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30 People Share Their Worst Airbnb Experiences
The majority of us have used such services as Uber or Airbnb, which provide a new and easy way of conducting business between people. Many choose to use these services as it's usually more affordable than the usual taxi or hotel fees. In addition to this, most people choose Airbnb rentals over hotel bookings for the unique experience that living in a local house of a certain destination provides. However, as with most things, there's a dark side. There's always a certain feeling of nervousness lingering inside when it comes to dealing with strangers, especially when you let them into your house or on the flip side living at their place. However, for some people, their craziest nightmares became real when they realized whom they were actually dealing with. At times, it's more funny than scary, but all in all, a negative experience with people can definitely leave a bitter aftertaste. Bored Panda has compiled a list for you of various Airbnb users - both guests as well as hosts - who were unfortunate enough to come across the weirdest of people. This is not to discourage you from using the platform, but rather to work as a cautionary reminder to always read the reviews of the location very diligently and to always prepare a plan B in case things don't turn out the way you expected them to.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
AirBNB in Toronto. Sister and I brought our passports. They demanded we forfeit the passports on arrival. We said absolutely not and after hesitation were shown to our space. The rooms did not match the pictures posted at all. The place reeked of bleach that had been used recently. We took photos of every room, and quietly slipped out when no one was watching. Reported everything to AirBNB and were given a full refund. Their ad was removed and host blocked. Seriously believe we narrowly escaped being trafficked that day.
Victoria Rey Piuma 6 years ago
Wow, that's supercreepy. Good for you for saying no and sneaking out. I'm proud of you.
Aunt Messy 6 years ago
Hmm. Bleach destroys DNA. Murderers love it. It’s a good thing you left.
Monika Rhodes 6 years ago
Or killed.. suspicious it smells of bleach... holy c**p- good escape.
Freya the Wanderer 6 years ago
Good advice, Kaisu. Lucky for me I found a great - and reputable - AirBNB in Asheville, NC.
Nikki D 6 years ago
This gave me goosebumps! Scariest thing I've read in while, so happy that you got out.
Nikki D 6 years ago
I wonder if they ever investigated those people? Too bad you can't really report someone for being creepy and suspicious, might save lives.
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RELATED:
#2
We arrived at our AirB&B in Austin to find that the master bedroom had been quite literally blocked off by the pool table. We thought ”Eh, no biggie, they were probably cleaning and forgot to scoot it back.” So we scooted it back to center of the room— right into the four little divots in the carpet from where it had been sitting before. Trip goes well, we leave— and a day later, I get an email from the property owner demanding payment for a professional balancing service to be performed on the pool table. Five hundred ding-a-lingin’ dollars. How were we supposed to enter the master bedroom? Were we expected to crawl over the table? Does the owner legitimately expect me to believe he had the pool table professionally balanced in the corner of the room, with two of its edges against the wall? After several days of going back and forth between the property owner and AirB&B Customer Support with these and other questions, my credit card was charged $500. So I called my credit card company, explained the situation and they recorded it as fraud.
John Sutton 6 years ago
I wonder what the exchange rate on ding-a-lingin' dollars is... ? :-)
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Rose the Cook 6 years ago
Of course the table was deliberately placed to block entry to the bedroom because everyone's natural reaction would be to move it. Nice little income if they get away with charging every guest $500.
Bobbi Newell 6 years ago
This is where video is useful, and not just photos, to show where the table was located in relation to where the carpet markings were.
Random Panda 6 years ago
I would have called the owner to ask about the table before moving it. It's definitely shady they left it that way and it's better to be too cautious in situations like this. It's still completely bonkers AirB&B charged your credit card though.
Denisa Mihaela 6 years ago
As a guest you cannot be charged without your permission any cent. Trust me, I know what I am taking about. Airbnb won't do it, it s against their internal policies
Fernando Jones 6 years ago
Yeah, the property owner did that c**p on purpose so they could charge you that stupid AF fee and have a "legit" reason to do it by saying you moved their pool table and of course AirBnB is so freakin head-up-their-own-a*s they're not gonna believe anything remotely in the realm of common sense by the tenant and side with the property owner as he's claiming damage. total fraud lol.
#3
The last and only AirBnB I stayed in pretty much put me off the service for good. It was a nice place in a great location, from the look of the pictures. A friend and I were going to a concert in the area that night and drove in from out of town. After being on the road for hours, we were exhausted and starving. Once we settled in we realized it was very obvious the house hadn't been cleaned since the last guest. There were small bits of garbage everywhere, dirty dishes in the sink, old food in the fridge. The advertised "second bed" was an air mattress with no sheets and the sheets on the master bed looked... questionable. Then I made it to the master bathroom. There were dark, thick, curly hairs all over the bathroom floor. One of the sinks was clogged with cloudy water. The bathroom mirror was covered in flecks of toothpaste and debris. There was no hot water in the apartment. I told the property manager that the house was not acceptable and we would be booking a hotel for the night, and asked where to leave the key. I offered to accept a partial refund as I had taken a (freezing cold) shower and used one of their towels. The property owner refused and gave me an awful rating, accusing me of "tampering" with his property and "expecting the experience of the Ritz hotel." I sent AirBnB photos of the condition of the place. They gave me a full refund.
Nikki D 6 years ago
I dunno, this one seems like an outlier. Most stories I read are of BnB siding with the owner. Maybe that is changing!
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Daniel Palmi 2 years ago
I had a similar experience. The host themselves offered a refund on the days left, and we accepted. We also agreed no to leave reviews. Well after a few days the owner left a very rude and personally insulting review on me anyway. We had an agreement on how we specifically would not do this. I sent the host a message why she did this, to which she replied that the contract in her opinion was only that WE could not leave a bad review, but she can... yeah that makes perfect sense. I have now contacted airbnb support in hopes to correct the issue. Lets see how it goes.
Bettina Macintosh 3 years ago
Just got told by Airbnb , to bad for me . Host strung me & airbnb around the 1st 48hrs . Host told Airbnb place would be ready for occupancy day 2 at 8pm . Take Uber from hotel I had to stay in & arrive at apartment building , contact host with no response , contact Airbnb , no response . Day 3 , still in airport hotel & booked another airbnb double my budget . Hotel & new place , total $1500 in hole . Airbnb REFUSES TO COMPENSATE IN ANY WAY !!!!!! WILL NEVER USE SERVICE AFTERALL THIS
Robert Liwiski 2 years ago
We have had a terrible experience with Airbnb. The stress of it all was way too much. Never ever again.
Diane Fair 4 years ago
I am glad they gave your a refund because Airbnb it’s screwing me. The host lists a queen bed that was an air mattress and they claim it it ok to call that abed. However if you look at hosting rules on bedding. There is a specific description to list a air bed and is not considered an bed
#4
My one and only Airbnb stay was at a nice condo in Long Beach, CA right on the beach. Once I got home, the hosts tried to charge me $7000 for damages that were 100% false. They claimed I broke their refrigerator, TV, and Internet, spilled oil on their couch, and stole their bathroom rugs. They also claimed I did drugs in their apartment. Best part? I never met the host. Their housekeeper is the one that let me in. When Airbnb requested photos, they didn’t send any. Imagine that
Sergio Bicerra Descalzi 6 years ago
"...claimed I broke the internet" Reminds me of an episode of The IT Crowd XD
SirPatTheCat 6 years ago
I love that show haha it's so hilarious!! (Highly recommend if you haven't seen it)
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Christina Sersif 6 years ago
I would treat and Air BNB like an apartment. I would take pictures before and after
Susan Callihan 6 years ago
Something similar happened to a friend. AirBnB took care of them and disenrolled the property owner.
