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My shitty AirBnB experience

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Re: My shitty AirBnB experience

#11

Post by slammer123 »

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…

Yeah, but that's not how they market themselves- it's only learned through a poor experience

Re: My shitty AirBnB experience

#12

Post by waqf »

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.

No, all of it sucks. But there is admittedly a difference: the rest of the stuff you are picking up after AirBnB's failings, but for the CC you are mostly picking up after the failings of the international consumer electronic payments ecosystem.

In each case they are "on you" only to the extent that you could have researched known problems and lowered your expectations. In neither case could you have gone to a competitor, because there are none.

The point of view you put forward is the one you get to if you choose to regard AirBnB as a moral agent, but to regard the electronic payments infrastructure as a force of nature. Why not the other way round?

Re: My shitty AirBnB experience

#13

Post by adamiscool8 »

This sounds like a case of someone not reading the fine print, not doing their due diligence, and then complaining about their outcome. Which is fine, that's how most people go through life. But it's not particularly illustrative of a fundamental issue with AirBNB.

Re: My shitty AirBnB experience

#14

Post by muninn_ »

slammer123 wrote: post #9

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…

So let me say this to others who may be reading:

If you book something like this, and your expectations are not met and you call the company and they do not provide adequate compensation, do not bullshit with calling them back or tweeting their customer service or whatever. Tell them you are going to call your credit card company and dispute the charge. Period. Normally this is a magic keyword to immediately remedy the situation, and if the situation is still not fixed, then your credit card company will deal with it for you. This is particularly true if you have a high-end credit card like the Amex platinum or CSR. No need for you to screw around with bullshit customer service.

Example: GF and I booked a tour. Tour bus didn't show up. Called, emailed, no response. Called credit card company. Transaction reversed within 24 hours after the credit card company called and took care of the situation (CSR in this case).

Re: My shitty AirBnB experience

#15

Post by munchbunny »

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…

> 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.

While that may be true now, that's a pretty shitty deal to actually have to take as the norm. Having to always have a backup plan makes travel budgeting unpredictable for a lot of people.

I'd be curious to see what the rates are on reservations falling through, also compared to the same rates for the hotel industry.

Re: My shitty AirBnB experience

#16

Post by neaden »

adamiscool8 wrote: post #13

This sounds like a case of someone not reading the fine print, not doing their due diligence, and then complaining about their outcome. Which is fine, that's how most people go through life. But it's not particularly illustrative of a fundamental issue with AirBNB.

Not really. In the first instance the fine print literally contradicted something that was said earlier, if it says in big letters at the top "Entire home/apartment" then having fine print that contradicts that isn't reasonable, it's just a lie. In the second instance the host just never responded which once again isn't a fine print issue.

Re: My shitty AirBnB experience

#17

Post by Scoundreller »

zaatar wrote: post #8

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?

> (the bathroom is shared on Mo, Wed, Fri during daytime)

What I'm more curious about is where the nice people that work upstairs go to the bathroom on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Re: My shitty AirBnB experience

#18

Post by pavel_lishin »

jressey wrote: post #10
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…

Are you saying that I, as someone who needs a place to stay, am more likely to give a 5-star rating to a slum so that if I ever apply to stay with a superhost, they'll look at my rating history and be more likely to approve me?

Re: My shitty AirBnB experience

#19

Post by [deleted] »

zaatar wrote: post #8

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?

[deleted]

Re: My shitty AirBnB experience

#20

Post by late2part »

muninn_ wrote: post #14
slammer123 wrote: post #9

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…

So let me say this to others who may be reading: If you book something like this, and your expectations are not met and you call the company and they do not provide adequate compensation, do not bullshit with calling them back or tweeting their customer service or whatever. Tell them you are going to call your credit card company and dispute the charge. Period. Normally this is a magic keyword to immediately remedy t…

I think your advice is reasonable, but I believe it's not sufficient.

Yes, vendors are somewhat pained by chargebacks, but many CC will ask you to resolve with them first.

Ultimately when AirBnB has this failure in quality, they should provide you a free room of equal or greater value AND not charge you.

AirBnB seems unwilling to invest in quality, which makes me believe they are not delivering a quality product.

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