Airbnb
Reviews and Complaints

I have seen hotels and motels pull the same deal but it is sad that you had to go through that.

File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Enough complaints and they will have to answer for their bad customer service and negligent business practices.

Extremely Bad Experience With Host Ms Barbara Weber in the web site: www.airbnb.com

We were one of the participants in Interpack 2014 Packing Machinery Show İn Dusseldorf Germany.
We sent them many mails that we are looking for apartments. They gave their prices bu they didn't warned in any mail that they don't offer apartments and they gave us a fake and misleading contract with any explanation about the apartments and the rooms their.
We didn't expect that they can be such liers and frauds and we trust them entirely.
We were so loyal and we made all payment on time. Ms Barabara offered to us to make our conversations and payment procedures out of the web site airbnb. The biggest mistake we done is to trust them and to continue our communication out of the site airbnb.
That way we havn't the opportunity to claim our victimization to any institution.
The photos of the apartments and the rooms we very very different from the rooms and the apartments where our company staff were accomodated. Ms Barabara Weber and her husband didn't warned us that we have to share our apartment with other people in the same apartment. The bathrooms and the lavatory was bad and damaged. The rooms were empty even without gardrobes. Our company was circumflected. Such cheater have to be evicted from this web site airbnb because they can cheat and another victims like us. We were so affected from these people and from now we will not trust to any host. We will use only booking.com because they have proven their loyal work.

Airbnb is the biggest clown I've ever dealing with, yes I did have good experience with them in the past, but once a little problem came up, they do not care and absolutely ridiculous to deal with, as I said on last post I start tracing my refund of booking since early Oct, until 20-Oct Airbnb email me and told me they will refund me within 5-7 business days, I been really patient and wait over 10 business day so I escalate my claim in Paypal to claim my funding, now they use Paypal as a protection said due to the claim status allow them to answer back to Paypal on 8-Nov, so they not prepare to do anything until then, what a joke, once they pay I can close the dispute straight away, this guys is real losing their conscience heart to run their business, they will not care what situation you are in, they just want to keep the funding as long as they can and who care about your life, your job, your marriage! they charged me two booking full fee close to A$4000 straight away after the booking, and my trip is in March next year, think about if they do this to every customers, how much interest or investment can be return to them? SO STOP GO THROUGH AIRBNB! is not worth it!

Airbnb is all cool until when you need to do a refund, they usually do not respond your emails for days, last month in 7-Oct I booked a unit for next year March 2014 for 28 days, cost $1445 australian dollars, security deposit is $144, they charge the full fee from my credit card straight away, after 24 hours I find out it was a mistake booking because I need a full unit, so I cancelled the booking and booked another one from Airbnb and 9it cost A$2450, so this is a genuine mistake because I book another one just after 24 hours, I ask for the refund of the full fee but happy to lost the Airbnb service fee, even Airbnb approved and ok with the refund, now I keep tracing my refund nearly one full month, I still not receiving any confirmation from them, also they charge full fee on both booking not the security deposit is totally wrong, I'm not check in until next year March, why I have to paid upfront full fee for six months in advance? Now I am in extremely stress and may cause my job and even worst my health and my wife.

Extremely bad experience!

AirBnB is a greedy, sneaky company. File a complaint at the better business bureau. Do what I did called my credit card company and they resolved me of all the costs.

Bad customer services. Airbnb traveler cheat me. be careful
I'm a hoste. I have no problem, many real positive reviews... one of last guest extend her stay and I accept because the room was free. Unfortunately, She (Journalist girl from Washington DC) doesn't want to pay immediately (only109 § the week). I was patient during one week When I asked her to book because one guest need the room she did, the same day she lived home at 3am without informing me and cancelled the booking. what does airbnb do, they quarantined my account without any evidence, because she said that I upset her . I just asked the guest to pay or I will inform the authorities. Very bad Customer service on airbnb. I have still no answer. My payment for the booking is still pending. So my guest stayed for free and no payment for the cancellation she did. I lost 15 days rent. Airbnb want only to take money from guests and hosts. You can try Bedycasa it's better service and their phone is well working.

