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How to lose $950 quickly on Airbnb

• jewelfrost 4y ago
  I've lost over $2000 AUD on Airbnb in a similar situation - month long stay, but the place was uninhabitable (dirt, insects, suspected blood on floor). I spoke to Airbnb on first night to cancel but they defaulted to 'Host's discretion' and the host said no. I'm not sure I was even able to leave a review telling others about my experience. I still use Airbnb but every time it feels like a massive gamble. They just don't care about customers at all.
• jewelfrost 4y ago
  I've lost over $2000 AUD on Airbnb in a similar situation - month long stay, but the place was uninhabitable (dirt, insects, suspected blood on floor). I spoke to Airbnb on first night to cancel but they defaulted to 'Host's discretion' and the host said no. I'm not sure I was even able to leave a review telling others about my experience. I still use Airbnb but every time it feels like a massive gamble, knowing now that they don't care about customers at all.
• csomar 4y ago
  I had the "exact" same thing. Basically, a host will list a price but message you later that there is an "extra fee" that they mentioned somewhere in the "very visible" guidelines. This was also within the hour. There was no refund policy with the host, so you lose the whole amount. I was surprised how useless AirBnB support is. Especially that I had a five figures turn over with them. You'd think with such numbers they'd favor the customer over the host. But after going through like 5-6 of their support agents, I still got the same response: Cancellation policy. I'm taking my business elsewhere starting from next month. I don't know if the alternatives are any better but it doesn't hurt to try.
• xaerise 4y ago
  Sorry but is it not the host that is being a b*ch? Why not offer a full refund? She states that she cannot accept a full refund per policy...
• mastayoda 4y ago
  Something similar happened to me! Pretty much after booking and waiting for the checking instruction, the guy asked me to go 1 mile away to pick up some keys in a unknown location, that was not specified in advanced... I wanted to cancel the reservation to pick up a more safe place... Airbnb only return 50%... this was in matter of minutes! The guy wanted 50% for a reservation done 30 minutes before sending me those ridiculous instructions... I contacted Airbnb, scaled the situation, and at the end they said nothing could be done... yep, they are enabling Scammers... Never used Airbnb again...
• deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
• smsm42 4y ago
  Something I don't get. What does it mean "you need to be there for the whole duration"? Is it some kind of house arrest? I've rented places where I was absent the whole day except a few hours at night. How would anyone know I was or wasn't there at all? It's not the business of the host anyway to tell me where I should be present. I paid money, I rent the place, where I am physically present is not their fricking business.
• deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
• weaksauce 4y ago
  I had a bad experience with airbnb too. trash company with trash employees that offer no help.
• LewisVerstappen 4y ago
  Looks like you just got the 11 star experience!
• kadomony 4y ago
  AirBnB is dogshit.
• Matheus28 4y ago
  I don't see why someone would still use Airbnb for short stays. At $1.5k for 5 nights in Seattle you can surely stay at a decent hotel (which the OP ended up doing anyway, at $1.3k), and not have to deal with some weird hosts. Hit them with a chargeback, who cares about getting banned from Airbnb.
  • joezydeco 4y ago
    My Corp just issued a new travel policy last week. AirBNBs are completely forbidden.
  • fruit2020 4y ago
    Homes are sometimes nicer than hotels, better suited for families with children.
    • londons_explore 4y ago
      An airbnb feels like 'mine'. Whereas a hotel I have no confidence that some overzealous room service won't barge in and try to change the towels while I'm using them!
      • zeroonetwothree 4y ago
        If anything hotels have cut back on cleaning now so no one ever goes in. And you can always physically lock the door
      • yakireev 4y ago
        Put a "do not disturb" sign on your door, every hotel room has one. I too don't like it when room service touches my stuff (it is a mess, but it is my mess!) - putting a DND sign on the doorknob and not removing it for the whole stay fixed that problem for me.
      • rocket_surgeron 4y ago
        I travel for work approximately 120 nights per year, and have done so since 2011. The number of times room service has barged into my room without my knowledge and/or permission can be counted on 0 fingers. If this has happened to you you may want to reexamine what hotels you stay in because the only thing you have to do to not experience this, even if you forget to hang up the "Do Not Disturb" sign, is lock the deadbolt on your hotel room door.
• wffurr 4y ago
  Can you even leave the host a review at that point to warn others?
  • Nextgrid 4y ago
    Why would a scam operation allow someone to post something that discourages other marks from getting scammed too?
  • deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
• Nextgrid 4y ago
  Charge it back via your bank and explain the situation. Worst case scenario, it gets denied, you don't lose anything either way. The initial misunderstanding was cleared up just one hour after the booking - it should be very reasonable for the host to offer a full refund, it's not like it was a last-minute cancellation where the host would struggle to get it rebooked in time and lose out. The host is clearly being malicious here and trying to make a quick buck by double-dipping - getting some money from the cancelled booking and then relisting the property back on the market. I am always surprised how many people don't know about payment card disputes/chargebacks or refuse to use them, even right here on HN. The bank and card networks are biased towards you to begin with, and there's no downside to losing one as long as you're not being outright fraudulent or acting in bad faith. Card chargebacks (or litigation, if you have the means) is the only thing companies understand, especially in a country where consumer protection isn't a thing.
  • dakial1 4y ago
    First you should check with your consumer protection laws, where I am from (Brazil) any cancelation fee that is more than 10% of the service value is considered abusive. So you are totally entitled to ask for your chargeback (just be sure to cite the regulation/law your applying) and if AirBnb does any retaliation (as banning your account) you can sue them for that.
  • avalys 4y ago
    I have heard of companies reacting to a chargeback in situations like this by banning your account.
    • smsm42 4y ago
      Probably just removes the temptation of using the shitty service again. Not a huge loss.
    • darknavi 4y ago
      Not a huge issue probably because after loosing that much money I'd be surprised if they ever use AirBnb again.
• mariopt 4y ago
  Sometimes some hosts make up some ridiculous excuse to lure you into cancelling yourself to make a quick buck. A minority but they do exist for sure. When I had an issue with "funny" hosts, I reached out to the Airbnb supported and I actually got a full refund and a discount for a future booking as an apology for the situation. To be fair, your host was extremely rigid. Reach airbnb support, maybe you'll get a full refund.
  • brian-armstrong 4y ago
    The post very clearly explains that they did reach out to airbnb
• benj111 4y ago
  Credit card chargeback?
  • twelve40 4y ago
    what a greedy-ass host! they probably turn around and book these dates with someone else after ripping off the author. I think a chargeback is definitely worth a try here.
