Host: Hi XXX, I’m so sorry, but I made a mistake and accidentally opened the suite for booking this weekend when it wasn’t actually available. I feel terrible about the mix-up and sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.

I contacted Airbnb right away, and they assured me that you will receive a full refund with no penalties. They just asked that you contact Airbnb and explain that the reservation was made because I accidentally opened the dates, and they will take care of the refund.

I’m truly sorry, Kareem. I know you made plans based on this reservation, and I feel awful that my mistake has disrupted them. I sincerely apologize and hope Airbnb is able to make the cancellation and refund as easy as possible for you.

---

Me: Bummer! I think you will need to cancel the reservation on your end, and then airbnb should find me a replacement through aircover.

---

Host: Hi XXX, I’m sorry for the confusion. Since the reservation was made because I accidentally opened the suite for booking, Airbnb told me that you need to contact Airbnb directly and explain what happened. They will then process your full refund without any penalties.

I apologize again for the inconvenience and for the confusion. I truly appreciate your understanding.

------------

I tried messaging support, but I could only connect to an AI. By now the comparable properties are more expensive. Can I get airbnb to give me some kind of a credit or curtesy book me another place?

Host has been very responsive throughout stay.

5 nights stay on our 3 week and counting vacation.

Checked in at 4pm.

On our first night, we saw an error code flashing on the refrigerator which turned out to be an ice dispenser failure. Host responded immediately offering to send someone out to look at it, which we declined as we can buy ice from store.

The next day we came back from the beach, washed our clothes and then found out the dryer is non operational. We reach out to the host, who responded they will send their contractor out next day to assess.

We weren’t at the house when the contractor came by, however the host reached out with an update. Host stated that “unfortunately it seems like we need to replace both the ice maker and dryer as contractor wasn’t able to fix them. We appreciate you bringing this to our attention.”

I then explained to the host that having a family on a traveling vacation, one of the reasons we booked with this location is because we assumed the listed washer and dryer were functional and it’s been an inconvenience, would host be open to compensation.

We asked the host whether they will consider compensation for the inconvenience. They offered $50 refund which is 3% of the total price ($1578). We responded that this didn’t feel proportionate and requested $250, 16% of booking. We’re currently waiting on their response.

Does $50 seem reasonable in this situation or is our $250 more appropriate?

Has anyone dealt with Airbnb support in situations like this and what was their resolution?

Hey everyone, I’m a newer host and could use your advice. A guest checked in,then claimed the fled to a hotel and left immediately but I have video footage of them staying at least 48 hours , and later claimed there were burned out cars, broken windows, and abandoned buildings near my place, saying they felt unsafe. I sent current exterior photos to Airbnb because those claims just aren’t accurate. Airbnb opened a case and asked the guest for evidence; they didn’t provide any, and now the case is closing. Throughout all this, communication from the guest was basically non-existent. Now I’m torn about whether to leave a review. On one hand, I want to warn other hosts that serious allegations were made that weren’t supported. On the other, I’m wondering if it’s better to skip reviewing entirely and just move on. If it were you, would you leave a review? And if so, what would you say? Or would you just leave it blank? Would love to hear how others have handled something similar.

For backstory, we’re moving half across country for my toddler who is medically fragile, we have to move where her specialist are. We just got done with our second day driving, 7 hr drive. Closer to 10 hours with stops. Communicating with air bnb host about everything. Never once said that there was mold.

