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I'll add to this as well. I've had two incidents over the past year. 1. I rented a place and was told that I could check-in whenever. When I got there, the key

I'll add to this as well. I've had two incidents over the past year. 1. I rented a place and was told that I could check-in whenever. When I got there, the key wasn't available and I wasn't able to contact the host. I was essentially just standing around for three hours waiting for Airbnb to respond. Apparently, you can contact them, but it's extremely difficult to call them if you're international unless you want to pay for roaming, which I doubt they would compensate you for, so I had to wait for case managers to reply to my email. After fiddling around with my phone for a while, I managed to install Skype, sign up for some credits, and call them. It was resolved within an hour after that, but the non-savvy tech user would probably have a lot more trouble. 2. The second incident was when I went to an Airbnb and the electricity wasn't working, the roads were closed off for 3 blocks to the apartment due to construction. I paid for a week's stay, but I immediately left since this wasn't disclosed in the listing. By the evening, I was fed up with the problems, so I left to another Airbnb. I contacted Airbnb, again through email support, since that was all they offer and they told me I could not get a refund since I was past their 24-hour cancellation policy. After going through numerous emails and case managers, I never received my money back based off of a technicality. Their response was that I should have contacted them immediately... but they don't make it easy to contact them.

dhimes 8y ago
Their response was that I should have contacted them immediately... but they don't make it easy to contact them. Companies like this should be left to die.
- techslave 8y ago
  it's good to hear the horror stories like this. here's hoping they IPO so I can short them! seriously, companies like this are not long for this world.
  - gamma-male 8y ago
    They change the way people travel in a good way. I wouldn't be so hateful towards them.
    - DyslexicAtheist 8y ago
      AirBNB and anything the sharing economy produces is never good for humans. These companies are just proprietary algorithms extracting money on the back of the poor. They should be burned with fire.
      - bdamm 8y ago
        I like them. I use them for business trips, and at $150/ni for a good room near the San Jose HQ that I need to visit vs $450/ni for an acceptable hotel room, the value is immensely clear. Of course, when the hotel rate is within $50-$100 of the AirBNB room, I'll happily pay the additional upcharge for the convenience and consistency of a hotel. And if I'm traveling in particularly unfamiliar terrain, I'll pay even more just so I can talk to the concierge and enjoy the security that the hotel offers. AirBNB and competitors like Vacasa are a good thing. AirBNB's practice of making it impossible to ask an open-ended question, however, is braindead, and unless they fix those kinds of issues, the business will be deservedly overtaken by better followers.
      - enoch_r 8y ago
        Our family of four (2 small kids) needs to travel across the US three times a year. I'm fairly sure we're all humans, although the jury is still out on our youngest. :) For these trips we stay exclusively in AirBnBs. They are much cheaper, much more comfortable, they have room for our kids to play, and we get access to a kitchen so we can have relatively cheap home cooked meals rather than eating out 3x a day. That's not to say we haven't had bad experiences. Once we had a combination of thin walls/floors, a downstairs neighbor who was very sensitive to noise, and a one year old who didn't yet know how to tiptoe (we did our best and didn't get any more complaints after the first, but it was a fairly uncomfortable thing to have to worry about). We've stayed in not-great neighborhoods. One kitchen looked fine in pictures but didn't have knives or cutting boards or a single unbroken pot, which made the "cooking at home" options less appealing. The variance of quality in AirBNBs is much higher than that of hotels. But even with these negative experiences, we're still staying in AirBNBs because it's still much, much better than the alternatives. Declaring that no value is produced by AirBNB or similar companies might be emotionally satisfying, but it's not true.
  - Swenrekcah 8y ago
    Be careful, how long could you short Comcast and United Airlines?
tomp 8y ago
> I never received my money back based off of a technicality That's why try to always pay with credit card (preferably Amex).
- saagarjha 8y ago
  And what, do a chargeback? That's a very easy way to get banned for life from the platform.
  - thatoneuser 8y ago
    So? The guy paid for a week of unusable living. Why would you want to be on that platform?
  - DyslexicAtheist 8y ago
    good riddance!
- rickyc091 8y ago
  Actually, I tried to file a chargeback with Amex! They declined it since they said the cancellation of policy was set to "strict" https://www.airbnb.com/home/cancellation_policies#strict-with-grace-period https://www.airbnb.com/home/cancellation_policies#strict-wit.... > If the guest cancels less than 7 days in advance or decides to leave early after check-in, the nights not spent are not refunded. ^ I basically got hit with that rule. ---- Edit: Wanted to add that I'm pretty sure AMEX has a partnership with Airbnb since I always notice the promotional deals pop up. Spend $200, get $50 back.
  - tomp 8y ago
    Interesting, I'm disappointed by AMEX... What about this part? > this wasn't disclosed in the listing Isn't that basically "false advertising" or "bought something and got a different item"? I thought credit cards/AMEX would cover that... anyhow, very disappointing.
  - nojvek 8y ago
    Strict cancellation is just a scam. Airbnb is asking you to spend thousands of dollars on something you haven’t even seen with your eyes. Their pictures are notoriously decieving with the wide angle HDR shots. It’s just really hard to find a quality place on Airbnb amongst all the noise. They come nowhere close to the customer obsession Amazon has.
gamma-male 8y ago
Last time this happened to me I just went to a hotel and asked them to reimburse me (I had to argue but they ended up doing the right thing)
speby 8y ago
>I rented a place and was told that I could check-in whenever. When I got there, the key wasn't available and I wasn't able to contact the host. This. This happened to me one time and from there on, I will not bother with it again. My time and my travel logistics plus standing around with luggage or whatever else, is worth paying for a proper hotel to never have to deal with that ever again.
- chii 8y ago
  The reviews should have some warnings about this sort of behaviour, if it's consistently a problem with the host. I've used Airbnb many times and have never had an issue. Make sure you only use hosts with good reviews.
danols 8y ago
The place you booked did not have electricity and you did not get a refund for the prepaid week? I almost find that hard to believe. There must be something I don't understand here.
- rickyc091 8y ago
  Sorry, the electricity was out when I arrived. The host told us it was just temporarily due to the construction outside and the neighbors confirmed it was happening a lot throughout the last few weeks. We were never told about this problem. I didn't want to deal with no electricity on and off so I left.
mtnGoat 8y ago
Id of called my credit card company and filed a chargeback. The credit card associations have more power than Airbnb every dreamt of. Always call the man that controls the money.
- steve_adams_86 8y ago
  Unfortunately this doesn't work in my experience. The credit card company will absolutely back you if you've been sold bad goods or services, but they seem to need to see evidence that you've already done your due diligence in trying to recover the money yourself. The evidence needs to show that the seller isn't willing to reimburse you. I find email works best for this. The last time I encountered this was with Air Transat. I had to submit my twitter and email correspondence to my Visa provider. I was never issued tickets but I spent nearly $3k on my card, then had to do it AGAIN so I'd get tickets in time for my trip. So I went on my trip missing pretty much all of my spending money, and Transat and Visa were both just playing a waiting game for the entire two weeks. Thankfully my accommodations were paid for in advance and food in Puerto Vallarta is delicious and cheap. I didn't get my money until about 3 months after they took it from me. I've heard Mastercard will do chargebacks with no questions asked, but I've never actually done it.
tdeck 8y ago
In situations like this it might be a good idea to file a chargeback. You have a lot of leverage as a cardholder.

