Disgusted with Airbnb

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Never had a terrible AirBnB stay and generally prefer them to hotels. But, you have to look carefully at the reviews. Many people will give 5 star reviews but put hints about what’s lousy. “Cozy” or “good for a short stay” mean it’s cramped. “Could use a little freshening” means it’s a dump. Etc. Only book the stays with consistent glowing reviews.

Why would I want to have to decode a thousand reviews looking for hints at the truth?

Generally I am fine with one or three keywords: Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The protected hosts and screwed guests at the beginning of Covid. Haven’t used them since.

This is the secrete about AirBnB -- like many tech companies, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT. AirBnBs true customers, the ones they build long term relationships with, are the HOSTS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand this “Airbnb deletes reviews” thing. I haven’t had any bad experiences but I’ve had a couple of middling ones, and my mediocre reviews were posted just like all the rest. I’ve also seen listings with very bad reviews and avoid those. In my case, Airbnb reached out to me because I flagged an issue and wanted to know if I wanted to make a formal report. This was only like two months ago.

For all of you who have had bad experiences, then SAY SOMETHING. Tell the host immediately and document it. Then write a review! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been on here and someone says they just didn’t leave a review. Why?! This is what allows bad hosts/listings to continue! You’re doing a disservice to other people.

Read up thread, but there is no benefit to leaving a review, its not like i'll get paid or compensated. You run the risk of aggravating an unstable slumlord and publicly threaten their livelihood. Helping "other people" -- I'm fine volunteering for people truly in need, not vacationers.

[Anonymous]

Most of our Airbnb experiences have been positive, some even great, and we’ve stayed all over the country. I guess we know how to pick good ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand this “Airbnb deletes reviews” thing. I haven’t had any bad experiences but I’ve had a couple of middling ones, and my mediocre reviews were posted just like all the rest. I’ve also seen listings with very bad reviews and avoid those. In my case, Airbnb reached out to me because I flagged an issue and wanted to know if I wanted to make a formal report. This was only like two months ago.

For all of you who have had bad experiences, then SAY SOMETHING. Tell the host immediately and document it. Then write a review! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been on here and someone says they just didn’t leave a review. Why?! This is what allows bad hosts/listings to continue! You’re doing a disservice to other people.

You assume a lot. I posted earlier about a bad review that did not show up. And I did speak to host about everything in my review as well. They managed to not get it listed. They are considered a super host.

Especially the uneven entry and burned out lightbulb midway through week - she had to replace it. I rolled my ankle from that combo thankfully did not need care.

My review sincerely was lost in the ether. She was in a popular destination and knew she’d stay booked so never did much to change her space and managed her online presence better than the space.

[Anonymous]

I’ve had good airBnBs and bad ones-probably 50/50 which is not a good ratio for a company.

I try to avoid them-unless the hotels in the area are really not suitable for some reason.

They are generally cheaper than hotels, but it’s because the renter assumes so much risk.

Also the cofounder of AirBnB has taken over from Elon Musk as leader of DoGE so we’re avoiding AirBnB for that reason too, because we value having smart people in the federal government and not those who want to feed it to the “wood chipper” while giving out trillions in unsustainable tax cuts to billionaires.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never had a terrible AirBnB stay and generally prefer them to hotels. But, you have to look carefully at the reviews. Many people will give 5 star reviews but put hints about what’s lousy. “Cozy” or “good for a short stay” mean it’s cramped. “Could use a little freshening” means it’s a dump. Etc. Only book the stays with consistent glowing reviews.

Why would I want to have to decode a thousand reviews looking for hints at the truth?

Generally I am fine with one or three keywords: Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton.

Well you do you. My partner and I both have insomnia, and like to have a separate living space for when we can’t sleep. I also like a real kitchen so I can make some decent coffee and not have to pay for the overpriced hotel breakfast. And some outdoor space for relaxing rather than being enclosed in an air conditioned box.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I had a really bad experience also and so now we stick with hotels.

Yep, me too. Hotels and traditional rental homes.

What does this mean? Like VRBO or something else?

I’d like to know what “traditional rental homes” are too? Do you mean at a resort or resort community that has condos and houses for rent that aren’t through VRBO or Airbnb?

I'm guessing they mean more local rental agencies. These places manage the properties and have extremely high standards for them. We used one for our Cape house and they wouldn't even let us supply the renters soap, they wanted to manage that plus all the cleaning, what is and is not accessible, etc. There's no contact with the renters directly and the homes are not on sites like VRBO or AirBnb. Taking the example on the other thread where the AC broke down and the husband was schlepping around trying to get units and an HVAC repairman in there, that never would have happened with a well rated traditional agency. If for some reason it did, the renter would be compensated and we as the owners would have NO say. It's what we use as owners and also the only type of agency we will rent from. Never Airbnb or VRBO, I don’t want to leave my vacation up to the whims of some slumlord.

