 hour prior to my departure, I was contacted by my host to inquire if I was still coming. It happened for reasons unknown to both the host and myself that Airbnb deemed my booking as illegitimate and canceled everything. I was both shocked and bewildered.

5. On learning of this I placed a call to Airbnb, but the operator informed me that the matter was handled by a separate department and could only be reached by email; a dead end.

6. On emailing Airbnb, I was the asked to prove that I was who I said I was. I was asked to send a copy of my passport, give them access to my Face Book and Gmail account and reconfirm my cell number. I did this because I was complaint and wanted to work the kink out. The various requirement were fulfilled but to no avail.

7. Airbnb still did not relent their decision to cancel and I was momentarily stressed out by this last minute derailment. I asked them to please explain their position to which I received the following reply.

"Please understand that we are not obligated to provide an explanation as to the action taken against your account. Furthermore, note that we are not liable to you in any way with respect to disabling or canceling your account. Airbnb reserves the right to make the final determination with respect to such matters, and this decision will not be reversed. Your payment method has been refunded in full and that should be reflected on your payment method by this time.

Moving forward, we will no longer be able to assist you with this or any other issues. Please see our Help Center for further information:

8. I found this reply to be corporate hubris and completely unacceptable. That's why I "ranted". I find this behavior unacceptable. If one is accused of doing something wrong or illegitimate, one should at least be told why in my opinion. This is why I could offer no relevant facts as to why Airbnb did what they did. They refused to offer any.

9. In researching this, I have found I am not the only one who has been treated in this manner. Perhaps I am spoil;ed as seasoned traveler, but honestly, I find Airbnb's attitude appalling and unacceptable.

10. I agree that there were no financial damages because my monies were refunded. Please note that because I had in fact done no "wrong" Airbnb had no defensible position to keep my payment. I was indeed lucky to have already established prior good communication with the host. Otherwise, I would have had to find accommodation in a major city during a major industry gathering in less than 24 hours. Airbnb's action would have in fact left me without any accommodation... or left me with no option but to pay top rack rates for a hotel costing me multiples of my budgeted amount for accommodations . It was at the least highly unpleasant and I remain of the opinion that Airbnb was unprofessional and unfair in this instance. Posting my experience is my only recourse apart from ignoring it which were I not currently in sabbatical, would be the case.

11. Therefore, anomaly or not, I deem Airbnb in this instance worthy of disapproval for their behavior and continue to recommend avoidance of them as a traveler's resource for good cause. Thus, it is a cautionary tale for any wishing to take it as such.

I hope this clarifies the matter somewhat... and some ruffled feathers are back in place. The onus should be on Airbnb and not me. I see that I should have presented it better.

There is simply no justification for Airbnb's position as they have obstinately refused to offer any. I am a good citizen and considered by major airlines and hotel chains to be a preferred valued frequent flyer and guest. Obviously, not by Airbnb. On the road of life they are a mere pebble that temporarily nested in one of my traveling shoes. It annoyed me greatly for a moment. I am done with it now on this forum.

Alamojo; OK, you have said your piece and I do understand your concern based on the issues I have had.

But as I got over issues, you now need to move on.

Don't disparage your concerns.

If you Google “divorcee sues airbnb” you will find an article about a U.K. judge ordering airbnb to disclose their reasons for cancelling the account of a host. Not your situation, but of interest.

Certainly their terms and conditions make it clear they hold all the cards and can do pretty much what they like for their own, unknown reasons. But who reads those in their entirety?

I

Thank you for the helpful comments.

I am moving on; I never intended not to. I kind of stepped out of the Airbnb mud pond into a puddle of my own making. I've washed and am drying off now. Lesson learned.

I don't think I resisted any concerns in my previous post. I've tried in good faith to correct / clarify my position without rancor. I hope it's obvious that I reviewed the feedback, accepted responsibility for not putting my position forward appropriately and stated my case as objectively as I possibly could without droning on... too much.

Live and learn... if your lucky, right? I consider myself lucky.

Thanks for commenting Alamo !
Makes much more sense (at least to me now), and I tend to agree much more easily to your points !

