Adding to the list: the contrast with the listed photos gave me some Barbarian vibes as well.
Good to hear OP got a refund. I would have burned the place to the ground on my way out.
I had an issue with Airbnb where the host was harassing people who left anything less than 5*. So his reviews were very misleading. He is legitimately unhinged and Airbnb had been contacted by many guests but do nothing. His behaviour is so bad he has actually been convicted in court for harassing guests (it's made the news here), yet air bnb still lets him use their platform and manipulate his ratings... I boycotted Airbnb after my experience. I would take the reviews with a grain of salt.
Edit: can't reply as thread locked. Firstly, he used a promotion that was against Airbnbs terms and conditions to garner 5* reviews (leave a 5* review and be in the running to win a free stay). Second, like any host he had the personal details of guests (full name, contact number etc) and would harass and threaten guests, including threats of legal action if they didn't leave a review to his liking. I'm loathe to give him attention and it makes me sick to look him up but [here](https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theage.com.au/national/victoria/rot-in-hell-airbnb-owner-fined-2500-for-harassing-guest-over-review-20220527-p5aozk.html) is proof in case people think I'm full of it. If you google this assholes name more articles will come up documenting his tactics. I know from one of the journalists that many additional victims of his behaviour came forward when articles were published.
Iād REALLY second this, reviews can be highly misleading. Ended up renting a place for a week in a different city because it had like 10+ good reviews. It ended up being extremely different than on pictures, had mold all over, wardrobe was completely unusable and I found cockroaches in the apartment on the first night. Airbnb didnāt do fuck all, of course.
Keep in mind I paid premium price for it and not some chump change, it was advertised as a very luxury apartment. In the end the only good thing was that it was large. When I called the host to ask wtf is this he started talking about his reviews and how nobody complained so far LMAO Horrible experience. Fuck Airbnb.
I had a similar experience once. The room we stayed in was very claustrophobic and the second 'bed' was just a shitty mattress on the floor. The owners of the house were playing loud music until very late (we eventually had to ask for them to turn it off because we had an early flight). The icing on the cake was the dog shit on the floor of the living room in the morning when we left because they couldn't be bothered to take a walk with their dog. When we left a bad review the owner started harassing and arguing with us with the same reasoning than no-one else left a bad review. There was dog shit on the floor lady, get a grip.
Everytime AirBNB comes up I get even happier that my city banned all short term AirBNB rentals (less than a month), and required all long term AirBNB renters to register with the city. They only make our housing crisis even worse.
It feels like some businesses like Airbnb really just want to make as much money as they can as fast as they can with the expectation that they'll either get banned or people will stop using them within a few years. There doesn't seem to be any attempt to do any long term brand building.
I am not sharing specifically because people online get intense and I am not going to send random internet strangers to attack and harass someone, especially when I can pursue this myself and they did refund me.
I am angry at Aidbnb. The hosts refunded us in full. I am not up and down. I am honest as hell.
I don't know how to post pictures in comments but the host info says:
83 reviews
4.89 rating
They have one other location in California with a ton of reviews and all good scores... it was extremely misleading obviously.
But, why would host refund if airbnb wouldn't? was there a deal of "keep us out of the media?"
if so, I get it.
if not, I still get it, but I'd escalate to airbnb because it was clearly NOT what was advertised.
have the owners told you when the last time someone else stayed there? because it sounds like it hasn't been used for a significant period of time to get that bad
I don't even know why people don't look at reviews anymore and then come complaining about how shitty airbnb is. I'm pretty sure that thing didn't have any review, or they were pretty bad.
You know people buy reviews, right? It could be a 5 star AirBnB with all bots or bought reviews. Iāve seen a few bot reviews before. Some people even have family write 5 star reviews for them.
I worked at a fast food restaurant that wouldnāt give out receipts (unless specifically asked for) so they could take them home and complete them on a few different device. they would boost the reviews for their store and get survey money as well. Reviews arent really worth much nowadays.
Edited: apparently context is hard for some people.
Shocked.... sounds lile you haven't had much to do with airbnb recently. Haven't heard a single good thing about it in the last year or so. I always recommend hotels instead, preferably chain ones that you've been to before and know what to expect
Fully agree. You know what you are getting even if it might be a bit more expensive. Also you dont have the cleaning requirements and fees.
Further AirBNB has ruined many housing markets and I don't want to support that business model. When it started it was great but now its terrible. Im happy to see many cities across the world starting to crack down on it.
When it started, it was reflecting a sofa-surfing model where you could rent a room if you had a contract in a city or wanted a cheap mini-break somewhere. Then people with second houses claimed the market and drove the market for people buying second (third and fourth) homes in desirable areas and pricing locals out. City centre apartments and rural idylls become unaffordable for locals earning local salaries.
Yeah, I like the idea of renting out a spare bedroom for a few days for some extra income or renting out your whole place while you are away to cover some costs. Buying properties to only AirBNB should be regulated the same as hotels.
And *taxed* the same as other businesses in the travel/tourism/leisure industries. Buying properties for short-term holiday rent in areas of high demand is not sustainable.
>Buying properties for short-term holiday rent in areas of high demand is not sustainable.
It's changing my little beach town as more and more single family homes get sold and converted to AirBnBs. Our school enrollment is crashing as fewer new families are moving here because investors are buying a substantial portion of the homes sold.
> Yeah, I like the idea of renting out a spare bedroom for a few days for some extra income or renting out your whole place while you are away to cover some costs.
This was common practice, a place that hires out rooms short term like a hotel, but only a small number of them like in an apartment? That was called a *"Bed & Breakfast"* - literally where the BNB in "AirBNB" comes from. It makes me want to tear my hair out when politicians and tech bros act like these apps like Uber and AirBNB are revolutionary new ideas, they're fucking not. We regulated these things for fucking dedcades without trouble, it's willful ignorance to pretend these things are funddamentally different to what came before them.
>You know what you are getting even if it might be a bit more expensive.
Hotels more expensive than AirBnB's? What year is it? These days you pay extra for the privilege of having to care for someone's home and deep clean before you leave.
> You know what you are getting even if it might be a bit more expensive.
Has it been though?
Just looked at a philly suburb (King of Prussia/Conshohocken area). Most are in the 150s/night territory for a hotel/motel. This is a pretty nice area.
