Had a recent stay using Airbnb, paid a high rate (at least to me), and expected an equivalent high quality house. It was over $800 a night for 4 nights, so after taxes and fees it was $5k. Check in was for 3 but I requested a 2:30 check in - host said this is fine. When I arrived, literally all three trash bins on the side of the house was full of trash. I discounted this since I arrived a bit early so I didn’t complain. In the primary shower where we stayed (it was a 4bd 4bath), there were literally soap bars left that were crusted over. Also when we rinsed off the sides of the shower there was black gunk running into the drain. We didn’t complain. Cockroaches running through the house, but it is in the desert of California so we didn’t complain, however there were dead cockroaches in the cupboards right where the pans are. This means that the cleaners don’t check the cupboards. On the third day, a pool cleaner came into the house at noon without knocking and walked straight to the pool to clean. I get it that there are scheduled cleanings but they should at least knock. Even worse, he did not have a mask on. Not even hanging off his ear - just no mask period. COVId?? We complained a few days after to the host and he offered $100 back which was offensive - we don’t want money but at least to acknowledge the problems and to prevent a bad experience for the next guest. I didn’t leave a review, but the host ended up leaving me a bad review about: 1) showing up early although the host said it was fine; 2) leaving so much trash by the garbage bins. To be clear, they did not complain about our cleanliness because we bagged up all trash and scrubbed down the whole house before we left. We just left the trash next to the bins since they were already full when we left. If you made it this far, my ultimate complaint is that I reached out to airbnb about the negative review on my profile .... it’s been 6 days of back and forth and they refuse to help me. They keep saying they need 24-48 hours to respond, and kept delaying the response, but when they finally responded they said that they can’t do anything about it because I didn’t reach out within 24 hours of the incident (which I had no idea was a policy. It was never in the emails). And now they keep pushing the response time and I have zero help. Has anybody ever had a bad experience with Airbnb and was able to resolve? Airbnb not caring about some major covid issues with the cleaner coming in unannounced and without a mask is our biggest problem. Thanks for listening.
5K for 4 nights lol... Only in CA 😭 anyways, similar stuff happened to me before. My last straw was at some place that used LATCH to unlock the door, and it just stopped working when I got back from dinner... At friggin 1 AM. Host completely unresponsive. Never used Airbnb again, always stayed in hotels after this episode. And with all the cleaning and service fees, Airbnb is just not even worth it anymore.
Did you try to get Airbnb to help at all
Happened to me as well. I don’t remember all the details vividly but when I complained to Airbnb they did not do shit. I don’t know what was more annoying. Talking to the customer rep and listening to her absolutely superficial language or the host himself who provided an awful experience.
Next time, reach out to Airbnb immediately when there is an issue. There are less options for them to fix things after the fact, but if you had contacted Airbnb on the first day and said there is trash everywhere, unhygienic black gunk in the bathrooms and cockroaches on the kitchen pots, they could have helped you to leave the house and find an alternative property if you wished. They have helped me to relocate before when I have arrived and determined a property to be unsafe and fundamentally different than the online description. This late in the game, it's a he said/she said situation, and much harder for them know who is telling the truth.
Yup on point. Just curious, what kind of accomodation were you offered. Was it an upgrade?
Not an upgrade, it was comparable. Same size, mostly same amenities. I would actually consider it a downgrade because I preferred the style and decor of the original Airbnb more, and the original Airbnb had easier access to public transit (which is why I had originally chosen it). But it was a better alternative than staying at the first place given how dirty it was.
Par the course for an airbnb. Just use hotels
They probably won’t remove the review unless you can prove it’s inaccurate or irrelevant. You should have immediately contacted the host and/or Airbnb if you weren’t satisfied with the stay. Waiting until it was over and you pretty much lose leverage. Also, I’m a host and my pool cleaner just walks through the gate without knocking. It’s in my welcome message that he will be coming.
I was with you, until I read "because we bagged up all the trash and scrubbed down the whole house before we left". I have literally never heard anyone do that in an Airbnb or hotel. I now seem to think there's probably another side of the story i am missing.
Many Airbnb properties request that guests bag up trash before departure. In my experience, this is a pretty standard thing? Now, the scrubbing down the whole house, not so much.
Yeah, I was referring to the scrubbing part. Quite odd to be frank.
i had one bad experience with Airbnb where there is literally a dried dog poop stick in the living room carpet. I stopped using Airbnb since then.
Did you complain to Airbnb and did they try to intervene?
This is disgusting 😧
I feel you and have experienced some bad host as well. You should have left a review to this terrible host. Both guest and host can’t each other’s review until they have left it. On a separate note, always take pictures as proof because that’s a game changer when negotiating with customers services.
Thank you - I do have pictures for proof but your company unfortunately keeps pushing back saying I’m past the 24 hours for complaints. I keep following up - Now they still keep saying they need 48 hours to respond to me. This is all really just such a bad experience and Airbnb is just ghosting me.
800$ / night ? I pay that much rent per month in Texas 😮
Yeah I know. It was a splurge for my partners birthday. Revenge vacationing, ya know..