AIRBNB IS HORRIBLE...I WAS IN A VERY UNSANITARY PLACE WITH RATS AND COCKROACHES
THEY DID NOTHING...THIS IN ONE OF MANY HORROR STORIES, FOR EVERY BOOKING THAT GOES WELL THREE GO WRONG
AND AIRBNB NEVER LOOSES
STAY AWAY AND WARN UR FRIENDS...AIRBNB DOES NOT HELP YOU, ONCE THEY HAVE YOUR MONEY FORGET IT!

U r lucky compared to me. I am duped both by airbnb & the host. Airbnb just won't intervene when the host sneakily added a surcharge to my bill by calling it a discount and fees waived with a vague message and without my knowledge. All because airbnb payment system billed me in a different currency (euros) from the currency quoted (dollars) by the host thereby obscuring the total amount. When I discovered the discrepancy, airbnb said that it is my fault so long as i've paid up, even though I've all the evidences that the host has violated their transparency rule & even admitted to the 'erroneous' info on listing. Clearly, airbnb refuses to enforce their own 6-simple rules. 
I'm trapped (with thousands of $ of cancellation) as airbnb will uphold nothing fair for the guest but uphold only the strict cancellation policy in favor of the host & themselves. Now, even after my acceding to the host's new price, airbnb still claim they're unable to contact the host to effect the changes. Come 1 day later from now, I'll b forced into the no-refund 0% timeline. I can't help but feel like a silly fool who has fallen onto a boobie-trap. 
I've never had such a harrowing experience with other systems as airbnb - 2 weeks of constant daily emailing & follow-up, pushing both airbnb & host is exhausting. U R better off going on other matured booking systems.
I'm writing this so that others do not have to go through my nitemare. A nitemare for a holiday is something u dun wanna have - although i'm still hoping this nitemare will end soon. And I've too much screen dumps to load here. Just need a rest for now, for another day of battle with them.

Airbnb website is confusing and and not user friendly

@roma75, I also learnt the hard way except that I am stuck with thousand of euros. (See my complaint "online platform for cheating host"). Airbnb seems to have no other resolution for the guest except proposimg a cancellation - meaning u lose the 6-12% service fees too. Very expensive cancellation policy unlike most other sites with just a nominal fees. Also, the prices on screen are not fixed and not final, the host can change pricing without letting the guest know. I think u r lucky to meet an honest host in Italy, the system allows dishonest people to operate.

Hi i have a complaint also about airbnb company in italy, ..and even the customer service of it still didnt reply me, ..last week i rented an apartment in sicilia italy at palermo for going this weekend at the beginning than i paid all, ..but at the beginning of this week i changed the date once and i think i have rights for it than after i changed the date again by talking the owner of the apartment and we both were agreed however because of i changed it twice they charged me without letting me know, ..i was angry about it because how come they could withdraw money from my credit card without telling me, ..after that i couldnt trust more than last night i wanted to cancel my account not my BOOKING! and i cancelled my account and signed the option that i would be back soon but also i wrote them why, ..however in ten second i was replied by them with a cancellation of my booking and they told me they cut all the money which i paid 168euro and would deposit 56euro back, ..i was so so angry with them than i tried to contact with them, ..than i sent them 2 different e-mail even in italian and even in english however they just cancelled my booking and all and now i couldnt get do anything, ..because they didnt reply me and they didnt care it, ..i talked with the owner and i am lucky that he accepted however i lost my money, ..could someone please take care of that airbnb web site and help me about it ?! that web site is really awful and i really dont accept this !

ALERT! My Airbnb account was hacked including credit card. Over $5k of charges then refunded to a DIFFERENT CREDIT CARD! Contacted them of breeches before charges. What organization refunds to a DIFFERENT CREIDT CARD! Consumers BE AWARE OF AIRBNB!