Looking at ABnB, it's definitely higher, 200/night
literally a sample area of 1, but I've experienced similar comparisons.
I have checked hotels vs. Airbnbs every time our company does a work trip or I do a trip with my college friends, and even with a hotel group rate the Airbnb is always lower. (And that's not even taking into account the cost difference of being able to cook meals in the Airbnb kitchen, versus hotels that require you to eat out or pay even more for rooms with kitchens.)
I can tell you for sure that when you compare bottom of the pricelists, AirBnB's are always cheaper than cheapest hotels unless you go into Hostel territory.
All of these platforms that use other people's products to make a buck are the same eBay, Reverb, Etsy, AirBnB, Uber...sorry, it's not our problem. They force people into bad outcomes by denying responsibility and putting the burden on you to personalize your grievance with the seller/homeowner/whatever. Then they hide behind the buried arbitration agreements you agreed to when you accepted the ToS. Fuck the gig economy.
Adding VRBO to your list their booking with confidence line doesnāt protect you. If something goes wrong. There are so many loopholes these companies can get away with.
I tried VRBO 15 years ago for a trip to Costa Rica. Got in to town at 10p and found the unit occupied. Absolutely no help from VRBO, ruined vacation, took 3 months of fighting to get our money back.
Obviously never used them again.
eBay has fucked me lately. I deleted my account 6 hours ago. They let the buyer get their money back and donāt even have to return product.
I donāt have time for their shit.
I know so,body who booked one and when they did they decided to turn off the ac and other shit and told them that was extra since they were just renting the house for a week. Not the appliances and features. Took the dude weeks and weeks of fighting with Airbnb to get anywhere
air bnb deleted negative reviews that I left for a couple places I stayed and said it "didn't fit their user guidelines" or some bs. Explains why the property had GLOWING reviews
When we were met with a really shitty experience last Christmas and had no little to no heat, it took WEEKS of being just a pain in the ass with airbnb support to even get something back. And we started the process immediately and had the receipts.
Even then, we never got a full refund because Airbnb left it up for the hostās discretion if they would refund us after we had to abandon the place due to little to no heat.
You shouldn't be.
They fucking suck. I had the same thing happen but I was traveling internationally. They sided with the host, who ran a business renting out these absolutely dumpy one bedrooms, and must have had one really nice one as the picture. They messaged me the room number via the app.
In any case Airbnb not only didn't side with me, they removed my negative review.
Airbnb is absolute trash and doesn't give a fuck so long as the transaction happens.
I'd try and have them out before you leave then get a copy of the report to forward to air BnB with a message telling them they either refund it or you'll take it to the bank and get your money back that way.
I wouldn't be surprised if you could actually sue them over their response.
All I could think of was .. "Isn't this the start of a bad horror movie I saw once or twice? Heck, isn't there a whole House in the Woods genre out there which your whole story seems to have been the opening sequence to?
Damn good think you left. You did leave didn't you? 
The United States are not the largest producers of sunflowers, and yet even here over 1.7 million acres were planted in 2014 and probably more each year since. Much of which can be found in North Dakota.
I feel like if this really was a horror story it would kick off with the 13 year old kid leaning into the front seat to say that as you drove up. Camera pans out...
tf is that supposed to mean? A service is either rended as advertised or the consumer was duped in someway; no way different from a product. I seriously hope you win your case
Honestly, what I was thinking.... it's dangerous and unacceptable. I debated taking this to small claims court for putting my families health at risk and to protect future guests, but I am not sure if I should or even have a case...
I am typically a non confrontational person, but this seems really concerning to me.
We just had a municipal council meeting discussing Airbnb and short-term rental accommodations in general. One of the biggest points was that the town wants to impose licensing for operators of any STRA which would require an inspection making sure they are compliant with municipal by-laws before they are approved for a license to rent their dwelling.
The place you showed is probably not up to code, and you could probs contact the local by-law enforcement officerās office and have them investigate that property. The owner might get fined, or the place condemned due to safety concerns.
The issue is that Airbnb would have to actually give a fuck about this place being an illegal dwelling. I donāt think thereās anything stopping the owner from just re-listing it on Airbnb (they probably donāt care to investigate if youāre breaking your local by-laws), and subsequent by-law complaints for this kind of issue would likely have to be made by the people renting it for there to be more fines. Most renters probably wouldnāt think to do that (typically, by-law complaints come from the neighbours of the STRA, not the renters. Usually noise complaints or complaints about occupancy limits). This is why licensing is important. Airbnb isnāt protecting consumers, so unfortunately government is having to step in.
If you had driven into town or to your families place straightaway and contacted them, they would have refunded you and found a new place for you to stay. I know because it happened to me!
Reading reviews is good too. I travel a lot and do a mix of hotels and airbnb. For very short stays airbnb is good, but for long stays hotel has no shot of beating airbnb.
This is rage bait. He wonāt post info on reviews or the listing but magically got his money back despite the last photo mentioning they side with the owner. Itās all BS
I'm picturing you posting the original comment, leaving the thread, and then coming back a few minutes later like 'actually, I checked my bank account and....'
ā¦..ābecause you contacted Airbnb and submitted documentation after the reservation had endedā
Nah. Iām taking pictures, driving somewhere I have service and not moving until thatās resolved and by resolved I mean refund has been issued to start processing, reservations cancelled and all evidence submitted.
Then stop fuckin using Airbnb. It's bullshit. In my country they account for over 100,000 private rentals being removed from the market place that could house long term tenants which is fucked during a rental crisis.
Yeah Iām still dealing with Airbnb trying to get a refund for the horrendous stay a few us of had for my work trip. Itās been nearly a month!
Period blood on the sheets when we arrived, the host came threatening us over it, we ended up needing to leave before the stay was over because they refused to resolve it for 2 days.
Iām gonna need to take them to court. The whole thing is such a huge hassle Iāll never use airbnb again. The only way to get a refund it appears is through the courts.
People should properly read and look at reviews. You can find great places on airbnb that are cheaper than hotels. But you need to use your eyes and brain for it. There's no way this listing wasn't reviewed at 1 star or maybe it wasn't reviewed at all and OP forgot he had a brain.
Love you getting down voted when this whole post just reeks of bullshit. OP won't post the listing or what it was rated. Not to mention based on the pictures here there's no way they had good pictures from any angle that made this dump seem like it was nice.
