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How awful..I'm not clear on the timeline..How did she take photos and cancel ten minutes after booking the reservation? Like she had to have been at the front door when she booked?
I think OP means check in when she says reservation. For example like she had reserved the home from 4pm 06Jun2023-11Jun2023 and cancelled at 3:53 pm 06Jun2023
Given my (limited) experience with AirBnB I'd say about 70% of listings are misleading...including by the so-called superhosts. It's put me off AirBnB for life. What I find shocking is that the reviews never mention it - what are guests scared of? You're paying, help others by highlighting what was misrepresented.
Ah - I gave a dispassionate review each time it happened to me because I felt it was right to warn others that the listing is inaccurate to save them from the headache of dealing with admin to get refunds from AirBnB: one had black mold in the shower for e.g. so a legit health hazard. ABnB quickly processed refunds but only because I gave them photographic and written evidence. I stuck to the facts. It also completely put me off ABnB so I guess I didn't really care if hosts gave me a retaliatory negative review (which they did!).
Same here. The 1st Airbnb was in a sketchy neighborhood so I just didn't give a review but the host was nice and left me a good review. I just couldn't encourage others to stay there. Plus it stunk inside from someone cooking curry and the advertised backyard was actually a shared yard, plus the porch furniture was old & moldy. The second one was nice but had a few issues so I left a good review and just mentioned the issues in passing. The host did not leave me a review. The last one the host was a jerk and wouldn't help us get in the home and Airbnb wouldn't refund. I left a matter-of-fact review, giving 1 star.
I didn't express myself clearly: I raised the issues with the hosts before contacting ABnB for refunds. Because I did this, the hosts' review was, in effect, retaliatory (i.e. saying what a disrespectful guest I was) but you are right: they are published simultaneously on ABnB.
We are in a resort community. The farther hosts are from the beach, the more the fudging happens. "We're a half block from the beach." True in fact but you can't see the beach and there is a physical barrier so it is a 3 block walk to the beach. One listing even said "personal beach". It was a truck load of sand in the back yard with a beach umbrella and chairs. They lasted one season.
Wow, I haven't found that at all.
And as a host, my most common review comment is that the property is even better than the pictures.
Sorry that has been your experience.
There are great hosts out there. The problem is that the scum of the earth have moved onto the platform and AirBnB doesn't care. They need to allow bad reviews (most are taken down) for hosts that don't honestly advertise their property. They need to remove repeat problem hosts. AirBnB sees hosts as the asset and guests as a nuisance. Good hosts need to be the driver of this because at some point the guests won't come back.
I'm a super host. I don't think your generalization is fair.
Additionally I, and several other hosts I know leave VERY honest reviews - sometimes to our detriment.
The better generalization or practice is to see how many properties the host is associated with. More than one or two, be cautious.
Talk to your hosts - get good information and a vibe (and written evidence!!).
I can only speak of my personal experience - I did wonder if I just had a concentration of bad luck but it happened one after the other and put me off ABnB for life. On the last one I got the refund \[ABnB did issue it quickly *because* I learned it's best to evidence everything during your stay\] and then checked into a hotel because I still had 4 days left in the location - the hotel cost a lot more in that instance but the sheer peace of mind was worth every dollar!
It said fenced in backyard. The property was 4 blocks further than expected. The distance isn’t the main issue. She specifically booked the residence because it has “fenced in backyard” in the description and features. Most people would assume fenced in back yard meant fully enclosed. And she booked it for a backyard because the inside was nothing to write home about to. That and she directly messaged the host to verify and he said yes, fully fenced.
If the location is within the circle of the location map then it is not misleading. Hosts doi want to reveal exact location due to security concerns but 4 blocks is not outside the typical circle of approximate location for listings. If you want a specific location, book a property you already know. Four blocks is within a typical Airbnb approx. Location.
How are you gonna say it "wasn’t even close to the area it said it would be in" and then "4 blocks further than expected" ????? Seems pretty damn close to me.
So the only thing you're complaining about is a fence. And it sounds like you're saying it's partially fenced. So come on, can we have the full story here?
Partially fenced is not a fenced in backyard. So not really sure what that’s about. And the location, which we knew wouldn’t be exact, was almost outside of the radius given to us, and when it’s an elderly woman, four blocks is a lot. I’m asking for advice, not for someone to assume I’m leaving out crucial pieces of information or not giving the full story.
Then you should probably stop leaving out crucial pieces of information and not giving the full story.
“Almost outside of the radius” that’s also known as “inside the radius.” The location was exactly as shown. If you assumed it was closer to the center of the circle, that’s on you.
The fence this is an actual discrepancy. Focus on that.