We get there, and you can just smell it in the air. That awful musty smell. Then we look up. Ceiling is covered in mold from one end to the other. I’m like okay, let me message them maybe something is wrong. They said they knew but haven’t had time to remedy it between guests. I’m like what? I told them our daughter has health issues before hand, they could have said something. We’re trying to decide to stay or not because it’s late. She’s screaming tired. I go to the bathroom, worms are crawling on the sink. I wash them down. I look in the bathtub and it’s literally covered in pink mold on every single crevice and tile. So, I’m stressed out. Idk what to do. It’s hot as hell upstairs, they say the ac doesn’t work upstairs. Why isn’t that in the booking? Then I go to the kitchen. The pans are covered in dried eggs and other foods, not washed. The knives are 40% rust on actual knife part. It’s labeled as pet friendly fully fenced back yard. The fence was broken and doesn’t close. In the kitchen, there was this FOUL awful smell. Like so bad. We noticed a door open (basement area) with the light on so we’re like wtf is this. Well they left it open instead of locking it and it’s the utility room FULL OF TRASH! Like bags of garbage bags open, spilling out. Flies are everywhere I didn’t even bother to keep looking I closed the door.

We should have just left right away and for some reason the cherry on top was I was going down the stairs (STEEP) and the HANDLE CAME LOOSE so I lost my balance and fell down them.

We packed up and left. I almost started crying. I called airbnb and showed them the photos and the messages of them saying they knew it was like that and we got a full refund. It’s now 10:40 at night and we’re finally settled into a new place but omggg why??? If you knew about the mold and ceiling caving in why are you taking reservations?

I booked a 2 months stay here. 3rd day in, I'm not putting anything besides TP down, but everything floods up into the shower. Toilet clogs immediately every time. First couple times, I plunged both and did what I could as a good sport, but now there's no movement at all. I can't even use the bathroom at all. There are signs and warnings that it's an old plumbing system and to hold down the flipper on the toilet, but this is ridiculous.

I need to move to an alternative location ASAP. There's a more pricey place 10 miles away with availability for what I need. I contacted the host but no response. Airbnb support is just AI nonsense. Wtf do I do?

Apart from the obvious things like testimonials and rating etc.

What makes you instantly go "thats the one"?

Im always looking for the super host label and that kind of stuff but I feel like its too obvious and others are doing the same.

I'm looking for subtle signs that an Airbnb is a "hidden gem"

I have never formally complained about an airbnb before, we don't even really leave bad reviews, even though I think we likely should to help the next guests but we feel bad when we meet the hosts personally and it's their livelihood. But I'm really considering it this time.

My wife, I and our 2 year old daughter are renting this place in Southern Spain for a few days. We get here massively jetlagged and have to get our toddler down for a nap in a new/unfamiliar place. At first the place seemed great, good location, clean and spacious, we're happy. But while she's sleeping and we're sitting in the living room, I decide to turn the TV on just see what the local TV set up is like, and the TV is broken. Half the pixels are dead. That's fine, I wasn't really planning on watching anything, but my mom owns a rental and I know it's frustrating that people don't report when things are broken until they leave a bad review because they don't want to get blamed. So I sent the host a message right away letting her know it was broken and that I don't need it fixed but just wanted to let her know, because 1) I was trying to help her out and 2) I wanted to do it right away so we couldn't be blamed for it. That's was fine, no big deal.

But then, an hour or so later, Im asleep taking a nap and our toddler is still down, the doorbell rings. I'm like "well shit", woke me up but baby doesn't wake up, so whatever. But we don't get up to answer the door because why would anyone be coming to our door that we need to talk to, I'm assuming the host would have at least messaged first. Well apparently not. Door started opening, it was the host to fix the TV. I catch her at the door and ask her to just do it when we check out, reiterate that I really don't care about it during our stay. But she says she can't because the next people will complain, it will only take a second. And I'm thinking that if it's only going to take a second, then do it between guests, you have to clean and prep the space anyway, but whatever, I try and be understanding so I say "ok, could you just come back in an hour or two because our toddler is sleeping". But she said that she has her kid (points vaguely up the stairs, where I think her full time apartment is) and so needs to do it now. And at this point I'm getting annoyed because I'm trying to be understanding but I'm paying like $200 a night and she decides that instead of inconveniencing her and her kid, she needs to inconvenience me and my kid even though it's not my problem in the first place.

Then she comes in, I'll give her it was pretty quick maybe 15 minutes, brings a new TV down and switched them out. But then she turns on the new TV and somehow starts blasting music and wakes my kid up before she can turn it down. So now I am really annoyed.