• trhr 4y ago
  I had the same thing happen to me. Not only do I not stay at AirBNBs anymore, I cancelled my Discover Card when they refused to fix it... after ~15 years as a customer. Once you hit a certain tax bracket and your purchases tend to be of a certain value, you start getting a more skilled person trying to fuck you, and they often win. At this income bracket, it's time to get an AmEx (or another card with really good payment protection policies). But in this case, I'd let the family member sleep in my bed, and I'd go stay at this AirBNB, and I'd probably trash the fuckin' place or something.
  • Nextgrid 4y ago
    Outright trashing the place is obvious and will backfire, but there are plenty of subtle ways to generate significant inconvenience and expenses in a plausibly-deniable manner that will only take effect weeks or even months after the fact. Hint: perishable goods and unaccessible (maintenance?) areas in the property. Pests would also work.
    • sva_ 4y ago
      'Forget' a nice swiss cheese behind the heater.
    • Meph504 4y ago
      Many states have laws that are specific extra penalties for this sort of malicious behavior. Not only could it cost you the cost of undoing any damage you've done, but criminal charges on top of it. probably not the best advice to be giving to people.
      • Nextgrid 4y ago
        Key words being "plausibly deniable".
        • Meph504 4y ago
          You find that term plays a lot more on TV than the courts, but feel free to roll those dice.
• sambull 4y ago
  I've had too many bad experiences with them AirBNB is a liability
• skilled 4y ago
  I would be so mad if this happened to me, what an absolute asshole of a host. Can’t believe Airbnb wouldn’t enforce it either.
  • daneel_w 4y ago
    >"Can’t believe Airbnb wouldn’t enforce it either." They'd lose money if they did. They understand they can get away with it because nobody can raise enough hell for anything to happen.
• znkynz 4y ago
  Otoh, you did crash a confirmed booking for the host, at too late a date for them to find another guest. I can see both sides here.
  • skilled 4y ago
    1 hour is too late?
  • avalys 4y ago
    The article says the initial interaction (including trying to cancel) happened within one hour of booking.
• deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
• madaxe_again 4y ago
  4.47 rating. That is, believe it or not, a pretty appalling score, and not something I would book. Also, the host is an ass, I cannot count how many times I have had people book for family members, and I’ve had numerous occasions where someone has booked for someone else for work. You also want to avoid 5.00 or 4.99 with hundreds of stays as they are inevitably buying or extorting reviews. 4.88-4.97 is the sweet spot. I really wish Airbnb would just ban hosts like this, as it makes those of us who are honestly trying to provide good hospitality all get tarred with the same brush.
  • avalys 4y ago
    Pretty funny that the 5-star system compresses the actual useful signal into less than 10% of the range.
    • madaxe_again 4y ago
      It’s ridiculous - and Airbnb perpetuate it. If you get a 4.8* or below review, you get a cranky email from Airbnb saying that you suck and red warnings all over the “improvements” section of the admin. It works, just barely, as long as you only book places with like 50 stays and a score in the range I mentioned - which isn’t something you expect your average Joe to realise.
      • ghaff 4y ago
        At least historically, eBay was the same. Anything other than Positive: A++++++++++++++++ Fantastic seller meant that they shipped me a cinder block rather than the MacBook I purchased. >If you get a 4.8* or below review, you get a cranky email from Airbnb saying that you suck and red warnings all over the “improvements” section of the admin. The one stay I've had at AirBnb--a lovely place in Maui (mostly because the hotels were so expensive and it was nice)--there were at least a couple pleas in the various information about talking to them before leaving anything other than a 5 rating because they might lose their super-host status.
  • carabiner 4y ago
    I know a fulltime host in my city. He goes to extreme lengths to ensure only 5-star reviews. He is basically on call 24/7 to address guest concerns, however the total amount of work he does in a week is probably 10-15 hours for a livable income. The sleep he loses and amount of psychoanalysis he attempts on guests sometimes doesn't seem worth it though.
• richiezc 4y ago
  Hot take from somebody I follow on twitter: "AirBnB is the new Facebook, everyone complains about how terrible it is and yet they keep growing usage & making even more money each year." https://twitter.com/Carnage4Life/status/1625607351083597825?lang=en https://twitter.com/Carnage4Life/status/1625607351083597825?...
• davidw 4y ago
  My elderly parents were going to visit us last spring, but my daughter came home from school with a sore throat, so I went to cancel immediately, and they weren't willing to work with me at all, and also mentioned I shouldn't have booked for my parents. I did that because they're not very tech savvy. In any case, I did a chargeback and got all of my money back, even though I would have been happy to forfeit some since this was the day before they were supposed to arrive. Airbnb did make some noises about removing my account "if this happens again" or something like that, but they can take a hike. The whole thing was handled very badly.
  • zdragnar 4y ago
    I ran into a similar situation- booked for my wife to have a girls getaway, the place was disgusting and unsafe (no walking path up a hill covered in snow) and had to book elsewhere because the host wasn't around when they arrived. Airbnb refused to help, because per Airbnb policy, me booking for my wife counted as a "third party booking". They tried being reasonable up until the person said "well if your wife damaged something you wouldn't want to be responsible would you?" and I pointed out that legally, in my state spouses are responsible for debts incurred by their partners. Mentioning the word "legal" put an immediate stop to the conversation with a blunt sentence along the lines of "we have done all we can for you. Goodbye."
• rjh29 4y ago
  This is the reason I hope booking.com are successful (they increasingly have aparthotel listings). They usually offer free cancellation and I've never had a problem cancelling for free if I had a good reason (such as illness). Other thing to watch out for is fees. The place I'm staying at charges 20000yen ($150) if you enter the apartment without taking off your shoes, 6000yen ($44) per hour overstayed after checkout, and inviting anyone into the house for any amount of time causes your entire booking to triple in price ($2000 in my case). I'm not sure if they can enforce those...
  • franciscop 4y ago
    They definitely cannot enforce those. Now if you do enter with shoes AND damage the floor a bit*, I still doubt they could even enforce those. Even courts here are not punitive in nature (they are restorative), so even if they sued you and won for going in with shoes, which I highly doubt, at most you'd have to pay for the damage they can prove that you made, which would be few thousand yens. The only one I am a bit unsure is about guests, since they might technically be able to limit who goes around. *if you do go with dirty shoes and make a mess is a different matter, I'm just talking about normal walking with shoes
    • dan-robertson 4y ago
      Presumably local laws apply. I don’t have any idea whether fees like that would be allowed in Japan.
