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I had a similar experience to your last one. I was in a small house fire in a shared Airbnb. I left immediately. Airbnb wouldn’t compensate me because I didn’t

by bfirsh 8y ago

I had a similar experience to your last one. I was in a small house fire in a shared Airbnb. I left immediately. Airbnb wouldn’t compensate me because I didn’t take photos and the host claimed nothing had happened. (I was honestly too shaken to even think I would need evidence.) They gave me a $200 voucher which didn’t cover the time left in my stay. It is partially my fault for not getting evidence, but you’d think they would do more for somebody who, like you, has spent an awful lot of money on Airbnb. Unfortunately they often have the best apartments available in a city. I do still use them, but I’ll search alternate sites first.

philip1209 8y ago
The trouble is that, if you use any buyer protections available to you outside of the platform, you risk being banned for life. That to me seems unfair. For your case where they wanted evidence - what would have happened if you had no evidence, and ended up issuing a chargeback for "Services not provided? You would have been in the right, but probably would have been banned for life from Airbnb's system. The lack of competition and monopolistic nature makes this seem hostile to consumers.
- matte_black 8y ago
  There’s always ways to get around being banned.
- dhimes 8y ago
  if you use any buyer protections available to you outside of the platform, you risk being banned for life Could you elaborate a bit on this? I've not used airbnb but have a trip coming up and am reading this thread with great interest.
  - URSpider94 8y ago
    Specifically, if you charge back the stay on your credit card, which would get you a refund. I expect that if you do this, Airbnb will ban you from the platform.
    - ryandrake 8y ago
      Which is fine though, right? If I’m at the point in a dispute with a company where I’m invoking a credit card chargeback, I’m NEVER wanting to do business with them again, for any reason. I’ve always assumed chargeback == bridge burned. Why would you continue doing business with a company behaving badly?
      - llampx 8y ago
        When they're a big enough player that monopolizes the available inventory of holiday homes in a region or city you would be backing yourself into a corner by not having the option. Also, maybe tomorrow or next year they could be regulated or under new (better) management and you still wouldn't be able to use the platform.

by bfirsh 8y ago

philip1209 8y ago

The trouble is that, if you use any buyer protections available to you outside of the platform, you risk being banned for life. That to me seems unfair. For your case where they wanted evidence - what would have happened if you had no evidence, and ended up issuing a chargeback for "Services not provided? You would have been in the right, but probably would have been banned for life from Airbnb's system. The lack of competition and monopolistic nature makes this seem hostile to consumers.

matte_black 8y ago
There’s always ways to get around being banned.
dhimes 8y ago
if you use any buyer protections available to you outside of the platform, you risk being banned for life Could you elaborate a bit on this? I've not used airbnb but have a trip coming up and am reading this thread with great interest.
- URSpider94 8y ago
  Specifically, if you charge back the stay on your credit card, which would get you a refund. I expect that if you do this, Airbnb will ban you from the platform.
  - ryandrake 8y ago
    Which is fine though, right? If I’m at the point in a dispute with a company where I’m invoking a credit card chargeback, I’m NEVER wanting to do business with them again, for any reason. I’ve always assumed chargeback == bridge burned. Why would you continue doing business with a company behaving badly?
    - llampx 8y ago
      When they're a big enough player that monopolizes the available inventory of holiday homes in a region or city you would be backing yourself into a corner by not having the option. Also, maybe tomorrow or next year they could be regulated or under new (better) management and you still wouldn't be able to use the platform.