Not all people know this, but the name of the company has its roots. When Brian Chesky and his roommates had a hard time making ends meet, they rented out an air mattress on the living room floor and this is how the company got its name. The CEO listed his own property as well as original Airbnb headquarters on the site until 2015. However, the original air mattress was no longer available.
#5
Here’s my AirBNB customer service experience: I woke up to an email saying that I had booked a $500/night room in NYC. I immediately tried to log into my account, only to discover I was locked out. I called their CS number and told them what had happened. They told me to log into my account and cancel it. I politely reminded then I couldn't. They said there was nothing they could do. I asked if they could at least lock my account so no further bookings cod occur. Nope. I asked if they could verify me in some other way. Nope. I asked if they could contact the person whose suite had been booked to warn them. Nope. They said all they could do was send it to the investigation team by email, so would respond within the next few days. No amount of my pleading or logic would get me any further. Frustrated, I hung up and immediately notified my credit card company, who were awesome. Then I had an idea: I wondered if the token on my app was still active despite the password change. Sure enough, the app on my phone loaded and logged me in. I immediately contacted the suite owner and told him what happened. He graciously canceled the booking and thanked me for letting him know. I then changed my password, removed my credit card, and reverted all the other info that had been changed. So, a happy ending for me, but the kicker is I never heard back from AirBNB. If I had followed their advice, I would probably have a $10,000 credit card bill by now. Eventually I canceled my AirBNB account completely after tiring of waiting for a response. Caveat emptor!
Pi Spence 6 years ago
had a similar experience - my one and only with airbnb, will never use that service.
Giraffes Inc. 6 years ago
I've used VRBO.com several times and have never had any problems! These Airbnb stories are kinda scary!
Load More Replies... BusLady 6 years ago
So, you had to do their job for them. How would these people like it if someone hacked them and stole $ from them?
Chris Cheik 5 years ago
Don’t you have to know your password to change your password? Lol or just use your email to reset your password...your story has more holes than Swiss cheese. The f**k why even lie about this lol.
Misterscooter 6 years ago
For most people, it seems, things go well. But when it doesn't, I hear a lot of stories like this about AirBnB.
#6
Guest has a one night booking. She booked approximately one week ago for a Saturday stay. She calls me Saturday morning wanting to cancel. I ask why? She says, it's raining and doesn't want to drive in the rain. I reply that's not a valid reason to cancel, but I will allow it minus 15% of the base rate. She would be on the hook for any fees. She decides to come anyway. Great. Fast forward to checkout. She calls two hours past check out in a panic. Someone in her group lost her ticket and birth certificate. Things she needs to get on her cruise. My cleaner is at the apartment turning over the unit, so no biggie. Guest heads over to look for her items. She makes my cleaner go through FIVE full bags of garbage to find this envelope. Nowhere to be found. She wants to check the other units she's cleaning, units the guest NEVER entered. Guest calls again in a panic and says, "I think your cleaner took the birth certificate." I tell her, my cleaners save things like random shoe strings, lost socks, pamphlets for conventions, brochures, half used deodorant. Things I wish she'd throw away. There's no way that she took it. She loves working for me. It allowed her to start her own business and has three people working for her. A year ago, she was schlepping her infant around with her as she cleaned. Now she's a boss. She's moving on up to the american middle class. Guest says, "She doesn't speak American good and she's probably illegal or something like that." Me: She is a legal resident of the U.S.A. I report her income. She even LLC'ed her own company. She's not going to jeopardize her job with me over this. Her: Can you come and search her? Me: No. I have absolutely no reason to doubt her or anything she says. Perhaps your kid left those documents at home, which seems more likely than my cleaner stealing the documents. Where did your kid see the documents last? Her: At home, but how do you know she isn't trying to sell her birth certificate on the black market? Me: Because she's not shady like that. She's an honest, humble, god fearing type of person. Her: How do you know that? Me: She won't even take tips that guests leave for her. She's had chances to take diamond earrings, jewelry, laptops, ipads, phones you name it. She has never taken a thing. Honestly, I do not like this line of questioning. I'm not coming by to search her person. I've allowed you to search the apartment, and apartments you and your party never set a foot in. You had my cleaner go through five bags of garbage looking for this thing. I feel like we've gone above and beyond. She goes off on me about how I ruined her vacation. I remind her that I didn't lose her daughter's boarding documents. Guest even admits that daughter is forgetful and probably left it at home, but my reluctance to strip search my cleaning person is "bad customer service."
BusLady 6 years ago
Omg. Just what we need. More TRump supporters. If this man gets re-elected, I'm moving to Mars.
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Sharon Vaughn 6 years ago
It's everyone's fault but her own. Some people just aren't mature enough to accept responsibility for their own actions.
Carol Emory 6 years ago
I would have said.."I have no doubts about my cleaner's integrity...I do have serious doubts about yours..."
#7
Rented out my flat in south bank London to two American teenagers whose parents did it for them. I had to be there to show them how the alarm worked as parents didn't trust someone not to break in when they were sleeping "And do god knows what to our girls!" Skip to two days later and I'm woken up at 2am by a call from one of the girls frantic, they were being arrested and didn't know who else to call but couldn't tell me why. Now at this point I was worried because they seemed a little air-headed but nice enough girls. So I called their parents to let them know what was happening and I was going to the station for them and I'll call them as soon as I know more. When I got there I'm told that these two [girls] BROKE INTO THE FLAT ONE FLOOR DOWN and were trashing it. They thought the whole [damn] thing was more of a hotel but people lived in the trashed flat full time and were out that evening and had to come home to find two 19 year old [trashing] up all their [stuff]. I was so pissed. I called the parents and let them know and they were just weird about it. I don't know if they didn't believe me or what but they soon must of found it real when they got the knowledge that my neighbors were going to press charges. I noped the [hell] out of ever doing Airbnb again and offered to pay for damages to the other flat but thankfully my neighbors were nice people and said that they wanted the girls who actually did it do pay for it. Kinda still feel bad for that but can't force it on them.
Random Panda 6 years ago
I just don't understand why people are like this. Why would you destroy stuff just for the hell of it?
Nikki D 6 years ago
It's disturbing how common this is. They must get a thrill out of it?
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Trash Panda 6 years ago
And we wonder how the term "Ugly American" ever came into being. I can't understand why they couldn't just be gracious guests. Once on a sailing trip with friends in the Abaco Islands there was another group of American tourists we kept bumping into. On 2 different occasions, we stumbled upon them acting like complete a******s. Once at a little general store/grocery and they were crying about a $5 loaf of bread, "Bread would never be this expensive back home at Walmart."...answer: "Ma'am, you're not back at home in Walmart." and, "I just don't see why you can't let me have this bread for half price!?" The second time we saw them was on another island where some locals were making conch fritters right on the dock with their fresh catch. (these things were delicious btw!) They were giving some away and then selling them if you wanted more. These people were bitching that they couldn't just have some to take back to the others in their group. They only wanted a dozen or so. WTF!?
BlackestDawn 6 years ago
Even if it was a hotel what the hell kinda mentality do they have were they think it's ok to trash a room, any room?