Then to make it worse, a little while later, I go into the bedroom and next to the bed is there dangling light switches, and so I turn one on and I go to the other side and try to turn on the other and there is no cover on the back protecting your hand from the electrical components, and it seriously shocks me. That's a huge safety and fire hazard. I would add a picture but it doesn't seem like reddit will let me. I don't really know what to do. I really don't want to have to find new accommodations, and get my toddler used to a new location. But I also don't want the next people to also get shocked, or worse.

Am I overreacting? Do I complain to airbnb? Do I just leave a bad review? Do I send her a message right before we leave telling her about it? Help me out here.

Hi all,

I'm a friend of a household that hosts for AirBnB. The grandmother, K., of the household manages the app, and the grandfather, L., does the turnover work. I'd really like to help them out, because it's getting to be a lot this year for L., and K. is out of state and unavailable to help with turnover anymore as she has been in previous years. L's in his 80s, so I would like to help him get more time to rest. I help with yard work and dishes, etc. but I can't do everything.

I suggested that maybe they could mark out certain unclaimed date ranges in September as unavailable, and his wife is really convinced this isn't enough notice and/or will affect their reputation on the platform in some way, even though no guest has taken the dates I suggested. She said they can only do that without consequences to entire calendar months well in advance, not individual weeks or a series of untaken days, unfortunately. Is this true? : (

Here are a few more concerns they had -

1. Will blocking out smaller numbers of days, even though the dates are not claimed by a guest, still negatively affect their star rating somehow? I told them this seemed unlikely, but that I would check.
2. Will blocking out these amounts of time affect their general "reputation" on the platform, in some way, even if their star rating remains untouched and no guests' bookings are cancelled? Will it lead to less bookings in subsequent years? (They've managed this AirBnB rental for 12 years, so they've plenty of returning guests and I wasn't sure it would be a big dent not to cultivate more for Sept. of one year?)

Thanks everybody, I truly appreciate your help. I would offer to log into their app and look around for them as I've known them a long time, and I've helped them with a lot of internet and account related issues, but in this instance it's better to stay relatively neutral as there has been some tensions around this. I think K. will be ok with it once (if) she receives proof that it won't have a negative impact, though. <3 And if I'm incorrect and K can't block out the unclaimed dates, I'll rest easier knowing that I tried for a solution, and step up my efforts to help K and L as I'm able.

Gratefully,

Sue in MA

Hi guys, just had to deal with a situation today and wanted to understand what the next best options are to take?

I’ve been staying as a guest of a room in a home over the weekend with my partner, everything was great, we were enjoying our stay and such, until this afternoon when my partner tried to do some laundry. The washing machine is listed as an available amenity both on the online reservation and in the info notes provided within the room itself, but the host was incredibly disrespectful to her about it today, making sarcastic remarks, accusing her of not knowing/disobeying guest rules, and mentioning the fact that we “only” paid a certain amount per night.

What makes it even more puzzling is that the host has gone out of her way to wash some of our clothes twice without asking. I originally appreciated this, but in retrospect is that in violation of any privacy rules? Are clothes seen as personal property that shouldn’t be altered by the host?

We check out tomorrow and I don’t know how to handle it, I don’t want to be given an unfair bad review of my own, but really don’t appreciate the attitude towards my partner.

I explain the math here. https://www.reddit.com/r/airbnb_hosts/s/jIqcGknMzl

I just ran the math for my listing and I can’t believe how much guests pay in fees.

Basically VRBO is charging guests 25% fees. A guest would pay them $438 on a reservation for 2 nights!

Airbnb is lower ($277 for the same 2 nights) but now with the new fee structure they are over charging on taxes. I can pay my own taxes in VRBO so that helps guests out there.

Why are guests not trying to book direct? Do people know to search up a listing on Google and find the owner? I place my name all over my listing and maybe once a year someone figures out to message me on my website or instagram.

