Airbnb Reviews

We called the host, complained he did honor a $100 refund. Later that morning, we had to sit outside because the unit was so damn hot we could not take it. When we came back in to go to sleep, there were cockroaches and silverfish on the walls. This was it for us! We packed up and left and did not go back. We complained to Airbnb and they claim the $100 was a fair settlement and we should not receive any additional funds. BE AWARE - YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE A REFUND NO MATTER WHAT YOUR SITUATION IS!!

Following the trip, I reach out to Airbnb to request a refund for the additional expenses incurred ($600). They declined my request stating that since I already received a refund they couldn’t process any additional refunds. Additionally, they told me that since the reservation was canceled I couldn’t leave a review. They also shared that this was not the first time the host canceled and assured me the host would be banned. Airbnb’s lack of transparency with its policies (customer service should have explained it) and flexibility is appalling. They weren’t helpful in the moment and weren’t open to considering that I was legitimately stranded and needed to make a quick decision to ensure the safety of my family.

When the host refused to refund us they simply told us case was closed. Nothing they could do. As an intermediary party, they should have done something to help us with this deceitful host. Unfortunately they were hiding behind their policy of the host refused to refund us thus they can't do nothing. They clearly wanted no part in helping us or even trying to understand our difficulty. What is the point of paying a service fee to Airbnb if they can't even investigate and resolve an issue and protect the vulnerable party. Absolutely terrible company.

This is not only insulting but it leads me to believe they are discriminating somehow. I am trying to speak to someone and don't want to take this to an attorney but with them not responding and blocking me, I feel that I need to. Who writes something like this to anyone let alone someone who has never even used their service. Just trying to get someone on the customer service side to call me and explain this action. Going to post everywhere until someone calls me back. Completely unacceptable.

Letter from Airbnb. "Thanks for reaching out. We regret to inform you that we'll be unable to support your account moving forward, and have exercised our discretion under our Terms of Service to disable your account(s). This decision is irreversible and will affect any duplicated or future accounts. Please understand that we are not obligated to provide an explanation for the action taken against your account. Furthermore, 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. We'll contact you if anything changes in the future, but until then, we won't be able to assist you any further with your account issues. Please see our Help Center for further information."

After you correct the issue with the local government, there once again is very poor communication between them and that government. I've been stuck at this stage for over a month now, and I can't get Airbnb and our government to talk, so Airbnb knows that I've met all their new requirements to host, and should reinstate my listing.

I have never cancelled before. Further, they listen on the phone and then decline via email. It sounds like they are listening and support their guests, but in reality don't and care only for their own fees. Most hotels would never have charged a fee and certainly not a "service fee" when no fee was received. Further, they should at least be transparent on the phone and say they will not honor their policies and consider a refund, so that you can speak with a manager or escalate the problem. I hope that a consumer advocate will look into their policies.

I then book another Airbnb so I can apply the 10% credit. That host confirms the booking and then sends me an alternate booking request saying that she can't host my parents at the place that I chose but that she has "alternate accommodations available". I ask to see pictures of the place to which I get no response. I now have 1-day and 1/2 before my parents arrive. I start looking online and find "alternate accommodations" she's talking about. It's in a different city 30 minutes away and has bunk beds. I ask her about this and she says "it's not really bunk beds". I told her the pictures that I found online clearly shows that you need to climb a ladder to get to the single bed that is on top of the other bed. That is a freaking bunk bed!!!

My 80-year old parents are not sleeping in bunk beds 30 minutes away from me. I then ask her to cancel my request so that I can AGAIN find suitable alternate accommodations. 12-hours later and 12-hours until my parents arrive, I still have no response. I call Airbnb directly and they say they will call the hostess but can't apply the credit to my account. What the hell is this fraudulent company and what kind of people do they deal with as their host/hostesses. NEVER BOOK WITH AIRBNB!

For example, many of the listings you provided us with were in Cypress Hill/East New York. Now, I can’t speak to the danger of these neighborhoods myself because I’ve always been warned to be careful if I found myself there and consequently, I never have. I can speak to the real life distance between where I am staying and where I was having my mother stay. While it may seem close on a map, one of the fundamental ways of getting around NYC is by public transit and the small number of these places were all nearing an hour away on methods of transit that all too often are unreliable. When it comes down to it, we chose the place we chose because of its safe location and relative proximity to me. My mom doesn’t travel very often and is unfamiliar with NYC let alone the outskirts of Queens/Brooklyn.

Also, I’m really curious about your policies in regards to protecting guests against such last minute cancellations as the one I experienced. I (My mother and guest, whom the host was very aware were the guests) was due to check in today, Wednesday October 3 at 3.00 pm ET. The host canceled my reservation yesterday, Tuesday October 2 at 5.00pm ET.

I’ve looked over your policies and all they state is that you can roll the funds from your canceled Airbnb into a new Airbnb or to have your reservation refunded, which according to your staff can take up to a whole 15 days! While the former solution may work on paper, it’s ludicrous to think that one could find a comparable place within less than 24 hours. Additionally, in places like NYC and I imagine other highly touristic metropolitan cities, places book fast, like extremely fast. If you’ve ever tried to book an Airbnb even a week out from a trip you’ll find the options are severely limited, so for your policies to not ensure some sort of back up for cancellations such as this really makes me lose confidence and even second guess all the trips I’ve taken with you in the past.

It’s also worth mentioning that the penalties you list for hosts do not equate to the losses the guests ultimately end up facing, potentially not having a place to stay/being out the reservation cost for up to 15 days. Your host cancellation policy states that cancellations more than 7 days out deduct $50 dollars from the hosts next payout. The policy goes on to state that cancellations made less than 7 days out deduct $100 less from the hosts following payout.

Neither the host nor the guest cancellation policies mention anything about cancellations less than 24 hours from a reservation, except for a mere review being placed on the host’s page or a potential ban from hosting. More notable though, is that you have no policy in place to protect your guests from such a situation. As I’ve mentioned above, it’s nearly impossible to find vacancies in hotels or Airbnb’s with little lead time and putting guests in situations like this in places where they are unfamiliar is not only negligent, but also dangerous.

Guys, I’ve sworn by Airbnb for a long time… Since my first experience using it. All of my friends use Airbnb. Collectively, myself and the people I know have traveled through Europe, India, South America, and Africa using Airbnb. I cannot imagine being in a foreign country where I’m unfamiliar with the language or the landscape and having this happen to me. Ultimately, after over 16 hours of worrying over this, we were ultimately unable to come to a resolution, the Airbnb’s we did net out on were being booked or taken off the site under our noses by the minute and if it weren’t for us having close relationships in New York, I really don’t know what we would have done.

I can’t say I feel confident ever really using Airbnb again after this and will have to make all my friends wary of the guest protection you’ve failed to provide and severely need to have in place. I hope you take this note sincerely, as I truly was a dear fan of the service and really believed this platform could disrupt and change what is the mundane hotel industry.

When I asked her to explain further she wrote: "Carol, unfortunately I'm unable to resolve your case, so I am transferring your case to a team that can better assist you. The next available specialist will review our conversation and reply here. Thank you for your patience; please note that response times may vary." I waited for over an hour and no specialist picked up the chat. AirBnB needs to know that these customer service reps are poorly representing their brand with their total lack of basic math and just guessing at a resolution.

The airbnb representative said I did not have enough documentation for my very reasonable $300 claim. This cost me closer to $500, not including a full day of my own time to prepare for next guest or repairing or replacing the burnt chair cushion. I received nothing in spite of the written notice from a third party cleaning crew informing me of the strong odor of cigarette smoke. Don't expect them to support any legitimate claim.

A couple minutes later I received an email confirming that the reservation had been cancelled but the amount refundable was €421,39 (which is already in my bank account). That is extremely disrespectful with the customer by "misunderstanding" the information and in the end I am the one who had a big deficit for something that wasn't my fault but Airbnb's fault! I have the whole conversation filmed and recorded. I was hoping that somebody from the Airbnb team would solve this ridiculous situation. It's been 5 days they call me, transfer the calls, say it's a misunderstanding but no solutions at all. I'm gonna travel in the next days plus I just lost money and I don't have any accommodation so far.

Their customer service was beyond bad. Speaking with many of their case managers or customer reps, I've found most of them to be just flat out rude, gave you a feeling that they just don't care or would say anything just to get you off the phone. This was my first stay at an Airbnb property that I booked myself and it will be my last. Up until this point, Airbnb has not made a genuine effort to make what I experienced right.

I don't care what your politics are. I do, however deeply resent your using my personal email to push your left wing political agenda. I, as with all your customer base have provided our email addresses to Airbnb in strict confidence, to be used only to conduct business transactions initiated by the customer. You have violated this trust! What you elitist liberals fail to understand time and time again is that you neither think nor speak for me. How arrogant and self righteous you are to assume you have the right to preach your left wing politics via my personal email! This may go over in NY and CA., but not in middle America. You need to apologize to the mass customer base who entrusted you with their personal information. What an outrageous breach of trust!

Makes me very concerned that you have my credit card information. What will you assume you can do to further your political cause with billions of credit card dollars provided by your customer base. Credit cards you could instantly tap into? After all, you clearly violated our trust by misusing our email addresses! Never, ever use my email address to further your personal politics!

When the host gave me a bad review, attacking my clothing choices and threatening to sue me because my "review was untrue", I had attempted another try at contacting Airbnb, explaining the host's decision to take legal action. As almost expected, Airbnb did NOTHING; they refused to take the review down, they refused to ban the host, they did absolutely nothing. Apparently, threatening someone over a bad review does not violate their policy? I will never use this company ever again! It was the biggest mistake of my life!