#8
I had one "tenant" make a porn. I didn't find out until I was cruising [a Reddit thread] r/unexpectedsex (NSFW). I noticed my living room and kitchen
m. b 6 years ago
Ahahaha i would not know how to react to that. Honey we're in the movies, also, we have to bleach AND disinfect the whole house NOW!
Zenozenobee 6 years ago
Oh my, I hope they credit you so that their fans can rent your house for a reboot ;p
Foxyloxylou 6 years ago
they do, they just dont usually film it and do it all over everything
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He didn’t have any concept about the idea of AirBnB being not merely a place to sleep but also to meet locals and learn about local culture. He did not like that I am a woman living alone and asked me many intimate personal questions, how much money I make, my mortgage. He demanded the security code of my place and treated me like his slave – demanded I do his laundry, make phone calls for him, wash his dishes, etc, and when I informed him that I would not do so, he got angry and said, “In my country women do all that, why not you?” and swore at me. He constantly ogled at me and it was extremely uncomfortable. Yes it may have been cultural differences – Middle East vs. North America – but his behavior was NOT acceptable.
m. b 6 years ago
That's not cultural differences, that's a prick! Shouldn't be accepted anywhere and you should ask him to leave/ go back to his mothers house.
- 6 years ago
I went to Pakistan recently, and although women were probably seen like this, the men would help out with anything. We were trying to get the wrapping off our suitcase. Stranger sees this, and helps out. No questions asked, and this wasn't the only occasion. All the men were really polite.
Load More Replies... Random Panda 6 years ago (edited)
To hell with cultural differences. People in his country need to fix the way they treat women, if that's what he considers normal behaviour. I'm tired of misogyny being excused with "but it's their culture".
Kristina Funkycrew 6 years ago
Being a woman and renting to some random dude while you're also there is such an iffy idea, regardless what culture he's from. Current climate dictates that this is unsafe :(
Crouching_Penn_Hidden_Teller@yahoo.com 6 years ago
um, religion is one of the excuses men use for treating women badly....
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Heather W 6 years ago
She never called it a country. She was quoting what the guy said about how things are in his country.
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#10
I've had almost entirely great experiences. There was really only one that was so terrible it stands out: Didn't respond to my welcome email or welcome Airbnb message telling them about the welcome email. Late in the day of check-in, I get a call on a phone number not on the listing from a guy (not the woman in the profile) asking how to get into my condo (it's not a condo, it's a house). After I confirmed they were in the party that made the booking, I gave them access. Didn't hear anything from them again until the day after they were supposed to leave. They didn't leave, and one of them got injured and they weren't going to leave for yet another day. If I had had other bookings immediately following I would've noticed, but sometimes I don't get to my place until a day or two after the people check out. Fine, though, since I have no one checking in for a bit. I expected they would pay me for the extra days, but I had to go through Airbnb to finally get payment. The real horror, though, was after they checked out and I went to clean. There were used q-tips smooshed into the carpet. Chewed gum and/or candy smooshed into the carpet. Used tampons smooshed into the carpet. Bloody tissues smooshed into the carpet. Food or blood or poop stains on all the sheets and comforters. They peed on the floor of the bathroom I can only assume constantly because of how much piss there was and how badly it reeked. Multiple unknown stains left in the carpet. They also threw literally hundreds of pennies all over the carpet in all the rooms. My carpets are very similar colored to pennies, so sometimes I wouldn't see them until they got sucked into the vacuum cleaner. They left all the air conditioners on when they left, despite the rules being very clear about turning them on whenever they leave the house and especially when they leave for check-out. I also later found out from my neighbors that they had well more than the amount of people allowed staying there and had raucous parties every night until late. I asked the neighbors why they didn't call me to let me know, since I'm on friendly terms with all of them and would've been happy to kick out the guests, but the neighbors are super awesome and didn't want to bother me since I never bother them when they're loud. I was very clear from then on that they could always please feel free to let me know so I can take care of it.
BusLady 6 years ago
It wasn't their property and they didn't care. They should have been fined for all the damages.
Load More Replies... Aunt Messy 6 years ago
Never let strangers in your house. EVER. My family’s business was renting houses and this is NOTHING compared to some of the things I’ve seen. ...///... One charming couple locked their tow pregnanc pit bulls in a bedroom and locked them in, just throwing them food every day. The floor and walls were so saturated with urine and excrement that we had to strip the room down to the studs to get rid of the smell. ...///... We even had to replace the baseboard and floor boards. ...///... That’s what they left in just one room. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.
Sarah Mages 6 years ago
Entitlement comes creeping in again.... These people think they can do anything with no repercussions. It's sickening. Thank goodness most people have been great for you.
According to a survey conducted back in 2016, 3% to 7% of all 80 million AirBnB stays have gone wrong. It means that around 2 million trips and vacations were ruined. Unfortunately, 82% of respondents of the survey have indicated Airbnb's customer service as problematic.
#11
The worst was the three Americans I had come into the apartment last summer. They got wasted, came home, and threw a frozen pizza in the oven at the highest temp it could go WITH THE PLASTIC STILL ON IT, which made it melt/burst into flames. They turned the oven off and then threw water on it, and realizing that was a bad idea then used the fire extinguisher I have for guests. They didn't say [anything] until they left and I had the cleaning lady call me and informed me they ruined my oven. I went to Airbnb and complained, showed pics, etc and they charge their card for a new one (so like 350€) They tried to claim fraud on the their card for the charge and when the company refused as it was a legit thing, they left a really nasty review saying that it was my fault they ruined my oven because I didn't inform them it was in Celsius and I was discriminating against them for being American, which is bullshit, as I'm American.
BlackestDawn 6 years ago
Ohh right, the age old "it's your fault I didn't read up on the country I went to". Kinda surprised they didn't blame you for not informing them that they needed to remove the plastic as well, though maybe I'm just jaded from reading NotAlwaysRight.
Eden-Rose Huntsman 6 years ago
how are they supposed to go to another country and not know about celsius? thats just pure stupid
BusLady 6 years ago
I'm American,and I'm fairly certain that everyone in America knows that the rest of the world uses Celsius.
Christina Sersif 6 years ago
In their defense I wouldn't have known that either, but come on even in America we take the plastic off the pizza.
Anggi Pangastuti 6 years ago
Im not American, but American or not, people who has brain will peel off the plastic from frozen food before putting it in the oven. Or maybe they never seen as real oven before and thought the oven is microwave.
jevais 6 years ago
Anggi that must be the reason. Microwave oven! Possible that they had never seen and least of all used a normal oven.
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Id row 6 years ago
People are raising their kids to never, ever take responsibility for their actions because they're so special and unique. This is the result.
The durpy dolphin 6 years ago
Im american, and I know how to convert to celsius, and I think frozen pizza has A celsius temp on it.
#12
The worst guest we ever had was a very large overweight guy. We will call him Willie. He seemed nice enough but he had a tendency to leave his milk cartons in the sink with the cold tap running instead of using the fridge 'because he didn't want to bother us'. This of course led to a flood in his room in his upstairs room but we didn't realize this until after Willie other problem came to fruition. Willie, due to his size, had a tendency to take mammoth [craps], [craps] so massive that our plumbing had issues dealing with it. Because he couldn't use his toilet and didn't want to trouble us with the overflowing toilet situation, Willie had started going directly in the shower and tried to use the hot stream of water from the shower to melt his mammoth [craps] down the drain. Lovely. Anyway, Willie thought he had the problem solved, but all it did was delay the inevitable, the shower drain started flooding soon and this was where the fun part started. A guest on the ground floor was complaining about the power cutting out to his room, turns out the problem was larger than that, something was tripping the power on that entire half of the bnb, we tracked it down to the bathroom light in the room directly beneath Willie's. I removed the casing for the bathroom light only to be greeted with a face-full of brown, slightly lumpy water. This was how Willie wrecked 2 rooms, caused over £10,000 in damages and created electric problems we are still dealing with.