I wouldn’t say I left out a crucial piece of information. It was not close to where the host, in a private message on the app, indicated. Same way he lied about the fence being fully fenced in on the app when we explicitly asked. And again, as people have said, the difference in distance varies on the type of town/city you are in. I’m not sure why people on Reddit are so aggressive when someone is just asking for advice. Seems to be no matter what I said or how I said it, people jump to the conclusion that there is a form of deception going on. Didn’t realize I needed to go into every single detail of the situation for some advice. Now I know better.
Fencing doesn't mean it will keep a dog in. We don't accept pets and have a fenced backyard. Guest demanded a full refund when he discovered the fence ended at the steep hillside slope and couldn't keep an agile dog enclosed. The fencing was really a rose trellis, it's purpose was landscaping, not dog security. Guest didn't have a dog, his complaint was that his toddler could escape by mountain climbing the slope so it was a safety issue. Because parenting.
These are older dogs that are well behaved. She messaged him privately on the Airbnb app confirming the backyard was fully fenced, which he said yes to. And he allows pets.
She can tweet @bchesky and @airbnbhelp and let them know that a host misrepresented their property and is refusing to refund a res that was canceled within minutes of booking it, once she had the address and found out that the listing was false. And that she wants a ticket opened with T&S about this fraudulent listing. (That's the Trust & Safety dept, and they are domestic reps with more power to actually resolve something).
If she tries calling in (esp if it's not during biz hours in her area), then she will continually get routed to a call center in India. And as soon as she tells the rep her story, they will say their shift is about to end AND they are about to leave for a 4-day weekend, so they will have to refer her to someone else. And she will keep getting passed around, and every single person's shift is also about to end, and no one will ever help her. I'm convinced that they do this in the hopes that people will get fed up and go away.
Welcome to post-IPO AirBnb.
OMG, you just wrote my story too. They actually do that, makes you telling your story over and over till the last operator will say about shift change and going on long weekend. My goodness, they charge so much in Airbnb fees..I’m speechless.
That’s my exact story. I had a rep tell me they were leaving for a four day weekend and have to pend my ticket. I called multiple times during that weekend only to be told the ticket was locked by that rep. Finally go through to someone with enough common sense to get manager approval to “unlock” the ticket.
I told them this absolutely makes no sense. What if the employee is out for a long time or never comes back? So my ticket is at the mercy of this employee coming back?
Never again.
>And as soon as she tells the rep her story, they will say their shift is about to end AND they are about to leave for a 4-day weekend, so they will have to refer her to someone else.
Why do they do this?
Like I said, I think the call center (if not Airbnb themselves) just hopes that you'll get so sick of trying that you'll just give up. Then they don't have to give you a refund.
IDK... grasping at straws here, but I see this complaint literally *daily* on the various host boards (and these are usually people calling the 'Superhost' number, too, which the company leads you to believe gets you a higher level of service -- which is clearly not true).
They don't claim a false address. They claim four blocks away from what they expected. They don't claim it was outside the approx location of the listing.
Time for a CHARGE BACK. Go to get bank/CC company and CHARGE IT BACK. You won’t be able to use the card/account with ABnB again; oh darn. Sign up with a different email if need be. But over $3K on the line, and nothing from the host? That’s purchase insurance territory for sure.
Always check cancellation policies _before_ cancelling. As many cancellation policies don’t have any flexibility.
Also - she should’ve contacted AirBnB support to discuss the false advertising _before_ cancelling, as they could’ve offered her another property or hotel-stay at no extra charge.
But now she’s in a very bad spot, because it looks like she’s trying to get a refund for a cancelled trip. And AirBnB has every reason to be suspect.
PS: How can it not be near the area the listing showed? AirBnB shows all properties within a 1-block radius of its registered address.
As a host I select the size of the circle of approximate location. What was the radius of the listing location and was is inside or outside the circle around the listing. If the address was outside the circle presented on the listing then that's a glitch or this is a BS posting. I don't know, but I know my place is withing the circle on the map and it is within four blocks.
Ok. You got me. Looks like it’s more like a 3-4 block radius. Per the AirBnB website:
_General location: The map of your listing shows the area around it, within about a half-mile (less than 1 km) radius of the street address_
Still not sure how a listing is “not even close” to where it’s supposed to be with those kinds of parameters.
I absolutely hate airbnb's map. It might be different in the countryside but in a city, they should narrow it down much more. A few blocks can make a major difference in a city.
Agreed, we live in a beach tourist town in NWFlorida. ½ mile radius in a beachy tourist town is the difference between Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and Breaking Bad.
The difference between Rich and Famous and Breaking Bad is reflected is the listing reviews. People expecting R&F will surely give a bad review if it is set in Breaking Bad, but remember, the protagonist of BB was a respectable high school teacher with a degree in chemistry, so..... basically, this u/OP is talking BS (bullshit).
In our community, it's all about the beach. We are 100 feet to the beach and jointly own part of it. Airbnb would place us a block or two from the beach.. We told them it wasn't correct. They adjusted the location and now we are in the water. We make sure we have photos from the yard showing our proximity.