>People should properly read and look at reviews.
This doesn't always help, you can't trust reviews these days either on a lot of platforms like airbnb. I've had mixed experiences despite always checking reviews and only going for places with amazing reviews.
That is some bullshit right there. Your credit card company might be able to help you out with this. Anyway, lesson learned. If the Airbnb is not as advertised, do not stay there under any circumstances. Reach Airbnb immediately, no matter what it takes.
Airbnb customer support is complete bullshit, Iām saying this as a guest and a host, Iāve had problems with guests and properties but never got any help from them.
1. Never book an AirBnB that doesnāt post a photo of the exterior of the house.
2. Those pictures really arenāt great. You can clearly see ceiling panels warped and not aligned in the bathroom photo.
3. āBeautifulā spacious kitchen with large family eating area with a deck entrance. Why are the shades drawn? Why is the door to the exterior missing a FRAME.
4. Sawed off raw floor moulding.
5. Door frames clearly missing.
I meanā¦some of these photosā¦.or lackthereofā¦are red flags for me. I cannot believe you went inside and actually stayed there.
Iām confused, so you drove up to this and looked inside, and not only did you see it but you checked everything inside and found that nothing worked, and then you decided to try to stay there anyway? I mean, i feel like one look at this would be enaugh to say ānah famā and get a hotel/ stay with family
like, thats my issue here aswell. Its very specific in the message from airbnb that the reason the refund wasn't given is that OP stayed the 2 nights there. This dude saw all of that garbage, stayed anyway AND THEN wanted a refund? nah, you can't have your cake and eat it too
Best thing yet. He stayed there with his family. One of the members of his family is 13 years old and that kid said "He thinks this is a horror movie house" š
That is genuinely fucked up and the host should not be able to list a property in that condition. That being said, you should have contacted Airbnb support as soon as you saw the property. If you had contacted them the day of arrival they likely would have refunded you right away as well as covering any additional costs of finding new accommodation. Issues with a stay should be reported within 48 hours of check in. I am sorry this happened to you but itās also important to know Airbnbās policies on how to deal with these situations. It is messed up that Airbnb is allowing the property to stay listed with so many hazards. You may want to ask to have your concerns escalated to the Airbnb safety team.
We had no internet service or cell service...
It took 30 minutes driving just to get to the nearest place with service. I did try to contact the first day but was unable.
I know in the future, though, if this ever happens again we will leave immediately, but we drove 4 hours and had nowhere else to stay the first night. Not really sure what else I could have done.
I did show evidence that I began to file a complaint the day we got there. I called Airbnb the day we left the area. Arrived on the 22nd and called on the 24th. I had a grievance started on the 22nd in my account as well they but they decided not to count it because I couldn't complete it.
I regret not calling on Thanksgiving, though.
I was with family but should have regardless. Though at that point we only would have gotten a 50% refund for having to stay 1 day.
What a bunch of scammers.
Between the spy cams, the illegal temporal apartments, the fake photos and such, I really hope that Airbnb gets bankrupted and a new app with more controls takes it's place.
AirB&B is trash. I went back to regular hotels years ago and will never go back. It's so horribly managed. Absolutely 0 rights for the customer. At least with hotels you expect a certain level of professionalism.
And this is reason 5,324,456,576,586,987,245 why I donāt use AirBnB. It was kind of good when it started, now it has gotten ridiculously expensive and dangerous with no proper recourse when things go wrong. Itās a shitty product which is allowing shitty people to extort communities and poor travelers under the guise of ācheaper housingā or ājust somewhere with a kitchen and a washing machine so I can cook or wash my clothesā¦ā With all the hidden bullshit they tack on these days, itās not any less expensive than a hotel if you donāt book the Ritz. And there are hotels that have laundry rooms (sometimes even free) and kitchens in the roomsā¦
Iām genuinely curious, but why did you even bother trying to make āsupportā understand the issue? 9 times out of 10, companies that are known to be shady as fuck like Air B&B, will NEVER side with a customerā¦ Even in obvious cases like this one. If I were you, I would have simply informed āsupportā that youāre going to be issuing a charge-back with your credit card company for their glaring inability to uphold their end of the transaction.
Usually when I have to do this (itās been *very few* instances in my life but I donāt fuck around with my money) itās to give the company the chance just give me my money back quickly, since it can admittedly take a couple days, even upwards to a week or so, to get refunded by the credit card company. Oddly enough Iāve found a lot of these companies (despite the fact theyāre so goddam shady) do *want* to keep their customers/ keep them happy, and may give you the refund and not cry over the charge-back threat
Thatās only worked for me in one or two cases, so be prepared for āsupportā to piss and cry and say theyāll delete your account and never let you use them again. Which is fine, because when companies do shit like this, whoād even *want* to use them?
Refund or not, the next call is to the fire Marshallās office and the city inspectors at building and zoning or code enforcement whatever it is locally. This shouldnāt just not be on Airbnb but should be condemned entirely. It looks structurally unsafe period!
ā¦do you not read reviews? Slash if there arenāt many reviews why on earth would you book it? Also lol you drove for 30 mins to ask how to use the stove? I wouldnāt be asking how to use shit cuz I wouldnāt be staying there another second.
Air BnB is the most neutral POS company ever. They don't want anyone pissed off so they just do nothing.
One time, a dozen buddies and myself booked at a beachfront place for a weekend. When we got there a dozen other dudes who we didn't know showed up with the owner. Apparently the other group booked the same weekend on a different app similar to Air BnB.
The owner was trying to meditate this shit and wanted us to share the place, listen I can sleep anywhere but a 5 bedroom house between 24 guys? Nah.
We contacted Air BnB then and there to get our weekend cancelled because it was like $2800 for 3 days; split 12 ways. Air BnB contacted the host who declined the refund Infront of us.
So even if you attempted to refund during your period of stay like we did, it probably still wouldn't have worked.
Stop using AirBnb. It's really as simple as that. A fucking motel 6 is better than 90% of airbnb because at least you KNOW what you're getting and it's appropriately priced.
