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How to lose $950 quickly on Airbnb

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Re: How to lose $950 quickly on Airbnb

#351

Post by world2vec »

aledalgrande wrote: post #265
world2vec wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. Aparthotels (like Sonder) are imo much better than Airbnbs for medium to long stays.

Woa thanks for the name (Sonder), I wanted to investigate aparthotels more since I've found one on Airbnb in Montreal. For me hotels are fine if I'm staying on my own and for a few days only, but I like to have a whole property otherwise. Much more private too.

They're a bit more pricey than I'd like but have used it multiple times (London, New York, Venice) and have zero complains.

Re: How to lose $950 quickly on Airbnb

#352

Post by barrkel »

foobar1962 wrote: post #273
barrkel wrote: post #134

AirBnB is like a no-recourse Paypal for random third parties of unknown psychological stability. You do not contract with AirBnB. I recommend staying well away from them. I have my own horror story, involving an overflowing toilet and hysterical accusations from the host. We noticed the toilet was backed up in the bowl in the morning and alerted the host. The person the host sent round to look at it found some kind o…

> You do not contract with AirBnB. Indeed you do. I was a host for several years, and there is NO direct contract between the host and the guest. The host has a contract with Airbnb, and the guest has a contract with Airbnb. This is why hosts need to enforce the "no third party bookings" rule because if something goes wrong Airbnb will not honour their "insurance" and the host cannot even get the guests contact detai…

I'm talking about the consumer experience.

The practical upshot is you give your money to AirBnB, it's not coming back, no matter how dreadful an experience you have. You have to go after the host.

The risk is not worth it.

Re: How to lose $950 quickly on Airbnb

#353

Post by jewelfrost »

I've lost over $2000 AUD on Airbnb in a similar situation - month long stay, but the place was uninhabitable (dirt, insects, suspected blood on floor). I spoke to Airbnb on first night to cancel but they defaulted to 'Host's discretion' and the host said no. I'm not sure I was even able to leave a review telling others about my experience. I still use Airbnb but every time it feels like a massive gamble. They just don't care about customers at all.

Re: How to lose $950 quickly on Airbnb

#354

Post by jewelfrost »

I've lost over $2000 AUD on Airbnb in a similar situation - month long stay, but the place was uninhabitable (dirt, insects, suspected blood on floor). I spoke to Airbnb on first night to cancel but they defaulted to 'Host's discretion' and the host said no. I'm not sure I was even able to leave a review telling others about my experience. I still use Airbnb but every time it feels like a massive gamble, knowing now that they don't care about customers at all.

Re: How to lose $950 quickly on Airbnb

#355

Post by csomar »

I had the "exact" same thing. Basically, a host will list a price but message you later that there is an "extra fee" that they mentioned somewhere in the "very visible" guidelines. This was also within the hour. There was no refund policy with the host, so you lose the whole amount.

I was surprised how useless AirBnB support is. Especially that I had a five figures turn over with them. You'd think with such numbers they'd favor the customer over the host. But after going through like 5-6 of their support agents, I still got the same response: Cancellation policy.

I'm taking my business elsewhere starting from next month. I don't know if the alternatives are any better but it doesn't hurt to try.

Re: How to lose $950 quickly on Airbnb

#357

Post by xwdv »

caminante wrote: post #320
xwdv wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Putting it in a TOS is one thing, how is it enforced ? Also, it’s trivial to book a room at a hotel and have someone else check in under the reservation as long as you put them on the guest list. I’ve done it before. Not sure how this is fraud.

>Putting it in a TOS is one thing, how is it enforced? This comes off like a bad faith question because OP wrote this article because AirBnB's TOS was enforced in explicit detail. > Also, it’s trivial to book a room at a hotel and have someone else check in under the reservation as long as you put them on the guest list. I’ve done it before. Did you have to present ID? Were you over 18? Did someone in your party alre…

The op wrote an article about how he shot himself in the foot and got taken advantage of by a shitty host. He should have put his name down as one of the guests. When the host saw his name wasn’t listed, he got him to incriminate himself and reported it knowing she wasn’t going to have to give him a refund.

With hotels, typically you reserve a room with a credit card, and any guests you put on the list can show up, present their ID, and check in. You never have to check in yourself. So I really don’t think what you said was accurate. The hotel doesn’t even know who is making the booking, there’s no account they can check like there is with AirBnB.

Screw AirBnB, I’ll keep using hotels.

Re: How to lose $950 quickly on Airbnb

#358

Post by dakial1 »

Nextgrid wrote: post #6

Charge it back via your bank and explain the situation. Worst case scenario, it gets denied, you don't lose anything either way. The initial misunderstanding was cleared up just one hour after the booking - it should be very reasonable for the host to offer a full refund, it's not like it was a last-minute cancellation where the host would struggle to get it rebooked in time and lose out. The host is clearly being ma…

First you should check with your consumer protection laws, where I am from (Brazil) any cancelation fee that is more than 10% of the service value is considered abusive. So you are totally entitled to ask for your chargeback (just be sure to cite the regulation/law your applying) and if AirBnb does any retaliation (as banning your account) you can sue them for that.

Re: How to lose $950 quickly on Airbnb

#359

Post by ghaff »

dghlsakjg wrote: post #315
ScottEvtuch wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surely almost everyone does address standardization on user inputted fields, right? You'd be silly not to do this.

You try, but sometimes you have to accept addresses as written. Again, it just isn’t that easy. PMB 123 456 Main st. May or may not be the exact same mailbox as: Suite 123 456 Main st. My official address is on “XXXX Boxwood Cres”. Not Boxwood Cr., not Boxwood Crescent, not “Boxwood Cres.” Of course all of those will work for mail, but if I want to transfer the deed, or do anything of legal relevance, the government…

When I bought my house, there was actually some legal paperwork around XXXX Main St. and XXXX N. Main St. being the same thing. (It got changed at one point in the now distant past probably when the interstate cut off the old N. Main St (which exists as a short stub)).

Verizon, Comcast, and some local businesses like my propane delivery still use N. Main and I would periodically get scolded when I first moved in pre-GPS because I would give businesses coming to my house my official USPS address which was different from what was still on many maps.

Re: How to lose $950 quickly on Airbnb

#360

Post by mastayoda »

Something similar happened to me! Pretty much after booking and waiting for the checking instruction, the guy asked me to go 1 mile away to pick up some keys in a unknown location, that was not specified in advanced... I wanted to cancel the reservation to pick up a more safe place... Airbnb only return 50%... this was in matter of minutes! The guy wanted 50% for a reservation done 30 minutes before sending me those ridiculous instructions... I contacted Airbnb, scaled the situation, and at the end they said nothing could be done... yep, they are enabling Scammers... Never used Airbnb again...
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