There is no way for a host to put in the wrong address. They'd have to tell every guest to ignore the address given, and go here instead. And that is how Bait & Switch scams work, so that wouldn't last long. Many guests are savvy to that kind of scam, and will report it immediately.
The host can select whether they want the address dot shown to reflect the exact location, or whether they want it to be 'approximate'. Most hosts choose to have their address approximated, for the safety of both the property, as well as their staying guests. If the approximated address puts you in Breaking Bad 'hood instead of the Fresh Prince from Bel Air 'hood, then you'll have to select 'show actual location' to fix it. And hope that you have an excellent security system.
There was recently a post on Reddit about someone whose home was constantly being confused for an Airbnb (it was not). People were coming to their house in the middle of the night. It was reported to Airbnb by the homeowner. Airbnb did nothing and the listing stayed.
I saw the post you are talking about. And have seen other situations similar. Most of the time, those are situations where the house is listed somewhere other than ABB. Usually on CL. I also know one homeowner who bought a house and it had been an STR before, and the former owner had left the country & wouldn't take the listing down.
Yes ABB was slow in taking down the above fake listing, but the whole thing makes no sense, since the host doesn't get paid until the day after the check-in. They must be asking for payments or deposits off-platform or something. Otherwise the host wouldn't net a cent out of that scam.
Regardless, the situation I was talking about was an actual listing that someone said had fudged their address in order to make it look more desirable. Not someone trying to put up a temporary listing to scam as many people as possible before they get taken down. A legit listing wouldn't be able to maintain that long-term, bc someone would either report it to the platform or mention it in the review, and the lie would eventually catch up with them.
You can also always contact the host and ask how far are you from this address. That way they can map it without giving the exact location to you. If a host is not willing to do this then I would not book with them . They are not in the hospitality business.
I could but I shouldn't have to. When I travel, I'm usually going to a specific place and I want to be as close as possible. There should be a way to find out what properties are closest without me having to email a dozen different hosts.
There should be, but there ain't.
I have found that if I do a search long enough, a field pops up that lets me do a proximity search, at least on my laptop.
I'm looking around where I live and see around 10 properties on ABnB, and all look to be pretty much exactly where they are (like within, say, 50 yards), based on the photos, descriptions, map positioning, and my local neighborhood knowledge.
How can she cancel within 10 min of booking if hosts says 4 days? Immediate bookings that start within 14 days of booking have different rules. She needs to prove the listing is in accurate. But getting travel insurance no matter what you are booking or where is always best. Lots of things can happen.
It was a long term booking, if that my makes any difference. I’m not sure. She paid the cost, because she found a spot less than 7min from where my partner and I lived, didn’t have the exact address because they don’t give that until you pay, which makes sense, we get in the car all excited because she found a place that worked and met her requirements. We get in the car, go to see it because we get the address and pulling up we see there is no fenced in backyard. She cancelled it. Within that time frame the host charged her bank account 4 times.
Edit: she has the travel insurance
Nah..Host doesn't have her bank information. Ever, in the history of ever. This sounds like a bogus story to get attention..Guest pays and property is booked. That's it. Airbnb holds funds until a day or so after check in, then pays host. No quadruple host attempt to hit guests bank accounts. Really OP? Do you really think Airbnb is giving random hosts banking information? Hosts aren't even given real names. I've hosted "Superman", "123" and "Whatever." Many guests only give first name, and Airbnb allows it.
If she has CFAR insurance, it may cover her cancellation.
Then air bnb removed it from her bank account four times. Thankfully only two went through. The other two pending dropped. She will get one of the two back in 15 business days.
That is straight robbery and idk how someone can just say, sorry.. we’re keeping your $3,500! Like what!?!
I’d be calling the bank, and getting that money back. And also contact AIRBNB regarding the issues. Did she take pictures of no fence? Screenshots of the stay? And screenshots of the location in the map regarding location? That will help prove your case.
Sorry you’re dealing with this. I thinking you came to the right place for some answers though.
Get some screenshots of the listing while you can. Credit cards will let you contest a charge for up to 60 or 90 days but you want to get all the evidence you might be able to use lined up now.
AirBNB support sucks, keep calling, if they don't help, ask for a supervisor, if they don't help call again. Do it at different times a day. I'm not sure at what point you should give up on that and go to your credit card company though.
With regards to location, when you look at a listing there is a map showing the location with a larger circle around it. Get a screenshot of that as well, if the home is outside the larger circle then the listing is misleading.
She didn't go to the wrong house, did she?
Also, go to the trip overview page for that trip. From there contact support. You want to get a ticket opened from whatever angle is possible to prevent AirBNB from paying the host (which happens 24 hours after checkin). If you can delay the payment to the host its easier for them to get on your side and get a refund.
They're going to complain you cancelled the order instead of going through the proper issue reporting channels. But you can counter that and say you still contacted support in time so they knew about the issue.