We had the same type of issue related to Airbnb's cancellation policy. This was for a 60 day stay, each month was approximately $2400 and we paid one full month in advance. Due to unforeseen circumstances we had to cancel our entire trip (two full months in advance of our stay) and ended up losing $2400! I read complicated financial contracts as part of my job and even I did not understand how their policy worked - it is EXTREMELY POORLY WRITTEN and I contend that this is done on purpose so as to confuse guests so that the host and Airbnb both gain financially from this. Before pressing the cancel button on the Airbnb site I contacted our host numerous times to let her know that we MIGHT have to cancel and if she could please clarify what their policy was. The only thing she would say is "we follow Airbnb's policy...So are you going to cancel?" I asked her again to PLEASE CLARIFY their policy before I cancelled, and she - the host- simply ignored my further messages... and there were a lot of messages by the way that went unanswered and ignored. But she did take the time to complain that I was sending her TOO MANY MESSAGES! I wouldn't have sent so many had she answered my question on one of the first 10 or so messages that I sent to her. Anyhow, before I pressed CANCEL on the Airbnb site I got a summary that said that I would receive a refund of approximately "$2400", so that made me feel comfortable that we would get our one month payment back. Instead what I got was $43! I immediately called Airbnb who feigned that they cared but all they really did was kick the proverbial can down the road - I know this because within the span of 2 weeks after I called them, "my case" was reassigned to 3 different Airbnb customer service agents. When I spoke to their reps I asked WHY I got a summary saying that i would get $2400 back. They said that amount represented the UNPAID second month of our stay! Now I ask you, WHY WOULD AIRBNB GIVE ME A PHANTOM REFUND FOR A MONTH I NEVER PAID FOR!?!?!?! This is CRIMINAL! I got $43 and that is it. By telling me that we would receive a $2400 refund it tricked me into thinking it was safe to cancel but that is not at all what their policy means. Airbnb should be brought to task for their criminal behavior, and frankly so should the host. Especially because she was able to rebook our canceled month with a different guest so SHE GOT PAID TWICE! Never ever again will we ever use Airbnb and have made sure to tell anyone willing to listen, our story so that they too will go elsewhere. I recommend using VRBO - they are a far superior company/site.

Airbnb is in my opinion the WORST company in the travel industry. I made a reservation with them for Medellin, Colombia and everything was prepaid and all set. One day before departure they pull a fast one saying my res looked illegitimate. Wha? To help them clarify they wanted a copy of my passport & access to my Facebook account... which I complied with because I needed the booking to be firm. I'd never been to Colombia and it was a weird and scary situation to be put into. It turns out they never intended to confirm. They said they would send back my money and they did because they had no choice except face fraud and deception charges. I quickly changed passwords and blocked them. Because I already had contact outside their Airbnb site with the host, it all worked out good. The best part; no commission for Airbnb and I discovered what a stink of a company Airbnb appears to me to be. They refused to explain their actions and gave no reasons despite my request for one. Airbnb's customer service is wretched! My advice is to NOT TRUST them or do so at your peril. What seems to work for many is a nightmare for some. Why take that chance or deal with a company that refuses to come clean with their actions.

This company does not provide a neutral system to mediate between host and client. We recently booked a week in Venice Beach with a person named Taylor. I week before our arrival Taylor contacted my HR team to determine my income and pay days. Big red flag but due to a family illness we went ahead with the trip. We brought our small under 8-pound dogs that were crate trained. Upon arrival the unit was so dirty we had to go buy cleaning supplies to clean before we could stay in the unit. Stains everywhere. The host no surprise is now trying to claim a $500 charge to replace her dirty used couch. Airbnb claims to bee neutral yet they clearly side with the host on all issues. They claim you cannot talk to them by phone, and they refuse to be fair and get at least 3 bids to clean the couch stating they will go ith whatever the host presents. By far the worst customer service, and scam on behalf of the host ever. Do no do business with this company.