    • CaptainZapp 4y ago
      Despite enforceable or not, it's considered extremely rude to enter a property wearing shoes in Japan. Do you want to be a good guest or an entitled douchebag? (I don't mean you personally).
      • rjh29 4y ago
        I'm sure they had problems with people spreading dirt on the floor and a cleaning fee is perfectly reasonable, I just found the size of the penalties to be amusing.
• jrootabega 4y ago
  I think "Claire" is a fake persona.
  • zeroonetwothree 4y ago
    Probably
  • carabiner 4y ago
    The "kindly" is a dead giveaway that "she" is Indian.
  • jcdny 4y ago
    The photo of "Claire" is a crop of a stock photo listed as "close-up-portrait-of-a-young-beautiful-blonde-woman-summer-outdoors.html". So yeah, there's that.
• zoklet-enjoyer 4y ago
  I refuse to use Airbnb after a couple of shitty experiences. The first time, the place was fine and everything. The issue was that when I got there the host told me that he wasn't supposed to be renting out his apartment, gave me a description of the property manager, and told me to tell the manager that I'm friends with the host and staying with him for a few days if the property manager chats me up. So it was just awkward and I was a bit paranoid. The 2nd situation, and the one which made me decide to no longer use Airbnb, was when we had booked a fake rental. So Airbnb doesn't give you the exact address until after you've booked. My brother booked a house for 11 of us to stay at in Minneapolis. A couple hours outside the city I was trying to figure out the quickest route to the train station when I saw that the pictures on Google Maps didn't match up with the pictures on the listing. This place just didn't exist. We were unable to contact the host. So we contacted Airbnb and cancelled while I tried my best to find a couple of hotel suites to house us all. It was really stressful and dumb and I'm pretty sure there was some sort of fee that my brother didn't get refunded.
  • therealdrag0 4y ago
    How were the reviews on these places and how many?
    • zoklet-enjoyer 4y ago
      I don't remember. The first place was an apartment in Lower Queen Anne with the best views of Seattle I've ever seen, so I imagine the reviews were good. But yeah, this was like 2017 and 2018 so I don't remember the details, and the 2nd one I didn't book so didn't really look at that.
• elzbardico 4y ago
  This is one of the reasons, besides all the ethical stuff, that made me stop using AirBnB. Some hosts are a-holes, and AirBnB usually sides with the hosts. Personally I never had issues, but have seem to many having this kind of issue. So, go to an hotel, that pays taxes, have employees and where you are not a source of nuisance for neighbors and an agent of gentrification. As a bonus you will avoid this kind of problems.
  • logicalmonster 4y ago
    I'm curious. What's your ethical issue with AirBnb?
    • SZJX 4y ago
      Usually it’s about how they drive up rent and make apartments unaffordable for the locals.
      • logicalmonster 4y ago
        That's a fair enough point, but there's always tradeoffs to anything. You could also make an argument that hotel prices have been exorbitant for people, and AirBnB (despite whatever numerous flaws it currently has) did some good for people in providing a massive adrenaline shot of competition to that industry.
• cubico 4y ago
  Airbnb is awful, it's like all the problems of landlords without any of the protections.
• tiredrunner 4y ago
  Airbnb hosts these days are insane for real. You pay a premium and still you do laundry, clear the garbage, mop the floor and what not and still be charged for cleaning.
  • toomanyrichies 4y ago
    I had a host in Quito who, out of the blue, asked me to water his (twenty-three) houseplants for him. When I told him I was quite busy that day and didn’t have time, he replied “Oh that’s OK, tomorrow is fine too.”
• anadem 4y ago
  Commenting as a "host" on Airbnb: yes, it's a reeaaally nasty company with absolutely horrible "support", from the hosting side as well as from the guest side. In this particular case it's an unkind and nasty host as well; they could perfectly well allow the guest despite Airbnb's policies, though Airbnb would say that their laughable "Aircover" "insurance" would not apply to the rental.
  • bombcar 4y ago
    This is exactly what happened with eBay and PayPal. The scammers learn how to work the system and “innocents” on both sides get screwed.
• diogenescynic 4y ago
  I've only used AirBNB a few times and it always sucked. The fact that you have to pay a cleaning fee, then you have to do all these chores on the way out (strip linens down, do dishes, take out trash, etc.) never made any sense. I just wish hotels would have found a way to compete better for longer term stays. You should get some kind of price break for staying longer in a hotel.
  • dghlsakjg 4y ago
    Lots of hotels offer weekly and monthly discounts. They cater to 1. People without housing 2. Longer term business travelers. The former is more affordable, but comes with... issues. The latter is probably what you want. IME, the nighly cost of an Airbnb is generally in the same ball-park as a reasonable budget friendly hotel after you factor everything in.
• normaldist 4y ago
  Airbnb customer support is terrible. I placed a booking and got complete radio silence from the host. Support wouldn't provide a refund until checkin-in failed. I had already booked a hotel, and don't use Airbnb anymore.
• irrational 4y ago
  Why didn’t they do a chargeback?
• xbar 4y ago
  Airbnb is played out for me. There are several reasons. None of them is worth gambling on again, ever.
• whiplash451 4y ago
  Note that the cancellation policy for Hosts is quite generous: https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/990 https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/990 This lets a host dump you three days before your booking and get away with "only" 25% in fees. AirBnB definitely invests in their inventory (the hosts).
  • ape4 4y ago
    Easily found in article 900 ;(
    • whiplash451 4y ago
      Ranks first on google when you type « airbnb cancellation policy ». Note that you don’t even need to search for _host_ cancellation policy. Airbnb is even biased in their SEO investment.
  • zeroonetwothree 4y ago
    Even if you cancel 1 second before checkin the fee is only 50%. Meanwhile a guest is on the hook for all of it.
  • 123pie123 4y ago
    I will never ever use airbnb again In munich I had booked 3 night stay, 2 HOURS!! before i was to turn up the host made an excuse of their dad had died and cancelled the reservation - this was obv nothing to do with the fact they had just realised there was an exhibition on in the area (where rates sky rocket x4) I spoke to the person and they was extremly unconvicing of the real reason of cancelling - luckly I managed to get a hotel for a little more, but the stress!!!!!!! I WILL NEVER EVER use airbnb again
    • plantain 4y ago
      There's something in the water in Munich - I had the same experience, probably because it was just coming into Oktoberfest...
• berkle4455 4y ago
  They said "kindly". Claire isn't a real person, that was a an intentional scam.
