Couchsurfing International
reviews and complaints

To whom it may concern,

The application couch surfing took $60 off of my credit card and I would like that money back. There was supposed to be a member upgrade that aided in a place to stay when travelling, This did not happen nor did I get my money back . Also there has not been any activity from the app as far as newsletters or updates go. I was really hoping to use the app. as a means for lodging when traveling. Unfortunately not only has this app. let me down but I am now irate due to the fact that my money was taken and thrown down the drain. No matter what I do whether it be a side gig main, main profession, taking in metal for profit etc that is still my money that I earned so for anyone to think it is okay to straight up steal and con me out of something that I more than likely worked my [censored] off for is outrageous and unacceptable. If this is made right then I will more than likely use the app again. As for now they are my enemy.

Best Regards,
Miguel Gutierrez
[protected]@gmail.com
[protected]

I was travelling with my family in France. As we had limited resources for our travel i tried to look for accomodation using platform Couchserfing. As i am new in this system i wanted to get verifiied to increase potentiality of hosting us. I preesed button verify me by my bank account. Was thinking its usual verification of account. Then i was informed that my account was charged for 52 euro what is some amount as my monthly income is about 1000 euro for 4 persons, ne and 3 of my children! I got furious. I contacted couchsurfing service to get refound. I was promised to get my money back in 5-10! work days. It was on 25 october. Now is 8 november and i didnt get this money. I wrote again and again to them and didnt get any response. I cant afford calling US. On my account is only 50 euro now and this another fckin 50 euro means something to me.

Its robbery. I dont agree for something like that.

Unfortunately, I too was a sucker and gave this company my info for "verification purposes." They charged my account 60 dollars without my permission. There was NO mention of being charged, NONE. There customer service is non existant. I would like to get a refund. I will be following through with Better Business Bureau. To make it worse there isn't even a record on my profile account that I paid, only a charge by them that showed up in my statement. I am furious. People who choose Couchsurfing don't have the means to get an airbnb that's why they are couchsurfing. They are essentially robbing from people who have low income, it's disgusting.

Hello CS team,

I wrote a complain and asked many times whats going on with my CS account (was hacked, or something) but I didnt get any answer back. thats unpolite and not customer oriented. I paid for usid this account and should get any explanation.
below my emails . you can answer to my email address arek.[protected]@wp.pl

thanks in advance
Arka Les

https://www.couchsurfing.com/people/arkadiusz2009

Hello CS Team, still my CS account is blocked... whats going on?
please explain and make it accessable? thanks in Advance. Arka Les

https://www.couchsurfing.com/people/arkadiusz2009

Hey Jenny,

here the required link

https://www.couchsurfing.com/people/arkadiusz2009

this king of Things never happened to me?! somebody hacked my account?

Arka Les

Dnia 2 października 2019 18:16 Couchsurfing Support napisał(a):
## Please reply above this line so that it is sent correctly ##
If you'd like to send a reply, please reply to this email.

Jenny (Couchsurfing Support)
Oct 2, 09:16 PDT
Hello arek.[protected]@wp.pl,

Thank you for contacting us. I'm happy to help with this, but to do so I will need to find your Couchsurfing profile.

The email address you provided does not appear in our system. Is your account registered under a different email address? Can you remember your username? If you don't have this information, can you send us a link to your Couchsurfing profile page or the full name you registered your account with and your date of birth?

I look forward to hearing back from you so I can help you with this.

Best regards,
Jenny
Community Support Team
www.couchsurfing.com

arek.[protected]@wp.pl
Oct 2, 08:57 PDT
Hello CS Team, I got a message my couchsurfing account is suspended ? why? Arka Les Arkadiusz
Here is a link to your request if you would rather reply here: (#1231671)
This email is a service from Couchsurfing Support.
[OLOD4P-8303]

wróć do Wysłane odpowiedz prześlij dalej przenieś do zapisz drukuj

I signed up for your easy, on-the-go, "successful" and complete BS crap app, "entered my card number in for verification purposes" and it charged my card 60 bucks without my permission or knowledge. I emailed your company, called your customer Care number which ISNT IN SERVICE and yet still heard nothing back. You can either refund my money or I'll be contacting my bank with a theft complaint, a police report, and a lawsuit. Crap app. Just go use Craigslist if you want to get ripped off.

I was encouraged to get verified. So I did. I chose the credit card option. Little did I know I was going to be changed $89! There is no amount mentioned anywhere just BAM your money has been taken. This is really bad business and not great service.
I'm travelling and an extremely tight budget hence why I'm using this service. Had I known that money was going to be withdrawn I would not have treated myself with steak for dinner!
I would like to have a full refund.

Thank you
Vanda

Hi, I have been a host on Couchsurfing and gained hundreds of immaculate references i was verified had 100% response rate then find my account deactivated,
Messaged then and received a computer-generated message, then after no answer to lots of messages, they send a link to the rules and regulations with no answer.
I think it's disgusting that they never read all the positive references and at least communicate with the host,
if it wasn't for people like me hosting they would not exist.
I would like someone to contact me and talk this matter through with me as i put my life into being a good host as all my references will verify.
Regards George.