3. They also send a review request to the hosts or the guests after the review time expires and that gives an assumption to either one that the other person might have given a bad review. So they end up making up stories and the benefit to Airbnb is that they will not be sued if the guest had any unsafe situation with one host and they are also targeting specific people with some unsafe filthy homes so that they keep the hosts on their site. More safety measures needs to be enforced with Airbnb to avoid them gaining from others nightmares.

After 10 minutes we decided to inform the staff that we were NOT going to stay and we requested our deposit back which we duly paid sometime before, around 600 euros. The staff immediately called the owner a man named Bogdan. When I explained Bogdan why we were not staying he immediately become aggressive and defensive, he started saying that the law in Montenegro is that there are no cancellations and that we must pay our whole stay even if we have decided not to stay.

"I PAY PEOPLE TO WRITE GOOD REVIEWS FOR ME..." If you are a family and safety comes first then DON'T STAY IN THIS PLACE. I will dispute my money through my financial institution as I see no point arguing with this man.

This rental also had a soap bottle - but it was empty, the towels did not seem clean either, and the door key barely worked. In the heat, we had to try and try and try. Even the owner could not get it to work at first, he had to try several times - yet he is used to this lock. It's not hard to put fresh linens, to have soap, and to fix the door lock. This is a terrible rental. I have never had such experiences in a hotel, even a low end motel. The only thing that made it bearable is that we always bring our own pillowcases, when using an Airbnb. In the future, I will be always looking for a hotel first. The most frustrating thing is this: We have a very good track record with Airbnb, the hosts rate us highly; that strong record ought to mean something to Customer Service but it does not. Airbnb does not care.

"Well, you need to take pics of the other things you complained about." Should I go back to the property and ask them if I can take pics of their dilapidated farmhouse because Airbnb staff are telling me they need proof??? Stupider they could not be! Worst service ever and I will never stay at an Airbnb again. Absolutely pathetic! They have no idea what is going on and they just like to pretend they are an app service and not a hospitality service. They should be out of business and sued!

We went to a hotel. Not to worry! Airbnb got us a partial refund. It cost us 80 some dollars to be put in danger and scared to death. That area of Nebraska seems a T-mobile desert. Got a message and a text but the links are dead and no one at Airbnb will reply. My vacation was wrecked as all money had to go to safe accommodations. We got the partial refund the day we were leaving! Yay! A nightmare and scary and dangerous, absolute dream for my very first Airbnb experience. Never, ever again.

My wife would have had a serious and life threatening asthma attack if we had stayed in this place. There was trash, beer bottles everywhere and wild cats living in the crawl space under the house. Weeds were growing out of the gutters. Holes were in the roof. Decades of paint was peeling off the side of the wall. The rusted and filthy washer and dryer were installed outside under a shed. The doors and windows had iron bars and gates. What does this tell you? We saw drugs were being sold on the street within one block of the property. The area in general was crime ridden. The online photos and description did not correctly represent the rental. I have been trying for about two weeks to get my money back.

Airbnb closed my case without settlement and refuses to communicate further. This company needs to be shut down as they are not serving the public well and are legally stealing consumers' money from all over the world. Unscrupulous real estate companies and the like are doing the same by joining up with Airbnb. Airbnb apparently does not investigate the host properties and their lessors. Unfortunately I did not do the necessary research about the company. Otherwise I would never have done business with them. I have written to the CEO, Brian Chesky who will not respond to my email.

Their service reps do nothing but give customers the run-a-round and make promises they never intend to fulfill. I do not understand how anyone with a good conscience could work for a company like this. Hopefully, my state representative and Attorney General can do something to help me. The Better Business Bureau is useless other than to post grievances which probably will not be published. There are 1546 complaints against this company on their website and the BBB gives them an A+ rating. CONSUMERS BE WARNED... DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE WASTING YOUR MONEY.

I recently stayed in an Airbnb that was evicted and then got thrown out of because I was told I was trespassing and staying there illegally after booking and paying for the place a month in advance. Customer service didn’t take any responsibility for the fact that this place was a bogus rental on their site and even went so far as to say that that wasn’t their fault or their problem. I was on the phone with them for over 2 hours and transferred to 5 different people trying to get my refund while also attempting to figure out another place to stay since I was now homeless for the night (which they also didn’t give a ** about). Makes me wonder how many other places they post up online that aren’t safe to stay at either or if they even care. Never staying at another Airbnb and I wouldn’t be surprised if they find a lawsuit coming their way soon.

Floors were not cleaned in a long time. Bathroom shower had mold and dirt all over, toilet had pubic hair and urine all over them, mirrors and sink filthy. Refrigerator full of old food and dirty, the 2 sinks were full of dirty dishes, mold in some of the dishes. Stovetop had fried egg all over it. Some of the place didn’t t even have any ceiling. And the list goes on and on. Even with the pictures I provide they have not helped me resolve this matter. My best advice is to avoid booking with Airbnb, they will not take care of things they should. I have called them over a different zen times, and I keep getting passed from person to person, then nobody is accountable.

Our vacation from eastern Europe to Canada became horrible. We have found a place our own in Hotel 6 with 2 bed but 5 of us. No kitchen, no extra room, no staff to cook... we made our budget planes months ago according to initial place. After making 30 calls yesterday they have not solved anything, we all mentally and physically got I'll and sick of it. Packing and unpacking twice... Theirs today recommends was $1200 more than what we planned to spend for accommodation. We didn't accept and still waiting supervisor to call me but they won't call I know. I have to call them to follow up. We stopped enjoying our vacation but waiting to know where we are going to stay until August 24th.

All the windows leaked when it rained including an area around an electrical socket, which the host knew about and said he would have to get fixed. When we first noticed the window above the sleep area leaking the host said he would fix it and it wasn't until days later when we reported the leak around the electrical socket that the host put plastic around the windows. This made the boat more sweltering hot than it originally was. The top step entering the cabin of the boat was not carpeted and constantly wet due to the plastic mat on deck which retained water. Any time one stepped on the mat the bottom of their shoes would get wet causing the step to become slippery and wet.

I took a hard fall down the stairs injuring my butt, both legs and arms and when I told the host about it he laughed. The host helped himself to our soda, milk and seasoning. Most of the amenities listed were not provided such as wifi, TV, toiletries, pots, pans, utensils (I had to buy my own frying pans), gas grill with empty propane tank, etc. I was also charged for three people and only two stayed on the boat as the third could not make it. When I discovered this, I requested my money back (after getting a good review from the host) and was denied my request by both the host and Airbnb, both of whom got very nasty with me while the host resorted to name calling and Airbnb became downright insulting, and both denying my request for a refund.

I was told that the fee included up to four guests on the boat which is not what my itinerary says and was not listed that way when I first rented the boat. After reading reviews about this company I discovered that many vacationers had the same experience with Airbnb. It seems that Airbnb does not screen the people they represent as hosts and have no clue as to what it is these hosts have to offer. It's a hit or miss operation and if you get a good spot "great!" But if you get a dud "too bad." It seems that Airbnb always sides with their hosts regardless of the complaints against the host and never agrees to return money once they collected it from the consumer. I will never do business with this company again!

The host replied that: (a) no provision of fans was listed in the apartment listing, and (b) that there was no one to pay for the fans since she was not the owner of the apartment. We didn't even find any help from Airbnb. We contacted Airbnb on the very first day of our stay and received an email about three days later saying that someone would contact us soon. But no one did till Thursday, two days before our departure! A representative of Airbnb called us to apologize for what had happened and offer to pay for the fan if we decide to buy one.

We had already looked for a shop from where to buy a fan but couldn't find. We didn't need Airbnb's money or go ahead to buy a fan. But Airbnb let us alone. They simply didn't care less. You don't call someone two days before his/her departure. Airbnb and the host should have done their best to accommodate us. After all we were just asking for an extra fan. Not a big deal in reality but it would have helped make our holiday merrier. We won't be using Airbnb anymore. This small incident has ruined our holiday. You should be ashamed of your attitude.

Coming to find out after I had it booked that it has two double beds in one room, what two couples want to sleep in the same room on vacation, my son also enjoys his own room, he’s a light sleeper and everything wakes him... so now we have to suck it up and sleep in the same room as my toddler who will probably wake as soon as we open the bedroom door or give him his own room and sleep in the same room as another couple (perfect if we were camping but not on vacation trying to relax) OR lose $600. Obviously I pick to stick it out rather than losing all that money plus spending another $1200 for a more suitable chalet.

After the miscommunication and info I received, Airbnb could not seem to understand that we want to be comfortable and enjoy our vacation so they will not give us a full refund because I booked 10 days before our stay and not 14 (full refunds are only given 14 days before and before 48 hours of reservation being made). Booking.com do bend the rules. I know because I’ve gotten a full refund from them because they have the decency to bend the rules for miscommunication, I even got my money back from them because I had to work last minute, and it was 2 days before our reservation!! Good luck to anyone who book last minute and book through Airbnb, hopefully your experience is better than mine. (:

I explained this was not true for I just created this account and if it was 2 years old, the registered name is different. Airbnb still refused to give the credit. Therefore, I have canceled my whole stay with Airbnb and will not ever use this website again. Now, I'm only to receive a partial credit and Airbnb is keeping their fee and taxes. No service was rendered therefore no charge should apply and with no charge should come no tax. This website is only one word, SHADY! At the end, I wish I would've done research on the reviews way before I booked. Grrrrrr.

