My shitty AirBnB experience

#1

Post by fnando » Thu, May 04, 2017, 4:44 PM UTC

My shitty AirBnB experience
medium.com

Re: My shitty AirBnB experience

#2

Post by wil421 » Thu, May 04, 2017, 5:18 PM UTC

It's funny when I click on the JavaScript error image the page fails and has to reload.

Safari Mobile iPhone 7 plus 10.3.1

Re: My shitty AirBnB experience

#3

Post by fred_is_fred » Thu, May 04, 2017, 5:24 PM UTC

Sorry but if you want to function in the US, get a credit card. The rest of the stuff sucks but the lack of a CC is on you.

Re: My shitty AirBnB experience

#4

Post by jressey » Thu, May 04, 2017, 5:34 PM UTC

When using Airbnb, the consumer should approach it as if they are taking on risk that some number of reservations will fail, and you'll have to pay a premium to find lodging. If your perceived expected value is greater when taking that risk, Airbnb is for you. If you're not willing to entertain that possibility, you should avoid it altogether.

I don't think Airbnb service handled this appropriately, but I find companies' service centers to be less than helpful most of the time.

Re: My shitty AirBnB experience

#5

Post by johansch » Thu, May 04, 2017, 5:57 PM UTC

jressey wrote: post #4

When using Airbnb, the consumer should approach it as if they are taking on risk that some number of reservations will fail, and you'll have to pay a premium to find lodging. If your perceived expected value is greater when taking that risk, Airbnb is for you. If you're not willing to entertain that possibility, you should avoid it altogether. I don't think Airbnb service handled this appropriately, but I find compan…

I agree, but I also think Airbnb should have a very visible promipt, in your face that they really don't guarantee that you will get what you paid for.

To my knowledge they don't do this at the moment.

(Referring to the TOC is just lame when talking about such a primary risk.)

Re: My shitty AirBnB experience

#6

Post by doug1001 » Thu, May 04, 2017, 6:18 PM UTC

fred_is_fred wrote: post #3

Sorry but if you want to function in the US, get a credit card. The rest of the stuff sucks but the lack of a CC is on you.

that would have changed nothing--ie, the $1,000 limit is AirBnB's rule for Brazilian credit cards used to book US properties, i inferred, plus he had access to credit cards provided by family, co-workers, et al.

unless you mean by "get a credit card", get a US credit card (which i suppose means a credit card issued by a US bank), then indeed, that would have solved the initial problem (of the $1,000 limit) and allowed him to book his first choice.

but is this reasonable? If a US citizen travels to Brazil should they have to get a credit card issued by a Brazilian bank?

Re: My shitty AirBnB experience

#7

Post by erentz » Thu, May 04, 2017, 6:18 PM UTC

My experience out of four AirBnB stays was that two were as advertised and two were complete dirty slums, nothing like the photos or reviews suggested. We had to leave and get a hotel. The reviews were all 5 star raving about how beautiful, amazing, etc they were with 40-50 reviews each.

Has anyone else had this experience? It made us unable to trust the review system because in this case it was so clearly rigged somehow. And without being able to trust the review system AirBnB is next to useless.

Re: My shitty AirBnB experience

#8

Post by zaatar » Thu, May 04, 2017, 6:28 PM UTC

The first bait-and-switch apartment listed "Entire home/apt" with 4.5 stars rating is here: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/14489610

1 or 2 of my very nice people will be in the office upstairs to help with any questions during daytime. (the bathroom is shared on Mo, Wed, Fri during daytime)

How is this even legal?

Re: My shitty AirBnB experience

#9

Post by slammer123 » Thu, May 04, 2017, 6:29 PM UTC

I had a very similar frustrating experience with AirBnB. Essentially, my rental turned out to be an illegal sublet that hosted a large party the weekend before. There was still trash strewn about. The real owner contacted the neighbors and they (kindly) informed me of the situation.

I immediately contacted AirBnB, here's a quick summary of what happened:

- On hold for 30 min - Offered a $50 coupon for another booking (I was traveling with 5 other people) - We had a full day of activities so I booked a rental with instant confirmation. - The customer service rep scolded me because I was supposed wait for the coupon code (which was sent 30 minutes after I booked). - The coupon could not be retroactively applied to my new booking. - Only after tweeting their customer service did someone else reach out. - Every new customer rep had a different answer for me. - In the end took 2 months and a credit card chargeback to sort everything out.

My whole experience left me with a whole bunch of questions.

- If your $20B valuation comes from connecting rentors and rentees, shouldn't your customer service be stellar?

- If something goes wrong (at the fault of the rentor), why is the onus on me to solve it (imagine if this happened at a hotel)?

- There's a lot more time and emotion invested in making an AirBnB rental over a car share (Uber, Lyft). So when things go wrong, why does it feel like AirBnB treats it as the same (e.g. "just book another AirBnB")?

- To cut down on illegal rentals, AirBnB could choose to ask for a copy of the lease agreement. It's an obvious answer, but why not?

When everything goes right, I'm sure AirBnb is fine. But if you have an experience when something goes wrong, you'll understand why I no longer use AirBnb.

Re: My shitty AirBnB experience

#10

Post by jressey » Thu, May 04, 2017, 6:29 PM UTC

erentz wrote: post #7

My experience out of four AirBnB stays was that two were as advertised and two were complete dirty slums, nothing like the photos or reviews suggested. We had to leave and get a hotel. The reviews were all 5 star raving about how beautiful, amazing, etc they were with 40-50 reviews each. Has anyone else had this experience? It made us unable to trust the review system because in this case it was so clearly rigged som…

I don't think the reviews are rigged per se. Here's what I think causes this. I was a superhost for about a year renting out a spare room.

Superhost status seems to increase your position in search results, and acts as an indication of high-performance/great accommodations leading to more renters being interested and you charging higher prices charged. Most hosts want to achieve this rating. Part of superhost status is maintaining an insanely good rating, I think > 4.5 avg for rolling 3 month periods. Renters seem to know this, and in fear of being somebody that gives low reviews, will inflate their reviews. I could be wrong, but I think my wife and I would review accounts and lease to renters who had given more positive reviews.

This may seem selfish but it only takes 1 3-star review from middle-aged people comparing you to a luxury hotel to learn.