  • Nextgrid 4y ago
    Yep, sounds like third-world boiler room and will explain the determination to make a quick buck and screw the customer despite an honest mistake. Chances are, the listing itself is a complete scam and there would’ve been something else gone wrong if the booking proceeded, but the author being honest about the third-party booking gave them an easy way out to begin with.
  • operatingthetan 4y ago
    The host's photo looks like a stock image for sure.
• xadhominemx 4y ago
  I don’t understand why you wouldn’t just go through with the original plan.
• reverend_gonzo 4y ago
  I am a host and an often traveler. AirBnb doesn’t necessarily side with one side or the other, but rather, there, customer service is outsourced to the Philippines and they just don’t care. The side you wins is the side you can say the magic words that specific agent wants to hear. I’ve had guests stay at our place and get a refund at the end by lying, and even admitted to me, he knows how Airbnb support works so knew what to say to them. I’ve been able to get damage claims paid by Airbnb when guests refused. Looking at this host though and reading the reviews, this looks like a complete scam. Claire, for one, is definitely not real. Also anything under 4.7 on Airbnb is generally not good. I generally only rent 4.8 and up. The first review (I hough it may not have been up when he booked) mentions being hit up for money, bad checking, etc, lol of which point to a scam. Had it been me, I wouldn’t have cancelled and would have just said I’ll stay there and been done with it.
  • jackson1442 4y ago
    I’ve had a few interactions with AirBNB support and agree for the most part- they’re relatively impartial and I haven’t had any more issues with them than I generally have with support agents. The problem is that the policies can be _brutal_. I went in expecting it to be similar to hotel/airline policies since that’s how they position themselves but that’s not the case. For example cancel charges are very high while hotels are much more permissive and airlines are required to give no questions asked refunds in the first 24hrs.
    • mannykannot 4y ago
      You mention airlines, yet I have noticed, in the last month, several different cases of long-established airlines (Lufthansa for one) simply refusing to do what they are required to do. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/21/travel/lufthansa-refunds-collect.html https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/21/travel/lufthansa-refunds-...
• gameman144 4y ago
  I wonder what the outcome would have been here if the author just turned this into a game of chicken with the host. It sounds like the host said "You can't have this reservation you made", the author said "Okay, I'll cancel", and the host said "Whoops too late". Since the host is the one who was requesting that cancellation, I'd be curious what would have happened if the author replied with "You can cancel the reservation if you can't fulfill it, not a problem". Obviously no ruling out that AirBNB wouldn't just charge the author and not give access to the property, but seems like at least a higher probability of success.
  • thimabi 4y ago
    That seems the best alternative to me. If the host is so interested in enforcing the policy, let she enforce it herself. Given the circumstances, I think it is highly unlikely Airbnb would charge the guest. In any case, the guest can also resort to a chargeback, as others have said. Not giving in to unreasonable demands should be the norm when using services such as Airbnb, Uber, etc.
  • foobar1962 4y ago
    > Since the host is the one who was requesting that cancellation, I'd be curious what would have happened if the author replied with "You can cancel the reservation if you can't fulfill it, not a problem". Airbnb punishes host when they cancel both financially and through "the algorithm" that determines placement in search results. Also the host could have allowed the booking and have Airbnb cancel it when an unregistered guest arrived, or not allowed them into the property (they had no legal right to occupy the premises).
  • couchdb_ouchdb 4y ago
    Exactly. You just don't cancel. And you show up. Worst case you can always book a hotel last minute.
• bsuvc 4y ago
  Unfortunately, I found that the best way to resolve these situations is to post publicly on Twitter about what happened making sure to @ the relevant company and # the relevant things. If the support group won't help you, then maybe the PR group can. Basically your attitude has to be "either you give me my $900 back, or I'll make sure this problem costs you more than $900 in bad publicity." The math becomes better for them to give you your $900 back, if they can publicly look responsive to complaints or maybe even get you to take down your post.
• stavros 4y ago
  I don't know why nobody is suggesting this, but wouldn't the simplest thing be for the author to say "oh oops, yeah, OK, I'll stay there then" and then just... not stay? What was the host going to do, go make the guest show ID to verify they're the author?
• delegate 4y ago
  There was a time, not so long ago, when you could 'fix' the things that didn't work in the world by building a new app or website. This is how airbnb came about. Sadly, that is a lot harder now, because all the apps have already been built and they're huge and have all the users. And now millions of people have to deal with the side effects or poorly built or abusive online services which are too big to disrupt or change. Policies upon policies, which, when applied to particular cases mean 'you gave us your money, now it's ours and you get nothing in return and we'll get away with it'. I think time is ripe for new disruptions.
  • ausbah 4y ago
    real disruption would be building mountains of new housing in high demand areas!
• SeattleAltruist 4y ago
  Had a similar experience with an ethics-free host. Support was execrable. So canceled my account and use VRBO or hotels. Don't understand how AirScrewYouAndB is still in business.
• dkjaudyeqooe 4y ago
  This is a scam. We were almost a victim of something similar, but through Expedia. The scam is to induce you to cancel so they can extract a fee. Basically the listing was nonsense, but we didn't notice it immediately. In our case the flat in Paris was both in the 2nd and 14th androssiment, somehow. It was listed in the 2nd but elsewhere it says 14th. Of course we went to cancel but there was a 30% fee. We explained it to Expedia customer service and of course they're useless and said the fee was legit and didn't understand the scam. We took it up with our bank (Chase) who took months to resolve it, we basically kept on getting passed up the chain of people who examine the claims, until we got to a high enough level that they actually understood the scam (after a hour explaining it several times). We were fully refunded our ~$500. Of course we never will use Expedia again. We generally stick to booking.com because they seem to side with the customer most consistently. Free cancellation, or pay at the hotel is a must. One of the main reasons to avoid AirBnB is that they will keep your money in most cases.
  • carabiner 4y ago
    It's not a scam. Most Airbnb listings have a "no refunds" policy in the case of cancellation, regardless of circumstance.
    • zamadatix 4y ago
      The scam is in listing so the actual location is inaccurate/uncertain so as to trigger the cancellation policy more often not the presence of a cancellation policy. Not that a scam being in policy is supposed to make something less of a scam anyways.
      • carabiner 4y ago
        Parent comment sounds scammy, I agree. Article experience (wanting to cancel because he can't book third-party) doesn't sound scammy at all, just draconian.