Keys missing from the lockbox upon arrival, propane smell inside location, exposed hot electrical wires outside in a “no burn” zone Mount Hood during forest fires, no/low drinking water with a note warning us not to use much water (what does that mean?), an axe by the front door, and signs of ritualistic worship in the woods behind the house, and a distinct feeling of being watched by all adults in our party. Airbnb has no concern about the integrity and reputation of their company or the safety of their guests-and neither does Vacasa. We’ve stayed many times, and have loved Airbnb until now. It’s great until you have a problem, then forget it. There’s no guarantees because the place we booked looked amazing online.

The title “Memorable Stay in Cottage”. Yes, memorable. It was a horror movie waiting to happen. I provided photos of every situation and yet no concern for what happened to us. We’re not afraid of anything, but we practically ran to the car to leave this place. If they were customer service driven, they would refund the entire stay plus the expense we incurred having to find somewhere else to go. I even reached out to the CEO @bchesky and Co-founder @joegebs on Instagram and still no help. Do not book with Airbnb or Vacasa “Anywhere“. Vacasa lists properties with the name of the location in front of the word Vacasa. We booked with “Oregon” Vacasa. Be warned, this has been a nightmare for my family.

So I called customer service to request that this error be corrected - and instead of responding by issuing both the full refund and an apology for my trouble, I was told by customer service rep “Pam” that this matter needed to be “escalated” in order to verify “the reason” I’d been charged the service fee. There of course was no “reason”, Pam herself had just verified that I had indeed canceled well within the 48-hour cancellation window, it was clearly simply a mistake on their end. But Pam explained that while she too couldn’t understand why I’d not been refunded the service fee, she needed to “escalate” my service-fee refund request to someone who would confirm that there wasn’t another reason for not refunding the service fee that she missed, and that anyway she had no authority to issue any refunds. What?

So in fact this person was just hoop #1 whose real job is to find a reason to NOT refund customer money. Since she could not find one, she had to send it to hoop #2 in the hope that THEY would be able to find a reason. Fine. No point speaking further with this “customer service” rep, she clearly was not there to resolve my issue if my issue involved refunding money, and that was my ONLY issue. So she gave me a ticket number for reference but sent no email or written documentation of any sort to confirm that this conversation had even taken place. Having no confidence I’d hear from anybody I called my credit card company and opened a complaint on this charge. That call took 2 minutes.

Three hours later to my surprise I received a call from an Airbnb “customer experience” rep named Charm, apparently the one who does have the authority to issue refunds. This conversation also did not go well. Charm began by “verifying” the reason I’d cancelled - which was of course irrelevant to this discussion - but I answered anyway, thinking I might as well be cooperative. That was a mistake because this led Charm to actually ask me if I’d be willing to offer “medical documentation” of my mother’s disability, to which I replied absolutely NOT, that the only thing that mattered was that I’d canceled well within the 48-hour window, which meant that THEY were the ones who needed to provide ME with my FULL refund.

Unbelievably, rather than responding to the 48-hour cancellation aspect, this rep continued on her own skewed line of reasoning about WHY I had cancelled, explaining that she “had to” ask me these questions because she saw I’d booked a different reservation in place of this one, basically insinuating that I was lying about my “real” reason for canceling. I repeated YET AGAIN that “why” I canceled was irrelevant to the 48-hour filter, and that if anyone needed to provide proof of anything, it was SHE who needed to provide ME with proof that stated ANYWHERE in Airbnb’s 48-hour cancel-for-free filter is disclosure of a non-refundable service fee even when canceled within 48 hours. And incredibly, she had the gall to then put me on hold so that she could try to find such documentation - which of course does not exist! Obviously I hung up.

A few hours later I received a message in my Airbnb inbox from Charm, making no mention of the 48-hour cancellation policy (of course) but telling me she’d be refunding the service fee “as a one-time courtesy” (as though she was doing me a favor) and stating that she’d be happy to answer any questions or concerns I might have. I wrote back immediately, reiterating that I did not understand this refund to be anything other than a given, again stating I’d cancelled within 48 hours.

The next morning Charm sent me a totally absurd self-contradicting, nonsensical reply, first “explaining” that for a full refund I was supposed to cancel at least 5 full days before the day of check in (Huh??? Day of check in was to be September 19, I canceled July 22)... and then “explaining further” that she saw I’d booked at 10:59 am July 20 and canceled at 8:29 am July 22 (uh, yes, exactly, so 2.5 hours within the 48-hour window) but that because my local time zone is PST vs EST (Michigan time zone) my cancellation was “beyond 48 hours on the host’s local time”. Absolutely absurd. Her very own notes stated the time stamps verifying I was absolutely not “beyond” my 48-hour cancellation window in any way, shape, or form, yet she concludes the opposite.

So, apparently this is the best that Airbnb “customer experience” reps can come up with: Just throw out one illogical, nonsensical reason after another in an attempt to gaslight their customers into “understanding” that Airbnb has a RIGHT to retain a mischarged service fee, when in fact they absolutely do NOT. Either this “admit no wrong” approach is their MO, or else they’re just totally incompetent, poorly trained, and frankly lacking in basic logical reasoning. Either way, this was the first time I’ve had cause to call Airbnb customer service in the 6 years I’ve been booking with them, and now that I know what I can expect from Airbnb’s “customer service”, I will NEVER book through them again. And I caution anybody who continues to book with this company to get themselves ready for this type of absurd exchange if ever the need to contact customer service arises.

Next, scheduled again. PAID. Shortly thereafter the host contacts me and says she isn't ready for company and asks me to cancel. It seemed weird, and it was problem 3, so instead of just cancelling as instructed - as a normally would - I did a little research. Turns out, had I cancelled IT LIKELY WOULD HAVE COST ME MONEY! So, again, very uncomfortable and questionable conduct. Finally, schedule another place. No apparent problems - until we arrived. Sheets did not appear clean. Beds were unusable - jailhouse issue. Ceiling fan had an inch of dust. Decor above bed was visibly dusty. Still brand-new to Airbnb.

Not certain what to do. Felt trapped. Sent text message to host. He apologized and said he would refund our money. HE DID - AIRBNB DID NOT. We stayed maybe 10 minutes, but Airbnb won't refund the service fee or TAXES. HOW DO YOU COLLECT TAXES ON A RETURNED/UNUSED SERVICE OR GOOD? UNETHICAL AND, I think, illegal conduct.

Their reason was hidden in the extensive descriptions in their website. There is an appeal process, but it is impossible to access any place on their website for an appeal. Google research found that this is a major problem with them and that many others have had this problem, were unable to appeal, had no response to an appeal, were promised a refund which never arrived, etc. I will now travel and make regular hotel reservations rather than use their company.

Airbnb and host just kept point fingers at each other on handling cancellation and refund of deposit. I finally got booking cancelled and freed up her property to go ahead and replace my booking. This was over 30 days prior to the original booking dates. The host had the option to refund 100% but chose instead to keep $735 sticking strictly to policy with no compassion for what had happened to me. NEVER EVER use Airbnb again. Too many great options out there to get ** like this again.

Point being it had not been serviced in who knows how long. The owner obviously didn't care enough to even attempt to be certain his tenants were properly taken care of prior to arrival and Airbnb clearly doesn't have a policy to ensure the same. Believe me, we were stuck with so many hotels totally booked because we were there for the national bowling tournament along with almost another 4000 kids from around the United States. Junior Gold it's called.

The top wooden cap on the bannister of the stairwell was completely off with nails sticking out. There were wooden door panels completed detached from 2 separate cabinets. The outside wooden fence was partially tipped over and there was trash on the back patio and food laying on the patio floor. The gutters hadn't been cleaned for who knows how long which was just more evidence of the lack of upkeep. When the owner was contacted by us, he had the nerve to tell us to take the trash out to the street. The white bannister going upstairs was grungy and dirty. The AC outside was covered with moss or mold, whichever, to the point that it couldn't even effectively move air through the unit.

We won't even talk about the yard. I guess you don't sleep outside so why should that matter right? Wrong. It does matter. Would you move into a hotel that looked like it was stuck in the middle of a rain forest? As soon as we pulled up to the house and I looked at it I was like, "Is this it???" Fence all half tipped over, bags of trash in the back, food on the patio floor? Come on man. And then it's a sweatbox in the middle of the summer in Texas?

Then we called Airbnb because I wanted no part of this house. First we are told we were getting a FULL refund because the person we sent the pictures to agreed the house was unacceptable and a Full refund would be forthcoming. Then, later the same day we were told that there would be no refund resulting in us being out almost $2000. Imagine that. Then we were told after much persuasion that we might get a refund and that we'd receive a call by the next day letting us know the outcome of our request. Well the call never came. Then we were notified by email about a week later that we would receive a 50% refund resulting in the entire party being out almost $1000. And that's exactly what we got. 50% back.

The AC guy showed up to the house and both capacitors were cooked in the AC unit and even when he quote "fixed" the unit, even after an hour the house was still a sweatbox and the temp hadn't even dropped 1 degree. I understand that takes time but come on, let's get real. I wasn't moving into the chance of a 90 degree upstairs if not warmer because the upstairs vents were blowing weak air "at best" and it wasn't that cool. The compressor and air-handler clearly did not even seem to be adequate enough in size to effectively cool the entire house in 105 degree weather particularly because the upstairs clearly had been converted from an attic into a living space. That in and of itself wouldn't be a problem if the unit was either bigger or there were two separate units to cool the house.