I hate that guests are paying so much to these companies that provide horrible customer service.

I genuinely want opinions from Airbnb guests and hosts. If I'm being unreasonable, tell me — but the logic of Airbnb's decision makes absolutely no sense to me.

My wife and I paid almost £1,000 for an Airbnb in Scotland around our wedding.

On the first night, the bedding was dirty and stained. We swapped it with bedding from another bed, but that was stained too, so I eventually put a towel over it.

We were both itching throughout the night, but having never experienced bed bugs, we wondered whether the filthy bedding was simply making us paranoid.

The next day, bites started appearing on my wife and became progressively worse. By our wedding day she was covered in them and had been crying the night before because of how bad they looked. I've since counted approximately 65 bites while applying treatment cream.

We provided Airbnb with extensive photographs and medical evidence confirming reactive insect bites.

On our wedding morning, at around 10am, the host sent a cleaner to the property without notice.

I was literally in the shower getting ready for my wedding when she knocked. I ended up speaking to her standing there in a towel.

She told us there were bed bugs, advised us to freeze our clothes to avoid transferring them, said the sheets would need to be burned, and then TREATED THE ROOM FOR BED BUGS.

We couldn't realistically relocate at this point. We'd spent the previous day at wedding preparations/rehearsal and I was now literally getting ready for the ceremony. I left for the wedding and didn't use the affected room again.

The host later told Airbnb the cleaner never said there were bed bugs.

But the property owner then called me and said the cleaner shouldn't have told us there were bed bugs because she wasn't trained to identify them.

So:

Host: She didn't say it.

Owner: She shouldn't have said it.

Either way, the room was treated for bed bugs.

This is the part I cannot understand.

MONDAY: Cleaner treats room for bed bugs.

TUESDAY: We check out.

AFTER CHECKOUT: Host sends professional pest control to inspect the already-treated room.

Pest control reports "no live bed bugs."

Airbnb now uses this against our claim.

Airbnb's Senior Case Manager specifically told me:

«"According to the official report from the pest control company, no live bed bugs were found during the inspection."»

But the room had already been treated for bed bugs before they inspected it.

Surely finding no LIVE bed bugs after you've treated a room cannot prove there weren't live bed bugs there before treatment?

Isn't that literally the purpose of the treatment?

And if Airbnb doesn't believe it was bed bugs, what caused approximately 65 insect bites across my wife's body immediately after that night?

I've never experienced bed bugs before. I didn't know where to find one and obviously wasn't going to cut open somebody else's mattress looking for an insect to photograph.

I did what any normal guest would do: reported it, photographed the bites and obtained medical evidence.

Then there's the refund.

The host/owner offered £300, then increased it to £370.

I rejected that and escalated the case because the stay cost almost £1,000.

After providing further evidence, Airbnb's Senior Case Manager has now offered just £150.

So escalation has somehow resulted in the proposed refund being less than half what the host was already offering.

I've rejected it and I'm asking for a full refund at minimum.

Airbnb themselves considered the bed-bug risk serious enough that we were told we couldn't use another Airbnb for three days, yet apparently £150 is now considered appropriate.

If you've read this far, I'd genuinely appreciate your opinion.

Am I missing something?

Because I cannot understand how Airbnb can use an inspection of a room that had already been treated for bed bugs as evidence of what was there before it was treated.

And if you've dealt with a similar Airbnb dispute, what would you do next?

TL;DR: Almost £1,000 Airbnb around our wedding. Dirty/stained bedding, both itching all night, then my wife developed approximately 65 medically confirmed reactive insect bites. Cleaner told us there were bed bugs, told us to freeze our clothes and treated the room for bed bugs. After we checked out, pest control inspected the already-treated room and found "no live bed bugs". Airbnb is now using that result against us and has offered £150, despite the host previously offering £370. How can a post-treatment inspection prove what was there before treatment?

Long story short, Airbnb approved a refund for the cost of a pack n play I had to purchase because the host lied about having one (or crib) available. They processed it as a payout and are now requesting my SSN for tax documents to get the refund? A W-9 or 1099.