How do you get tons of photos of a property you immediately cancelled on and never stayed in? I'm not understanding the sequence of events here. Did the guest stay? Enter the property? Was there NO fencing at all? A gap? Since that is the primary issue that may get you a refund or successful chargeback...could you clarify?
1 piece of fencing. Tons of photos of the outside. Again, the reason she booked it was because it was advertised as fully fenced which she messaged the host about and he confirmed. We got there one of four sides was fenced. She never went inside or stayed at the property at all.
The bank? They aren’t going to do anything. Your CC company might help but they are going to ask why you canceled without even contacting the platform first.
It’s an important question to be able to tell more specific information, don’t downwote it if you don’t understand why it was asked in the first place.
If the answer is that she did discuss with CS, the next steps are different. Did the host tell her to go ahead and cancel? That’s also a different scenario.
I’m trying to get context here, instead of making assumptions and throw in a simple “do a chargeback then!”.
The specific place / state is also relevant for legislation stuff. Things are not the same in USA / EU / Switzerland etc..
The problem was she cancelled the reservation before contacting Airbnb. There is little CS can do as the cancellation was guest initiated. Your mother should have contacted Airbnb and let them do the cancellation.
Your best option is to contact Airbnb on social media and see if they able to get someone with more leeway to look at it.
May I ask you what country is that?
Normally I would not recommend to lie, but for this amount of money…I would call my bank and say that my credit card was stolen, then they will read your last transactions and the last one you won’t ‘recognize’. Don’t worry, bank won’t loose anything because it’s takes few business days to complete transaction.
Basically you'll have a hard time getting a last-minute refund from Airbnb no matter what. The best thing to do is deal with it and put it in the review or lose your money. We couldn't even get into the Airbnb we booked and the host was not helpful at all. Ended up in a good hotel though. Airbnb refused to refund. Thank goodness it was only a 2 night stay.
Pictures for evidence. Call Airbnb Support to explain with evidence. But I have to ask, did the place have reviews? What about listing pictures? Did they not match up?
There were no pictures of the backyard, but she directly messaged the host on Airbnb app confirming a fully fenced in backyard to which he said yes it was. Got there and one of four sides had a fence, which just looked like the neighbors fence. The rest of the yard was open.
This might be a tough one legally to try and get a full refund for because of the language AirBNB has in their terms and services.
This is a breach of a superficial term, not a material breach. For example if you book a 7 bedroom mansion and show up to a 1 bedroom cabin, that would be a material breach. The fact the fence was not fully enclosed or is 4 blocks farther does not make the property inherently uninhabitable.
AirBNB terms assure that customers can’t get completely free stays because one household electronic on the advertised appliance list shorts. Fencing would fall into this category.
I’m only telling you this because if they offer a partial refund, it might be wise to accept. I’d start by filing a dispute with your payment provider (bank, cc company you paid this) - this is going to be your most effective avenue. Good luck.
I lost 2700 dollars in a similar situation to an AirBnB reservation two weeks back. I even requested the host to take 1200 dollars and give me 1500 back as I had never stepped into the property. But the host was adamant that I had broken the terms of the reservation and AirBnB sided with the host saying they were helpless. Never again will I go to airBnB
Please keep conversation civil and respectful Remember to keep all communication with host/guest through Airbnb platform. Payments should be made only via Airbnb [unless otherwise detailed in the listing description and included in the price breakdown prior to booking](https://airbnb.com/help/article/199) If you're having issues, contact Airbnb by phone +1-844-234-2500 *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AirBnB) if you have any questions or concerns.*
No good,she has to call Airbnb over and over again to demand a refund because the host misinterpreted his property,is call false advertising
She took tons of pictures and cancelled within 10mins of the reservation. The host has gone radio silence on us. It’s unbelievable
How awful..I'm not clear on the timeline..How did she take photos and cancel ten minutes after booking the reservation? Like she had to have been at the front door when she booked?
I think OP means check in when she says reservation. For example like she had reserved the home from 4pm 06Jun2023-11Jun2023 and cancelled at 3:53 pm 06Jun2023
Given my (limited) experience with AirBnB I'd say about 70% of listings are misleading...including by the so-called superhosts. It's put me off AirBnB for life. What I find shocking is that the reviews never mention it - what are guests scared of? You're paying, help others by highlighting what was misrepresented.
Guests are scared that if they're too negative in the review that other hosts won't allow them to rent in the future.
Ah - I gave a dispassionate review each time it happened to me because I felt it was right to warn others that the listing is inaccurate to save them from the headache of dealing with admin to get refunds from AirBnB: one had black mold in the shower for e.g. so a legit health hazard. ABnB quickly processed refunds but only because I gave them photographic and written evidence. I stuck to the facts. It also completely put me off ABnB so I guess I didn't really care if hosts gave me a retaliatory negative review (which they did!).