Have a good day.
Leave the fort before David Crocketr buys the bullet. :-)

Okay. LOL. Glad to get things back in better perspective / on track. I'm already headed to Houston for reinforcements.

The "anomaly" dismissal is absurdly apathetic - this was not some subjectively bad trip experience which would be in a completely different category - it exposes something fundamentally wrong with airbnb's attitude toward its customers and by extension exposes a fundamental weakness with the "sharing" model. Just because some people have not had the unfortunate opportunity to test this particular area of their business practices does not make this unremarkable in regard to its degree of significance. It's one thing to have some satisfaction issues during a stay, but it's quite another to experience a last minute reservation cancellation with no willingness to provide an explanation as to why.

One example of this sort is one too many, but here's another. I personally tried them out and used the Virgin America miles promotion. They sent me an email a few weeks later stating that my stay didn't qualify with a link to the terms and conditions. I can't figure out what part of the terms didn't qualify, and I'm no idiot. I asked them. They refuse to tell me which part of the terms didn't qualify. Their unwillingness to provide an answer was unbelievable and that's what led me to this thread.

I almost stayed with an airbnb host before whilst traveling with someone else. We get to the place, in another country neither of us had been to late at night, and the accommodations had not been cleaned. Had to call the host, who didn't answer. Got in touch with airbnb and we told them we were going to a hotel. They still wanted us to partially pay. I should have learned my lesson from there. Stay in a hotel and you're more likely to have immediate options available for when things go wrong. Stay with airbnb and you're more likely to be on your own. When it goes well, great, when it doesn't, there's a high likelihood of it not being handled in a matter on par with a hotel's capabilities. The greater the degree of the problem, the more likely the problem solving being out of parity with a hotel experience.

That's fine and to be expected, as you normally get what you pay for. What's not expected and not acceptable is the "hands-off" manner in which airbnb handles communication in certain case scenarios.

I've only just found this but the issues are of interest.

<i> When I tried to correct Airbnb over the matter they demanded a copy of my passport, access to my Face Book and Google accounts and reconfirmation of my cell number. </i>

1. Most of us here know that many hotels will require their foreign patrons' passports so that they can register them foreign patrons with the police, as local laws require. Airlines also require passport scans at the airport on check in.

The issue here is the online registry of this information.

I have no idea of the degree of identity hack risk this poses, perhaps someone knowledgeable can post an opinion. Meanwhile alamo is not alone in their alarm, reasonable or otherwise:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe...0229/comments/


2. on disclosure of reasons for the request:

It is totally reasonable of alamo to ask for a link describing airbnb security policy, although it is possible this was available on their site at the time alamo booked, was it?

3. If the policy was available on the site at the time alamo booked, then that should have sufficed as fair warning. It also should not have been possible for alamo to book in the first place, including having their cc charged for deposit, without the information being required, as that would have made the terms of the contract clear.

Otherwise it sounds like alamo was permitted to make a contract (put down a deposit) without supplying this info, and then had to seek a refund, and worse, at the last minute. I agree with alamo that it is no simple matter to have to rebook accommodation at the last minute, although in fairness this has always been a point against airbnb - vendors are not held accountable should they fail to keep their room inventory up to date at regular intervals.

I suspect airbnb is seeking this information in advance in part because they are seeking to protect their vendors, who are often renting out not just space they own, but their personal living space. Whether that worthy goal justifies the possible risks (again, I'm not knowledgeable enough about the matter to hazard an opinion) I can't say, but I hope someone can.

There have been numerous news articles regarding the dodgy practices of AirBnb. To attack "Alamojo" for posting his/her negative experience puts this board in to nearly the same category.

Posters with no experience on an issue really should take a step back. And to those who disparage a post for grammar or layout (known as "paragraps" by the grammar police above). Is that the most relevant comment to this post?

I am thankful to Alamojo for posting his/her experience. It is just one more voice to make me (and other travelers) think twice when or if they use AirBnB.

<i>"Forewarned is Forearmed".</i>?

TC

I can't read a long text without breaking it.
If you want to raise interest, you try to make your case appealing or sexy, don't you ?