It was not stated at all that $60 was going to be charged to me. I quickly entered my credit card details without seeing any indication that I would be charged at all. I would like the amount to be refunded. Here is the receipt number incase that would be of any help. I absolutely cannot afford this charge and I would really appreciate this being resolved as quickly as possible. Thank you

Hi,

I have created an account on Couchsurfing. I have paid £47 but I'm unable to verify my email address and so to use my account. I have tried to contact the customer service and I have received an auto generated email in reposnse. The email details some tips that I have tried but I still haven't received an email that would allow me to verify my email. In the auto generated email one of the instructions details to reply to it if issue is still unresolved. How can I reply to this email if there is no email address, all it says is Couchsurfing support. I have tried but I'm unable to reply to the email that I received. So to sum up, I have created the account, paid £47 and I'm unable to activate my account or contact customer service. I also submitted a photo of my Id a few days ago but this is also showing as not verified.

I found this extremely frustrating.

Please can you investigate and get back to me ASAP?

Kind regards,
Dominika Kuczynska

To acheive a booking on CouchSurfing, a half completed profile is needed. To do so, you can confirm your adress, ID and so on...
Or, you can confirm your idendity by giving your credit card details.
Plus, they are saying it is a free application. They never mention any charges when filling up the card details. Afterwards, you notice that you just get charged 86$AU. It is actually my bank who sent me a text to make me notice this weird transaction. After what, I have been called by a fraud officer to explain the situation. He answered me to submit a complaint against CouchSurfing. If they refuse to pay me back, therefore I will have proof and the bank will be able to initiate proceedings.

Looking forward to hearing back from you;

Regards,

Stanislas LEURENT

I have been a member of Couchsurfing for over 4 years. However lately CS seems to be suspending members without any explanation. Today my account got suspended. I have not hosted anyone for at least 6 or 8 months and all my correspondence regarding requests or messages is always decent and polite. My profile does not contain anything special let alone something that goes agains CS terms of services.

Perhaps the suspension was not too random...? Not too long ago one of my dear friends and a couchsurf pioneer from Brussels, Belgium was also suspended. As CS did not reply to his e-mails I decided to team up with a few die-hard CS-members to ask CS support to look into his case. Needles to say we did not get any satisfactory answer back from CS. Instead of that I got suspended too as from today?! Really?

I have seen CS develop from an awesome platform of volonteers to a commercial business that no longer has an eye for their loyal users. Time to register to other simular platforms! CS has grown into an over-commercial organization where people have turned into just being numbers.

Marc - Brussels & Amsterdam

Hi!
Complaining about couchsurfing!
Its called safety and trust!
But where is the trust there?
After 3 and half years im using couchsurfing and I had more than 80 guests in my place from more than 30 countries and 80 positive refrences and wonderful refrences! Without even one negative refrences!
I woke up one day and I see my profile doesnt work!
Now I got an email
Its write for safety and due term of violation we removed your profile!
Whaaaaaaaaat?
Violation? To whom? How? When?
I dont know who did it to me and why they did it but as I did not any bad behavior and I hadnt any problem I can not accept it?!
My human right is trampled here!
How its possible you remove
My profile without I know what happend or if there is something I did, I defend myself!
Maybe it was a misunderstanding! Maybe it was a lie! Maybe it was something else that shows another way!
Even if someone killed someone! They bring him/her to court and bring all reasons! Then listen to killer and then make decision about it!
How u can easily remove my profile! After long time using this app without any bad behavior from me!
Did u ever read my refrences?
I can not accept your decision and I need u to reactive my profile as soon as possible.
Also I really need an appologise from couchsurfing to me! Because of what couchsurfing did to its trustful and good member
Im waiting for your answer
And for sure I will follow it even if take milion years!
Maybe u will laugh or think he wont
But I will, I dont stop it because im sure I did not any violance to anyone
Im ready to come to office, court, anywhere needed but I wont give up about it
I will send my refrences u can read and then tell me what was my violance
Reply me back please

[protected]@yahoo.com

hi..I really cannot why my account is suspended...is it not my right to say to people politely that you should read my profile because they send requests without reading it and do things that I requested in my profile? Or is not my right to reject some requests?the scenario, i am sure, some of them block me for either that reason or simply because they do not want to request again from the same person...is it a good reason to suspend my profile?besides, I have sent many messages and even tried to call but there is no reply from your side...my profile is ʇuǝɯǝɹʇnɐ
I truly hope someone will get back to me soon to explain why my profile is still suspended for more than 15 days now...thanks

Couchsurfing has a seriously flawed reference system. The website says guests/hosts have 14 days to provide feedback, yet even after this time period has elapsed, the other user can post retaliatory negative feedback after seeing an honest negative feedback. How can the site expect people to give honest feedback in fear of retribution from the other user? This hardly encourages a culture of being honest and weeding out undesirable people. Couchsurfing refuses to take down the feedback of the other user. Unverified random users are free to post negative personal feedback even when they don't know the other person or are blocked. Support make unhelpful suggestions and do not deal with the incidents.