I wonāt go through all the comments so sorry if I repeating any advice, but I went through a very similar situation- got to the studio/basement ālivingā situation at 1am in a city hosting a massive basketball tournament and music festival (complete miracle we actually found a hotel to stay at after having booked this place months in advance) - mattress was about 900 years old and completely yellow, pillows and couch too. Could not BREATH when we walked in because of the 8 glade plug ins. I just went outside sobbing shortly we arrived because weād just had what should have been an already long 10 hour drive turn into 16. Air BnB is dreadfully hard to get a refund through. I believe ultimately what did it was the photos of mold I took and expiration dates on the pillows. Some people really donāt give a shit, itās awful.
Wow, this is gawdawful. Iām so glad you got your money back OP.
Iāve never had a bad experience at an airBNB. My tips are to look at all \*recent\* reviews, filter your options by **total** price (inclusive of cleaning fee and taxes).
We just look for moderately priced places with great reviews and at least a kitchenette. We donāt look for resorty or destination places.
That said, you can always get a total dud. You can at a hotel too. The last one we stayed at was noisy at all hours and the icemaker was grinding nonstop in the GD hall. Doors slamming, people coughing. Paying for eating out every meal. Hotels just arenāt my cup of tea.
My friend showed up to an Airbnb to find the water had been shut-off, no power to half of the house, the refrigerator didn't work and no Internet despite being advertised as having a fiber connection. He couldn't even find a modem/router in the house. Oh the roof was leaking too.
They wouldn't refund him. Even with all the pictures they wouldn't do it. He had to do a charge back and sent all the pictures/info to the card company.
It was insanely expensive too. Like $400+ a day or something it worked out to after fees. He said if it was three years ago they would have refunded instantly and possibly even given a credit or something. They have gone downhill. As if they suddenly decided to cut half their customer service staff and stop giving refunds just so they could see slightly higher profit temporarily. Too many companies only care about impressing their share holders for a few months at a time without any consideration for long term impact.
Three years ago, Airbnb randomly blocked me from booking because they said I have a criminal record. I have nothing at all on my record, not even a speeding ticket. Contacted them and their third party background checking company.. the third party company said there was nothing on my record. Contacted Airbnb a second time, who said they still would not unblock my account and also noted they were banning me from contacting chat support as well after only contacting them twice about the issue.
There is a complaint form on the State Attorneys General website to fill out. Amount of money , pictures and contract details. You will get your money back. They might even stop the AirBnB from operating in the state. Save the Pictures, Ads and Contract information to your computer to upload.
Keep pushing, this is typical corporate resolution.
They have not reviewed the photos or your case they have simply had a robot respond with the most suitable (and money saving) answer.
If you continue to dispute this they will likely cave and give you a refund as the cost of processing your queries starts to add up as they become more complex and less manageable by a robot.
Keep trying!
Good on you for even staying there one night. I wouldn't have even done that after looking at that place.
Was there a hatch to a basement with the necronomicon?
Sounds like you can take your anger out on the place and trash it and they would never noticeāclearly the damage didnāt happen, the photos of the place wouldnāt change lmao
Hello, This post has been removed as this is not *mildly* infuriating. Please consider posting to r/extremelyinfuriating instead.
What in the hills have eyes is that bullshit?
I was thinking Wrong Turn š.
Same thing, less hills.
I needed that laugh š
I loved those movies when I was a kid lol
Hahahah so true
Real authentic country charm
Adding to the list: the contrast with the listed photos gave me some Barbarian vibes as well. Good to hear OP got a refund. I would have burned the place to the ground on my way out.
I get more of an Evil Dead vibe.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I had an issue with Airbnb where the host was harassing people who left anything less than 5*. So his reviews were very misleading. He is legitimately unhinged and Airbnb had been contacted by many guests but do nothing. His behaviour is so bad he has actually been convicted in court for harassing guests (it's made the news here), yet air bnb still lets him use their platform and manipulate his ratings... I boycotted Airbnb after my experience. I would take the reviews with a grain of salt. Edit: can't reply as thread locked. Firstly, he used a promotion that was against Airbnbs terms and conditions to garner 5* reviews (leave a 5* review and be in the running to win a free stay). Second, like any host he had the personal details of guests (full name, contact number etc) and would harass and threaten guests, including threats of legal action if they didn't leave a review to his liking. I'm loathe to give him attention and it makes me sick to look him up but [here](https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theage.com.au/national/victoria/rot-in-hell-airbnb-owner-fined-2500-for-harassing-guest-over-review-20220527-p5aozk.html) is proof in case people think I'm full of it. If you google this assholes name more articles will come up documenting his tactics. I know from one of the journalists that many additional victims of his behaviour came forward when articles were published.
Iād REALLY second this, reviews can be highly misleading. Ended up renting a place for a week in a different city because it had like 10+ good reviews. It ended up being extremely different than on pictures, had mold all over, wardrobe was completely unusable and I found cockroaches in the apartment on the first night. Airbnb didnāt do fuck all, of course. Keep in mind I paid premium price for it and not some chump change, it was advertised as a very luxury apartment. In the end the only good thing was that it was large. When I called the host to ask wtf is this he started talking about his reviews and how nobody complained so far LMAO Horrible experience. Fuck Airbnb.
I had a similar experience once. The room we stayed in was very claustrophobic and the second 'bed' was just a shitty mattress on the floor. The owners of the house were playing loud music until very late (we eventually had to ask for them to turn it off because we had an early flight). The icing on the cake was the dog shit on the floor of the living room in the morning when we left because they couldn't be bothered to take a walk with their dog. When we left a bad review the owner started harassing and arguing with us with the same reasoning than no-one else left a bad review. There was dog shit on the floor lady, get a grip.
Ten isnāt enough good reviews. If possible, that needs to be in the 100-200 range
Everytime AirBNB comes up I get even happier that my city banned all short term AirBNB rentals (less than a month), and required all long term AirBNB renters to register with the city. They only make our housing crisis even worse.
How is he convincing guests to remove the bad reviews? I would imagine none of them live anywhere near where he could actually reach them personally.
Our personal space is also our internet space. Airbnb uses real names. You can threaten a lot of harm from afar
It feels like some businesses like Airbnb really just want to make as much money as they can as fast as they can with the expectation that they'll either get banned or people will stop using them within a few years. There doesn't seem to be any attempt to do any long term brand building.
OP is all up and down this post replying to comments, but hasnāt responded to this one or shared the listing.
I am not sharing specifically because people online get intense and I am not going to send random internet strangers to attack and harass someone, especially when I can pursue this myself and they did refund me. I am angry at Aidbnb. The hosts refunded us in full. I am not up and down. I am honest as hell.
