You may recall I shared about my horrible Airbnb experience in Israel. Based upon the reader comments, I wasn’t confident Airbnb would be willing to assist, but still engaged their assistance.
In fact, my host asked Airbnb to intervene before I did, an interesting move considering the squalid condition of the apartment and my photographic evidence to back it up. I assume that occurred because he wanted to frame the narrative around me leaving without giving him a chance to remedy the mold.
Airbnb Asks For My Side
Airbnb send me a direct message, asking for my side of the story:
Hi Matthew,
This is Gretchen from Airbnb. I hope you are well upon receiving this message. I am reaching out to you in behalf of your host, who contacted us in regard to your Resolution Center claim. Your host mentioned that he is not aware that there was an issue about cleanliness during your reservation.
Usually when guest experience such cases during their stay, they would immediately contact their host to give the host a chance to remedy the situation which is also in line with our Guest refund Policy: https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/544/what-is-airbnbs-guest-refund-policy-for-homes
We would like to hear you out as it is very important for us to listen to your side of story. Please do respond directly to this message in the next 24 hours.
I didn’t like the tone of the second paragraph, but I was ready to argue that correction wasn’t possible, at least for the mold issue.
I Share My Side
I wrote Gretchen back promptly with my side of the story:
Hi Gretchen,
Thanks for reaching out. Did you have a chance to review my correspondence with the host, especially the note I sent to him yesterday? And also the pictures? I arrived in the afternoon and went to sleep. We noticed the pervasiveness of the mold the next morning and notified the host quickly that we were leaving. I also complained about cleanliness (dirty pillows, dirty towels) and the freezing temperature (heating did not work).
If it was just “cleanliness” like dust and dirt and the cold, I would have been happy to work with the host to find a solution. But mold is a different thing. The mold over the shower, toilet, and in the bedroom was gross and unacceptable. As you know, mold can be very dangerous; that’s objective, not subjective.
This was nothing that the host could have quickly remedied, hence my notification to him that I had vacated well under 24 hours after my arrival. What could he have done to fix this? Redo the plaster or drywall and repaint? I simply cannot put the risk of my wife and my three-year-old who touches everything in such jeopardy.
I suggest you audit his apartment and please do not let it be rented to others before the mold problem is addressed. Please let me know if you need anything further from my end or additional support documentation like photos.
Thanks, Matthew
Airbnb Deliberates
The next morning, Airbnb wrote me back:
I do apologize for the delay of response. We are currently investigating this case, and we really do appreciate you voicing this out to us. I do apologize for the inconvenience this reservation has caused you rest assured that we are here and we will hep you in any way we can.
I had originally requested a refund for only three nights and the cleaning fee, not only four nights. I did this to try to be more than fair on my side so that this could resolved amicably with the host and without the intervention of Airbnb. But with the host refusing to budge, I sent the following:
Please note I now request a full refund for the stay. Please review the pictures – the apartment was simply unacceptable. This person should not be allowed on your platform. I am available to answer any further questions.
Minutes later, I received this response:
Rest assured that I will do my best to help you in any way I can.
Resolution In My Favor
Four days later, I received the following from Airbnb:
Please kindly send all the photos you have on your end.
But as I was preparing to submit them, I received the following note:
Hi Matthew.
We have already made a decision based on the documents that we have which are at par with our guidelines and workflow. After careful deliberation, we are in agreement to issue a refund amounting to 307.49USD. This amount will appear on your Apple Pay not later than 24 hours.
Please know this issue is rare, but in the event that you come across the same problem, please contact us or the host (through the Airbnb messaging system) immediately from the time you have difficulty with the listing. Here’s our support number: 1-415-800-5959.
Remember that I am always here to help you in any possible way I can because you’re important to us so don’t hesitate to reply if you need further assistance.
The refund did hit my card a couple days later.
CONCLSUSION
All things considered, I cannot complain about the way Airbnb dealt with my case. While I think the photographic evidence made any other outcome impossible, I appreciated the responsiveness of Gretchen and that I did not have to go through too many hurdles to receive a refund.
Has your dispute resolution with Airbnb been equally smooth?
Matthew, the learning point here for everyone is the fact that you took the time to document the evidence with numerous photos of the unacceptable conditions. It would have been very difficult for AIRBNB or the host to dispute the factual photos. Then you followed up quickly and professionally in your response (including the fact that a 3 year old was exposed to this was a brilliant and factual strategy).
You were also successful using the same manner of professional communications and documentation in your Swiss/Aeroplan dispute.
Bottom line, threats, drawn out, nonsensical communications are ineffective. We stated documented facts are effective.
Thanks for posting this and allowing us to learn. Your law school training pays off!
…Well stated, documented facts….
Ugh..
Just another reason while I’ll never , ever use AirBNb , not under any circumstances.
Yeah maybe because you are famous blogger. I haven’t gotten anything. Airbnb business model is flawed even if idea is good. Airbnb needs competition in this space.
Airbnb suck I used them in the past but not anymore!!