Of course we (for all the reasons stated) didn't stay there long enough to find out, because in 105 degree weather our kids were not going to be stuck in a sweatbox with trash outside, a broke banister, food left on the back patio floor and bags of trash that we were expected to take to the road that we hadn't even left in the first place. The owner was horrible and Airbnb was ineffective at resolving this problem. So we are out $1000 and we attempted to log into Airbnb's website to leave a review against the house and were unable to do so. It's a scam. Never again.

Oh, I'm sure people have rented nice houses through Airbnb and I'm sure there have been wonderful experiences, but if you wind up with a place like we did, you are stuck like chuck and in a bad situation. I will go to the Legal Office at Fort Benning Georgia, when I get a chance to see what legal options we have. I'm retired from the Army having served 31 years and I retired from active duty. I also plan to go to the commandant's office in an attempt to have Fort Benning place Airbnb on the "Off Limits List" to all Active Duty Army Personnel stationed at Fort Benning Georgia and hopefully the entire United States. Don't think they have that authority, (at least nationally) but it doesn't hurt to try.

We were stuck and had to shell out another $1200 to a local hotel just to have a place to stay for our kids to compete in the national bowling tournament which took place this summer in Arlington Tx, Dallas, Fort Worth area. Never again with Airbnb. You can't just cancel a house like you can a hotel even if it is trash like the one we so unfortunately showed up at. Airbnb and the owner didn't take care of us properly and that's the bottom line.

The entire time the account was in the negative we had all access. The disability deposit from SSA post will I was in my account at 4:33am 7/25/2018. Our account was blocked at 4:35pm for "unusual activity". I reported no unusual activity. On 7/24/2018 we reverified our identifying information and assured access to funds pending direct deposit. No explanations, between two customer service representatives and three supervisors. I was ignored when I asked to speak to someone who could make decisions or verify before the weekend.

I cannot believe they would not provide me as much as an email to forward to my creditors to provide proof of why we could not honor payment arrangements due for today. This is very odd and disrespectful. We are being treated as if we have been dishonest. We have provided everything except DNA and dental records proving who we are and we have a right to our funds. Something very dishonest and criminally fraudulent is going on at Green Dot. I intend to bust it wide open!!!!

(His front walkway had a dangerous crack over which I was always tripping, the drain in his shower had a strange hole in which my husband kept stubbing his toe), we paid $150 cleaning fee (as do all other visitors), yet while hanging out at the place, I found myself doing a lot of cleaning since I was pretty disgusted w/ lack of true cleaning: no instructions were given re: what to do with dirty bed linens, gas grill covers in kitchen had clearly not been cleaned in ages (I actually put those in dishwasher to get the accumulated grease off), and swept under the beds where there was a lot of dust, while looking for a lost piece of jewelry.

Yet if I mention these things, I KNOW the host will be very defensive, likely attack us, and not heed any advice anyways. Another recent locale we stayed at we found out the actual owner was NOT the contact person (without our knowledge). The contact person had her own property she rented out. When we had a question re: working a TV, unfamiliar to us, she got mad at us for contacting her ("the prior guests didn't have any problems"). So if you leave a bad review, you are faced with getting a bad review yourself. This system frankly sucks, and as prior guest noted, you may not really get a true picture of the property. But Airbnb knows this, and is just happy taking people's money (both that of the host & guest), and not fixing its system. Am truly debating if I want to support them anymore as a traveler. Not to mention, their customer service is a disaster.

Short term rentals will probably still exist, but I am noting a big change in the way business is conducted. Be sure to read ALL reviews (especially note how the Host responds), Do not let Airbnb have access to more than ONE credit card at a time (for balance on a recent stay, they used the wrong credit card, in spite of my contacting them months ago to only use a certain one, and would not allow me to remove the 2nd card). Carefully review what you are getting charged for (am still debating re: Home Away vs Airbnb), as the charges are ridiculous.

Finally, something we never encountered before which is buried in Airbnb contracts which our last host tried to pull on us: his home could hold over 10 people total. On original reservation, we only thought we would be 4 people. But well before the event, our daughter & friend thought they might visit. We let the host know in advance. So he said he would charge us EXTRA per person, per night, since we did not know (3 months ahead) for sure our 2 extra people might stay a night. So from now on, I advise listing close to the maximum allowed, to avoid this nickle-and-diming b.s. (the guy made well over $3,500 for what turned out to be 3.5 days! I think he could have afforded not to try to pull this collect even more money). Too bad that Airbnb has turned into a minor nightmare. We pored over every detail as if we were buying a property, once we saw all the tricks that were played on us.

I went from working over 50+ hours a week while trying to finish my degree, building a side business, living in an apartment I loved with a view of NYC - to losing my entire family, my business, employment, and currently on the verge of becoming homeless. None of this is exaggerated. This is real, this is true, and these are facts. I turned 40 in May, single, no kids, and I have a resume with skills that are worth well over 6-figures. I sat in my apartment looking around at everything I bought from working as hard as I did, and wondered if I was actually going to wind up in the shelter with my 49 inch curved Samsung TV. Thankfully, I still have my personality and can laugh at something that is not funny at all... If you can’t laugh, you may way as well give up. That’s something I will never do.

When my $3K iMac crashed for the 7th time due to the persistent hack in my network, which was never investigated or taken seriously by not only local police & detectives, but cyber units on both the State and Government level - I finally had a moment of partial meltdown and partial clarity. I decided I cannot fight anymore, this is not healthy and this is not a life. I’m going in circles with fighting evictions, fighting to get interviews, trying to solve a cyber crime on my own to then realizing I could have a heart attack from all of the stress I was under. That was it - Relocate and start a new life, get away from constant reminders of loss, negativity, and a rat race that was becoming absurd to say the least.

As soon as I made up my mind, I changed my location on LinkedIn and Indeed to Boca Raton, FL. I landed a job in Boca Raton in less than 2 weeks. I researched how to relocate my belongings, purchased a UBox from UHaul, and planned to drive down to Florida from Bergen County, NJ. I figured I would use Airbnb, so I can stay in the area to find apartments when I get down there. I was hoping to find hosts that would be friendly, maybe start making connections and friends, see if they knew people that needed a roommate or knew anyone who was renting out apartments, etc. This is where I was sadly mistaken...

I created a new account on Airbnb in June 2018. In my profile, I explained I am relocating from Northern NJ to the Boca/Deerfield Beach area in FL, my new job is lined up and I am looking for a place to stay while I look for an apartment. Described myself as professional, laidback, clean, made sure to include I hate bugs and need air conditioning. Not too much to ask, one would think. Keep in mind, I am in the middle of a life changing move that is stated in my Airbnb profile. The original plan was to drive straight through with breaks every 4 hours. This is an 18 hour drive. My movers messed that up due to being late, so the day I was supposed to arrive at my already paid for Airbnb in Deerfield Beach, changed to 2 days later. I communicated with the “Super Host” the entire time. This was booked on 7/5/18 and the stay was to be from 7/7/18-7/21/18. Total cost: $919.85

Last minute, I chose to book another Airbnb in Fayetteville, NC as the halfway point and then continue the next day. The drive started on Saturday 7/7/18 at 12 pm, I got to NC at 1:45 am on 7/8/18, left NC at 10 am same day and arrived in Deerfield Beach around 2:30 am on 7/9/18. I printed out the info for both Airbnb stays, and drove to the address in Deerfield Beach that was in the listing. After not being able to find the house, irritable, tired, and sick of driving, I called the host and told her I cannot find the house. She then told me that she sent me another address.

As I am looking at the paperwork, trying to find where I had wrote another address down, not finding anything, getting confused and irritated, I held my frustration in while on the phone with her, and went to this new address she gave me. Not far, but that’s not the point. When you arrived, the host gave me a hug, showed me the room, how to flush the toilet, I’m not kidding, showed me the pool I was not allowed to use, and all I wanted to do was go to sleep. The entire ride was horrible and never ending. I had to be at my new job at 11 am on 7/9/18 to meet everyone, get my official start date, etc. So, I was busy from the second I woke up at 830 am on 7/9/18, with only 4 hrs of sleep.

I noticed when I got back to the room, after running around all day Monday, 7/9/18 for the job, getting things coordinated etc; that there was no room for anything, no workspace that was mentioned in the description. I’m traveling with my 27 inch iMac because I am web designer on the side, a digital project manager during the day, and the job I landed allows me to work remotely if need be. The closet is filled with furniture and in the furniture is the host's belongings. Also, in the room on the shelves are the host's books, collectible cars, nick nacks etc. that should not be in the room. I chose to stay for 14 days and I’m living out of my suitcase, computer in on a chair that’s in the closet, sitting on the bed on my iPad trying to work, back broken and pissed.

The host became unresponsive after I arrived. I emailed Airbnb Tuesday, 7/10/18, they got back to me Wednesday, 7/11/18 with a generic email, so I called them. I got a “manager” who didn’t do one thing about this situation. I contacted the host, she didn’t respond, I contacted another Airbnb host, making them wait because the manager wasn’t doing her job all day on 7/11/18. I had to keep asking her and reminding her to call the host, if she spoke to her, etc. This went on from 1 pm to 830 pm when the manager from Airbnb messaged me that they will not refund me but I can leave if I want, and that she is leaving for the day to call the support number if I need additional help. I paid for 14 nights. If I left on 7/12/18, that would make it a 3 night stay for $919.85. You have to seriously be kidding me.