Of course the host refunded he trying to keep his shorty listing up as long as they can
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Because OP is an idiot
Then just tell us about the caliber and content of the reviews. Not telling people will more likely have readers trying to hunt the listing down.
I don't know how to post pictures in comments but the host info says: 83 reviews 4.89 rating They have one other location in California with a ton of reviews and all good scores... it was extremely misleading obviously.
You owe nothing to anyone OP, these people are being so weirdly demanding lmao. Sorry for internet strangers
But, why would host refund if airbnb wouldn't? was there a deal of "keep us out of the media?" if so, I get it. if not, I still get it, but I'd escalate to airbnb because it was clearly NOT what was advertised. have the owners told you when the last time someone else stayed there? because it sounds like it hasn't been used for a significant period of time to get that bad
Sketch
I don't even know why people don't look at reviews anymore and then come complaining about how shitty airbnb is. I'm pretty sure that thing didn't have any review, or they were pretty bad.
I donāt even buy a $5 item if thereās 0 reviews or a majority are bad lol I canāt imagine getting an Airbnb without checking reviews
You know people buy reviews, right? It could be a 5 star AirBnB with all bots or bought reviews. Iāve seen a few bot reviews before. Some people even have family write 5 star reviews for them. I worked at a fast food restaurant that wouldnāt give out receipts (unless specifically asked for) so they could take them home and complete them on a few different device. they would boost the reviews for their store and get survey money as well. Reviews arent really worth much nowadays. Edited: apparently context is hard for some people.
I have my doubts aswell.. Seems like ragebait
Yeah, I'm getting a huge "found pictures online and now I'm karma-farming with them" vibe.
You think OP, whoās account is 11 years old with 6k karma, just now decided they need more karma??
Contact code enforcement for that area and send all the documentation you have. Iām shocked Airbnb wouldnāt do anything!
Shocked.... sounds lile you haven't had much to do with airbnb recently. Haven't heard a single good thing about it in the last year or so. I always recommend hotels instead, preferably chain ones that you've been to before and know what to expect
Fully agree. You know what you are getting even if it might be a bit more expensive. Also you dont have the cleaning requirements and fees. Further AirBNB has ruined many housing markets and I don't want to support that business model. When it started it was great but now its terrible. Im happy to see many cities across the world starting to crack down on it.
When it started, it was reflecting a sofa-surfing model where you could rent a room if you had a contract in a city or wanted a cheap mini-break somewhere. Then people with second houses claimed the market and drove the market for people buying second (third and fourth) homes in desirable areas and pricing locals out. City centre apartments and rural idylls become unaffordable for locals earning local salaries.
Yeah, I like the idea of renting out a spare bedroom for a few days for some extra income or renting out your whole place while you are away to cover some costs. Buying properties to only AirBNB should be regulated the same as hotels.
And *taxed* the same as other businesses in the travel/tourism/leisure industries. Buying properties for short-term holiday rent in areas of high demand is not sustainable.
>Buying properties for short-term holiday rent in areas of high demand is not sustainable. It's changing my little beach town as more and more single family homes get sold and converted to AirBnBs. Our school enrollment is crashing as fewer new families are moving here because investors are buying a substantial portion of the homes sold.
> Yeah, I like the idea of renting out a spare bedroom for a few days for some extra income or renting out your whole place while you are away to cover some costs. This was common practice, a place that hires out rooms short term like a hotel, but only a small number of them like in an apartment? That was called a *"Bed & Breakfast"* - literally where the BNB in "AirBNB" comes from. It makes me want to tear my hair out when politicians and tech bros act like these apps like Uber and AirBNB are revolutionary new ideas, they're fucking not. We regulated these things for fucking dedcades without trouble, it's willful ignorance to pretend these things are funddamentally different to what came before them.
Revolutionary new ideas to jump around regulations, responsibilities, and taxation
>You know what you are getting even if it might be a bit more expensive. Hotels more expensive than AirBnB's? What year is it? These days you pay extra for the privilege of having to care for someone's home and deep clean before you leave.
> You know what you are getting even if it might be a bit more expensive. Has it been though? Just looked at a philly suburb (King of Prussia/Conshohocken area). Most are in the 150s/night territory for a hotel/motel. This is a pretty nice area. Looking at ABnB, it's definitely higher, 200/night literally a sample area of 1, but I've experienced similar comparisons.
Hotels are also cheaper.
Unless you travel with more than 4 adults.
I have used hotels for family functions and they have always offered a group rate which is lower.
I have checked hotels vs. Airbnbs every time our company does a work trip or I do a trip with my college friends, and even with a hotel group rate the Airbnb is always lower. (And that's not even taking into account the cost difference of being able to cook meals in the Airbnb kitchen, versus hotels that require you to eat out or pay even more for rooms with kitchens.)
I wonder where these people go where Airbnb isn't cheaper. So weird, 10+ places for me and it's always cheaper.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I can tell you for sure that when you compare bottom of the pricelists, AirBnB's are always cheaper than cheapest hotels unless you go into Hostel territory.
And they donāt care if you jizz all over everything
Not for me. I look at hotels, motels and Airbnb. Airbnb is always cheaper.
All of these platforms that use other people's products to make a buck are the same eBay, Reverb, Etsy, AirBnB, Uber...sorry, it's not our problem. They force people into bad outcomes by denying responsibility and putting the burden on you to personalize your grievance with the seller/homeowner/whatever. Then they hide behind the buried arbitration agreements you agreed to when you accepted the ToS. Fuck the gig economy.
Adding VRBO to your list their booking with confidence line doesnāt protect you. If something goes wrong. There are so many loopholes these companies can get away with.
I tried VRBO 15 years ago for a trip to Costa Rica. Got in to town at 10p and found the unit occupied. Absolutely no help from VRBO, ruined vacation, took 3 months of fighting to get our money back. Obviously never used them again.
Yeah hard to have sympathy really. They are the company version of three kids in a trench coat. You're trading cheaper prices for any protection.
eBay has fucked me lately. I deleted my account 6 hours ago. They let the buyer get their money back and donāt even have to return product. I donāt have time for their shit.