BEWARE of dealing with AirBnB. I just returned from a trip to Hong Kong, Booked a "Neat & Cozy Studio" in WanChai. Total mis-representation--"Cockroach infested grungy hole" would be a lot closer to the truth. AirBnB does nothing to help guests that have been scammed. This place was described as having a REAL BED, in fact it was an extended Arm Chair. On entering the unit the first thing that I noticed was a sign on the TV which said "TV Broken, Sorry" I had to scrub the bathroom before I used it. I have pictures to prove. I need some help to go viral with this, only then AirBnB might do something about this.

I am a victim I would never ever do this online it's my first time and my last time
15 Dec - I paid £113 to book a room in Hong Kong for 2 nights
Same day I cancelled my booking as I noticed a full refund can be made within 5 days before check in, however I received an email with a refund confirmation of £33
Which is obviously a rip-off rang customer service and told them that I would reinstate my booking, I was told if the host also agree then no problem, customer service sent an email to me and the host to confirm the reinstate and I confirmed right away, however no reply from the host and i signed in my account tonight the while deal has gone the room is released for booking, everything happened within one day from my booking payment and cancellation, I realised this is how they suck the money from us.

VERY BAD SITE, JUNKY FAMILY WITH HOSTEL IN MANHATTAN BEACH ! VERY BAD ! (HE COMES IN THE APT TO TALK TO YOU, AND SAY HE WAS IN JAIL AND HE WAS ARESTED FOR DRUGS "WHILE DOING THE CRACK DANCE" EXPLAINING HE NEVER DOES DRUGS !

THE NEXT HOSTEL WAS REJECTING A BOOKING RIGHT AT DATE AND TIME OF ARRIVAL (FRIENDS OF THEM)
AND
THE NEXT HOSTEL WAS REJECTING A BOOKING AT THE SAME DAY AFTER THAT !

I NOTICED THEY TALK LIKE THE HOSTELS ARE ALL FRIENDS, WHILE THEY CONSTANTLY FIGHT AND REFUSE CLIENTS ETC !

I KNOW THAT ALL THE REAL AND REALLY GOOD HOSTELS WHERE CLOSED IN 2011 IN NEW YORK AND THIS IS A SITE WHERE HOSTELS STILL SEEM TO BE AVAILABLE !

BUT THEY ARE NOT OR ARE REALLY REALLY BAD !

Totally agree. Sleazy for a California company. Shame on you.
Airbnb customer service are trained like robots, default protocol is always to suck the guest's money. Read my case 'airbnb - the online platform for cheating host".

I recently booked a holiday house in Bali, Indonesia. The owner would take bookings only for periods of a full month and to secure the booking I had to pay a full month's rent through the Airbnb booking system. Airbnb have a "Long Term Cancellation Policy" which says:
"Long Term: First month down payment, 30 day notice for lease termination
Note: The Long Term cancellation policy applies to all reservations of
28 nights or more."

I did not think this unreasonable and booked. Unfortunately 40 days before my holiday was to start a new project came in and I had to cancel on-line through Airbnb. After I had not received a refund I contacted Airbnb and was told "If the guest books a long term stay and decides to cancel the long term agreement before the start date, the first payment is paid to the host in full."

What the...? Sure enough this is one of the conditions of Long Term Cancellation, however you only find this advice at the bottom of the webpage - similar to "the fine print" in my opinion.

I contacted Airbnb for an explanation: "Why have a cancellation policy at all if the person can lose their entire fee anyway? (I might just as well have kept the booking and simply not turned up)".

Airbnb's customer support were responsive to a degree - "I have also discussed the wording of the cancellation policy with my managers, as I can see where the wording is confusing to our guests" - but it was ultimately left to the owner to decide whether to refund any money.

It is clearly an unfair cancellation policy. You have to ask why a cancellation policy as onerous as this one has to be tucked away at the bottom of the webpage instead of being up front along with the other bullet points for the cancellation policy. And I also found that if the owner re-books to someone else during the cancelled period there is no obligation on them to refund any of the forfeited booking. They can effectively collect double rent.