Former pp here - Thanks! This makes a lot of sense!

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:FWIW I’ve left bad reviews on Airbnb that never publish. Sometimes you get a fab spot and others are beyond disgusting yet have great reviews- the space I rated low smelled like cat urine and damp.

It used to be a great way to travel. Less expensive and more homey.

I feel old writing this.

This - I don't risk it with AirBNB no matter the rating because of all the stories about how it was locked after their stay and they couldn't add/change a rating. I feel like people give better ratings than reality because they want good ratings as guests.

This. I've had two bad experiences and didn't even bother with a review. One was at a Virginia ski resort and the host was constantly trying to come in the house when we were there. We are a quiet family with 2 kids who are very neat. He was weird and annoying and had perfect reviews. Every appliance had problems and there were notes all over the place that we couldn't use this or that. The place was dirty.

Why didn’t you write a review then?!

because it was obvious the review process is crap. He had nothing but glowing reviews with false claims. People praised features that didn't exist. He had cameras inside the house including one bedroom that we covered up. It was clear many if not most of the reviews were fake.

+1. This. We had an apartment that had a major problem with one of its toilets. The owner offered us 20 pct off on the condition we didn’t post any of that information in that review (and this was through the Airbnb system, so clearly the AirBnB management must know that accurate reviews are sometimes being disincentivized.)

[Anonymous]

Well you have to also in some level know how to pick a spot. This goes hope people places and things. Not all Airbnbs will be good or bad. You as the client need to figure out how to look at photos or if there's not a ton - that's a sign right there too. It's amazing how many idiots expect everything to cater to them. I've prob stayed in 50+ global/nationally with my family. I've had nicer ones than others but I've never had a bad one or worse than a branded hotel and I've never had any weirdness with an owner. Anyone who keeps experiencing under par experiences may want to consider their selection process. I think it's 100x harder having guests who aren't nightmares - I would imagine there's many more loons out there willing to pay for places and really no way to screen them out. I would have a harder time renting than staying.

[Anonymous]

I think Airbnb's day in the sun is over. People with means will choose hotels, resorts, or whatever the next specialty short term rental start-up that caters to people with money. Airbnb is for poor people who don't know how to take care of nice things.

[Anonymous]

To me AirBnB is epitome of "play silly games win silly prizes" and FAFO.

Are people really surprised when this stuff happens? It is exactly what I would expect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think Airbnb's day in the sun is over. People with means will choose hotels, resorts, or whatever the next specialty short term rental start-up that caters to people with money. Airbnb is for poor people who don't know how to take care of nice things.

You're gross.

[Anonymous]

Not AirBNB, but VRBO, we stayed for a short weekend at a fabulous property with 5 star reviews. Days after we returned home, the owners accused us of damaging the finish on their dining room table—something that 1000 percent didn’t happen—and we were charged $2500 for replacement value. VRBO offered no protection and the burden of proof was on us to prove that we didn’t do it.

We had stayed in at least a dozen similar properties in the previous 7-8 years with zero issues but we realized the only way you can truly protect yourself is to document (somehow??) the condition of every square inch of the home. Otherwise it’s your word against theirs.

Luckily Chase took our side and reversed the charge and I did write a very clear review, but as others have said, it’s pointless because the other has the chance to reply and defend themselves which ultimately left me feeling like a crazy person.

Never again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not AirBNB, but VRBO, we stayed for a short weekend at a fabulous property with 5 star reviews. Days after we returned home, the owners accused us of damaging the finish on their dining room table—something that 1000 percent didn’t happen—and we were charged $2500 for replacement value. VRBO offered no protection and the burden of proof was on us to prove that we didn’t do it.

We had stayed in at least a dozen similar properties in the previous 7-8 years with zero issues but we realized the only way you can truly protect yourself is to document (somehow??) the condition of every square inch of the home. Otherwise it’s your word against theirs.

Luckily Chase took our side and reversed the charge and I did write a very clear review, but as others have said, it’s pointless because the other has the chance to reply and defend themselves which ultimately left me feeling like a crazy person.

Never again.

To be fair, that happened to me once at a luxury boutique hotel. I had a 300$ charge on my bill for breaking a "decorative figure." I had no recollection of breaking anything, and asked to see the figure that I had allegedly broken, since if I were being forced to pay 300$, perhaps I could keep the remnants. The figure was never produced, and the charge was removed from my bill.