Ask HN: Has anyone had any luck dealing with Airbnb when things go wrong?

15 points by 0bfus 4 years ago | 15 comments

Context: I was in Paris staying in a month plus long Airbnb when our airbnb house key was stolen from us. We ended up staying in hotels for two days without our essentials (medicines, clothes, passports, etc), during which our host basically offered no alternatives -- he told us plainly he was on vacation and wouldn't return to help us for two weeks (had an extra key in Paris). After spending two days trying to figure out solutions which were repeatedly shot down by the host, we ended up deciding we had to get a locksmith to cut the lock so we could get in, we couldn't spend any more time without our essentials. Cutting the lock ended up being about $250 and re-keying the locks ended up being another $750. The airbnb was still unusable (we needed a security fob to get into the building each time, regardless of the unit keys), so we ended up booking another Airbnb and starting a claim with airbnb.

Throughout the entire process Airbnb, basically has kept repeating that the host committed no violations so they can't help us. I don't fault the airbnb host for the stolen key, but I do find it fairly unreasonable for us to pay the full cost of this, when the larger problem exposed was the host has no backup plan.

Has anyone dealt with a situation with like this? Am I out of luck because we bothered to help rekey the hosts unit and we should have simply left it unsecured after we got in? Do I have other avenues I should consider outside of Airbnb and the host to get some assistance?

Pretty at a loss for what I'm supposed to do, I just keep getting passed from team to team on the Airbnb support side hearing the same things. Is this just a known risk with Airbnb that you're completely on your own if things go wrong and I was just too naive to count on anyone to help?

Also what would have happened if we weren't fortunate enough to be able to pay for this in the first place? Would we just be out on the streets?

iends 4 years ago |

Had a problem with Airbnb in Scotland several years ago. The unit smelled of a gas leak and we did not feel safe. (Also, the unit was not quite as advertised, but this was a secondary concern). Host came out said it wasn't a problem opened some windows, and left. We came back an hour later with all the windows opened and the smell was still there. Opted not to stay in the room because we did not feel safe, opened a support request with Airbnb telling them the situation and moved to a hotel for the next few nights (had 4 different Airbnb's over 3 week period -- no other problems). Airbnb asked for all this documentation and dragged it out several weeks of escalations. Finally told me they "could not verify I didn't stay in the room" (even though they asked for hotel bill for hotel down the street, which I provided), so they were not going to refund it. They also deleted my negative review of the host because "I did not stay in the room" Since they were talking out both sides of their mouth I disputed the charge with my credit card and sent a screenshot to Airbnb.

What took over 5 weeks of back and forth was resolved in 2 hours. Airbnb even gave me $100 credit for my trouble...

lostdog 4 years ago |

Yes, AirBnB support is terrible.

I booked a place in a major city, but the queen bed turned out to be a twin bed. We complained, and at midnight they told us that the host wanted us gone. We booked an emergency hotel, and the next day AirBnB only offered to rebook us in a place with the same cost. Of course, the only place was 60 miles outside the city we were visiting, but they didn't care. I wound up staying in hotels for that trip.

It took two months of badgering support to reimburse us for the AirBnB and the last-minute hotel bookings. The whole time it was clear that Airbnb support's top priority was getting us to leave them alone and trying to keep as much money as possible. What a terrible experience.

I will never use Airbnb in major cities ever again. If anything goes wrong, they are completely uninterested in fixing it.

tdeck 4 years ago | |

When things like this happen, always remember that you can file a chargeback.

sloaken 4 years ago | | |

What is a chargeback, and who do you file it with?

Gustomaximus 4 years ago |

I have had a couple of bad experiences so stopped using them.

One time the person literally changed location on us to a poorer option and to add insult to injury it clearly had not been cleaned, hair inside the bed sheets type stuff and uncleaned bathroom etc.

Tried to contact AirBNB about instant cancel so we could head to a hotel and nothing. Again tried after the stay as we shouldn't have to pay same rate for a downgrade and nothing both times.

Personally I'm hotels now if traveling solo. Far less problems, better quality and the price is much the same. I use another Australia only based equivalent for houses if doing a group thing and they have always been great.

fy20 4 years ago |

I don't think it's unreasonable for you to bear the cost of this (it wasn't the host or Airbnb's fault), however it does seem unreasonable that they didn't provide additional help in resolving the situation. It's in both the host and Airbnb's interest to get the problem solved as soon as possible (maybe someone stole the key and is stealing things from the apartment).

If I was the host I would make sure I have someone trusted who has another key for situations like this, and if I didn't, I'd want to at least choose a locksmith. How do I know the locksmith didn't just put in the cheapest - lowest security - lock they had, and once I return I need to pay to have it replaced again?

> Also what would have happened if we weren't fortunate enough to be able to pay for this in the first place? Would we just be out on the streets?

Probably yes. If your baggage was lost on the flight the aircraft may reimburse you, but you'd still need to buy everything yourself first - they aren't going to give you a wad of cash to start spending.

0bfus 4 years ago | |

I think the thing I'm learning from AirBNB and everyone I've asked is that I should not have bothered to rekey the unit. It seems that if I just had the locksmith cut the locks and walked away with my things at that point, then I'm in the clear. The fact that I decided that I shouldn't leave the unit unsecured is what I'm being punished for seemingly...

neom 4 years ago |

imo for one's own sanity airbnb should be treated as a slightly more convenient way of booking a room off craigslist. I expect the same level of service from craigslist support as I do from airbnb at this point.

72f988bf 4 years ago |

Sympathetic to your story, it's a really unfortunate situation, and glad you were able to salvage your trip.

> Also what would have happened if we weren't fortunate enough to be able to pay for this in the first place? Would we just be out on the streets?

You would go to your home's country embassy and explain the situation? Having your passport/luggage locked in the Airbnb isn't different from having it stolen on a train or something like that. This unfortunately could happen to travelers whether they're staying at a hotel or an Airbnb. At least you had your phone and means of payment available, and were able to recover the documents/luggage after some time.

I wonder what help Airbnb provides if the situation is flipped: let's say the owner has to change the locks for $750 because the renter never returned the key. Is the owner eating that cost?

In your situation, you're the party who lost the keys. Maybe Airbnb rental terms should have a clear cost for lost keys situation, $1k for this is steep!

notdang 4 years ago |

They have a pretty useless customer service. Once I could not check in as the host did not show up and I was waiting in the rain outside for hours. I contacted Airbnb support and they responded in exactly two weeks asking how they can help. When I pointed out that they are late by two weeks they blamed it on Covid.

dvxvd 4 years ago |

Once, by accident we selected wrongly and we get in to the dirty apartments. We moved away to the hotel same day. Fine, all money were returned, except cleaning fee. Which is good, because owner needs cleaning.. or sure.

But that's not the point.. point is that Airbnb forbid me to publish photos from the apartment.. so, next time you see nice looking photos, also keep in mind that content is censored to benefit middleman..

qualudeheart 4 years ago |

Their customer support is usually pretty bad in my experience.

My uncle is a super host/spicy landloard and might have more stories. I will ask him when I next see him.

mikeodds 4 years ago |

Previous thread about terrible customer service at Airbnb and some pointers: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27468549

0bfus 4 years ago | |

Seems like the only option in their situation (and seemingly also mine) is to file a dispute with a CC. Seems like a fairly nuclear option as I simply want this dispute over the share of the cost mediated and resolved, but I guess that's just where I'm left...