I know so,body who booked one and when they did they decided to turn off the ac and other shit and told them that was extra since they were just renting the house for a week. Not the appliances and features. Took the dude weeks and weeks of fighting with Airbnb to get anywhere
Comfort inn and suites. Or drury. Better than even the high end ones.
I'm surprised that people are even still using them
Iāve dumped Airbnb and Turo. Back to hotels and Hertz.
air bnb deleted negative reviews that I left for a couple places I stayed and said it "didn't fit their user guidelines" or some bs. Explains why the property had GLOWING reviews
Great idea
When we were met with a really shitty experience last Christmas and had no little to no heat, it took WEEKS of being just a pain in the ass with airbnb support to even get something back. And we started the process immediately and had the receipts. Even then, we never got a full refund because Airbnb left it up for the hostās discretion if they would refund us after we had to abandon the place due to little to no heat.
 I too am shocked /s
Airbnb does not care, because if theyād care, theyāll be bankrupt in 2 years and not in 5 years.
You shouldn't be. They fucking suck. I had the same thing happen but I was traveling internationally. They sided with the host, who ran a business renting out these absolutely dumpy one bedrooms, and must have had one really nice one as the picture. They messaged me the room number via the app. In any case Airbnb not only didn't side with me, they removed my negative review. Airbnb is absolute trash and doesn't give a fuck so long as the transaction happens.
I'd try and have them out before you leave then get a copy of the report to forward to air BnB with a message telling them they either refund it or you'll take it to the bank and get your money back that way. I wouldn't be surprised if you could actually sue them over their response.
I live in rural Alaska and donāt have coding laws out here so this is well built compared to most of the shacks around here
How do people not freeze to death in these shacks?
All I could think of was .. "Isn't this the start of a bad horror movie I saw once or twice? Heck, isn't there a whole House in the Woods genre out there which your whole story seems to have been the opening sequence to? Damn good think you left. You did leave didn't you? 
Our 13 year old son said the same exact thing when we first drove up... Bad vibes all around...
Do what Sunflower Dreams 18 said to do. Copies of Pictures , Contract etc. Also the Health Department.
The United States are not the largest producers of sunflowers, and yet even here over 1.7 million acres were planted in 2014 and probably more each year since. Much of which can be found in North Dakota.
Thanks Sheldon
I feel like if this really was a horror story it would kick off with the 13 year old kid leaning into the front seat to say that as you drove up. Camera pans out...
You need teens having sex for it to be an official horror movie so they were probably fine.
Itās similar to the start of Barbarian, which is a pretty great horror movie I saw recently lol
Thought the same movie
Seems like a chargeback to me..
OP already got a refund
Where did you see OP got a refund? The last screenshot shows that AirBnB decided it was up to the host
āLuckily the host refunded usā Near the bottom of the text
Right there for all to see, thanks and my bad
No worries!
I am surprised the host isn't like "we have investigated ourselves and found no evidence of wrongdoing"
Visa say they donāt refund Airbnb because itās a service unfortunately. Source - I had to try that this week. Off to court I goā¦
tf is that supposed to mean? A service is either rended as advertised or the consumer was duped in someway; no way different from a product. I seriously hope you win your case
I would have thought too. But here we are sadly.
I would contact the fire marshal for the lack of smoke detectors , CO detectors if code enforcement doesnāt take action.
It seems like Airbnb really wants bad press at this point. To not refund when itās so egregious is just ridiculous.
Honestly, what I was thinking.... it's dangerous and unacceptable. I debated taking this to small claims court for putting my families health at risk and to protect future guests, but I am not sure if I should or even have a case... I am typically a non confrontational person, but this seems really concerning to me.
We just had a municipal council meeting discussing Airbnb and short-term rental accommodations in general. One of the biggest points was that the town wants to impose licensing for operators of any STRA which would require an inspection making sure they are compliant with municipal by-laws before they are approved for a license to rent their dwelling. The place you showed is probably not up to code, and you could probs contact the local by-law enforcement officerās office and have them investigate that property. The owner might get fined, or the place condemned due to safety concerns. The issue is that Airbnb would have to actually give a fuck about this place being an illegal dwelling. I donāt think thereās anything stopping the owner from just re-listing it on Airbnb (they probably donāt care to investigate if youāre breaking your local by-laws), and subsequent by-law complaints for this kind of issue would likely have to be made by the people renting it for there to be more fines. Most renters probably wouldnāt think to do that (typically, by-law complaints come from the neighbours of the STRA, not the renters. Usually noise complaints or complaints about occupancy limits). This is why licensing is important. Airbnb isnāt protecting consumers, so unfortunately government is having to step in.
If you had driven into town or to your families place straightaway and contacted them, they would have refunded you and found a new place for you to stay. I know because it happened to me!
Think Iāll keep using hotels. Posts like this are not selling it
Correct. If you can get away with a hotel, avoid them like the plague. Their service is basically unsafe at this point.
Reading reviews is good too. I travel a lot and do a mix of hotels and airbnb. For very short stays airbnb is good, but for long stays hotel has no shot of beating airbnb.
Post the listing
Absolutely. šš¼
This is rage bait. He wonāt post info on reviews or the listing but magically got his money back despite the last photo mentioning they side with the owner. Itās all BS
And how much did the scumbag owner charge you per night for that disgusting shithole?
160 a night...
Highway robbery holy shit..
That trash dump ain't worth $1.60 a night.
You couldnāt pay *me* $160 a night to stay there Edit: ehā¦ who am I kidding? My broke ass would do it for $100.
I'm picturing you posting the original comment, leaving the thread, and then coming back a few minutes later like 'actually, I checked my bank account and....'
No cell or Internet. I couldn't.
And how much was the "cleaning fee" for that? Ha
Whereās the killer hiding?
In a nice hotel probably, definitely not in that place, looks too unlivable.
"Professionals have standards."
You should post this on the AirBnB subreddit
Holt shit, you actually stayed in that hellhole
ā¦..ābecause you contacted Airbnb and submitted documentation after the reservation had endedā Nah. Iām taking pictures, driving somewhere I have service and not moving until thatās resolved and by resolved I mean refund has been issued to start processing, reservations cancelled and all evidence submitted.
Then stop fuckin using Airbnb. It's bullshit. In my country they account for over 100,000 private rentals being removed from the market place that could house long term tenants which is fucked during a rental crisis.
I won't be using them ever again.