      • caminante 4y ago
        What about THIS listing would cause someone to think they could run afoul of AirBnB's TOS? [0] [0]https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/427 https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/427
• daneel_w 4y ago
  Smells like a systematic scam. An opportunistic one-off like this would already be beyond immoral, but I bet the host is abusing by plan and full understanding of what they can get away with "by policy".
• stagger87 4y ago
  I had something very similar happen to me when a mudslide physically prevented me from getting to the property. You'd think you would be able to get a full refund, but the host had to approve and of course they didn't. $400 in my case. This was years ago, and I've never used the site again.
• deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
• jgb1984 4y ago
  I don't understand why anyone would still bother with Airbnb. So many headaches. I've used booking dot com, to reserve real hotels or apartments managed by real professional people, all over the world, for over a decade and counting, and I never had a single issue. Airbnb is built on evading taxes, skirting the law and exploiting the real estate market to the detriment of the local population AND the traveler. Don't support them.
• jedberg 4y ago
  Another notch in the "AirBnB is a totally different experience outside the USA vs inside of it". Every story I've heard, as well as my personal experience, is that people outside the USA are very customer service oriented, want you to have a good time exploring the place they live, and are generally very attentive and accommodating. Inside the USA people are just in it as a side hustle. Usually it works out fine, sometimes not so much. I've never had a bad experience personally, but I've had some pretty amazing experiences outside the USA, but never within it. (Stuff like hosts buying us groceries ahead of time because they knew we were arriving late, personally showing us around town upon arrival, paying for my offsite parking when my rental car wouldn't fit in the provided garage, etc).
  • PufPufPuf 4y ago
    Yes. I've stayed in AirBnBs in Italy, Germany, Hungary, and Japan, and mostly met very hospitable and helpful hosts that seemed genuinely interested in providing the best service. Maybe I'm picky with the listings, maybe I'm lucky, maybe it's a thing of culture like you suggest.
  • throwabnb 4y ago
    I’ve stayed in airbnbs in over a dozen countries and 4 continents. The side hustles and scams are everywhere. Like booking a place in Krakow, plane arriving at night in winter, getting to a locked up apartment with no lights on, just to hear from the host that the key is 10 blocks away and there will be an additional 200€ non-refundable deposit on checkin. Or the “guest house” in Chili that said it had a bathroom and shower just to find out they meant a communal outhouse and outdoor shower with no hot water or even potable water on premises. I could go on. But scams and crappy hosts are not a US-specific problem.
• zeroonetwothree 4y ago
  I only use Airbnb when I have no other options (no nearby hotel or I have too many people). Which has been a total of three times ever. It certainly doesn’t make me want to use them more often. Hosts always have insane rules like I basically have to be a full time cleaner and also the only parking is three miles away and I can only eat in exactly one place. And I always have to live in fear that something will come and I’ll have to cancel and lose 100% of my money. Why is it that hosts can have misleading listings and cancel days in advance while I have no power at all? Really tells you who Airbnb’s customer is.
• Leader2light 4y ago
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• johnfn 4y ago
  This kind of article makes me angry because an extremely similar situation happened to me. I made a reservation months in advance, only to have Airbnb cancel it on me days before the flight out. I panicked and booked another place, only to try to cancel the booking a few hours later when I calmed down and realized it wasn't large enough. But I couldn't, because of the cancelation policy. I contacted Airbnb customer support and they wouldn't cancel it either, so I ended up having to pay the entire bill. The supreme irony of course is that Airbnb cancelled a reservation I made months in advance without a single penny paid to me for my inconvenience - but when I cancelled because of Airbnb's incompetence I had to foot the entire bill. Truly absurd. Airbnb completely lost me as a customer at that point, and I'm someone who had spent quite a good deal on Airbnbs in the past. Hotels have never cancelled on me days before a trip.
• JakaJancar 4y ago
  Why not just tell them you’ll be there yourself too? It’s not like they’re going to drop in unannounced, ID you, and if you’re missing a few times while your friend is there, make a case to cancel the booking in the middle of it.
  • foobar1962 4y ago
    Here is one of the problems with third-party bookings: the person that makes the booking is sent all the information needed to make the stay a pleasant experience. This can be details like: where to park and where NOT to park; how to find the house; how to find the key or the code to the electronic lock; how open the front door; etc, and the host is given the contact details of the person that made the booking (phone number, e-mail). The preferred method of communication between host and guests should ALWAYS be the Airbnb app messages, not third-party systems where fraud could occur, so the host has no way to contact the person staying and usually has no idea who it is. Typically NONE of this information is passed from the person making the booking to the person actually staying, so the guest parks in the wrong spot, goes to the wrong house, cannot find the key or doesn't have the code to open the front door, etc, and after an hour or so they contact the hosts demanding action and the host says "Who are you and why are you phoning me at midnight?"
• barrkel 4y ago
  AirBnB is like a no-recourse Paypal for random third parties of unknown psychological stability. You do not contract with AirBnB. I recommend staying well away from them. I have my own horror story, involving an overflowing toilet and hysterical accusations from the host. We noticed the toilet was backed up in the bowl in the morning and alerted the host. The person the host sent round to look at it found some kind of cosmetic wipe, then the host leapt the conclusion that we were at fault, thinking they were nappy wipes. We were not at fault; we use laundered reusable cotton wipes. In any case, this lead her to not fix the problem! In the evening, after we came back to the apartment, the toilet started overflowing when the apartment upstairs flushed. Then the apartment upstairs had a shower; water was coming up out of our shower, out of the toilet, flooding out of the bathroom, into the living area. We had a toddler, and toilet water started flooding into his bedroom too. After some heated phone conversations, the apartment upstairs was determined to be the problem (she was flushing cosmetic wipes), and still the host was incredibly nasty, because we weren't grateful enough that it was cleaned up late at night. I deleted my AirBnB account after this experience. It's not worth the risk. Not once.
  • foobar1962 4y ago
    > You do not contract with AirBnB. Indeed you do. I was a host for several years, and there is NO direct contract between the host and the guest. The host has a contract with Airbnb, and the guest has a contract with Airbnb. This is why hosts need to enforce the "no third party bookings" rule because if something goes wrong Airbnb will not honour their "insurance" and the host cannot even get the guests contact details out oof Airbnb due to "privacy". Many hosts send guests a contract to sign and insist on getting government issued identification (I refused to accept bookings from guests whose account image was a child, a pet, or a sunset) for each and every person entering the property. Note that I didn't allow instant bookings, and would only accept requests after the guest had confirmed they had read the listing fully, read the house rules and understood the refund policy. The house rules were basically "no parties, no smoking, no pets, no third-party bookings".