FortnitePlayerGirl 6 years ago
Holy C**p! That is just sad how one person caused damage as enormous as the guy himself!
Pi Spence 6 years ago
The size of a person is not indicative of their size of 'c**p'. At.All.Ever.
BusLady 6 years ago
Sounds like he had some kind of severe intestinal problems. I have known many large people and they don't have this problem.
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Being_Cori 6 years ago
i do feel bad bad for both parties - i just think Willie was a shy guy & being overweight [a probably mocked at] has not helped his situation - i hope everything gets resolved tho
#13
My first and last time using Airbnb was a complete and utter nightmare. I had just gotten the role I had been pursing in my career for two years. I flew out to Denver to take my drug test and start work that Monday. Everything was solid. I decided to stay at an Airbnb, thinking it would help save money. Little did I know the host has claimed to have been abducted by aliens, is on barbiturates and amphetamines, and was a former meth addict and who knows what else. She seemed fine in the beginning but her stories got weirder as the days passed. I figured I was okay and I’d be gone soon enough. As for my own idiocy, I accepted a cup of tea from the host. She assured me it wasn’t weed tea or anything else funky; this was since I informed her I was supposed to get tested the next day. I woke up a little fuzzy thinking it was the Denver altitude sickness. I went confidently and handed over my urine with not a worry in the world. I then woke up the next morning 5:00 AM to the host and her boyfriend beating the heck out of each other, then I was assaulted when trying to stop him from smashing her head into the floor any further. She climbed onto the roof, he ran, and the cops came. Maybe she was looking at aliens again… Long story short, this was the most psychotic experience of my life. I failed my drug test, lost my job, and am now part of a criminal investigation. Airbnb has done nothing for me nor does it seem they care. I have other job offers and will stay in a homeless shelter until my first check comes in. My entire life has been turned upside down.
TeeMarieTisMe 6 years ago
While I empathize for this person, if they suspected and/or knew the host was unstable or under the influence then maybe he shouldn't have accepted any food or drink from her in that state of mind, knowing that he had a drug test the next day....just saying. If I know that I have a drug test I'm not going to accept a cookie from a stranger who is obviously stoned out of their mind. Even if they "claim" there's nothing in it. Gotta protect yourself.
TeeMarieTisMe 6 years ago
Actually, in most cases I'm not going to accept random food or drink from a stranger period lol. Unless it's at a restaurant ect.
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Susan Brooks 6 years ago
Their first clue with the beverage should have been the assurance that it wasn't "weed tea or anything".
Christina Sersif 6 years ago (edited)
That sucks and I'm sorry, but you NEVER accept beverage from a stranger. NEVER.
#14
We did a bit and it was ok. Worst wasn't bad at all, but a bit of a culture clash. They complained our house, a 100 year-old cottage in the New Forest, southern England, didn't have a particular type of bedding (only found in America), and didn't have 'bug screens'. We tried to explain that 'bug screens' simply don't exist anywhere in the UK, but they didn't really get it. We got a so-so review for having a house missing these so-called 'basic conveniences', despite our trying to explain that things are a bit different in the UK to America. We were their first stop before they headed up to Edinburgh. I hope the rest of their trip didn't bring them too many surprises, but I have a suspicion they would have spent the whole two weeks [complaining] about how things are different to America.
Kururi.Orihara 6 years ago
If you're going to another country, expect things to be different. If you can'tstand that, just dont leave!
KarmaQueen 6 years ago
Very self absorbed people. I would never assume, when traveling abroad, that their way of life is the same as ours and to expect some differences. This is what is called experiencing culture from other places. Don't visit overseas if you cannot handle a different type of culture.
Felicia Dale 6 years ago
Oh, yes. Bug screens in the UK are almost non-existent. We once had a very long and ourobourus style converting with a friend about this: You have flies in your kitchen- how come you don't get bug screens? We don't need bug screens because we don't have mosquitos here. But you have flies from the dairy in your kitchen. Screens would keep them out. But we don't have mosquitoes so we don't need screens. But you close your windows during hot weather to keep the flies out- wouldn't screens- We don't need screens because we don't have mosquitos here... *sigh*
Nikki D 6 years ago
It must be so nice without mosquitoes! I'm guessing you have smaller, less annoying, non biting flies as well. We have buffalo flies that are the size of a large Lima bean and when they bite, they take a chunk out and it hurts and bleeds!
Load More Replies... Nikki D 6 years ago
You say wasp like they aren't terrifying hell beasts. Where are you? I'm getting jealous of all these bug free places, I didn't know they existed outside of Siberia or Antarctica!
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Joannie Goulet 6 years ago
I'm Canadian and here one do not open a window without a screen, for fear of dying of blood loss from mosquito bites. When we were travelling in the UK, one very thoughtful hotel employee told me that they had opened the windows in our room so we would be able to enjoy the clean fresh air. There was of course no screen and we found several uninvited guests in the room that evening but we were just fascinated by the fact that there was no mosquitoes, just flies and a moth. :)
Trash Panda 6 years ago
Why the f**k do you travel if you want things to be just like they are at home?
#15
I booked a room for three in Montpelier, France. The listing had great reviews, the photos were beautiful, and the host, Jimmy, seemed really friendly (also the price was good for college backpackers). I arrived with two friends from college late at night, and we spent an hour in the street trying to contact Jimmy. When he answered his phone, he blamed us for being late, even though we had been waiting outside his apartment complex for an hour. Jimmy was very drunk, and he didn't look at all like his sweet and unassuming profile picture from Airbnb. He told us to "Be quiet in the hallways" because "the neighbors can't know you are here." We walk up 4 flights of stairs and then he tells us to take off our shoes outside. I realize there is a huge pile of shoes stacked in the hallway. We enter the room we realize there are beds and people everywhere. 15 people to be exact. Jimmy was squeezing 15 guests into his small one bedroom apartment, and he had us remove our shoes because he had placed cots in literally every possible part of the house. It was impossible to walk without stepping on beds, and a lot of these beds were occupied with people trying to sleep. The bathroom didn't have door, only a curtain. Our host obviously realized that this was a negative aspect of his house, so he reassured us that, "If a pervert is sleeping here, and he tries to creep on you in the shower, I'll kick him out." One of my friends was a small woman, and this comment definitely freaked her out. Oh, also, I had to share a bed. The host overbooked, so he put my traveling buddy and I in the same full-sized cot. The sheets smelled of cigarettes, and they obviously had not been washed. We did our best to book a different hotel room with our phones, but it was after midnight, and every hotel in town was either closed for the night, fully-booked, or expensive (we were college kids traveling on a tight budget). we accepted our fate and decided to leave at the crack of dawn. I go to brush my teeth, and when I finish I look back at my Cot, and the host is making out with a girl on my bed (I don't know if the girl was a guest or his girlfriend). I awkwardly clear my throat, the host notices, and without acknowledging me he takes this girl by the hand to the vacant cot nearby and continues to make out. My friends and I put all our valuables in our pockets and do our best to ignore the loud kissing and pillow talk happening six feet away. We slept for 4 hours, then frantically packed and left.