The unfair policy does not favour Airbnb - only the rental owner benefits - but it certainly leaves a feeling of caution and distrust about the whole Airbnb company with the customer. Why not have a non-refundable deposit that is somewhat less than a full 28 days rent?

Since it's not up to the host to refund money, but up to Airbnb themselves, either you misread the refund policy (hosts can pick different refund policies, but each listing has the relevant policy listed on their main page), you haven't even actually contacted Airbnb support about your problem (which you should do - they're a little slow but very helpful) or you're just flat out lying.

I agree with AirBnB non discrimination policies but I do not want to have my profile picture and first name used as a part of a study. It could make me a target. I wanted to sign up for a vacation, not agree to be a subject of a study backed by some organizations I never heard of.

almost every night there are parties , screaming, marijuana smoking, cars blocking neighbors driveways and street, police have had to come out several times! various neighbors have contacted airbnb with no result! if this continues we are thinking of suing for disturbing our peace and quiet enjoyment of our homestead.

House hot, air conditioning not working, lack air conditioning in half house, road noise you need ear protection for indoors, support system designed to make you go away, omitting key descriptions on house descriptions.

This is a one sided company designed to skin people out of their money.

Go anywhere else but Airbnb

When I booked my last Airbnb stay, as I was booking the rate per night was reduced from GBP26 to GBP21. My booking was for 7 nights so a dialog box came up saying my booking price had been reduced by GBP35. However this was not reflected in my credit card billing & payment. How do I resolve this? David Hodges hodges2671k@yahoo.com

atlantahannah, it's good that you are happy with airbnb's services - but I think you have misread/misinterpreted what Falling Water has posted. Effectively, both hosts and renters get stung by hefty airbnb fees. These once used to be reasonable, but as the site has grown in popularity, its fees have increased and its customer service decreased to the point of being virtually non-existent. As a previously frequent rental user of the site, I found that some hosts listed on multiple rental sites and that, in every case, the overall rental price on the other sites was much cheaper because the renter was not hit with the hefty airbnb fees. I have also spoken to savvy hosts (because I am in the process of setting up my own rental) and all have told me that they have chosen to use sites other than airbnb because of the hefty airbnb fees and the poor customer service they have also received.
I have just finished a 5 month trip through South and North America and have terminated my account because of the many issues I encountered. The number of substandard accommodation we stayed in was appalling - no due diligence appears to be done by the site to ensure a reasonable standard or cleanliness, let alone value for money. Hosts varied from great to don't give a damn (other than about getting the money). Prices charged were high, particularly when I compared the price for the same property listed on the airbnb site and another site (like booking.com). And, the icing on the cake, airbnb showed no ability to comply with its own publication guidelines, allowing false and defamatory comments to be posted on its site and failing to address the issue when it was raised. The site double dips, charging both hosts and renters hefty fees and offering neither any support nor service. Hosts, find another site to advertise on (like VRBO or Stayz). Renters, do your due diligence - check if the property is listed elsewhere, as it will likely be cheaper, and check tripadvisor for property reviews - better yet, use kayak or another booking engine to find what you are looking for.

Wow~ I am completely shocked at what these people are saying. I am an AirBnB host and have been for almost two years. I have had HUNDREDS of guests (as I have three rooms available) and have never had one problem with AirBnB. While it is true that the host does not receive the money until after the guest checks in, it is within a day of the guest's check in unless it is a weekend. This is made quite clear when one signs up as a host. Also, I have found no way to "manipulate" my guest payment once they have made their reservation. My fees have changed since I began as a host but once they book, they pay the fee listed. Also, I charge extra for a second person in the room - it is VERY clear when you look at my listings that this is so... .and the price for the 2nd person is listed. I am also a bit suspicious of the person who says AirBnB took money from their account. Most banks will not pay out monies to a third party unless authorized to do so. This is the person who also said that "the owner h(host) has no control over what a guest is charged" - not at all true! The host gets to decide exactly how much they will charge - but they do not have control over the AirBnB fee. So folks... here is why AirBnB charges a fee... they have control over the money... which I am glad about! I do not get a guest's info (phone, email, etc) until they have paid AND they do not get my address, email, phone until they pay... making it MUCH easier for me not to get involved with a guest who doesn't want to pay what they were supposed to pay... or says, hey, can I pay tomorrow... or something else. And, having had guests before AirBnB who pulled these kinds of stunts all the time, I am grateful to AirBnB for the way they do things.