I then got another person from Airbnb who asked for pics and texts - I sent everything. Still nothing. On Thursday morning, 7/12/18, the original manager chimed in and explained it took all day because she couldn’t get in contact with the host, and that she will credit me for the overlap in Fayetteville, NC for $50 dollars, and that’s it. When I asked her if a host is unresponsive to both a guest and Airbnb, Airbnb doesn’t find that odd? She responded that she’s not helping me or messaging me anymore. I asked for her manager and she ignored me.

I booked what would be the next Airbnb nightmare because I could not stay at this nightmare another minute. It’s misrepresented as a place where you can do work. I can’t do work on a bed. There were no outlets anywhere, the king size bed took up the entire room to the point I could grab a drink from the mini fridge, use the microwave, grab whatever was on the bookshelf just from sitting on the bed. Ridiculous. Also, I was confined to that room and the bedroom. No access, not even knowledge of the other parts of the house. Doors were in the bathroom and in the bedroom, which led to who knows what. Both door knobs locked from their side, and both door knobs were unlocked, FYI. Creepy and uncomfortable. All of this was explained to Airbnb numerous times.

I contacted the host to tell her I’m leaving and asked to please credit me anything at all, and to please respond in a timely manner and before the following morning. That message was at 830 pm. The host replied at 11:52 pm telling me there is no credit for the remainder of the nights I wouldn’t be there and she wishes me the best. This is clearly taking advantage of someone in the middle of an out of state move, the host knew this, I stated it again when I asked for the refund and still nothing. Not even 1 day credited. This is truly stealing from someone. This gets worse...

After I left, I canceled the reservation and requested a $500 refund from the host, which was being conservative. Not only am I in the middle of moving and trying to find an apartment, I start my job on Monday, 7/16/18, it’s now Friday the 13th and I’m packing and unpacking my belongings, wasting money, getting confused, it’s 100 degrees, and I’m literally holding back all of this frustration. The host didn't have the decency to ask if I needed any help, I have pics of what my car looked like and I'm out of a lot of money, the least she could have done was credit me for the nights not stayed, especially in a situation like this. I think it's appalling to say the least that anyone would take advantage of someone like this.

I get the 24 hour rule with Airbnb, I get the whole thing, but there are no words to describe the amount of stress I'm already under. If the host is so strict then why allow me to arrive whatever time I wanted at 230 am? I went out of my way, feeling horrible, apologizing up and down that I was late and I gave her updates the entire time. Being an honest and nice person is just not working these days. Very unfortunate what most of society has turned into. This host also immediately starting texting me outside the app. I'm in the middle of moving, driving, no sleep - am I paying attention to minor things like that, to use against me not getting a credit? Which is exactly what Airbnb did. The host knew the game to play, Airbnb tagged along.

This host stated she wished I spoke up the day I got there. At 3 am?? All I wanted to do was sleep then go to meet my new boss and coordinate apartments to look at, transferring my information down to Florida, etc. That wasn't on the top of my priority list. I'm not on vacation. This is not your normal Airbnb stay. This is considered extenuating circumstances, especially when all sides are aware I am looking at apartments and need, what’s called money to place down on one. Not blow money out of the window at places like this and like the next one. In the end, after almost 7 days going back and forth with Airbnb, I received a credit of $453.16 out of the total $919.85 for this stay. The fees alone came to $243.85.

My next Airbnb nightmare was a few miles away from the first. After packing my car in extreme heat, exhausted, I waited about 2 hours for my body to calm down. I unpacked again at this new place. From the minute I walked in it had a stench. I shook my head and felt like I was now trapped because Airbnb didn’t get that credit to me until 3 days after I checked into this place. I’m tired, stressed out, losing weight from not eating, not sleeping, worried about starting my job with a clear head, taking care of things in NJ, trying to remember to pay bills, having valuables in my car, and now this.

I had to clean the entire room and bathroom before being able to even relax. This host did not speak English, it was a man, his daughter ran the listing and was the one who communicated with me, both nice, but still very uncomfortable, and as mentioned, not clean and smelled. I replaced the liner for the shower. I should have taken a picture but I was at a point of feeling like crying or losing my mind. There were brown spots all over it, of I don’t know what, I didn’t care, I bleached everything, and prayed. First day I moved in the air was on. As days went on, the air went on for 25 minutes and stayed off for about 3 hours. I was literally sweating and the smell got worse as days went on due to the heat. I couldn’t take being there, so again stayed out until 11 pm looking for apts, buying food I couldn’t afford just to go somewhere and relax with air conditioning. FYI, the air was on all day the day I left.

I started my job the 4th day I was there, and that was all I was concerned about. Unfortunately, this stay affected my job - I was late every day because I was not sleeping, I was hot, sweating, itchy, on edge, uncomfortable, searching for other places (besides Airbnb) while searching for apts all night until about 5 am when I would get in a bed that I was afraid to sleep in, after reading forums about bed bugs from other Airbnb reviews. I would get itchy whenever I walked into the place, so I would sit on a chair with my iPad, my computer I decided to never hook up, but still traveling with it. I showered twice the entire time I was there. I never did my laundry because it was in the kitchen, the kitchen wasn’t clean - so I didn’t bother.

My room had 2 lights. 1 small end table light, 1 desk lamp, and no light on the ceiling. A small window so hardly any sunlight came in. There were lights in the bathroom but they gave off heat, and I did not want to stay in the bathroom any longer than I had to. Point is, I really didn’t take notice of anything on my body. At work, I wasn’t examining myself, but now I’m mortified and wondering if anyone noticed the bites on my arms. The smell was so bad that I may have smelled like the whole apartment. I was supposed to stay for 8 nights, from 7/13/18- 7/21/18. That totaled $461.12. I left on 7/19/18 and chose to go to a hotel spending $257.00 for 3 nights. Not bad considering my location. Did I want to spend it, absolutely not. Did I have to? Yes.

When I got to the hotel, I was unpacking my stuff and there in my bag was most likely a cockroach. I took the bag, accidentally locked myself out of the room, went to the lobby and explained what was going on, and the front desk told me they are always hearing bad stories about Airbnb from people who come there. When I got back to the room, I went into the bathroom to wash my hands. At that point I noticed about 10 or more odd looking bites and marks on both arms. Some were red, some clearly had bite marks, some were blue but were not bruises. I checked my entire body, I found a few more bites and immediately contacted Airbnb. I took pics and planned to go to Urgent Care asap.

Airbnb didn’t get back to me until the next day, requesting images and the doctor's written confirmation. I uploaded the pics and continued messaging them and not one person responded until I called. The person I got on the phone could care less. She had no response, no care in the world. She only told me she needs the doctor's report, which I had to wait for, until she can decide to do anything as far as a credit. But she is certain that I will receive a credit towards another Airbnb stay... I laughed and told her, "I’m never using this app/service ever again."

Today, 7/22/18, I uploaded the doctor report, still no response, called and still no callback. I’m down to $20.00 to my name until I get paid 5 days from now. Low on gas, no apartment or anywhere to stay in sight starting tomorrow morning when I need to go to work. It is now 9:30 pm on Sunday night. This took me 2 days to put together. I am tired, stressed out, out of money, anxiety ridden, covered in bug bites, still disinfecting all of my belongings and still need to figure out what I am going to do as far as where I am staying. I can lose my job due to this. I have been late, on no sleep, clearly not thinking correctly, and all of that could definitely cause my boss and coworkers to start wondering if something is wrong with me.

This company is the worst company I have ever dealt with. I have also never experienced being ripped off like this, taken advantage of, the worst customer service, or lack thereof, and careless attitudes to any of the circumstances especially bed bugs. People should be aware, and hosts should be screened, their places should be verified that they have what they say they have. They should not be allowed to have friends and family review them, as there is an entire guide online www.airbnbsecrets.com, for hosts on how to basically deceive and rip off their guests. I’m left at a loss for words, loss of money, and bed bugs to deal with. I’ve dealt with enough, I certainly do not need this. Airbnb needs to be shut down. Thanks for reading.

The bed was disgusting (see picture) and we had to wash the linen's just to go to bed (fortunately they had a washer/dryer). The backyard was not really usable (see picture) and overall cleanliness maybe a 2. Wrote a review and Airbnb did NOT post and only has posted the so called 5 star reviews. Not sure if Superhost means that they can pick and choose what reviews are posted but this was nowhere near a 5 star stay --- really 1+ star to be brutally honest and we have stayed at a number of VRBO type properties in the past - also only stayed 3 nights. Really was done with the place after 1 night but it was a holiday weekend and would have had to turn right around and drive 300 miles home.

Fast forward to this morning when I receive an email from Airbnb that my account is indeed permanently deactivated and the decision will not be reversed. I've currently been on hold with their Customer Service department for 20 minutes and counting to find out why. I was originally told on the phone that even though the email I received this morning stated that the decision was final and would not be reversed, that the decision had, in fact, not been finalized yet. Then I was put on hold where I've been waiting for 20 minutes. Not only was my reservation cancelled in a city where properties are booked out months in advance, and not only has my refund been issued and "could take up to 15 days to appear", but I've also wasted more than two hours of my time trying to resolve this issue with this company. UPDATE - After waiting 20 minutes to speak to a supervisor I was hung up on.