Christina Sersif 6 years ago
Please tell me you took pictures and reported it. This is gross and completely unacceptable.
Victoria Rey Piuma 6 years ago
I would've left, found the police station and asked if we could just wait there till morning
BusLady 6 years ago
They were young and inexperienced, probably in a foreign country, had probably no idea what to do.
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Trash Panda 6 years ago
So he was in the cot making out with a girl while your buddy was also in the same cot you were sharing??
People who had problems with Airbnb customer service, have indicated these reasons as their main concerns: they received no support in emergency situations, customer service was either unreachable or rude, refunds are denied unfairly, the team is disorganized and provides wrong answers and that policies unfairly favor hosts.
#16
Had a guest rent my apartment for a music festival and my wife and I came by to check on the pace and found that the guests were storing their drugs in my child's crib. We bought a new crib after we kicked them out.
DemPugs 6 years ago (edited)
It has been scientifically proven storing drugs in cribs are the safest and most convenient location.
ZombieGirl5591 6 years ago
..but were they allowed to just walk in while someone was renting the place? just curious
Stille20 6 years ago
Yea, I second that question and unless you suspected a problem, why would you?
Load More Replies... #17
Circle of Airbnb Hell Level 1: I originally booked an Airbnb apartment in Tokyo in the summer of 2018 for a long-awaited and carefully saved for trip to Japan, which was a graduation present for my son. Two weeks before the trip, Airbnb advised due to changes in Japanese law, I likely wouldn’t be able to occupy the Airbnb. I would have to rent a hotel at the last minute in Tokyo (along with all of the other people who just lost their Airbnb bookings and rushed to book hotels). I ended up paying over 2K for a hotel, over 1.2K more than the Airbnb I booked, fully blowing my budget. Airbnb attempted to compensate for this by giving me a coupon for $900. Circle of Airbnb Hell Level 2: I used $328 of the coupon on a weekend Airbnb booking in DC. I ended up fully locked out of the unit, never got in, and Airbnb refused to refund the full cost because I didn’t cancel… which makes no sense – I was locked out. They even charged me for the unit cleaning, that I never got into. I spent $186 to stand in the rain outside a locked unit, listening to the host’s answering machine. After this I no longer wanted to do any business with Airbnb, but I had $712 credit left to use, I thought. Circle of Airbnb Hell Level 3: I attempted to use the $712 on a vacation and guess what? It was a ‘single use coupon’. In the end, it was all a complete waste: out the 1.2K for the extra cost for the Tokyo hotel, out $328 for the unit I was locked out of and finally just out.
kathryn stretton 6 years ago
Terrible. Never used Airbnb. After reading these posts, I never will.
Marina 6 years ago
Oh My! I'm so Glad we don't have these in my country yet. What a horrible company...
Robyn Markow 6 years ago (edited)
It's seems like a good concept but apparently little to no background checks are done . I just had a fairly unpleasant experience myself but I've had two good experiences w/this service & two lousy ones so u kind of take your chances when you use them!
Load More Replies... Robyn Markow 6 years ago
I'm reading this after having an unpleasant Airbnb experience myself;it was a married couple w/a small house in Portland,Oregon & u could hear EVERYTHING bcuz the walls were so thin that I think they used cardboard to build them. So( no surprise here) the husband accuses me of "making too much noise". Uh;Excuse me? People make noise(& I'm not a loud person myself.) I think they should just use their extra room as an office or den since it's really not the ideal home to host people. I sense they were just doing it for the bucks since they barely spoke to me & cooked delicious -smelling dinners & didn't ask me if I'd like to join them for one. I was just a body occupying a room . Finally,I sprained a tendon in my leg &:they showed little to no concern. Portland is a nice town so I had a good time considering these couple who seriously needed the sticks removed from their asses!
#18
I’m an Airbnb hostess. I was on vacation, and was woken by my phone ringing ringing like mad at 4:45 AM one Sunday morning. I had 6 missed calls. I didn’t recognize the number, so I silenced my phone and went back to sleep. 6 AM, and my phone kept vibrating off and on, so I finally dragged myself out of bed to answer it. It turned out someone had made a booking at 2 am and expected to check in at 4 am. Our normal check in time is 3 pm. She claimed to be in a taxi looking for my place. My first reaction was guilt at not having woken up to pick her call. If i had thought more rationally I probably would have reminded her of our check in time, but well, I was half asleep. I gave her directions and then called home and woke my family. And there started our experience with my worst guest ever. She had a little backpack which she handed to my bro in law, asking him to carry it up to her room. She wanted someone to go mop the bathroom floor every time she was done with the shower. She took everybody’s number and kept calling at odd hours with random requests for specific cookware etc. Every time someone took them up to her she would refuse to open the door saying she was busy. I had to silence my phone when I went to bed because she kept waking me about random stuff. She’d made an initial booking of three days, and wanted to extend it. I ended up blocking my calendar on Airbnb to prevent her from extending her stay. She complained saying she was ill, she knew the house was available, I was doing it on purpose etc etc, but by then we all just wanted her gone.
Susan Callihan 6 years ago
No she is not entitled. She just thinks she is.
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Sheikh Steve 6 years ago
How does a phone ring like mad? Surely it doesn't show emotions, it just rings? ;-)
boredkitten 6 years ago
Yes, I am afraid she was mentally ill. I saw this type of a behaviour before.
#19
Not me, but my dad; stayed in a place that turned out to be a halfway house/boarding house for released criminals.
Freya the Wanderer 6 years ago
Eek! That is why you need to learn as much about the place as you can, and read some reviews. Caveat emptor.
#20
I reserved a non-smoking room through Airbnb for 30 days at the last minute due to a change of plans. Upon arrival, the entire building smelled like an ashtray and the room was even worse. As a non-smoker, I was literally gagging and knew this wouldn’t work. Upon further inspection, I discovered stains on the cover that looked liked dried blood. I pulled back the cover and saw dirt, a paw print, and hair (presumably from an animal but at this point, it didn’t matter). I notified the hosts who sent around an air freshener and finally some clean sheets. The hosts refused to issue a refund and wanted to keep the entire fee (over 1,200 CAD) for a few hours’ stay. I was out of there as soon as another place could be found. I went through two case managers, who decided the best solution was to allow these creepy scamming hosts to keep half of the fees. I pointed out to the case managers that it’s illegal to obtain funds through misrepresentation of goods or services but they evidently weren’t bright enough to grasp basic legal concepts. They gave me their final final decision tonight and basically told me to get over it. That’s not going to happen; I don’t like scammers. At least I will be going down swinging.
Aunt Messy 6 years ago
Christina is right. Also tell your credit card company that you need a new card, pronto. Those creeps still had your credit card number.
The 2016 survey analyzed what was most likely to go wrong whilst using Airbnb services. More than 20% of the problems arose because the host canceled the guest's stay, more than 15% have reported scams, around 13% - unsafe conditions. For more than 10% of people, the listings appeared not as described, 4% came across fake listings and around 1% of respondents reported discrimination against them.