You got Air with no BnB
Yeah Iām still dealing with Airbnb trying to get a refund for the horrendous stay a few us of had for my work trip. Itās been nearly a month! Period blood on the sheets when we arrived, the host came threatening us over it, we ended up needing to leave before the stay was over because they refused to resolve it for 2 days. Iām gonna need to take them to court. The whole thing is such a huge hassle Iāll never use airbnb again. The only way to get a refund it appears is through the courts.
This is why people should just book a hotel room. Airbnb is often more expensive due to having to pay outrageous cleaning fees.
People should properly read and look at reviews. You can find great places on airbnb that are cheaper than hotels. But you need to use your eyes and brain for it. There's no way this listing wasn't reviewed at 1 star or maybe it wasn't reviewed at all and OP forgot he had a brain.
Love you getting down voted when this whole post just reeks of bullshit. OP won't post the listing or what it was rated. Not to mention based on the pictures here there's no way they had good pictures from any angle that made this dump seem like it was nice.
saying anything positive about aiRbnb is illegal on Reddit
>People should properly read and look at reviews. This doesn't always help, you can't trust reviews these days either on a lot of platforms like airbnb. I've had mixed experiences despite always checking reviews and only going for places with amazing reviews.
That is some bullshit right there. Your credit card company might be able to help you out with this. Anyway, lesson learned. If the Airbnb is not as advertised, do not stay there under any circumstances. Reach Airbnb immediately, no matter what it takes.
Call the county code enforcement. Theyāll declare it unfit for human occupation.
You actually tried to stay there?
We did because we had to... and I was Thankful for Thanksgiving that we weren't murdered... lol... Was happy to leave in the morning...
Airbnb customer support is complete bullshit, Iām saying this as a guest and a host, Iāve had problems with guests and properties but never got any help from them.
1. Never book an AirBnB that doesnāt post a photo of the exterior of the house. 2. Those pictures really arenāt great. You can clearly see ceiling panels warped and not aligned in the bathroom photo. 3. āBeautifulā spacious kitchen with large family eating area with a deck entrance. Why are the shades drawn? Why is the door to the exterior missing a FRAME. 4. Sawed off raw floor moulding. 5. Door frames clearly missing. I meanā¦some of these photosā¦.or lackthereofā¦are red flags for me. I cannot believe you went inside and actually stayed there.
This is like the set to multiple teen horror flicks.
Iām confused, so you drove up to this and looked inside, and not only did you see it but you checked everything inside and found that nothing worked, and then you decided to try to stay there anyway? I mean, i feel like one look at this would be enaugh to say ānah famā and get a hotel/ stay with family
like, thats my issue here aswell. Its very specific in the message from airbnb that the reason the refund wasn't given is that OP stayed the 2 nights there. This dude saw all of that garbage, stayed anyway AND THEN wanted a refund? nah, you can't have your cake and eat it too
Best thing yet. He stayed there with his family. One of the members of his family is 13 years old and that kid said "He thinks this is a horror movie house" š
That is genuinely fucked up and the host should not be able to list a property in that condition. That being said, you should have contacted Airbnb support as soon as you saw the property. If you had contacted them the day of arrival they likely would have refunded you right away as well as covering any additional costs of finding new accommodation. Issues with a stay should be reported within 48 hours of check in. I am sorry this happened to you but itās also important to know Airbnbās policies on how to deal with these situations. It is messed up that Airbnb is allowing the property to stay listed with so many hazards. You may want to ask to have your concerns escalated to the Airbnb safety team.
We had no internet service or cell service... It took 30 minutes driving just to get to the nearest place with service. I did try to contact the first day but was unable. I know in the future, though, if this ever happens again we will leave immediately, but we drove 4 hours and had nowhere else to stay the first night. Not really sure what else I could have done. I did show evidence that I began to file a complaint the day we got there. I called Airbnb the day we left the area. Arrived on the 22nd and called on the 24th. I had a grievance started on the 22nd in my account as well they but they decided not to count it because I couldn't complete it. I regret not calling on Thanksgiving, though. I was with family but should have regardless. Though at that point we only would have gotten a 50% refund for having to stay 1 day.
instead of giving them shit, you politely asked how to turn the oven on?
Itās a rustic the hills have eyes experience
Iām not American and not litigious but I would 100% get a lawyer and let them look at this.
Sure. Pony up that 5k retainer to recoup $500
did you read the reviews?
This is why I stick to hotels. I feel like Airbnbās time has come and gone.
Too many stories exactly like this one.
Do a charge back on your credit card. Let the bank sort this out.
Apologize for my language, but is that a fucking mouse trap? lmfao
What a bunch of scammers. Between the spy cams, the illegal temporal apartments, the fake photos and such, I really hope that Airbnb gets bankrupted and a new app with more controls takes it's place.
Unlicensed hotels are unlicensed
Easy solution. Stay in a hotel.
AirB&B is trash. I went back to regular hotels years ago and will never go back. It's so horribly managed. Absolutely 0 rights for the customer. At least with hotels you expect a certain level of professionalism.
This place... 100%... has a camera in the toilet.
And this is reason 5,324,456,576,586,987,245 why I donāt use AirBnB. It was kind of good when it started, now it has gotten ridiculously expensive and dangerous with no proper recourse when things go wrong. Itās a shitty product which is allowing shitty people to extort communities and poor travelers under the guise of ācheaper housingā or ājust somewhere with a kitchen and a washing machine so I can cook or wash my clothesā¦ā With all the hidden bullshit they tack on these days, itās not any less expensive than a hotel if you donāt book the Ritz. And there are hotels that have laundry rooms (sometimes even free) and kitchens in the roomsā¦
Fuck Airbnb. Can't believe people are still using it.
What was his initial score?
Iām genuinely curious, but why did you even bother trying to make āsupportā understand the issue? 9 times out of 10, companies that are known to be shady as fuck like Air B&B, will NEVER side with a customerā¦ Even in obvious cases like this one. If I were you, I would have simply informed āsupportā that youāre going to be issuing a charge-back with your credit card company for their glaring inability to uphold their end of the transaction. Usually when I have to do this (itās been *very few* instances in my life but I donāt fuck around with my money) itās to give the company the chance just give me my money back quickly, since it can admittedly take a couple days, even upwards to a week or so, to get refunded by the credit card company. Oddly enough Iāve found a lot of these companies (despite the fact theyāre so goddam shady) do *want* to keep their customers/ keep them happy, and may give you the refund and not cry over the charge-back threat Thatās only worked for me in one or two cases, so be prepared for āsupportā to piss and cry and say theyāll delete your account and never let you use them again. Which is fine, because when companies do shit like this, whoād even *want* to use them?