    • barrkel 4y ago
      I'm talking about the consumer experience. The practical upshot is you give your money to AirBnB, it's not coming back, no matter how dreadful an experience you have. You have to go after the host. The risk is not worth it.
• browningstreet 4y ago
  Just say you’re staying there. The last few Airbnbs I stayed in had self-checkin. I never saw a person, host or owner. There’s an easy way around this issue, as crafty as it might be.
• deleted 4y ago
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• DueDilligence 4y ago
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• cmsonger 4y ago
  This sucks. I was doing exactly this yesterday and fortunately figured it out before sending money that I could not do the booking. Instead I told the people I wanted to stay close to me "book it and I'll send you the money." I bet AirBnB people read hacker news. Folks: I should be able to pay for another user's booking. It just can't be that hard. I set the dates, supply the payment info, anoint another user of your platform to reach out to the host. Alternatively (if there's something with payment processing that I don't understand), the user who wants me to pay chooses the dates, writes what they want to say to the host, and then passes the baton to me for supplying payment info. I've paid for friends and family to stay in hotels a zillion times. I was amazed that your platform does not allow this. Now I'm appalled that it allows situations like OP's to happen. And for the record, I was not thrilled to have to disclose what I was paying for my friends. Until this is fixed, will actively try to use hotels for this in the future. (This was a unique case.)
• jemmyw 4y ago
  Everything about this is silly. You can contact hosts beforehand on AirBnB and I almost always do that, and certainly would if I was going to be booking an even slightly unusual situation (for someone else). I've booked for third parties before too and did exactly that, during a COVID lockdown when we needed to find a place for an old couple. I'm not sure I believe the host either. Perhaps AirBnB have changed things, but as far as I knew from talking to hosts before, the host could always refund up to the booking date, they had tools to do more than guests in exceptional circumstances. And it's in their interest as this dude is now going to give the host a 1-star rating.
  • DangitBobby 4y ago
    Maybe to you it seems like an unusual situation, but to people who maybe don't travel very much, "booking a room for my spouse" isn't something they'd think is "unusual". It's a little absurd that it's "unusual", in fact.
    • ghaff 4y ago
      Yeah, if I were booking a trip with a spouse or friend and I was maybe joining a couple days later, I would absolutely book for them. I would make sure the hotel had their name whether through the booking form or another channel. But that would be something bog-standard for just about any normal hotel on the planet. I actually find it downright weird that you can't book a reservation for someone else on AirBnB.
    • jemmyw 4y ago
      Nowadays I wouldn't even trust a traditional hotel to do that correctly without calling them first.
• casenmgreen 4y ago
  IME, the larger a company, and the longer it exists, the more it asymptotically approaches evil, and the less awareness and responsiveness there is to actual end-user experience, and these two factors in the end are the demise of large companies. Google, Facebook, AirBnB and I would say now Amazon too, are all on this path. No one like them or trusts them, they are broadly considered evil and their services are used where there are no reasonable alternatives or their monopoly hold of whatever form acts to prevent users from leaving, but the moment there are reasonable alternatives, those companies will be deserted. Speaking for myself, I have used AirBnB a great deal over the years - back in the early days I thought it was an amazing company. Now I avoid it as much I possibly can; hell, whenever I come to log in again I have no idea if log in will even work, with whatever latest false positive alarm that might have been introduced. It is my last choice, not my first, and I would be very happy never to use it again. When people are writing that about your company, the writing is on the wall.
• toomanyrichies 4y ago
  I recently stayed in Panama City, Panama for a week, and booked an Airbnb for my stay. When I checked in, I was so tired from the flight that I just wanted to take a hot shower and crash. I turned on the shower and waited for the hot water. And waited. And waited. Finally I messaged the host to ask if I was doing something wrong with the shower controls. The host’s response: “We don’t offer hot water at this rental.” I was, let’s say, surprised. I asked them where in the listing they mentioned that, and they said “We didn’t list hot water as one of the amenities. That was intentional.” So essentially, Airbnb considers hot water to be an “amenity”, on the same level as a coffee maker or a carbon monoxide alarm. Of course I escalated to Airbnb support and of course they sided with the host. So completely aggravating. Like, ok but you also didn’t list “front door” or “roof” among the amenities. What should I infer from that?
  • saboot 4y ago
    This comment is the one that has convinced me to never use AirBnB again. That is absurd.
  • yakireev 4y ago
    Never been in Panama, but my experience in Colombia was similar: in warmer areas hot water just was not a thing - homes, hostels, hotels just did not have it, without special notice. "Yeah, the temperature outside is above 30C all year round, why would you need more heat?". To be fair, the "cold" water was not really cold either, 25-30C or so, so showering with that was not unpleasant. Not sure whether things are similar in Panama, but it could very well be. If so, it's cultural barrier, not malignacy.
    • pydry 4y ago
      I had a similar experience in Colombia too. Hot water was definitely an amenity. I remember walking along the street asking 10-12 hotels in a row if they had hot water. None did and the last one suggested (sarcastically) staying at a 5* hotel if I wanted it that much.
    • toomanyrichies 4y ago
• just4down6 4y ago
  I had a terrible experience this January with airbnb and it's support. I had a 6 days stay in Zakopane, Poland. My friend was physically attacked by the owner of the house, and support done nothing but removing my review from one of his apartment page(it's seems that the owner can create identical listing pages for one house, and just hide/show the ones with best reviews on it) At first support seemed very supportive, but it the end they done nothing, but a "close investigations with an undisclosed results by internal guidelines", according to one of the support-stuff. I also got my review removed because of the "links to external resources"(I've attached the link of the video with screaming home-owner) and emotional advice to use other services like Booking(without direct link). The last one is understandable. Through it wasn't specified as a reason to remove the review, the support gave me no chance to edit or re-post the review. So at the end I can surely say the only thing they care is the money, and your well-being is the latest thing they care.
• DangitBobby 4y ago
  I wish we would prosecute fraud in the US.
• GiorgioG 4y ago
  From all the comments here I’m glad I’ve never used AirBnB. VRBO has thus far been ok - anytime we’ve had an issue with the place (once) the hosts were reasonable and provided a refund.
  • narrator 4y ago
    I think the issue with AirBnB is they are trying to be the cheap low maring option. They rent individual rooms, etc. I think that's where all the terrible customer service comes from. Perhaps most of their hosts can barely pay expenses and so they do all these sorts of cheats to avoid going broke? Perhaps AirBnB is just desperate for inventory and lets too much stuff slide on both the customer and vendor sides of the marketplace? Anyway, I have had great experiences with VRBO, which is a bit more expensive generally, and always got a refund if there was a significant issue.