#21
Converted a rental house for Airbnb use. Bought furniture from Craig's List and Ikea, fixed it up, found a property manager for it. Turned on the listing. Second booking was a 20-something woman with no previous reviews on airbnb. She booked the whole house for just one Saturday night. Our manager warns us "that sounds like she's planning a party". We respond that the listing makes it very clear that parties are not allowed. My girlfriend, who runs the business, writes to this woman twice and phones her once to remind her of the "no parties" rule. The woman keeps assuring us "Oh no, I would never do that. It's just me, my two friends, and my brother coming over for dinner." Saturday comes along, we're staying in the house next door, and around 9:30 we hear music coming from our rental house. We look out the window and disco lights are running in the house. In the kitchen, a group of women are moving huge pots into the kitchen. A little later, we see them emptying ice, fruit juice, and several bottles of liquor into the pots. My girlfriend decides enough is enough and goes over there to remind them of the "no parties" rule. "Oh, no, we're not having a party, just my brother and his wife coming over for dinner." "Ok, then, where's the food? Who are all these people?". My girlfriend turns away about twenty people who show up at the door. After breaking into tears and telling my girlfriend "You're ruining my life!", she agrees to leave, and the party is over. My girlfriend still had to turn away a couple of carloads of would-be partiers. The night ends with two of the woman's friends pacing back and forth in front of the house screaming at my girlfriend. "You [pig]! You [damn] [pig]! Give us our deposit back! Come out and fight me, [pig]! [PIG]! [PIG]!". Plants in the garden are uprooted. Pots are smashed. Neighbors start to gather. Police are called. The next morning involves cleaning up, repotting plants, and writing letters of apology to the neighbors.
vera💖🏐🐳😘 6 years ago
I'm 13 and I would NEVER do anything like that! she was super rude!
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#22
Had a guest from Italy for 3 months. I made dinner for her when she arrived and she made a point of telling me she threw it up (I am a good cook and have published a cook book). Two days later, her son arrived without telling me to stay the entire time. She used my address to establish permanent residency in the U.S. and to open financial accounts without telling me. She took a hammer to my quartz counter-top, causing $1000 in damage and then said it was gouged by someone else (no one else was in the house). She hung her underwear on my awnings to dry because she did not like the dryer. I came home to find her building wooden displays in my living room and with cans of black spray ready to paint them in my house. She poisoned my dog deliberately and I had to spend $800 at the vet. She took my carved wooden salad spoons from Africa and used them to stir pasta and ruined them. She said that anything I cooked smelled bad and I should eat out. She threw out pieces of silverware, chef’s knives, and china. She threatened to write horrible reviews about me on Airbnb if I did not drive her where she wanted to go and help her with her errands. I called Airbnb for help and they were useless. They said it was my problem. The night she finally left she poured red wine all over expensive new white linens. I found out I could not collect the deposit or the Host Guarantee because I “did not have proof” even though I sent 20 pages of documents and photos. Airbnb requires a police report and this is impossible to obtain in Florida because any damages caused by a “resident” of a home have to be brought to civil court, not the police. That was the last guest I had on Airbnb.
Mathias 6 years ago
I disagree, I know many people who had long staying guests at from other platforms. All of them were great guests, if problems that can't be solved happened the guests were asked to leave or thrown out if they refused police was called - though it always was enough just to mention police and they were gone. But this are things that turn out in the first 3 days usually. So the mistake was not standing up for oneself (and the dog, poor thing). Of course the guest was terrible but the host could have ended this any time and chose not to so there is nobody else to blame than her or himself. Unfortunately most people don't see what they could have done to avoid the situation and keep blaming the other one instead of learning the life lesson.
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BusLady 6 years ago
She sounds like a vindictive person, who somehow expects to always get her way. Narcissist?
Nadja Lambacher 6 years ago
I would have kicked her out after the dog incident. What the hell.
Kristina Cowan 3 years ago
Where do these weirdos even come from!? Many of these stories seem like people who have serious issues. Then there's the human trafficking bnb. Nope!
Joseph Brzezinski 6 years ago
This just sounds fake... And, how does she know the dog was poisoned, deliberately?
#23
Nothing bad about my guest, but the whole timing was horrible. This Korean Kid (probably 20-22yrs), spoke very little English and his first time in America, he arrives at my house about 8:00pm (Renting just a single bedroom for 4-days. I will add at the time my house was not in the best neighborhood). He arrives and I am not home yet, he lets himself in and probably reads the info sheet I left out... I get back about 9:00pm and the entire area around my house (4-block in all directions) is locked down by the police, they tell me I can't enter but I explain the scenario about a new International Kid living at my house so they escort me through the alley to my house. I go inside the house and he is in his room kind of scared to come out. At this time the SWAT Team is in front of my house, News crews down the street and I find out the brother of the person across the street just beat his GF with a bat, then ran a couple blocks and broke into his brothers house to hide. He is a Felon with a Warrant and they believe he may be armed. The Korean Kid (Forgot his Name) asked me if this is what America is always like as we watch out the window. Anyways 2hrs later they kick in the door, throw flash-bangs inside and go in, 5-minutes later they carry him out Limp, handcuffed and ankle cuffed and lay him on the street while medics look at him. He was very frightened to do anything the whole time he stayed with me because he thought it is very dangerous to go outside!
Nikki D 6 years ago
Omg poor thing, I wonder if he ever came back to America. I can't imagine how scared he was, it's like being in a warzone when that happens. (I also don't live in the best neighborhood)
Alexandru Bucur 6 years ago
Yeah, reminds me of when I was in San Diego in 2007. I was staying at a hostel in the Gaslamp Quarter and, one night, coming home, a couple of wannabe gangsters start trading shots one block north of where I lived. Nobody gut hurt and they both got taken in by police pretty quickly, but maan, that sure rattled our nerves... This was my third stay in the US, and on my first one, in 2004 I nearly got shot accidentally in the Roosevelt National Forest in Colorado, when some idiot decided to shoot beer cans across the Middle St. Vrain River hiking trail and narrowly missed me... Guy barely apologised and I was too scared to make too much of a fuss because he was armed and I wasn't. I high-tailed it as fast as I could in search of a Forest Ranger, but, obviously, by the time I got hold of one, he was long gone..
Load More Replies... Victoria Rey Piuma 6 years ago
I'm sorry but I'm siding with the kid. Although there's a large chance I'd have changed my ticket to leave earlier.
#24
Only had 1 unpleasant experience with elderly guests. And by no means am I being an ageist. But they expected me to fix the tiniest problems. The host should take in the cushions on outdoor chairs at night when it rains (at 3am) so they're not wet the next day The host should drive us around because we're old The host had only white towels but I needed black towels. WHAT?? WHY??
Trash Panda 6 years ago
I have used AirBnB for years and nowhere have I seen anything that states a host should drive a guest around. I just can't understand how a guest can just assume that. Insanity.
Miriam 6 years ago
No offence, they ARE being rude, but i think if at least one was a girl, the black towels could have been for makeup. y'all know how messy that gets.
Random Panda 6 years ago
I'm surprised that someone would clean up their make-up with a towel in the first place. And why would the towel color matter anyway? You still have to wash it if you're gonna wipe make-up with it.
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#25
The guest that stole everything from our house. They used a fake profile and when we got back from vacation everything of value was gone. Still trying to recover damages two months later from AirBNB.
Sherry Harvey 6 years ago
So sorry. I had a renter take all my furniture. And my gas grill! The police told me I had to pursue in civil court. I had to prove the furniture was mine. So basically, if you steal furniture, there’s really nothing you can do about it that’s effective.