We are 6 very well traveled adults. We were not loud, messy or causing problems. We have stayed in Airbnbs all over the world. Never any issues. If our Super Host had acknowledged the issue and made an attempt to resolve it we would not have complained. She didn’t and we did. At 6:00 pm we were notified by Airbnb that we needed to comply and be out that night. AIRBNB sent us 6 listings to "help us find other accommodations" - all of them were booked. At 10:00 pm, as we were moving out, someone at AIRBNB realized this would cost our host her super status and they wanted to try and “resolve” the issue. 10:00 at night and they are worried about the host - not that our vacation was ruined and not that we now had to get 3 rooms at 218.00/room/night.

AIRBNB assured us that we would be able to write a review that the host could not change or hide. We just received notice from AIRBNB that we are blocked from writing a review - so we cannot let anyone else know there is a bug infestation in the bed. Just a note - our “super host” doesn’t dispute there are bugs in the bed. She disputes that we made the complaint about it. So - AIRBNB knows that they have guests right now sleeping in a bed that is infested with wood beetles and they have blocked us from writing a review.

They make their own rules and regulations, as they go and please them in order to gain more money. They realize, the harm that they are doing to innocent people but they do not care at all. They just want to make sure that you pay a lot more money in order for them to gain more. Who they think are fooling? These underpaid homeless lowlife **. I hope, I was able to help someone else with my review. Thank you for reading it.

Host gave us used toiletries including used toothpaste for our use. Kitchen was supposed to be fully equipped with cookware but none in sight. After we had been in the apartment for about 30 minutes our 5 year old finds a used tampon applicator in the sofa cushion. We contact the host and Airbnb. Host agrees to give us our money back but we are still out the cleaning fee plus two nights fee. It is terrible that under these circumstances we had to pay anything. Disheartening when you save up for vacation and think you have the cost of a place to stay covered prior to your vacation.

After 100 e-mails back and forth and 5 phones calls they have absolutely no tools whatsoever to fix the issue. Finally after 3 days of them telling me to “log in and change her password” for which we could not login - I finally bought the room she wanted before it was booked by someone else. They didn’t even have the ability to offer me a $20 credit for all the hassles and frustration and for the referral code we tried to utilize. Use Booking.com and Hotels.com. I will never ever use this company again!!! DO NOT USE AIRBNB!!! (This is the first review I have ever written about a company.) Ever.

The garden was covered with artificial grass and broken chairs, not a garden at all. It is close to the beach which is the only plus. Service fee charged of $110.84 and for what? That is on top of $85 .24 for cleaning. First, why Airbnb do not check what the renters provide for advertised accuracy? Why Airbnb will not let any of the guest, other than the one that made the reservation, submit review of the place. All considered the place do not worth $852.45 + $110.84 service fee + $85.24 cleaning fee for two nights. If I could give minus stars I would.

We thought it seemed too good to be true but found out later that was the case. Ok, here's where the horror story came into play. We were so excited we make a request to book the property and checked our email the next day to find it was booked. We were so excited to see the title of our email showing success. When we read the email we found to our horror that the property was outside of the United States. It was in Canada! How can this be when the search criteria was supposed to return New York state properties. We don't have any travel documents to go outside of the country.

We contacted Airbnb and they made up a story that the host lost $900 for a long term stay. Sure, and I have bridge in Brooklyn I want to sell!!! They issued us a partial refund but we lost $161.50 in the scam being run by the host called "Anita". The attached screenshots show the search results and the fake ratings on this property. Beware of the host called "Anita" with a property title "Cozy townhouse near the falls". It's outside of the United States!

Out of my seven days of vacation I have spent six of them dealing with fixing problems and asking for some form of compensation for our troubles, I've been trying to work these issues out with the host and not getting Airbnb involved any further. I was in no way trying to get the host in hot water. Macie has contacted me every morning to see how my negotiations were going and has offered to help. Again I was hoping to work it out with the host and not bring a third party into it. Unfortunately I have not been able to work it out with Airbnb host and I have finally asked Macie to step in. The customer service at Airbnb has been nothing but incredible!

I was boarding the plane to NOLA when I got a phone call from two of the girls saying they aren't staying at the house. Their Uber driver said it's a VERY dangerous part of town and is considered the projects. I googled it later and found out it's the 2nd largest housing project in the city. There were boarded up houses on the street (something I could not have known). When they arrived at the house, two men drinking from paper bags across the street started catcalling them and made them feel very uncomfortable. There was only one other review posted before me and the guy said that the neighborhood was "worn down". I didn't want to base my stay on one review, but looking back I should have.

I immediately contacted the owner and said we did not feel comfortable staying there and we would be staying somewhere else. I ended up paying a fortune for a hotel last minute. Usually a hotel would make you pay for that first night and give you the rest of the money back. Nope... not nasty Alia. She wouldn't even give me back the $130 cleaning fee. She blamed the boarded up houses on hurricane Katrina which happened 13 years ago! Alia also had Airbnb block me from leaving a review because I was never inside the house! My friends did not enter the house, just parked the car in the driveway and then left after being harassed. After 2 months of arguing with Airbnb's ** support, they blocked me from messaging them and closed the case. I lost over a grand and was blocked from leaving an honest review. SAVE YOUR TIME... DON'T STAY HERE OR USE AIRBNB.

We arrived and the place was not as depicted. It was in an old rundown building. The host said he would meet us there. Just buzz 1905. He may operate this place remotely which is scary in itself. When we arrived and pushed the code we were not buzzed in. Someone else was going in the front door to the building and let us in. We went up to the 19th floor and when the elevator opened it was a dingy hallway. The door was open. We looked inside and it was filthy. Old bed linens and towels that were not clean. Dingy sheets on the windows. No balcony with a view. The balcony was a railing looking at the back buildings and next to nothing view of downtown Montreal. Plus you could not step on to the so called balcony as it was falling apart with all broken concrete. Construction lights for lights. No art on the wall as depicted in the pictures on AirBNB by an artist.

I’ve looked now after this incident and this host got quite a few images for his listing from Google Images. We were scared as this place did not look safe and there was no key or instructions at all. We actually feared for our lives. I called the host and again he never picked up just a voicemail in some strange language and it wasn’t French. Thank goodness the person that picked us up at the airport came up and was able to witness what we had walked into. We had paid AirBNB $1,733.05 for 5 days for this place. We immediately went back down into the lobby and called AirBNB to tell them of our problem as if there was a problem you had to call AirBNB within 24 hours. A woman who was a tenant (and saw how frantic we were) informed us that these apartments were not to be rented on AirBNB but someone was doing it and we were not the first ones to be scammed.

The person who was on the first call in Customer Support at AirBNB by the name of Joseph ** (not sure if that was his real name he was giving me as all other other Customer Support people went by first name and last initial) assured us that we would be refunded 100% of what we paid. He was going to call me right back. He never did. Then I got a series of communications from AirBNB Customer Support over the next few days saying my issue was being escalated but seeing I didn't get pictures, they probably could not get me the money back as the host had a 100% non refundable cancellation fee. Joseph also told me that the cancellation was in effect immediately as we were not staying at all in the place. My concern was our safety and calling AirBNB, not getting pictures.

Besides, even people that have sent pictures to AirBNB don't get their money back as the host has to agree to a refund. This host hides behind a non refundable cancellation fee as he knows this place is a dump but you cannot see it until you arrive. Plus he goes by the name on AirBNB as The Greatest. He does not put a profile picture up of himself.

Now in hindsight this should have been a warning sign but we thought with all his over 300 reviews and being verified by AirBNB as a SuperHost we were protected. I trusted AirBNB had done their homework on this fellow. Later after much investigation into the system of AirBNB, you as the Consumer are not protected at all. Plus they will not give you the money back. They want you to do your own fighting with the Host. Why do they put that they will not release the money to the Host until after 24 hours of your arrival in the event there is a problem. They knew we had a problem immediately with the misrepresentation by the host and they still released the money to him.

We were frantic as there were no accommodations in Montreal as it was Grand Prix weekend and everything was taken up. Our trip was ruined. We had booked this trip April 20 2018. The so called Stephane had left a few messages for me through AirBNB when he knew we had discovered how deplorable the place was that I should not expect the Fairmount and just look at his reviews (which I believe are fake) and he stated he also left water and soda on the table just like a hotel. We made a few contacts and they were calling family members and friends to see if they knew of a place we could stay. We had to basically live out of our suitcases for 5 days as different people put us up each day.

We are business people and never in all of our travels have we encountered such a devastating experience. We barely slept at all in those 5 days with worry and the knowledge we were frauded. Plus AirBNB Customer Support is a badly broken system as there really is no Customer Support that will work for the Customer/Guest. You get one Customer Support message that they are escalating your issue and another Customer Manager will respond shortly. Their shift ended so someone new comes on the next shift and the same message. They just waste your time until you discover that, and bring it to their attention that they are not doing anything for you but wasting your time.

I even had a Customer Support person tell me to go back to the original place. It was a roof over our head as our reservation was still open as I hadn't cancelled which shocked me as Joseph the original person I spoke with assured me it was cancelled right away. I had to go cancel it again on Friday, 2 days after our arrival. We could have been robbed or even worse, bodily harm but the Customer Support person tells me to go back to the original place and put ourselves in harm's way. There is no way we were going to do that. Then you get a message that this Customer Support Issue has now been closed and you cannot respond any further.

My last ditch effort was going to the link that Customer Support previously sent me, just before they closed my case, to request a refund from the host. They said the most I could ask for from him was $1,458.88 as AirBNB took the rest for their fees which I suppose they won't reimburse. I just tried that this morning and filled out the form for $1,458.88 and just before you go to send, the amount that comes up is you are requesting $1.45 back from your host. I kept trying to go back. I typed the right amount but AirBNB populated in only $1.45. This whole thing is a scam by the looks of it to me.