I also had to have a dispute settled through AirBNB resolution. The short story is that I came home from work, my key card worked. Around 10pm, I went out to walk the dog, tried to get back in to the condo and the door was flashing red. Because I was walking the dog, I had no phone, car keys, or wallet. I was able to find a phone and called the emergency number posted and was told They couldn’t do anything and that I should call a locksmith. Of course, the locksmith wanted payment upfront and authorization from the owner, who I could not contact. I called AirBNB that night, who tried, without luck, to contact the owner. AirBNB offered to pay for a hotel, but since I had a dog and no wallet or car keys, I couldn’t get to a hotel or pay a deposit). So, both me and the dog sat locked out until 6am the next morning. I wanted a refund for that one night. I also wanted AirBNB to refund my service fee. The host came back with a $50 refund offer, which I rejected. AirBNB stated they wouldn’t refund my service fee because they tried to help (if by help, they mean make suggestions I couldn’t use…yes, they tried). Eventually I did receive the night’s rate back (approximately $137.00). The refund took 6 weeks to “process” but in the end, I guess it worked out. In fairness, I’m not sure what else AirBNB could have done that night, given my situation. I would hope they would have some type of internal penalty for the owner, aside from my resolution. BTW, the reason the key card failed was that I extended my stay an additional 3 nights and the host failed to tell the management at the condominium, so the management company turned off my key access when they closed for the day.
Congrats on getting your money back! I would be curious to check back and see if that listing is still available for purchase on their platform….just yo see if they’ve followed up on the opposite end of this dispute.
I’d also be wary of lodgings for myself and family (especially in a foreign country) that are only $300 for 4 nights including cleaning fee & taxes. That’s pitifully low. :/
Ugh. I hate dealing with idiots. As someone once said, you have to fight stupid with stupid!
I rented from an AirBnB listing only once. It was very nice and the price was less than a Holiday Inn Express. The place was vacuumed except the spiral staircase, which was very dusty at the edges. (Maybe hard to vacuum?)
Good that there was a satisfactory resolution.
Matthew is a lawyer, I am not. However, I would have written a different kind of letter. (see “Your host mentioned that he is not aware that there was an issue about cleanliness during your reservation.” as well as a link).
I would have mentioned that the issue was not one of cleanliness but one of health and safety. I would have also cited their policy (see their link in the above article) which lists “extreme mold”.
“…thanks for voicing this out for us…”. God, save us from such people/companies!
Just stay in a hotel. I won’t leave my house to stay in a stranger’s house.
My dispute resolutions with Airbnb have not been equally smooth. You got very lucky here.
For one apartment, I found multiple industrial strength rat traps — bathroom and kitchen — and left several hours after arrival. Airbnb tried to tell me that the traps were not evidence of a rodent problem and suggested that perhaps the host could remove the traps? (Also, during the dispute resolution process they kept asking me if I could find any hair or evidence of rats, almost egging me on to “find” it. Weird. By the evening, they agreed to give me a hotel room, which led to the representative booking an absurd $600 suite on Hotel Tonight — the platform Airbnb uses for displaced guests — when there were plenty of $100 rooms available throughout the city. The next day I dealt with agent after agent until one finally agreed to give me a refund that was half cash and half credit for a future stay.
In another city, after a night at my accommodation, I found bed bugs. Airbnb suggested I leave and offered to book a hotel or let me book one, which I booked myself. They also promised to pay for a hotel for the rest of the nights of my booking, given their “bed bug policy” is you can’t book another Airbnb for three nights after finding some in your listing. The next day, of course, Airbnb jerked me around over and over again until they finally agreed to pay for the remaining nights, asking me to find suitable accommodation for a rate they told me they would cover. Surprise, surprise, when I submitted the receipts at the end of my stay, Airbnb refused to pay for everything, and again, I had to go back and forth with them until I got an executive customer service person who was willing to refund everything. They’re lucky I didn’t send them a dry cleaning bill; instead, I chose to dry all my clothes at the hotel to kill any bed bugs. Adding insult to injury, after leaving a review for the listing, they deleted it, noting it “wasn’t fair to the host’s business to mention bed bugs.” They also claimed I violated their review policy by mentioning that, “after finding bed bugs, Airbnb asked me to go to a hotel.”
In your blog post, I note the Airbnb employee’s broken English. Airbnb outsources their customer service to people working crazy shifts, and then when their shift is over, your complaint is sent to another low-paid employee who starts fresh, asking you to repeat everything over and over. It’s a nightmare — and you have to keep bugging them over and over again via the messenger and Twitter until you get someone in Europe or the United States who can actually provide a real resolution.
I suspect you got lucky with “Gretchen,” because you left within 24 hours and the black mold was fairly obvious.
After my two experiences with Airbnb, I no longer trust the platform. I also have ethical concerns, given their horrific impact on European rental housing markets.
Hahaahaha…. You pay peanuts, you get monkey. Want cheaper accomodation via airbnb? There’s a price to pay. Hahahah
Apparently…
I used to be a host of 25 apartments. They were all in a good shape, some were brand new some had like 5 years. Of course from time to time you receive some complaints but these are mostly small issues that can be resolved within hours. (Host has about 24 hours to resolve issues). This experience taught me how to proceed and how to make Airbnb pick my side.
My advice for all the travelers is to always take photos and be the first to contact Airbnb if you want a refund. If you see that the issue can’t be resolved in hours (up to 24) always contact the Airbnb first, not the host. In that case Airbnb will be more likely to take your side. Also when contacting them remember about “corporate” politeness and political correctness. If fact when you will be like “we were so happy for our stay and had so many plans and the apartment was so perfect for us blah blah blah, and we don’t even care about the dirty towels(or something else) as we know this can happen blah blah blah. We would definitely stay if it wasn’t THAT issue”. Add that you are so sorry (repeat couple of times even if you are not). But still be assertive.
Ps. I remember once a guy wanted a refund because he got his shoes dirty while waking to the apartment ( in the courtyard there was a puddle on the way…).