dhimes 8y ago

Their response was that I should have contacted them immediately... but they don't make it easy to contact them. Companies like this should be left to die.

techslave 8y ago
it's good to hear the horror stories like this. here's hoping they IPO so I can short them! seriously, companies like this are not long for this world.
- gamma-male 8y ago
  They change the way people travel in a good way. I wouldn't be so hateful towards them.
  - DyslexicAtheist 8y ago
    AirBNB and anything the sharing economy produces is never good for humans. These companies are just proprietary algorithms extracting money on the back of the poor. They should be burned with fire.
    - bdamm 8y ago
      I like them. I use them for business trips, and at $150/ni for a good room near the San Jose HQ that I need to visit vs $450/ni for an acceptable hotel room, the value is immensely clear. Of course, when the hotel rate is within $50-$100 of the AirBNB room, I'll happily pay the additional upcharge for the convenience and consistency of a hotel. And if I'm traveling in particularly unfamiliar terrain, I'll pay even more just so I can talk to the concierge and enjoy the security that the hotel offers. AirBNB and competitors like Vacasa are a good thing. AirBNB's practice of making it impossible to ask an open-ended question, however, is braindead, and unless they fix those kinds of issues, the business will be deservedly overtaken by better followers.
    - enoch_r 8y ago
      Our family of four (2 small kids) needs to travel across the US three times a year. I'm fairly sure we're all humans, although the jury is still out on our youngest. :) For these trips we stay exclusively in AirBnBs. They are much cheaper, much more comfortable, they have room for our kids to play, and we get access to a kitchen so we can have relatively cheap home cooked meals rather than eating out 3x a day. That's not to say we haven't had bad experiences. Once we had a combination of thin walls/floors, a downstairs neighbor who was very sensitive to noise, and a one year old who didn't yet know how to tiptoe (we did our best and didn't get any more complaints after the first, but it was a fairly uncomfortable thing to have to worry about). We've stayed in not-great neighborhoods. One kitchen looked fine in pictures but didn't have knives or cutting boards or a single unbroken pot, which made the "cooking at home" options less appealing. The variance of quality in AirBNBs is much higher than that of hotels. But even with these negative experiences, we're still staying in AirBNBs because it's still much, much better than the alternatives. Declaring that no value is produced by AirBNB or similar companies might be emotionally satisfying, but it's not true.
- Swenrekcah 8y ago
  Be careful, how long could you short Comcast and United Airlines?