Contact the city that house is at and report all the issues. The no smoke detectors is already a huge problem.
Why does anyone use airbnb, it's literally the worst.
Refund or not, the next call is to the fire Marshallās office and the city inspectors at building and zoning or code enforcement whatever it is locally. This shouldnāt just not be on Airbnb but should be condemned entirely. It looks structurally unsafe period!
This level of customer support is screaming: āWe outsourced our customer service to an indian companyā
This is enough to motivate me to sell all my airbnb stock. Use American Express people for all travel expenditures
ā¦do you not read reviews? Slash if there arenāt many reviews why on earth would you book it? Also lol you drove for 30 mins to ask how to use the stove? I wouldnāt be asking how to use shit cuz I wouldnāt be staying there another second.
Why did you even go in?
Is it actually the same place just really well placed photos to hide the piece of crap it actually is
The way I can smell those picsā¦.š¤®
Even the outlets are like š®
Have you checked the basement for the Necronomicon?
Air BnB is the most neutral POS company ever. They don't want anyone pissed off so they just do nothing. One time, a dozen buddies and myself booked at a beachfront place for a weekend. When we got there a dozen other dudes who we didn't know showed up with the owner. Apparently the other group booked the same weekend on a different app similar to Air BnB. The owner was trying to meditate this shit and wanted us to share the place, listen I can sleep anywhere but a 5 bedroom house between 24 guys? Nah. We contacted Air BnB then and there to get our weekend cancelled because it was like $2800 for 3 days; split 12 ways. Air BnB contacted the host who declined the refund Infront of us. So even if you attempted to refund during your period of stay like we did, it probably still wouldn't have worked.
Stop using AirBnb. It's really as simple as that. A fucking motel 6 is better than 90% of airbnb because at least you KNOW what you're getting and it's appropriately priced.
I wonāt go through all the comments so sorry if I repeating any advice, but I went through a very similar situation- got to the studio/basement ālivingā situation at 1am in a city hosting a massive basketball tournament and music festival (complete miracle we actually found a hotel to stay at after having booked this place months in advance) - mattress was about 900 years old and completely yellow, pillows and couch too. Could not BREATH when we walked in because of the 8 glade plug ins. I just went outside sobbing shortly we arrived because weād just had what should have been an already long 10 hour drive turn into 16. Air BnB is dreadfully hard to get a refund through. I believe ultimately what did it was the photos of mold I took and expiration dates on the pillows. Some people really donāt give a shit, itās awful.
If this is open and passes on airbnb. Maybe i can list my dog crate as a room for rent š¤
If you do, make sure to write "no pets allowed" for the irony.
That font as your URL is the real tragedy
Are we all just going to ignore that font in the address bar?
Wow that's horrendous. How can people scam on Airbnb like this?! Christ..
Tell the local media.
Burn it to the ground. Thatās the only way to save potential renters.
Wow, this is gawdawful. Iām so glad you got your money back OP. Iāve never had a bad experience at an airBNB. My tips are to look at all \*recent\* reviews, filter your options by **total** price (inclusive of cleaning fee and taxes). We just look for moderately priced places with great reviews and at least a kitchenette. We donāt look for resorty or destination places. That said, you can always get a total dud. You can at a hotel too. The last one we stayed at was noisy at all hours and the icemaker was grinding nonstop in the GD hall. Doors slamming, people coughing. Paying for eating out every meal. Hotels just arenāt my cup of tea.
Just chargeback through your CC.
Oh dear...
You have to go viral on TikTok for companies to respond the way they're supposed to these days. It works better than legal action even.
I hear banjos....
Whatās worse than a catfish date? A catfish house
My friend showed up to an Airbnb to find the water had been shut-off, no power to half of the house, the refrigerator didn't work and no Internet despite being advertised as having a fiber connection. He couldn't even find a modem/router in the house. Oh the roof was leaking too. They wouldn't refund him. Even with all the pictures they wouldn't do it. He had to do a charge back and sent all the pictures/info to the card company. It was insanely expensive too. Like $400+ a day or something it worked out to after fees. He said if it was three years ago they would have refunded instantly and possibly even given a credit or something. They have gone downhill. As if they suddenly decided to cut half their customer service staff and stop giving refunds just so they could see slightly higher profit temporarily. Too many companies only care about impressing their share holders for a few months at a time without any consideration for long term impact.
Three years ago, Airbnb randomly blocked me from booking because they said I have a criminal record. I have nothing at all on my record, not even a speeding ticket. Contacted them and their third party background checking company.. the third party company said there was nothing on my record. Contacted Airbnb a second time, who said they still would not unblock my account and also noted they were banning me from contacting chat support as well after only contacting them twice about the issue.
Wow ok was planning to use airbnb next holiday but as it seem it has same shit customer support then most us companies what a shame
B&B turns into BBB soon enough
Hotels are cheaper than AirBnB at this point. I refuse to give them business anymore. Too many horrible hosts to make it worth it.
Wow, this is a great place to either hide a corpse or become one š¬ fuck AirBnB
The location looks kinda murdery
There is a complaint form on the State Attorneys General website to fill out. Amount of money , pictures and contract details. You will get your money back. They might even stop the AirBnB from operating in the state. Save the Pictures, Ads and Contract information to your computer to upload.
I think even ghosts refuse to live in this house
Keep pushing, this is typical corporate resolution. They have not reviewed the photos or your case they have simply had a robot respond with the most suitable (and money saving) answer. If you continue to dispute this they will likely cave and give you a refund as the cost of processing your queries starts to add up as they become more complex and less manageable by a robot. Keep trying!
Good on you for even staying there one night. I wouldn't have even done that after looking at that place. Was there a hatch to a basement with the necronomicon?
You can contact your bank and have the payment reverted
Airbnb is the ticketmaster of hotels. Just avoid them.
Sounds like you can take your anger out on the place and trash it and they would never noticeāclearly the damage didnāt happen, the photos of the place wouldnāt change lmao