• WirelessGigabit 4y ago
  First thing that annoys me: they ask for your email address. That way whatever communication you have can be done outside of AirBnb. Big no-no. Like eBay. Don't move outside of the platform.
  • ape4 4y ago
    That's probably enough to get the "host" banned
• xwdv 4y ago
  Am I missing something? Why didn’t the author just say yes he was staying as well? In fact he was going to be there at check in, just not sleeping there. Do you really think they’ll check the bed to see if you’re in it every night? The host is not your friend, if you’re doing anything odd with an Airbnb it’s best to just be quiet and not divulge more info than what is necessary.
  • caminante 4y ago
    > Am I missing something? AirBnB's TOS which provides reasoning. [0] This policy isn't foreign to hotels. I don't want customers signing in their kids for a room to throw a party without the parents present. They do these checks to limit fraud you describe. The cancellation refund discretion is part of the host's TOS , too. [0]https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/427 https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/427
    • xwdv 4y ago
      Putting it in a TOS is one thing, how is it enforced? Also, it’s trivial to book a room at a hotel and have someone else check in under the reservation as long as you put them on the guest list. I’ve done it before. Not sure how this is fraud.
      • caminante 4y ago
        >Putting it in a TOS is one thing, how is it enforced? This comes off like a bad faith question because OP wrote this article because AirBnB's TOS was enforced in explicit detail. > Also, it’s trivial to book a room at a hotel and have someone else check in under the reservation as long as you put them on the guest list. I’ve done it before. Did you have to present ID? Were you over 18? Did someone in your party already have a credit card on file before anyone got the first set of keys? If you do those things, there's no trivial difference between making your own reservation. The issue isn't whether you can get legally away with spoofing a reservation account. The issue is whether you're potentially liable for breaking a contract or committing fraud.
• guluarte 4y ago
  I'll call my bank and ask for a chargeback, you may get permabanned from airbnb but fuck them.
• oh_sigh 4y ago
  He should have just stayed the nights then if it was that important and he would be there anyway. And then misplace his frozen fish in a vent somewhere.
• deleted 4y ago
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• akinbio 4y ago
  I also recently lost $3050 to Airbnb and a terrible host in London. The listing was wrong (including the address), but both Airbnb and the host didn't want to refund my long term stay and dragged it to force me to stay. I am still fighting it through my bank to no avail :(
  • A_D_E_P_T 4y ago
    $3050 is a large enough amount that I would take it to small claims court. In which case, AirBNB has to send a representative to court to fight the charges, or they'll default and you'll (eventually) get your money back. Even if they do send somebody (which is doubtful) what you're saying suggests that the listing was totally fraudulent.
• smallerfish 4y ago
  I'm picturing "Claire" swinging a knife every time "she" says "Chris". "Hello Chris [stab] might I ask Chris [stab] if you wish Chris [stab] to be scammed today Chris [stab]? That's wonderful Chris [stab] but I'm afraid Chris [stab] that I am required to scam you Chris [stab] by my boss Chris [stab] nothing personal Chris [stab] it's fine Chris [stab]."
• jonplackett 4y ago
  I would absolutely go stay in the Airbnb myself regardless where it is.
• onphonenow 4y ago
  Uhh - I came ready to blame Airbnb as I no longer use them. However - you obviously can’t do third party bookings and if a host has had third party booking issues (Airbnb will not cover these at all) I think hosts will have a very negative reaction to a third party booking. Maybe blame Airbnb for not being clearer, but the profile photo / ID verification stuff is designed for the guest. Do people do third party dating or car reservations etc?
  • dan-robertson 4y ago
    Well people do blind dates or get set up by friends or both, so maybe that counts? And the OP managed to make a third-party hotel reservation fine. I think the actual issue was not the Airbnb rule but that it makes little sense that the OP was unable to cancel at no charge for a reasonable reason an hour after making the booking (and plenty of time before the stay).
• ddoolin 4y ago
  I don't use Airbnb since they did a background check (which I guess I agreed to at some point) and then banned me when my record came back. I thought that was strange since it's up to the host if they want your record checked, I think, and instead of preventing me from reserving that particular listing, they banned me for life. It doesn't seem to matter how long ago the offense was, and it also seems pretty indiscriminate with regards to the type of offense as well. Oddly enough, I can usually go to VRBO and rent the exact same properties, or go to any hotel.
  • foobar1962 4y ago
    > it's up to the host if they want your record checked... Hosts have very little say about how the platform works. Airbnb suddenly hid guest account details (name, photo etc) from hosts during the booking process because they decided there would be less racial (or whatever) discrimination, and removed the requirement for people to have their face in their account image. The result was somebody would roll up at a property and the host has no idea who they are, and no way to verify whether they were the guest or not.
• bensons1 4y ago
  Had more or less the same situation. My flight got cancled some 8 hours after my AirBNB booking. Story is similar, host refused to refund "no refund policy" and AirBNB trying to blame the host. In the end I went to PayPal, as I used them for payment. Opened up a ticket, explained the situation and after 5 days I received a full refund. AirBNB afterwards sent some two horribly translated E-Mails to me, explaining I might loose my account blabla, but nothing happend. Still I stopped using them.
• aledalgrande 4y ago
  You can lose money in another way too, which wouldn't happen with hotels: you book a property for an expensive location at high season, the booking gets cancelled for any reason (host changed idea, host got banned etc.) and now you are stuck with much shittier and more expensive choices and a lot less time to go through them. This happened to me recently.
• m3kw9 4y ago
  Post it on twitter get it viral and tag #airbnbsuck and they will respond
• hailwren 4y ago
  Interestingly, the host was also violating AirBNBs terms of service and the author could have gotten a full refund if they realized. It’s against AirBNB’s ToS to charge a security deposit outside of the fees already charged by AirBNB. I’ve had AirBNB offer to kick a host off of the platform if they didn’t back down on this. You could probably get them to cancel a reservation because of it.
• Tao3300 4y ago
  The solution was to just lie. Say "yeah, I'll be staying there, no problem!" and proceed with the original plan.
• tinyhouse 4y ago
  I never book anything on Airbnb unless it has the most lenient cancellation policy. Not that I cancel often but sometime I do due to bad weather usually. To Airbnb's credit I would say that they sent me a reminder one time about a booking I did well in advance and forgot to cancel after my plans changed. Thanks to the reminder I managed to cancel it on time. It was $1500.