tomp 8y ago

> I never received my money back based off of a technicality That's why try to always pay with credit card (preferably Amex).

saagarjha 8y ago
And what, do a chargeback? That's a very easy way to get banned for life from the platform.
- thatoneuser 8y ago
  So? The guy paid for a week of unusable living. Why would you want to be on that platform?
- DyslexicAtheist 8y ago
  good riddance!
rickyc091 8y ago
Actually, I tried to file a chargeback with Amex! They declined it since they said the cancellation of policy was set to "strict" https://www.airbnb.com/home/cancellation_policies#strict-with-grace-period https://www.airbnb.com/home/cancellation_policies#strict-wit.... > If the guest cancels less than 7 days in advance or decides to leave early after check-in, the nights not spent are not refunded. ^ I basically got hit with that rule. ---- Edit: Wanted to add that I'm pretty sure AMEX has a partnership with Airbnb since I always notice the promotional deals pop up. Spend $200, get $50 back.
- tomp 8y ago
  Interesting, I'm disappointed by AMEX... What about this part? > this wasn't disclosed in the listing Isn't that basically "false advertising" or "bought something and got a different item"? I thought credit cards/AMEX would cover that... anyhow, very disappointing.
- nojvek 8y ago
  Strict cancellation is just a scam. Airbnb is asking you to spend thousands of dollars on something you haven’t even seen with your eyes. Their pictures are notoriously decieving with the wide angle HDR shots. It’s just really hard to find a quality place on Airbnb amongst all the noise. They come nowhere close to the customer obsession Amazon has.

gamma-male 8y ago

Last time this happened to me I just went to a hotel and asked them to reimburse me (I had to argue but they ended up doing the right thing)

speby 8y ago

>I rented a place and was told that I could check-in whenever. When I got there, the key wasn't available and I wasn't able to contact the host. This. This happened to me one time and from there on, I will not bother with it again. My time and my travel logistics plus standing around with luggage or whatever else, is worth paying for a proper hotel to never have to deal with that ever again.

chii 8y ago
The reviews should have some warnings about this sort of behaviour, if it's consistently a problem with the host. I've used Airbnb many times and have never had an issue. Make sure you only use hosts with good reviews.

danols 8y ago

The place you booked did not have electricity and you did not get a refund for the prepaid week? I almost find that hard to believe. There must be something I don't understand here.

rickyc091 8y ago
Sorry, the electricity was out when I arrived. The host told us it was just temporarily due to the construction outside and the neighbors confirmed it was happening a lot throughout the last few weeks. We were never told about this problem. I didn't want to deal with no electricity on and off so I left.

mtnGoat 8y ago

Id of called my credit card company and filed a chargeback. The credit card associations have more power than Airbnb every dreamt of. Always call the man that controls the money.

steve_adams_86 8y ago
Unfortunately this doesn't work in my experience. The credit card company will absolutely back you if you've been sold bad goods or services, but they seem to need to see evidence that you've already done your due diligence in trying to recover the money yourself. The evidence needs to show that the seller isn't willing to reimburse you. I find email works best for this. The last time I encountered this was with Air Transat. I had to submit my twitter and email correspondence to my Visa provider. I was never issued tickets but I spent nearly $3k on my card, then had to do it AGAIN so I'd get tickets in time for my trip. So I went on my trip missing pretty much all of my spending money, and Transat and Visa were both just playing a waiting game for the entire two weeks. Thankfully my accommodations were paid for in advance and food in Puerto Vallarta is delicious and cheap. I didn't get my money until about 3 months after they took it from me. I've heard Mastercard will do chargebacks with no questions asked, but I've never actually done it.

tdeck 8y ago

In situations like this it might be a good idea to file a chargeback. You have a lot of leverage as a cardholder.