And you will note that I reacted to the first post, which was just a rant, and that my position changed over the length of the thread - maybe you can't read everything either or you're not in for subtleties, are you ?

And I thank you for putting me in the same category of the dodgy practices of Airbnb. Very subtle, actually.

TC: >>To attack "Alamojo" for posting his/her negative experience puts this board in to nearly the same category.<<

It wasn't that she posted her 'negative experience' by starting this thread -- it was that she dredged up <u>twelve</u> additional old threads in the space of a couple of hours and posted the same exact thing over and over and over and over.

That seems overly obsessive IMO. And it was only after being called to task and challenged that she managed to post an understandable version.

One thread - OK I get it. Being so upset she couldn't organize her thoughts - fine. But to basically hijack Fodors on Aug 7 posting to thirteen threads . . .

Oh come on...no one appointed you the Fodors posting police! If you don't like the post, don't read it......and don't add comments that have nothing to do with the subject. If you have first hand experience with the text...great. If not, why not stay quiet? You might learn something.

We had a very normal experience with Airbnb.

While the 3 bedroom apartment rental was for this past July in Paris, we had rented this apartment the previous September.

We took my GD, BF, sister, friend and it was an economical way for us afford this apartment for 6.

There was a middle man, specialapartments.com and they were terrific.

After Paris in July, the villa we rented was thru Home Away in Nice overlooking the sea. Fourteen family and friends were with us. This villa was also rented in September, but in 2013 and the owner gave us a decent discount because of renting 22 months in advance..

We all have different experiences and I for one would not hesitate to rent from Airbnb again.

@iris1745 - FYI: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...g-in-paris.cfm

<Oh come on...no one appointed you the Fodors posting police!>
She appointed herself, for a lifetime term.

Hi; I know, I have been on many, many threads about the local laws in Paris.

We know that Airbnb is now collecting the city tax.

I have seen numbers that suggest that Airbnb has in excess of 40,000 apartments in Paris.

Paris officials have perhaps raided a few hundred apartment owners, but have never put any tourist on the street.

I have read on some of these threads apartments being closed before renters arrived without access to the apartment they rented.

But no actual numbers.

I have a feeling, without any factual basis, that issues will be worked out.

Not sure if we will get back to Paris again to rent in an apartment, but for me, if I need an apartment, I will look at Airbnb and many others before making a decision.

Remember, I have been called immoral a few times by the saviors of Paris, so I have an exemption.

Immoral ?
Why ?
Because you don't care if the apt you stay in is legal ?

For me it is like buying something that has been stolen : you make a good bargain and consider it ok for whatever reasons. Yet you buy a stolen good from a thief.

If you rent from an owner who doesn't declare his income and help him by paying cash - you tell me the difference ?

But yes, it may be that we get a solution in Paris - one that would include paying taxes, so paying higher prices to renters if they want to keep their level of net income.
Which is fine for me.

The only thing I dislike with owners renting illegally is that they don't declare their income. I work, I pay tax. I put my money in a bank I pay taxes. I haves sdividends, I pay taxes. I buy a flat, I rent it I don't pay taxes. Why ? Moral ?

The only thing I don't like with people who rent illegal flats is that they say it is their right to do it. No. They are accomplices to fraud.

My opinion...

Lovely!!

Thanks.

I had a very similar experience with Airbnb. I will never use them again. I had booked my stay overseas and wasn’t the gate getting on my flight when I received cancellation notice from Airbnb.
Apparently they decided they needed more verification of my identity (even though we had just returned from another vacation the previous month having used Airbnb) . Airbnb asked for pictures of my drivers license so I did that. Then they wanted a picture of the back of the DL with the strip. I did that. Then they wanted my cell number to text a verification code. I did that too. This went on and on. I refused to show them pictures of my passport because it had gone too far and they cancelled my reservation. Luckily the host and I continued to correspond and I was able to stay at her lovely place anyway. I will never use Airbnb again.

Never had any issues with AirBNB.

What?? Are you saying, Homeaway connected to AirBnB? I thought it's a part of VRBO that has no connection to AirBnB. Hmmm...