I'm from Taiwan.
I was a host on couchsurfing.com.
I paid 60 USD for verification on couchsurfing.com.
But they inactive my account now.
I want to complaint 2 things to Federal Trade Commission.
Which I already contacted couchsurfing.com, but didn't solve.
1. Reactive my account.
2. Delete libelous, offensive reference on my frofile.
Few days ago, I hosted a japanese girl, Konomi Taki. Once she arrived in Kaohsiung, I went to station to pick her up. I paid UBER, bought snacks, offered my place, took her to Monkey Mountain for her. Well... I might not always smiling, because I have major depressive disorder. But I did my best jod to be a host.

She always asked me " Are you unhappy now?" all the time. She asked this question so often, that almost drived me crazy. I always replied her "No, I'm not unhappy, just tried and sleepy." That's true words base on my real health condition. Because major depressive disorder and the medicine. But she just didn't believe it! In conclusion, we just couldn't get along. One day, my family told me that they will come to my place 2 days later. I had no choice to tell her that she most leave. She told me that she was already looking for a hostel. Because she thought we just couldn't get along. And she didn't want to stay in my place anymore.

Few days later, she blocked me. I was so angry, I left 3 bad reference to her. I knew I was wrong. Because I couldn't register for more than one member account. So, my account is inactive now.

But she also wrote me a libelous, offensive reference.

1st . She said "shady and unreliable", "i needed to check if he's not grumpy or not all the time" . She also said "DON'T RECOMMEND THIS PERSON TO ANYONE". I think those words are a kind of defamation, and also against the Terms of Use 4.1.(a), 4.1.(e) on couchsurfing.com.

2nd . She was not telling the truth. She said "This guy will cancel on you at the last minute". But the truth is, she already planned to leave before I told her that my family will coming. She just want to leave a negative reference to me.
3rd. I was looked "shady", because I have major depressive disorder and the medicine. It's really immoral to blame someone because of his disease.

Here is the original reference she leaved to me.
"
WARNING!
This is the first time I write a BAD reference.
Worst host ever!
This person is really shady and unreliable! He left me 3 bad references with fake accounts! This is against the Couchsurfing guideline. I already reported this person.
Firstly, he sent me a host request and i happily accepted it. My stay was kinda long and i asked him if its really ok or not (10 nights) then he said its ok! Suddenly he told me he cant host me because his family would come over. Thanks for telling me this after I declined other offers. So be careful if you don't have a backup plan. This guy will cancel on you at the last minute!
he always says "tired" or "sleepy". he only cares about himself... i needed to check if he's not grumpy or not all the time... it was so tiring. He never smiles he never tries to talk!
If you got enough time to make lots of fake accounts to cyberbully someone, go do
something productive. You're wasting your time.
DON'T RECOMMEND THIS PERSON TO ANYONE.
"

another 18 euros has been taken from my account; same as last year which I made abundantly clear I was not happy about.

They will just take money as they please from your account, do not give them your paypal details

I will take serious legal action if a refund for 36 euros is not made back into my account within the next few days

STAY AWAY FROM COUCHSURFING AND LET ANYONE KNOW THE SCAM THEY ARE

beware. girls especially.
this website is full of pervs!
I was looking for a place to stay and go a bunch of messages fro obviously horny guys who wanted to have some fun with an unknown girl. It was so disgusting.
I sent several complaints to their customer service that contained their names but got no answer yet. I want them to do something about it. Maybe they will.
And I am also here to warn you to be very careful when looking for a place to stay.

I have used couchsurfing for years now, I still thibk it is a great way to meet like-minded people. I never had any bad experience with it and I keep believing that MOST people on this website are open-minded fellows, and with a little bit sof wittyness it is easy to find a safe place, maybe even new friends.

HOWEVER: I am greatly disappointed when I saw that in order for me to be able to send more than 10 requests, I would have to pay 60$. From this moment, this website is only for people who can afford to pay this amount (and in eastern europe it is sometimes the 20% of somebodys salary).
For the record, I got verified earlier for the 25$, because I thought about it as a donation to a cause I really believe in it and now I find it shameful that it became a regular business to the owners of the website.

Hello!

I was trying to get myself verified as a user and some Chinese page came up as I'm in Hong Kong right now and I see that I've been charged 60 USD on my paypal by couch surfing. I do not wish to continue to my account if I'm going to have to pay for it. Please reverse my payment as I did not authorize it. I already submitted a complaint to PayPal for it. Please refund me back. Thank you!

Good morning
my name is antonis
i had an account in CS associated with e mail ( [protected]@gmail.com)

2 months ago members of your moderation team of couchsurfing US ( Amelia and Billy) have accepted money from a rich individual who resides in the uk ( her name is Chloe Gowan) so as to delete my account

they claimed that i harasses this lady, but they never provided any evidence of that which is illegal on its own

this lady was actually harassing me and because she has money ( she is millionaire) she paid your moderation team, with money under the table so as to do her bid

this is a federal offence and i already submitted a report to the police and a specific court in the US

So before i am forced to have my attorneys contact your legal department directly and then file a law suit against your moderation team for unscrupulous immoral tactics, i wish that your supervisor contact me in this e mail

[protected]@gmail.com

thanx
Antonis