Just my two cents. AirBnB has been a delight for me!

I'm a vacation rental owner who was listed on Airbnb for all of three months. I agree with you that Airbnb is totally inappropriate in its business dealings. I was unaware that guests are charged up to 12 % of their rental rate as a fee to Airbnb. I did know that I was charged a percentage, which goes to Airbnb. The owners have no control over what the guests are charged...in fact, the owners are not even paid until some time after the guests have actually stayed at, and departed from, the rental home. In the several months I was listed on Airbnb, I received only one reservation, and it was two days after the guests' departure before my account was credited with the rental monies. Airbnb is collecting huge amounts of interest on the funds guests have paid, sometimes months before their actual vacation.

Overall, I found Airbnb to be a most difficult company to work with, with their website being virtually impossible to navigate, and always had an underlying suspicion that they were incredibly unethical. As an owner, Airbnb requires that I provide them with my checking account information, so the rental fees collected by Airbnb can eventually be applied to that account. There is no other option that I know of. I received a notice from my bank that I had four "insufficient fund" checks, at a charge of $35 each. I went to the bank, and, after looking at the printout provided of my account's recent transactions, I discovered that Aibnb had helped themselves to $300 from my account...they had no right to debit my account at all, only to deposit and credit.

I spent a full day trying to resolve this situation...hours waiting in a cue to speak to a human being...hours... and, with no resolution to the problem at all, Airbnb removed my listing and blocked my access to them via phone and email. So, I guess my money is gone for good.

I would never recommend Airbnb for your vacation plans...there are so many more venues, Homeaway, VRBO, etc., that charge a guest nothing and the owners pay a nominal annual fee for the listing. And, guests and owners are allowed to have direct contact via phone and then in emails! None of the internet rental sites have any legal involvement with the owners, yet, Airbnb certainly controls the purse strings for all involved! I think you can trust most owners...we're basically honest, decent folks, just trying to make ends meet with the rentals. We want you to be happy guests...you're guests in our homes! Makes sense we wouldn't want you to be angry!

File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Enough complaints and they will have to answer for their bad customer service and negligent business practices.

Feoy74, Most sites has no reservation fee and only charges a nominal fee for cancellation. My experience with airbnb is utterly bitter for a 30+ years seasoned traveller.
It is unethical that service fees is disclosed only during payment time. By doing this only serves to hide cost from the consumer. Such should be upfront on listing page like most other sites. Besides the service fee is a hefty 6 - 12% addition to daily/nightly price.
Also, you should also know that any information on airbnb pages are meaningless. They are as good as not being there in the first place. My case, I discovered the host increased the price without my knowing by billing me a 2nd person charge. And even though i have screen dumps of the listing page showing the erroneous charge (extra people charge was after 2 guests, we are only 2 person) airbnb will not do anything. Simply because I have already paid up. Airbnb then suggested that I cancel with this strict cancellation policy - meaning I loose 50% of my money (=thousands of $) for a reservation that I booked for over a day.
Now! Do you still think it is not airbnb's fault that the guest did not know the host can manipulate payment figures; did not see all these hidden costs and all these cheating coming from a US-based company? I advise you'd better rethink again.
It has been a year since this complaint has been lodged. And I think there are more than the handful of people placing complaints here. Airbnb is certainly in the business of cheating.

Screenshot attached