It's showing as a host income earning. But I was originally told it would go back to my form of payment.

Is this normal? Anyone else have a similar issue with getting a refund?

For additional context there are 5 bedrooms and 8 people staying with 2 bedrooms on the top floor so there aren’t any free beds the house is 3 floors but the wasps die before getting to the middle the owners obviously know about the wasps as the top floor had anti wasps spray all over it as when we arrived we found dead wasps in the rooms. On the plus side the wasps do only seem to affect one room as the other person on the top floor had no problems but the kid who picked it got woken up by being stung at 6am. Furthermore when he went to get his phone from his room found like 5 live wasps despite closing the window. However it seems like a relatively new problem as the lowest rating out of 295 is 4 stars other than the wasps it’s a very nice house in the Lake District. I can’t figure out how to attach it but I have a photo of a dustpan filled with wasps

I’ll get right to it. I’m a new host and have only had two completed stays so far.

My first guest smoked in the house, left stuff everywhere, and somehow managed to ruin a pan. I sent a reimbursement request for the remediation costs. There was no disagreement, and the guest paid it.

My second guest checked in, stayed, and left the house in great shape. No issues at all. Basically a perfect guest.

During the stay, I did see them smoking outside on the exterior security camera. The property is technically non-smoking, including outside, but honestly, smoking outside wasn’t what concerned me nearly as much as smoking inside the house.

Then we went in for turnover and the house smelled like someone had smoked inside again. Near the trash can, there was some brown material that looked like loose tobacco leaves, along with a deodorizer they had thrown away.

Between seeing them smoke outside, the smell inside, and what looked like tobacco near the trash, I assumed they had also smoked inside. Based on what happened with my first guest, I followed the same process and requested reimbursement for the additional cleaning, $25 to replace the HVAC filter, and the cost of lemons and cinnamon sticks we boiled to help remove the odor.

She reviewed the request, denied smoking inside, and explained that the brown flakes had come off her makeup bag.

After looking at everything again, I realized I didn’t actually have enough to say she had smoked inside, and I was wrong to make that assumption.

I immediately canceled the reimbursement request, sent her a sincere apology, and still left her the positive review she deserved. That didn’t feel like enough to me, though, so I also refunded her $50.

I’m sharing this because it was a pretty quick lesson for me as a new host. After having a legitimate smoking issue with my very first guest, I was probably too quick to connect the dots the second time around. Seeing someone smoke outside doesn’t mean they smoked inside, and I should have separated what I knew from what I assumed.

I feel like if I get a review it will be negative, making my first and only review a stain.

Made a last minute booking and didn’t realize how remote the property I am renting was once we got here and read the booklet. We have over 30 acres of private land and we are the only structure/occupants of the land while here.

We prefer to be nudist / naturalist in camping when possible. So this was a nice surprise.

There are exterior cameras outside in all directions of the house, which we don’t care about the host seeing as long as it isn’t breaking an Airbnb rule.

The host technically doesn’t have a rule forbidding it. I also don’t want to ask the host directly because that would result in them being more likely to be mad or creepy about it. Like, they might go out of their way to watch the footage whereas before they may only watch it to see we arrived or if there’s an incident. If I was planning a nudist trip specifically I would have asked, but we are already here so, yeah.

Are you allowed to be nude outdoors on private property if there is no rule against it? If so, is there some dividing line like topless is okay but bottoms are required?

*Naturism, sorry phone autocorrect stepped in.

Also for clarity, PA, all adults.