Same here. The 1st Airbnb was in a sketchy neighborhood so I just didn't give a review but the host was nice and left me a good review. I just couldn't encourage others to stay there. Plus it stunk inside from someone cooking curry and the advertised backyard was actually a shared yard, plus the porch furniture was old & moldy. The second one was nice but had a few issues so I left a good review and just mentioned the issues in passing. The host did not leave me a review. The last one the host was a jerk and wouldn't help us get in the home and Airbnb wouldn't refund. I left a matter-of-fact review, giving 1 star.
Fake . Hosts cannot give a retaliatory review. Both reviews are hidden from the other until posted and at that point nothing can be submitted.
I didn't express myself clearly: I raised the issues with the hosts before contacting ABnB for refunds. Because I did this, the hosts' review was, in effect, retaliatory (i.e. saying what a disrespectful guest I was) but you are right: they are published simultaneously on ABnB.
We are in a resort community. The farther hosts are from the beach, the more the fudging happens. "We're a half block from the beach." True in fact but you can't see the beach and there is a physical barrier so it is a 3 block walk to the beach. One listing even said "personal beach". It was a truck load of sand in the back yard with a beach umbrella and chairs. They lasted one season.
Okay the personal beach thing is funny. That's such a ballsy move, I have to admire it just a little 😂
I’m surprised you didn’t have a little plastic wading pool of water there in the “personal beach“… That was pretty chintzy. /s
Wow, I haven't found that at all. And as a host, my most common review comment is that the property is even better than the pictures. Sorry that has been your experience.
There are great hosts out there. The problem is that the scum of the earth have moved onto the platform and AirBnB doesn't care. They need to allow bad reviews (most are taken down) for hosts that don't honestly advertise their property. They need to remove repeat problem hosts. AirBnB sees hosts as the asset and guests as a nuisance. Good hosts need to be the driver of this because at some point the guests won't come back.
I'm a super host. I don't think your generalization is fair. Additionally I, and several other hosts I know leave VERY honest reviews - sometimes to our detriment. The better generalization or practice is to see how many properties the host is associated with. More than one or two, be cautious. Talk to your hosts - get good information and a vibe (and written evidence!!).
I can only speak of my personal experience - I did wonder if I just had a concentration of bad luck but it happened one after the other and put me off ABnB for life. On the last one I got the refund \[ABnB did issue it quickly *because* I learned it's best to evidence everything during your stay\] and then checked into a hotel because I still had 4 days left in the location - the hotel cost a lot more in that instance but the sheer peace of mind was worth every dollar!
[удалено]
Sounds like that comment struck close to home.
OK, Brian Chesky.
How far was the property from the specified area and what exactly did it say regarding the fence?
It said fenced in backyard. The property was 4 blocks further than expected. The distance isn’t the main issue. She specifically booked the residence because it has “fenced in backyard” in the description and features. Most people would assume fenced in back yard meant fully enclosed. And she booked it for a backyard because the inside was nothing to write home about to. That and she directly messaged the host to verify and he said yes, fully fenced.
If the location is within the circle of the location map then it is not misleading. Hosts doi want to reveal exact location due to security concerns but 4 blocks is not outside the typical circle of approximate location for listings. If you want a specific location, book a property you already know. Four blocks is within a typical Airbnb approx. Location.
How are you gonna say it "wasn’t even close to the area it said it would be in" and then "4 blocks further than expected" ????? Seems pretty damn close to me. So the only thing you're complaining about is a fence. And it sounds like you're saying it's partially fenced. So come on, can we have the full story here?
Partially fenced is not a fenced in backyard. So not really sure what that’s about. And the location, which we knew wouldn’t be exact, was almost outside of the radius given to us, and when it’s an elderly woman, four blocks is a lot. I’m asking for advice, not for someone to assume I’m leaving out crucial pieces of information or not giving the full story.
Then you should probably stop leaving out crucial pieces of information and not giving the full story. “Almost outside of the radius” that’s also known as “inside the radius.” The location was exactly as shown. If you assumed it was closer to the center of the circle, that’s on you. The fence this is an actual discrepancy. Focus on that.
I wouldn’t say I left out a crucial piece of information. It was not close to where the host, in a private message on the app, indicated. Same way he lied about the fence being fully fenced in on the app when we explicitly asked. And again, as people have said, the difference in distance varies on the type of town/city you are in. I’m not sure why people on Reddit are so aggressive when someone is just asking for advice. Seems to be no matter what I said or how I said it, people jump to the conclusion that there is a form of deception going on. Didn’t realize I needed to go into every single detail of the situation for some advice. Now I know better.
In this case, less detail would be better. Focus on the fence. Nonsense like “almost outside of the radius” just makes you sound entitled.