I looked online on AirBNB and the place we rented from The Greatest was called “The Magic” Dream Downtown Flat. I see “The Magic” is no longer on there or it could be listed in another location, but this person has a listing as “The Splendid”. Same place, same host, and the map shown is the same map we had for “The Magic” on AirBNB. Apparently these scammers just close down one listing and put up another with a different name as AirBNB does not monitor them. It is still the same listing. I see The Greatest goes by the name of Lyle as well as Stephane. He may have other listings under other names. These untrustworthy people have found a way to hack into the system. I wanted to take the time to write this in the hopes of helping others from being deceived by this person. We will never use AirBNB again.

Also I request the opportunity to leave a review on the host portal so I could WARN other customer about this fraudulent host. The request was denied implying violation of AirB&B polices. The site will now post a note saying this host has canceled the stay, but wouldn't say the host intended to blackmail the customer for more money at the last minute before arrival. I have also requested AirB&B to block this fraudulent host from their site and the opportunity to discuss this issue with an AirB&B manager. THE REQUEST HAS BEEN IGNORED.

I'm a firm believer of AirB&B system, BUT THESE fraudulent and scam PROTECTIVE policies implemented by this site, make this a nontrustworthy site. I believe up to the extent allowed by law, AirB&B cover up for fraudulent activities, should be penalized and should be subject to dispute resolutions by law LIKE ANY OTHER BUSINESS. I also believe that being open and HONEST about fraudulent host, will maintain the site trust on check. Under current procedures AirB&B is a fraud and extortion protected haven for thefts. I don't understand how a business this size don't care about customers believing on what AirB&B has to offer. This is the first review I have write in my life and will post it on every site until AirB&B allow customers to expose fraudulent host and thefts that float in their site.

It turned out that the amount I paid for was in USD!! So when it was converted, it was higher than we thought. You couldn’t see if it was in USD and the agent was insisting that before I finalize the booking, it will show an option if it was in USD or CAD. I didn’t see that option. So just a warning, if you’re from another country aside from the US, make sure you got the right currency before you finalize your booking. And this option is right on the very bottom of the page, after the reviews on the right hand side and it’s really tiny!!!

So they had charged the difference between the original credit voucher and the original price I paid, then a new charge that I was not aware of. I have tried to discuss this with their Airbnb support system, but after a few messages, they are no longer responding to me. Most likely due to me unable to produce any evidence that I was issued a credit voucher other than my credit card statement with the two charges. Unfortunately I had not thought to print screen when I was confirming the booking to show they had automatically deducted and stated the amount of the credit voucher. So just a warning to be very careful in the future, when you get cancelled on, there is no protection, be careful when rebooking and they offer a credit voucher, you must take photographic records because they will charge you for this voucher without your warning.

I tried to text Sam, but he uses a one way text, so he can only send me information, and not receive anything I send. I went to the Airbnb rental site, which took a while, because my service did not work well in the city. We called Sam. He did not answer. I saw no other obvious phone number on the rental site on my mobile app that I could call. It was getting later, so we had the Uber take us to a hotel. About an hour later Sam called. He told us to leave the hotel and head back to his place. By then we had checked in. There was no "sorry for your trouble", or "let me compensate you one night and we’ll fix this tomorrow". He just took our money, and refused to give any refund.

When I was finally able to contact Airbnb (their holds are similar to AT&T holds... very long), the first guy passed me through to the second person, who didn’t even try to negotiate a solution. She said we should have contacted Airbnb while standing on the darkening street with limited cellular, and they would have eventually found someone for us to talk to. As I said, I did not see the Airbnb number on the rental page. I did not find the number until I could get on wireless with my computer. Very frustrated, I told Airbnb I would file a small claims court case. They then accused me of extortion. Apparently, you are not entitled to legal recourse in the Oligarch land of Airbnb.

I will NEVER use Airbnb again. I have used VBRO many times, and have never had such a negative experience. What I will tell others who want to use Airbnb is that I highly recommend they do two things: the following 1) Read the Airbnb customer policy (you will find as a renter you have no rights, and little recourse). And 2) Call Airbnb customer support on a weekend night and see how long it takes for you to get through should you have an issue with your host. 3) Do not believe any of the Airbnb reviews (negative reviews typically aren't posted, or the owner renames his rental).

I called the owner of the home and she claimed to not know what was going on or if I had a reservation. Lastly, my brother got an Airbnb for my mom and daughter going to NYC. The guy emailed them to say that the rate they'd booked was in the "high" season and was misquoted, so he needed more money to keep their reservation. RIP. OFF. Do NOT plan your vacation around these people! Have a backup plan! Now I can't even get into a campsite and everything else costs 5x what it did when I made my reservation. So, I'll be sleeping in my car. THANKS AIRBNB!

I did show documentation regarding the move in date to my new home. The host and Airbnb were both in agreement I should only get 50% refund. The host was still able to rent her place after I canceled so she not only received my other 50% and was still able to rent it out during those dates. Good way to really bring in the money. Both parties had no regards to what would be a stressful move. I'm 61. My husband is 69. Moving overall is stressful. No regards at all.

I live in a family neighborhood but now am looking at moving elsewhere due to the increase in car thefts, burglaries and sketchy people who are now being attracted to the Airbnb's. Airbnb employees are becoming billionaires and millionaires at the expense of homeowners who care deeply about their neighborhoods and my property values are falling due to fall out from Airbnb's renters who normally would never be in my neighborhood. Airbnb needs to be shut down. It is ruining my family's life and the lives of tens of thousands of other homeowners who want to live in a peaceful and stable environment.

They don't care that their hosts have hidden fees or break their rules. If you have a case manager for any reason, just forget it and call your credit card company dispute the charges because you will never see your money unless you actually do something. Airbnb is out for your money and doesn't give two ** about your concerns or issues that go on with the process. If you are going to book with someone please please, I beg you make sure you ask all the questions about grills, and the whole aspect of paying someone to use their home. They cannot charge you for a service dog which the first host tried to do. ** THIS **!!! ** AIRBNB!!! I hope everyone learns from my mistake, go somewhere else with your business or else you will have extra charges on your account and you won't have a good experience with them either.

Perfect if that’s how you treat your customers. You guys don’t deal with fact but just with evidence? Did you even ask Krystal what I have mentioned is true or not? Isn’t that evidence? I believe even she couldn’t deny it! I reserve my right to take legal actions and will definitively post this incident on every single public websites I could think of. This is just doing whoever will choose Airbnb I favor. Just let them see your company’s true ugly face!

It has cost me over $2500 in treatment, and Airbnb claims they will only give me $150 after a final inspection. This is completely stupid of them since a dog costs $400 to inspect your house, heat treatment is the only guaranteed way to remove bugs and they will not list your home again until you pay for all of this. I have had my house heat treated, which is a huge process, and guaranteed to kill off the bugs. Further they put Apprehend down to make sure they do not come back if someone brings them in again. But Airbnb is so stupid they have no idea that is the best known treatment and still wants more money spent and will only give me $150. Had it not been for Airbnb, I would never have this issue. The girl who brought the bugs was given $500/night to stay at a hotel for up to 3 nights! Lucky hotel owners! Worst customer service, will never host through them again, too much liability.

On April 17th, the day before we were due to get on a plane, Airbnb canceled my reservation. The reason was that I had been CHARGED with a felony in 2014. Although I was NEVER convicted and am NOT a felon, they canceled my reservation. They didn't ask any questions. After booking 4 months in advance, my reservation gets canceled the day before my trip and all support told me was that there was nothing they could do. I had already received a welcome message including the code to unlock the door from the owner. Regardless of the policy Airbnb has regarding their ability to choose which backgrounds to accept, they had 4 full months to inform me but did so the day before.

As mentioned this is a full year after my first stay in an Airbnb. I was later told that my account would be permanently deactivated so I could no longer dispute this matter. To say this was an inconvenience is a huge understatement. I was tasked with trying to find a place to stay for a week for 4 people with less than 24 hours notice across the country. Because of this I would never use Airbnb again even if I could and I also make sure all of my friends know of this horrible and unprofessional treatment.

An Airbnb supervisor let me know that claims of bed bugs are grounds for IMMEDIATE cancellation of reservations for 1 month and a refund to all those customers. Now, the listing is STILL UP and they’re protecting that host like a guard dog. I will not force 14 of us to stay there so I will be out $2700 because Airbnb doesn’t want to do the right thing. Airbnb made $93 million in profits. Some of that profit probably from situations just like mine. Share this story!!! I don’t want anyone else to have to go through this EVER. Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky states that his company values “COMPASSION.” Is this compassionate towards their customers? I don’t think so.

My host asked me to cancel twice so she can keep her super host status and not be charge with the cancellation fee. On top of it all, if I had agree, I wouldn't have got my refund. I feel like not being able to leave a honest review of the host's dishonesty and preference of customer stays puts the consumers at risk. Reviews are meant to be helpful in both ways, so Consumers can make a choice base on their opinions.

I took photos of the holes in the walls, the broken window, the grimy shower and sink, the mattresses in the "dining room", the well established cobwebs in the lounge, the empty curtain rail facing for the window facing the road, the filthy kitchen mat and the cement bag in the "dining room". Unfortunately, we dusted the bedside table after arriving so I couldn't take a pic of the thick layer of dust. The fact is that this house is incredibly old and run down and requires some serious attention. To make matters worse, the host, Jason, hadn't left the wifi code so we were unable to contact our friends who lived in Kitchener.