• h4ch1 4y ago
  I used to regularly rent a particular BnB for 1-2 weeks when I used to travel back home (Delhi), once, during my 3rd trip the water heater was broken, (this is in the middle of January (~3-13C)), and I was not made aware of the fact. Additionally, there was also no heating, nor any areas where I could take a hot shower, when I asked the manager, who had been pretty friendly with me, he said it'll take 5-6 days for him to figure it out. I, unfortunately prefer to shower daily, so staying like that was very hard. When my booking did end, I rated them a very generous 4/5 because I thought that the relationship mattered more than my discomfort. The next time I wanted to book, I was denied, saying we require all our guests to rate us 5 stars, and if not, they don't accept bookings. I had to then promise them I'd rate them 5 since I didn't want too much of a hassle and that place was pretty nice/economical by the city standards. Rated them a 1/5 and never booked again. Hotels are my goto for any duration of stays now, nothing more than a cursory, "Hi I'd like a <generic_room> please, thanks".
• soul_grafitti 4y ago
  I don't understand all the comments here fretting about charging-back. It's one of the most effective consumer protective actions we still have in cases like this. I have experience in these matters from both sides of the transactions. From the business side you get a notice of the chargeback along with the statement the customer provides when they file it. You then have some period of time, a week or two, to respond. Businesses get scammed by charge-backs too, you know. So you have the opportunity to submit your paperwork showing why you are entitled to the funds. A surprising number of the times the business doesn't even bother. The credit card company looks at what the customer says and what the business says. They may ask either party for clarification or more documentation. They always prefer the vendor and the customer to settle things themselves so they look to see if the customer reached out to the vendor for some help and resolution first. So if you have a problem you really want to do this first. Documenting emails, phone calls, chat-bot transcripts you, as the customer, have with the vendor is extremely useful here. What's also useful are screen shots of a website that doesn't offer any way to contact the vendor and initiate a refund. They look to see what the vendor did to try to resolve the issue. Then they may look at the actual evidence. And they may have internal data, like a vendor has a lot of other complaints and charge backs for similar reasons. Or that a customer has a lot of charge backs that weren't upheld. All things being equal the one with the better documentation generally prevails. My personal experience is some cards are more likely to stick up for their customers. These tend to be the cards that pay high rewards because the customer pays them directly (the annual fee). Some, like USAA, seem to just be more oriented to helping their customers. But this is totally anecdotal. One thing I've never heard of is anyone getting 'banned' for making a charge back. If someone has personally experienced this, not just heard it happened, please leave a comment.
• EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK 4y ago
  Too honest for that world. Could have just said yes I will be sleeping there with Marilyn every night. They wouldn't know unless there are cameras installed in the bedroom.
• deleted 4y ago
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• ajhurliman 4y ago
  Leave a 1 star review, it’ll be a learning experience for them. You’d be surprised how competitive hosts are for those ratings.
• Awelton 4y ago
  At this point I would just contact the bank for a chargeback. It would be a cold day in hell before I rolled over and lost $1,000 for something like this.
• rakkhi 4y ago
  That's pretty crazy. Becoming an Airbnb host in Australia at least and even the most strict cancellation policy you can set allows for a full refund within 48 hours of booking https://www.airbnb.com.au/help/article/149 https://www.airbnb.com.au/help/article/149
• couchdb_ouchdb 4y ago
  All you have to do is lie and say that you are staying there. That's it.
• nojvek 4y ago
  DO NOT USE AIRBNB IF YOU HAVE OPTION OF USING A HOTEL! AirBnb is a minefield of gotchas. 1. They don't show you full price. Most of the hosts make bank from cleaning fees. $300-$500 cleaning fees tacked onto final price is usual. Please airbnb fees, resort fees, tourist fees, cleaning Brian Chesky's ass fees. 2x what you see on the listing is normal. 2. The reviews are heavily biased. Hosts will pester you to leave positive review, if you leave even a 4 star, they get really mad at you. I left a 4 star review and the host gave me a 1 star that almost got me banned. 3. AirBnB is no longer primarily people renting out their house, but get-rich-quick crowd that own homes for the sake of putting on airbnb, shady cancellation policies, some make you clean the house. All sorts of weird house rules like bring your own towels. Every host can have slightly different official and unofficial policies. 4. The pictures are heavily edited, wide angle shots. I once booked based on pictures. They had 10 shots of living room, but no bathroom shots, I saw positive reviews and went ahead. It's like how hollywood creates beautiful sets just for one good scene. We stayed at a "renovated airbnb". Only the living room and kitchen was renovated (new paint), the rest of the house was a shack. Looked gorgeous from the pictures, but actual was quite the surprise. Had an old house smell, bathrooms weren't cleaned. (Again, the hosts will threaten you if you complain about any of these) 5. Support is a joke. They'll acknowledge but won't actually process a refund. Once stayed in an NY apartment. $700/night and it was a tiny room, with a bed that stank of urine. Support said the equivalent of "tough luck, life isn't fair".
  • tobtoh 4y ago
    > 2. The reviews are heavily biased. Hosts will pester you to leave positive review, if you leave even a 4 star, they get really mad at you. I left a 4 star review and the host gave me a 1 star that almost got me banned. I've always felt that reviews should be not be visible until both parties had 'blindly' submitted their reviews. Or if only one party submits a review, then after a set period of time, it is published and the other party does not have an ability to rate the other party anymore to prevent retaliation reviews. This would ensure more honest reviews and stop revenge reviews.
    • madaxe_again 4y ago
      The reviews are blind as you suggest, always have been - OP is lying.
• stevespang 4y ago
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• sowbug 4y ago
  If the article author is reading, watch to see whether the property is booked again for the time of the reservation. Then once it's done, sue the property owner personally (not Airbnb) in small claims court and argue your case on the equitable basis of "unjust enrichment." This basically means that it's not fair for a contract to end up with someone getting paid twice for a single transaction, and the court has the equitable power to fix that by making the recipient "disgorge" the profits. The magic word is "equitable," which tells the judge to switch modes from legal remedies to equitable remedies. That is also how you get around the sticky Airbnb-as-defendant question, and how you avoid the arbitration clause that's likely in the Airbnb ToS. (I'm not your lawyer. This isn't legal advice. Good luck.)
• throwawayyy2022 4y ago
  Had a similar experience, only lost about $400, because I disabled my credit card in advance for further payments. AirBnB tried to charge multiple times. Anyway, that's my first time with AirBnB, and I decided not to have anything to do with them again. Can't believe Ycombinator invested this company, what a disaster!