People who were scammed by Airbnb hosts list these reasons as the most common: the host demanded extra cash, the host falsified damages or used a fake email. The 13% of people who have reported unsafe conditions, mentioned extreme bug infestations, unsafe and broken amenities, hostile or intimidating host and hidden cameras in bedroom.
#26
My husband and I were traveling to NYC for a family emergency; we booked an AirBnb, in an effort to save some money, and ended up finding a nice-looking room in Flushing. My only experiences with AirBnbs up until that point were with larger groups, where we typically had a whole house to ourselves; I was a little nervous about living in a stranger’s guest bedroom. The hostess was very polite over e-mail, and I felt relieved—maybe a room rental was not as bad as I had feared! We arrived in Flushing at 5 PM on a Saturday. I texted our hostess to let her know that we were on our way to Flushing, and she let us know that she would not be there to meet us, but that her father would be there to meet us. We stood outside and waited for about 10 minutes, before a man appeared ("the father", we presumed) asking us in gruff mandarin if we had rented a room. Luckily, we both speak mandarin. We said yes, he started walking several doors down, saying that the room that we had booked was not available, and that he had another room. At this point, we arrive in front of a larger apartment complex. He instructed us to leave the key in the unit when we leave in the morning, then handed us off to a second man. The second guy brings us up to the fourth floor of the second building. When we arrive on the fourth floor, he led us into the room, which was not as pictured or described in the listing. More concerning was the wet floor. When we asked why, he said it was just mopped--when there was clearly a leak in the roof and major water damage in the ceiling. Guy 2 brushes it off, then immediately asks us for $20 in cash to get the key. We explain that we don't have cash, and he insists "why worry about $20? Just give me the cash, I'll give it back when you give back the key". We explain that the first guy told us to leave the key in the unit, and guy 2 just repeats that he needs the cash as a deposit. We asked him how we'd give the key and get our cash back, and asked if the hostess’s number was the number to call. He said it wasn't the right number, and started giving us another phone number. We interrupt to say that our reservation was with our hostess, and he was confused. He seemed surprised that the first man had a daughter. At this point, there was waaaaaaaay too much shady business for our liking, and we decided to leave and find other accommodations.
The durpy dolphin 6 years ago
I think they were preparing to first swipe 20 off you, then either traffic you or basically hijack your airbnb reservation
#27
I was new to AirBNB and my prices was very low. at that time i was 21, and though it was only boys and girls like me, who used it. Signed up pretty much to hang out with people my age, show them the city, have a great time. My first guest was a middle aged woman who was attending a Robbie Williams concert in the neighbor city. She was very sweet and kind when i talked to her through AirBNB, so i let her use my cheap apartment (in which i live also) She didn't "check in" before 3 in the morning, and she was very drunk when she arrived. I had work the following morning, so i really felt like sleeping. When i let her inside she was very noisy. After about 30 minutes she fell asleep. I was waken up suddenly by her trying to "sneak" in my bed(keep in mind she was drunk af) so it was not very smooth. I asked what she was doing, and told her to use the other room. She refused and wanted to cuddle with me - also saying she was willing to pay more. I told her, quite aggressive, to use the other room or leave. At the point she simply got mad at me. After about 15 minutes she bust the door open and comes in the room trying to sell me some of her organic product called vitamin plus or something. I was furious. She kept going for about 1 hour before the almost fell asleep in the door opening. She gave me 5 stars.
Marina 6 years ago (edited)
It was... If it were a 40 yo man to do this to a 21 yo woman it would be terrifying as well
Load More Replies... Carol Emory 6 years ago
She gave you five stars to avoid the police report. Either that or she was so drunk, she doesn't remember a thing.
#28
When I checked out I got a very angry email from the host saying that I left behind one hair scrunchie (hanging on the closet knob) and an empty beer bottle container. Oh, and I left the bathroom light on. Never mind the fact that we cleaned everything up before leaving. That host was extremely pissed off about the above three things and said she would not give our security deposit back. Luckily I had taken various photos showing how much of a dump the place was and sent the pictures to her saying that her ad was deceptive. That worked - I got my security deposit back.
Carrie Cassidy 6 years ago
I hope she get big fat William that the other lady had at her place and cost her 10.000 grand
#29
This experience taught me to never rent an Airbnb room ever again. I rented a place in downtown Taipei that’s close to a train station, high rated with a good price. The moment I arrived I was thrilled, everything seemed nice. The room was a bit smelly but since it was cheap I let it go. After the first night of my stay my nose started to clog. Staying in a smelly room for hours made my breathing a bit difficult. After the second night of my stay, I was officially sick in the morning. I asked the owner if she had another room I could stay in, but she told me all her rooms were rented and there was nothing she could do. That night I finally got the idea of checking the air conditioner and it was horrible. The surface seemed clean but if you looked inside it was filled with huge spots of black mold. I could not believe I had been breathing the air into my lungs all along. I contacted the owner and she was trying to confuse me by saying “we started renting the place out for two months only and we never had any complaints”, but after I confronted her about the air conditioner again and again, she finally caved and said it was provided by the landlord and was ancient. As I asked her to hire a professional to deep clean the air-con the next day, she refused and said she would only send a domestic helper to come clean the surface only. I refused to keep breathing in ancient black mold into my lungs as it could cause long term lung damage, so I then booked a hostel to stay and moved out immediately.
Victoria Rey Piuma 6 years ago
Yeah but that's the problem with air bnb there are no regulations and laws and such. Anyone can sign up.
Wil Vanderheijden 6 years ago
Well in my country you have to report to the authorities that you're renting out property to tourists. Failing to do so can cost you dearly. You have to comply to rules regarding safety, escaperoutes in case of a fire and hygienic standards of the property, to mention just a few.
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JO ANN BARTON 2 years ago
I stayed in an Airbnb in Santa Fe NM for a few days Lovely big house with an elderly man. He rented out several rooms and bathrooms were shared. I paid $70 a night. It rained and the roof leaked.I received an email after returning home asking me about my "overwhelming use of paper products." I was shocked and mentioned I have allergies. Also said next time I will bring my own tissues. Guess who won't be staying there next time.
#30
Guy pooped on my rug!
Alexandru Bucur 6 years ago
Yup. Worked one summer with "work and Travel" at a Guest Ranch (more of a western themed hotel really, we also had a fully furnished conference centre) in the Colorado Rockies as a housekeeper, and I can vouch that it wasn't unusual to find poop on all kinds of things, including a pillow one time. The worst are always the wedding parties.
Skye Ramadge 6 years ago
How do you contribute to answering a question like this? Is there some way?
The durpy dolphin 6 years ago
A dog doesnt stand over it and comand you to pick it up
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Eunice Probert 6 years ago
Well it's obvious really. Don't book through AirBnB and don't rent your property out either. There are far too many stories of dodgy deals and frankly scary situations. Any of those stories could have gone seriously bad at any moment. I dont think it's worth the saving of money.
RaroaRaroa 6 years ago
AirBnB is also being partly blamed for the rental property shortage in some of our tourist towns. People, instead of renting to a longterm tenant for a certain price, find they can get a lot more if they rent out to short term holidaymakers. The regulations/insurance, etc need to catch up on AirBnB. I would think insurance companies would consider multiple short term tenants to be higher risk than one long term one. Many of the people who serve the holidaymakers in these towns find it impossible to live anywhere near their jobs now.