I was confident that submitting these photos to Airbnb would have meant a full refund but was sorely disappointed. They did not deem the problems to be serious and refused to give us a refund. They gave us a tiny compensation after many messages of complaint and refused to call me or allow me to speak to a manager. This is a disgrace and serious loss to us financially as newcomers in a country where we have no employment as yet. I hope nobody else experiences this by making a reservation through Airbnb and at Jason's "dump site" at 722 Queen Street, Kitchener.

Three strikes and you are out. That appears to be four, so we stayed too long. We told Airbnb we wanted our money back and we were leaving. They want us to try to resolve the situation with the host. I'm not sure what there is to resolve. We are not looking for something cleaner or a light bulb replaced. This is incredible unsafe. What if we were attacked by the roommate upon entry? She clearly was threatened by our presence as a young petite female. You could hear the shaking of her voice. We chose to leave and book a hotel for the next four nights. They plan to charge us full price including the days we are not staying.

The Customer Service people are not sufficiently qualified to comprehend what is going on and simply reiterate their claim that the guest is verified but have offered no explanation of how a host is supposed to figure that out. Sorry, but as a retired military person, one doesn't just take someone's word for thing. Trust but verify? Airbnb Customer Service lacks the ability or mental capacity to comprehend that though. At any rate, because of Airbnb's threatening and punitive actions, I am slowly delisting all our rooms. It's a shame, as without fail, all of our guest have been laudatory and enjoyed their stay, most simply stating that they were surprised by the quality of care shown by us as hosts. Whatever, life goes on without Airbnb.

In their reviews, they exaggerate, fabricate, defame and fail to accurately portray events. They also lie by omission. I called to make a formal complaint, however I still have a horrible opinion of this business because of the duplicity of many of the hosts as well as open discrimination of a single mother with a toddler. Leaves one to wonder: is it the caliber of people that want to "host" or is it an inside company policy that permits a Jekyll and Hyde approach to business.

I then went looking for the well hidden "HELP" tab on the Airbnb website. Honestly, it's as if they do not want you to find out how to communicate with them. I submitted a message with my problem and about 18 hours later I received an email containing a "form letter" response that had NOTHING to do with my particular problem. Additionally Airbnb "closed" the case, making it impossible for me to respond to the thread. Their message to me was clear, "We sent you an email, we really don't care about your problem, now please shut up."

Coincidentally, about 18 hours later, the property owner started emailing me, telling me the property was available and asking me if I NOW wanted to book it. In conclusion, Airbnb makes it very difficult to ask a simple question and receive assistance, while letting their customers know the company has absolutely no intention of offering any kind of quality customer service. I have deleted my Airbnb account.

We were in shock & disbelief that a host with such stellar feedback & super host status would stoop so low to exploit a client for extra money! They should be ASHAMED of themselves to do this to their guests! Airbnb staff investigated and unveiled the truth that their invoice was INDEED FAKE! In the end Airbnb REFUNDED us for that horrible stay. BEWARE!!! Don't get trapped by staying in one of their Montreal properties!

Luckily I had taken photos of the place the night we were leaving to help our case otherwise we may not have been so lucky in Airbnb to not give into the host. However again the next day after Airbnb had said we weren’t responsible; they charged our credit card for the same amount of $360 requested by the host so we had to notify credit card company we did not authorize this. Too scary to agree to their terms of service and not given a chance to do some sort of walkthrough checklist upon arrival and leaving.

They put me on hold for a bit longer. They came back and said they would have to cancel the entire reservation and rebook it with the seller if I wanted to pay part of the balance with gift card. I had already signed contracts with the owner, etc. They didn't care. On top of that, they are making at least $100 of the $500 reservation in fees, based on the contract from the owner. $100 should buy some level of service, but not with Airbnb. First and last time using Airbnb.

Airbnb has not helped at all despite me having a record of all of the messages between us. They said if he rebooks it then I can get a refund. No one in their right mind would travel all the way to Paris to stay in a place under renovation, unsafe for their kids and with fewer beds than advertised. Airbnb should be reversing the charges ASAP but have been no help at all. This is my first time ever using them and I will never use them again. DON'T BOOK THROUGH AIRBNB, THEY ARE A SCAM!

We checked in at 11 pm in the night and reported the next day morning around 7 am. Airbnb refunded only 1/2 of the night price of the unstayed nights. Although it is clear mistake from the Airbnb, they did not ready to pay the full refund. I had to cancel the booking anyway as it was not child safety apartment. We expected a pleasant stay in the San Diego downtown, we paid 3 star hotel price for this apartment, finally ended with the bad experience and lost $400/- simply to Airbnb. I won't consider Airbnb for my future bookings and also don't recommend to friends.

Updated on 04/15/2018: Multiple issues, main thing I’d like people to know about is their communication issue. While attempting to work out an issue with my reservation, I was told I would be called back by a supervisor when none were available during my conversation with a case manager. The call never came. I called back the next day and again was told a supervisor wasn’t available, but that one would call me back later in the evening. That call never came. I called back the next day, same thing. Each time I was apologized to and promised it wouldn’t happen again. Finally, three days late I received an email stating that a final decision on my case was made and they were terminating communication. Cowardly decision by the supervisor to resort to email to deliver the case verdict (which I vehemently disagree with and am considering legal action for).

We were looking forward to this review because Airbnb had not sent any business our way in over two years. While we are getting consistent 5 star reviews through VRBO (HomeAway) and TripAvisor (Flipkey), the staff at Airbnb continues to tell me that something is wrong with my listing. It's somehow not appealing to viewers! BS!

It is my personal belief that Airbnb had blacklisted me for complaining to a guest several years ago (via conversations on the website) about the website's unusual policies. After that conversation my reservation requests from Airbnb STOPPED...for 3 years! Nothing! This past month as if by magic I suddenly got 3 reservation requests within 2 weeks. I guess my punishment is over and I've been released for my misdeeds. This is not to mention the user-unfriendliness of the website itself. Trying to navigate that website, for an owner at least, is next to impossible. Bottom line is this...our vacation rental is booming through websites like VRBO and TripAdvisor among some others. If Airbnb decides my property is again worth the commission $$ that they get from their travelers then maybe they'll forgive my egregious behaviour!

I was told by Airbnb that her account is on hold therefore I cannot contact her. Surprisingly I have the app on my phone. I have all the email and respondings from host and Airbnb. No one could help me find another for the same price and same location after I was grilled like I committed a murder. I thought people make mistakes and should be given chances. I reserved another place for the 4th of July week on another location which PCB Florida just simply for adults and couples, friends who just need to spend time together. Well what do you know I get another email stating that I have been canceled by the host. The host Judy was told to reach out to me and apologize and said why, ”the listing was being worked on and was not supposed to published”. So I called the customer service and demand this time that they own up to their mistake.

“Kyle” Airbnb support stated that we need to figure out what went wrong in my part and that Judy is a liar! Kinda strong accusation. I emailed Judy that accusation but for some reason this apologetic host or condo owner no longer exist. No picture, no condo, no nothing. I corresponded with Kyle who urge me to call my Credit card company to see if they paid the half of the amount required to reserved the condo, I argued the fact that Airbnb is refunding the money to my credit card according to my account but it will take a few days. How in the world would you refund a money that has not been received!

Kyle has attached other places that are still available but nowhere near the price and not even on the beach! It’s so ridiculous that I have to explain to friends that I don’t have a place for us to stay when the prices has been split and agreed upon. I am so embarrassed and Airbnb made a fool out of me once again. I offered to have a lawyer because Kyle is wasting my time. Consumer, guest and host shall file a lawsuits which I’m sure there plenty out there already or maybe we need to get the media to do investigative reports on Airbnb!

Second scenario (this was a different booking) - we decided to cancel a reservation if the host was willing to refund in full. Since it was 5 months out, host said no problem. We had also called Airbnb to see if we could get a refund of cancellation fees if the host said yes or just give us a credit on a new booking (called them prior to canceling just to make sure). They said yes, should not be a problem just call them if we do cancel. Well what do you think happened when we called back? They were refusing to give us the credit, had to call three times. Thank god I had the original persons name/ID who told us "shouldn't be a problem" and only after speaking to a manager 3rd attempt were we refunded. My final complaint is how long they make you wait on the phone to talk to someone or do anything. Average call with Airbnb takes 30 minutes, what a joke. I am using VRBO from now on.

I wish that this had been stated more clearly in Airbnb's policy. I also want to know why in the hell it took two months, and a day before my flight leaves, for me to get all of these notifications. I'm not arguing with their policy just the fact that they were clearly unresponsive and irresponsible. How does your business function with a model like this? I would just get a hotel. We found a 4 star for the same price this morning.

I contacted the host and Airbnb and specifically told them they needed to contact the person in Italy with the keys. Why would I even have them when the host stated he could not be there for checkout. A few hours went by and received another nasty message from the host. He claimed that the door was left opened and the place was trashed. How ironic he just billed me for $500.00 for a missing key and now the door is magically unlocked. I received so many different stories from the host I don't know what to believe. Lesson learned. I will just use Booking or just Google a reputable place to stay in the future. I was fortunate to take pictures before I left to counter any damage claims. I take pictures of everything. Rental cars, hotel rooms, etc. Just in case...