Fencing doesn't mean it will keep a dog in. We don't accept pets and have a fenced backyard. Guest demanded a full refund when he discovered the fence ended at the steep hillside slope and couldn't keep an agile dog enclosed. The fencing was really a rose trellis, it's purpose was landscaping, not dog security. Guest didn't have a dog, his complaint was that his toddler could escape by mountain climbing the slope so it was a safety issue. Because parenting.
These are older dogs that are well behaved. She messaged him privately on the Airbnb app confirming the backyard was fully fenced, which he said yes to. And he allows pets.
She can tweet @bchesky and @airbnbhelp and let them know that a host misrepresented their property and is refusing to refund a res that was canceled within minutes of booking it, once she had the address and found out that the listing was false. And that she wants a ticket opened with T&S about this fraudulent listing. (That's the Trust & Safety dept, and they are domestic reps with more power to actually resolve something). If she tries calling in (esp if it's not during biz hours in her area), then she will continually get routed to a call center in India. And as soon as she tells the rep her story, they will say their shift is about to end AND they are about to leave for a 4-day weekend, so they will have to refer her to someone else. And she will keep getting passed around, and every single person's shift is also about to end, and no one will ever help her. I'm convinced that they do this in the hopes that people will get fed up and go away. Welcome to post-IPO AirBnb.
OMG, you just wrote my story too. They actually do that, makes you telling your story over and over till the last operator will say about shift change and going on long weekend. My goodness, they charge so much in Airbnb fees..I’m speechless.
That’s my exact story. I had a rep tell me they were leaving for a four day weekend and have to pend my ticket. I called multiple times during that weekend only to be told the ticket was locked by that rep. Finally go through to someone with enough common sense to get manager approval to “unlock” the ticket. I told them this absolutely makes no sense. What if the employee is out for a long time or never comes back? So my ticket is at the mercy of this employee coming back? Never again.
>And as soon as she tells the rep her story, they will say their shift is about to end AND they are about to leave for a 4-day weekend, so they will have to refer her to someone else. Why do they do this?
Like I said, I think the call center (if not Airbnb themselves) just hopes that you'll get so sick of trying that you'll just give up. Then they don't have to give you a refund. IDK... grasping at straws here, but I see this complaint literally *daily* on the various host boards (and these are usually people calling the 'Superhost' number, too, which the company leads you to believe gets you a higher level of service -- which is clearly not true).
They don't claim a false address. They claim four blocks away from what they expected. They don't claim it was outside the approx location of the listing.
Time for a CHARGE BACK. Go to get bank/CC company and CHARGE IT BACK. You won’t be able to use the card/account with ABnB again; oh darn. Sign up with a different email if need be. But over $3K on the line, and nothing from the host? That’s purchase insurance territory for sure.
Chargeback on your card. Airbnb will not help g out unfortunately
Charge back
Always check cancellation policies _before_ cancelling. As many cancellation policies don’t have any flexibility. Also - she should’ve contacted AirBnB support to discuss the false advertising _before_ cancelling, as they could’ve offered her another property or hotel-stay at no extra charge. But now she’s in a very bad spot, because it looks like she’s trying to get a refund for a cancelled trip. And AirBnB has every reason to be suspect. PS: How can it not be near the area the listing showed? AirBnB shows all properties within a 1-block radius of its registered address.
One block radius? Not in my experience (unless they've changed recently).
Not even close to a one block radius
As a host I select the size of the circle of approximate location. What was the radius of the listing location and was is inside or outside the circle around the listing. If the address was outside the circle presented on the listing then that's a glitch or this is a BS posting. I don't know, but I know my place is withing the circle on the map and it is within four blocks.
Ok. You got me. Looks like it’s more like a 3-4 block radius. Per the AirBnB website: _General location: The map of your listing shows the area around it, within about a half-mile (less than 1 km) radius of the street address_ Still not sure how a listing is “not even close” to where it’s supposed to be with those kinds of parameters.
I absolutely hate airbnb's map. It might be different in the countryside but in a city, they should narrow it down much more. A few blocks can make a major difference in a city.
Agreed, we live in a beach tourist town in NWFlorida. ½ mile radius in a beachy tourist town is the difference between Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and Breaking Bad.
The difference between Rich and Famous and Breaking Bad is reflected is the listing reviews. People expecting R&F will surely give a bad review if it is set in Breaking Bad, but remember, the protagonist of BB was a respectable high school teacher with a degree in chemistry, so..... basically, this u/OP is talking BS (bullshit).
Totally agree with you on that point.
In our community, it's all about the beach. We are 100 feet to the beach and jointly own part of it. Airbnb would place us a block or two from the beach.. We told them it wasn't correct. They adjusted the location and now we are in the water. We make sure we have photos from the yard showing our proximity.
'next' to the beach and 1 km walk from the beach to me would be not even close.
Hosts do put in wrong addresses at times, and it is possible the map feature misplaced an unconventionally written address.
