Airbnb 4+

My host cancelled 4 days before my trip with no explanation. I want to give the benefit of the doubt that may there was a family emergency. But the experience dealing with Airbnb after this was absolutely horrible. The worst customer service I’ve never experienced. First they offered a $69 to rebook, a 5% discount which is not an acceptable amount for the inconvenience this called. I was about to take off for an international flight so I rebooked a new place quickly that the customer service shared with me that they told me was the same area. I lost service on my flight and then the next day when I had service, I went to look at the Airbnb and realized it was not the location I wanted. In California, it says you have 24 hours to cancel as long as the booking was 72 hours before (which mine was). I was on the phone with Airbnb and they told me they had to look into the California laws I shared with them and they would call me back in 2 hours. Airbnb then told me I wouldn’t get a refund because it was 27 hours, which was outside of that policy. I tired to reach out the host of the new place and they told me they would only refund me if someone else booked. It was just over three days away and I do not expect someone to book it. The customer service was BEYOND horrible and I will never ever use Airbnb again. Please share this story as warning to not use Airbnb.

Recently stayed with a host that was very clearly defrauding us. They staged “damage” that occurred from our stay but had faked the damage themselves after we had left. A deep dive into the host’s reviews ended up revealing a pattern of similar behaviour and other scams. After trying to claim over $800 in damages for a window blind that had been taken off the track, we tried to resolve the issue with Airbnb, showing that we had made the host aware of issues that we did find present (there was a tear in the couch and the dryer wasn’t functioning) but this damage was not us. We also showed them the multiple other instances of shady business the host had done. Airbnb originally claimed that there wasn’t sufficient evidence to find us responsible but they were going to reimburse the host themselves and close the matter. Fast forward a few days later and now Airbnb is claiming we are fully responsible and need to reimburse them for the money they sent the host. The lack of consistency and what honestly just seems like trying to make back their money in spite of lack of clear evidence shows they can be just as shady as the hosts they collect their fees from. Airbnb had become a platform where this stuff is permitted as long as they get their cut, and the customer is left to pick up the bill. I unfortunately can’t trust their service team to have my back, so I won’t be using their services again.