Load More Replies... Christina Sersif 6 years ago
I haven't had a room mate in years, so sharing a room for Air BnB would be weird for me. Me staying in some random person's house is also equally weird for me. Reading all these horror stories especially the first one about being almost trafficked just convinces me NO NEVER. Hotels.com and after 10 nights I get a free night
Beatrice Alighieri 6 years ago
It happened 8 years ago, in 2011. I was in Rio de Janeiro, staying at a hotel, but wanted something more affordable - so I thought about an AirBnB. Found a lovely studio, contacted the "owner" and we met in front of the building so that he could show me the apartment and hand me the keys. Then he goes "Oh, wait! I don't have the keys, my friend has the keys, let's take a cab and go get them. It's pretty close, at Vidigal" (one of Rio's slums). Huh. Then he goes on: "Oh, and your credit card was refused by my AirBnB account, so we should go to an ATM and you can get the payment to me in cash." Yeah, right... NOPE. I ran away from that guy as fast as I could. And yes, I reported it to AirBnB at the time, but the only thing they said was that the post had been removed.
JaneH 6 years ago
Wow. I've had nothing but good experiences with Air Bnb. Clean houses, nice coffee and snacks, garden flowers, even a bottle of wine for our anniversary stay in Santa Fe, NM. I even got a good refund when I had to cancel once due to illness. I don't know what to think about these stories.
Uwe Theiss 6 years ago
Bad things happen too. And if 99% of all AirBNB stays are fine, the 1% are still thousand of cases with horrorstories. Just go forward enjoing your life :)
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zoumerela 6 years ago (edited)
What I got really tired of is the fairytale that AirBnB is so much better than a hotel, because you get to meet real locals that will love to share their stories about their country and culture with you over home-made dinner or something like that. Most AirBnB I experienced are actually apartments that the owner never set a foot in and are managed by a property manager. The warm welcome is an instruction sheet and the properties are bought specifically so that they are rented out to tourists, as an investment. A lot of AirBnB listings are also on booking.com
Deborah Lim 6 years ago (edited)
*knocking on wood* - I have only used AirBnB in North America and of the dozens of trips I have used it for, I only remotely had an issue once in NYC. We could not coordinate a good time to grab the keys from the host and his gf was super rude to us. After a few choice words that I threw at him, he booked us in a 4.5 star hotel and paid for the whole thing. We ONLY book hosts with good pictures, ratings and reviews and are never the first people to rent the place. Also, we only book the whole apartment or house (just offering a few tips to hopefully have hassle-free experiences). I think if you're careful, you should have no issue at all but there are definitely scam artists on there!
Carney 6 years ago
I travel a lot -- mostly work related, but sometimes fun times. I've stayed in many air BnBs, but have given up on the entire business after five negative experiences in less than six months. Sexual harrassment, threatening, dirty rooms, rude hosts, unsafe conditions, fake charges that take months to get corrected and horrific customer service from Air BnB have turned me off for good. I simply don't need more headaches! There are MUCH better choices than this free-for-all that is the current Air BnB experience. If the company itself ever decides to put customer safety and health first...well, we might rethink this choice. BTW: I have friends who participate as hosts and who are now thinking about terminating their arrangement due to how the company has responded when they had issues. It's a bit like ride-share services: when done right, it's great, but when it goes wrong...well, it goes very, very, very wrong.
Eunice Probert 6 years ago
Well it's obvious really. Don't book through AirBnB and don't rent your property out either. There are far too many stories of dodgy deals and frankly scary situations. Any of those stories could have gone seriously bad at any moment. I dont think it's worth the saving of money.
RaroaRaroa 6 years ago
AirBnB is also being partly blamed for the rental property shortage in some of our tourist towns. People, instead of renting to a longterm tenant for a certain price, find they can get a lot more if they rent out to short term holidaymakers. The regulations/insurance, etc need to catch up on AirBnB. I would think insurance companies would consider multiple short term tenants to be higher risk than one long term one. Many of the people who serve the holidaymakers in these towns find it impossible to live anywhere near their jobs now.
Load More Replies... Christina Sersif 6 years ago
I haven't had a room mate in years, so sharing a room for Air BnB would be weird for me. Me staying in some random person's house is also equally weird for me. Reading all these horror stories especially the first one about being almost trafficked just convinces me NO NEVER. Hotels.com and after 10 nights I get a free night
Beatrice Alighieri 6 years ago
It happened 8 years ago, in 2011. I was in Rio de Janeiro, staying at a hotel, but wanted something more affordable - so I thought about an AirBnB. Found a lovely studio, contacted the "owner" and we met in front of the building so that he could show me the apartment and hand me the keys. Then he goes "Oh, wait! I don't have the keys, my friend has the keys, let's take a cab and go get them. It's pretty close, at Vidigal" (one of Rio's slums). Huh. Then he goes on: "Oh, and your credit card was refused by my AirBnB account, so we should go to an ATM and you can get the payment to me in cash." Yeah, right... NOPE. I ran away from that guy as fast as I could. And yes, I reported it to AirBnB at the time, but the only thing they said was that the post had been removed.
JaneH 6 years ago
Wow. I've had nothing but good experiences with Air Bnb. Clean houses, nice coffee and snacks, garden flowers, even a bottle of wine for our anniversary stay in Santa Fe, NM. I even got a good refund when I had to cancel once due to illness. I don't know what to think about these stories.
Uwe Theiss 6 years ago
Bad things happen too. And if 99% of all AirBNB stays are fine, the 1% are still thousand of cases with horrorstories. Just go forward enjoing your life :)
Load More Replies... zoumerela 6 years ago (edited)
What I got really tired of is the fairytale that AirBnB is so much better than a hotel, because you get to meet real locals that will love to share their stories about their country and culture with you over home-made dinner or something like that. Most AirBnB I experienced are actually apartments that the owner never set a foot in and are managed by a property manager. The warm welcome is an instruction sheet and the properties are bought specifically so that they are rented out to tourists, as an investment. A lot of AirBnB listings are also on booking.com
Deborah Lim 6 years ago (edited)
*knocking on wood* - I have only used AirBnB in North America and of the dozens of trips I have used it for, I only remotely had an issue once in NYC. We could not coordinate a good time to grab the keys from the host and his gf was super rude to us. After a few choice words that I threw at him, he booked us in a 4.5 star hotel and paid for the whole thing. We ONLY book hosts with good pictures, ratings and reviews and are never the first people to rent the place. Also, we only book the whole apartment or house (just offering a few tips to hopefully have hassle-free experiences). I think if you're careful, you should have no issue at all but there are definitely scam artists on there!
Carney 6 years ago
I travel a lot -- mostly work related, but sometimes fun times. I've stayed in many air BnBs, but have given up on the entire business after five negative experiences in less than six months. Sexual harrassment, threatening, dirty rooms, rude hosts, unsafe conditions, fake charges that take months to get corrected and horrific customer service from Air BnB have turned me off for good. I simply don't need more headaches! There are MUCH better choices than this free-for-all that is the current Air BnB experience. If the company itself ever decides to put customer safety and health first...well, we might rethink this choice. BTW: I have friends who participate as hosts and who are now thinking about terminating their arrangement due to how the company has responded when they had issues. It's a bit like ride-share services: when done right, it's great, but when it goes wrong...well, it goes very, very, very wrong.
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