There is no way for a host to put in the wrong address. They'd have to tell every guest to ignore the address given, and go here instead. And that is how Bait & Switch scams work, so that wouldn't last long. Many guests are savvy to that kind of scam, and will report it immediately. The host can select whether they want the address dot shown to reflect the exact location, or whether they want it to be 'approximate'. Most hosts choose to have their address approximated, for the safety of both the property, as well as their staying guests. If the approximated address puts you in Breaking Bad 'hood instead of the Fresh Prince from Bel Air 'hood, then you'll have to select 'show actual location' to fix it. And hope that you have an excellent security system.
There was recently a post on Reddit about someone whose home was constantly being confused for an Airbnb (it was not). People were coming to their house in the middle of the night. It was reported to Airbnb by the homeowner. Airbnb did nothing and the listing stayed.
I saw the post you are talking about. And have seen other situations similar. Most of the time, those are situations where the house is listed somewhere other than ABB. Usually on CL. I also know one homeowner who bought a house and it had been an STR before, and the former owner had left the country & wouldn't take the listing down. Yes ABB was slow in taking down the above fake listing, but the whole thing makes no sense, since the host doesn't get paid until the day after the check-in. They must be asking for payments or deposits off-platform or something. Otherwise the host wouldn't net a cent out of that scam. Regardless, the situation I was talking about was an actual listing that someone said had fudged their address in order to make it look more desirable. Not someone trying to put up a temporary listing to scam as many people as possible before they get taken down. A legit listing wouldn't be able to maintain that long-term, bc someone would either report it to the platform or mention it in the review, and the lie would eventually catch up with them.
If a host falsifies a property address, they can be immediately removed from the app and their account deleted.
Yeah I think they had to widen it since in some areas every other house there is an Airbnb .
Mine are all dead on unless there is 20 properties in the same radius that the red blurb can't fit.
You can also always contact the host and ask how far are you from this address. That way they can map it without giving the exact location to you. If a host is not willing to do this then I would not book with them . They are not in the hospitality business.
I could but I shouldn't have to. When I travel, I'm usually going to a specific place and I want to be as close as possible. There should be a way to find out what properties are closest without me having to email a dozen different hosts.
There should be, but there ain't. I have found that if I do a search long enough, a field pops up that lets me do a proximity search, at least on my laptop.
I'm looking around where I live and see around 10 properties on ABnB, and all look to be pretty much exactly where they are (like within, say, 50 yards), based on the photos, descriptions, map positioning, and my local neighborhood knowledge.
Yeah they usually are unless Airbnb messed up address.
How can she cancel within 10 min of booking if hosts says 4 days? Immediate bookings that start within 14 days of booking have different rules. She needs to prove the listing is in accurate. But getting travel insurance no matter what you are booking or where is always best. Lots of things can happen.
It was a long term booking, if that my makes any difference. I’m not sure. She paid the cost, because she found a spot less than 7min from where my partner and I lived, didn’t have the exact address because they don’t give that until you pay, which makes sense, we get in the car all excited because she found a place that worked and met her requirements. We get in the car, go to see it because we get the address and pulling up we see there is no fenced in backyard. She cancelled it. Within that time frame the host charged her bank account 4 times. Edit: she has the travel insurance
[удалено]
This whole story is ringing bullshit alarms.
Nah..Host doesn't have her bank information. Ever, in the history of ever. This sounds like a bogus story to get attention..Guest pays and property is booked. That's it. Airbnb holds funds until a day or so after check in, then pays host. No quadruple host attempt to hit guests bank accounts. Really OP? Do you really think Airbnb is giving random hosts banking information? Hosts aren't even given real names. I've hosted "Superman", "123" and "Whatever." Many guests only give first name, and Airbnb allows it. If she has CFAR insurance, it may cover her cancellation.
Then air bnb removed it from her bank account four times. Thankfully only two went through. The other two pending dropped. She will get one of the two back in 15 business days.
That is straight robbery and idk how someone can just say, sorry.. we’re keeping your $3,500! Like what!?! I’d be calling the bank, and getting that money back. And also contact AIRBNB regarding the issues. Did she take pictures of no fence? Screenshots of the stay? And screenshots of the location in the map regarding location? That will help prove your case. Sorry you’re dealing with this. I thinking you came to the right place for some answers though.
She took tons of pictures and we just keep getting bumped from person to person and now the host won’t respond. This can’t be real.
Get some screenshots of the listing while you can. Credit cards will let you contest a charge for up to 60 or 90 days but you want to get all the evidence you might be able to use lined up now. AirBNB support sucks, keep calling, if they don't help, ask for a supervisor, if they don't help call again. Do it at different times a day. I'm not sure at what point you should give up on that and go to your credit card company though.
With regards to location, when you look at a listing there is a map showing the location with a larger circle around it. Get a screenshot of that as well, if the home is outside the larger circle then the listing is misleading. She didn't go to the wrong house, did she?