I'm looking at ski house rentals with my husband on two different laptops and he's coming up with prices significantly less than what I see, on the exact same places. Hundreds of dollars. Same dates, same everything, even searching simultaneously. Why? We both are highly rated on Airbnb, though I've definitely had more trips.

i opened a bar of chocolate that apparently had melted chocolate in the middle. it literally just exploded. will they fine for the stain? i don't want my dad to get upset since he paid for the airbnb so the fine will come to him

Has anyone ever had a successful claim though the Airbnb coverage? Basically my last guests somehow cracked the white porcelin tile during their stay, our previous guests were at the house just 24 hours prior. We clean the airbnb immediate after each guests leave and it's a busy area so impossible to miss it. We're also super host for 5 years in a row with a average rating of 4.89

As soon as the guests left we noticed the damage and reported to airbnb included everything (pictures of the previous area 24 hours prior with no damage) and a quote to fix the tile. They simple came back with it doesn't meet our criteria. Like wtf is that suppose to mean? I even told them to provide their own approved contractor to fix the tile but they refuse. How do we move forward with this and ensure they fix the tile?

Hello all!

I recently stayed in an AirBnB in California.

The suite had an insect infestation, the window screens were broken, the lock was broken on the front door, and the parking pass was out of date.

I communicated with the host about the insects and the lock but not the rest. When I choose AirBnB, there is a point where I just wanted to stop communicating with my host, accept things as they are, and move on with my stay.

Additionally, as the host was communicative, I didn't mention any of these things in my review, which was very positive.

The host, however, made a different choice.

Their review states that the suite was left in a "messy" and "chaotic" state, complains that clean up took longer than usual, and also notes that I moved a small coffee maker and a portable fan.

This is the only negative review I've ever received.

I realize that hosts have a right to offer reviews of guests but this is why I am wondering what my options are:

-I feel like they anticipated a negative review due my bringing the insect infestation to their attention and wanted to get out ahead of it by writing me a negative review

-I did every single chore that they asked of me before leaving. If they had other expectations beyond what they asked, why was this not communicated? Can guests be left negative reviews for failing to do chores that were not asked of them?

-Guests who stay at an AirBnB pay a cleaning fee. It is kind of galling for a host to complain that they have to clean up after a guest when we pay the cleaning fee for this very reason.

-There were no prohibitions against moving the portable fan and the coffee maker. So I do not understand why I'm being penalized for it. Also, I moved the coffee maker to get it out of the way of the insect infestation, and the fan so that it was pointed at the broken window screen to discourage flying insects from entering.

I realize I can leave a public review but I'm wondering if I have any other options. Thank you for your help!

UPDATE:

I contacted AirBNB.

I showed them screen shots of the chores I was asked to do and screenshots where the host said no when I told them I had done the chores, did they want anything else before I left? I also sent them screen shots of the video I took before I left to show that the suite was neither "chaotic" nor "dirty." I asked politely if guests can be penalized for failing to do chores that were not asked of them, especially when there were zero cleaning supplies in the suite.

The negative review was removed.

Any hosts here rent their place with cotton linens? I hate having to bring my own because people have chosen microfiber. TIA!

Has anyone ever gotten a refund for a cancellation not from host due to unforeseen circumstances?

I stayed at an Airbnb and the host is saying I need to pay $1,000 for damage to their RV's awning caused by a storm that came the night after I stayed.

They said check out instructions asked me to put it down prior to leaving. None of this was mentioned in their instructions. I screenshotted everything and sent it to Airbnb support. I left the way it was when I got there.

This was the 5-star review they left on me:

"Couldn't have asked for better guests. D. and her group were respectful and communicative, and left the place in perfect order. Welcome back anytime!"

Then a few days later tries to send me a message to claim $1,000 in damages. This is crazy work!

This same storm caused my neighbor's tree to fall on my service line and ripped it off the side of my house. I paid 2k to get it fixed and didn't have electricity for 3 days, but I know it's not my neighbor's fault. Sometimes mother nature happens and you just have to eat the cost. That happens when you own things.

Still annoyed and waiting to hear back from Airbnb support though.

Hi

An host left me a defamatory review saying I smoked drugs, even though I have never smoked anything in my life.

He also said I let people enter the building and that neighbors complained about their looks. No one except me entered that building, even if I wanted, there is a doorman 24/24 7/7...

What to do ?