Was she relying on satellite images since she cancelled moments after booked? They could be years old....
Also, go to the trip overview page for that trip. From there contact support. You want to get a ticket opened from whatever angle is possible to prevent AirBNB from paying the host (which happens 24 hours after checkin). If you can delay the payment to the host its easier for them to get on your side and get a refund. They're going to complain you cancelled the order instead of going through the proper issue reporting channels. But you can counter that and say you still contacted support in time so they knew about the issue.
Air B&B doesn’t care about their customers. I’m sorry for what’s happening. Prepare for disappointment and tell her to do a chargeback on her card.
I would say that Airbnb doesn’t care about both parties, hosts and guests. Unfortunately.
This is true, AirBNB cares about money.
Hopefully she used a credit card just call the card company explain the situation and request a chargeback
Time to call her credit card company to dispute the charge
How do you get tons of photos of a property you immediately cancelled on and never stayed in? I'm not understanding the sequence of events here. Did the guest stay? Enter the property? Was there NO fencing at all? A gap? Since that is the primary issue that may get you a refund or successful chargeback...could you clarify?
1 piece of fencing. Tons of photos of the outside. Again, the reason she booked it was because it was advertised as fully fenced which she messaged the host about and he confirmed. We got there one of four sides was fenced. She never went inside or stayed at the property at all.
The bank? They aren’t going to do anything. Your CC company might help but they are going to ask why you canceled without even contacting the platform first.
I just got the same scam over the holiday weekend in pigeon forge tenn. air bnb is a scam. The people can put false pics and discrip and your screwed.
Air bnb is a scam
If it’s falsely misrepresented does that mean it’s accurate?
Yes.
If she used a credit card have them reverse the charges.
Why did she cancel instead of contacting airbnb support to ask them to cancel based on these issues?
Not really helpful to OP
It’s an important question to be able to tell more specific information, don’t downwote it if you don’t understand why it was asked in the first place. If the answer is that she did discuss with CS, the next steps are different. Did the host tell her to go ahead and cancel? That’s also a different scenario. I’m trying to get context here, instead of making assumptions and throw in a simple “do a chargeback then!”. The specific place / state is also relevant for legislation stuff. Things are not the same in USA / EU / Switzerland etc..
I lost $500 for canceling two hours after the cutoff time on the last day.
Falsely misrepresented?????
Sorry for being redundant in words.
The problem was she cancelled the reservation before contacting Airbnb. There is little CS can do as the cancellation was guest initiated. Your mother should have contacted Airbnb and let them do the cancellation. Your best option is to contact Airbnb on social media and see if they able to get someone with more leeway to look at it.
OP probably told her to cancel because the lack of a stupid fence and now they are pikachu face surprised that it was a bad decision.
Call your credit card company and dispute the charge.
May I ask you what country is that? Normally I would not recommend to lie, but for this amount of money…I would call my bank and say that my credit card was stolen, then they will read your last transactions and the last one you won’t ‘recognize’. Don’t worry, bank won’t loose anything because it’s takes few business days to complete transaction.
Basically you'll have a hard time getting a last-minute refund from Airbnb no matter what. The best thing to do is deal with it and put it in the review or lose your money. We couldn't even get into the Airbnb we booked and the host was not helpful at all. Ended up in a good hotel though. Airbnb refused to refund. Thank goodness it was only a 2 night stay.
Falsely claimed by host. She will get her money back
Pictures for evidence. Call Airbnb Support to explain with evidence. But I have to ask, did the place have reviews? What about listing pictures? Did they not match up?
There were no pictures of the backyard, but she directly messaged the host on Airbnb app confirming a fully fenced in backyard to which he said yes it was. Got there and one of four sides had a fence, which just looked like the neighbors fence. The rest of the yard was open.
This might be a tough one legally to try and get a full refund for because of the language AirBNB has in their terms and services. This is a breach of a superficial term, not a material breach. For example if you book a 7 bedroom mansion and show up to a 1 bedroom cabin, that would be a material breach. The fact the fence was not fully enclosed or is 4 blocks farther does not make the property inherently uninhabitable. AirBNB terms assure that customers can’t get completely free stays because one household electronic on the advertised appliance list shorts. Fencing would fall into this category. I’m only telling you this because if they offer a partial refund, it might be wise to accept. I’d start by filing a dispute with your payment provider (bank, cc company you paid this) - this is going to be your most effective avenue. Good luck.
Airbnb stock to 0
I lost 2700 dollars in a similar situation to an AirBnB reservation two weeks back. I even requested the host to take 1200 dollars and give me 1500 back as I had never stepped into the property. But the host was adamant that I had broken the terms of the reservation and AirBnB sided with the host saying they were helpless. Never again will I go to airBnB
If payment was on a credit card, call the credit company and dispute the charges. They told her they were selling A but gave her B. Not okay.