Airbnb Does Not Protect its Customers

Airbnb Does Not Protect its Customers

I booked an Airbnb for two nights in Frisco, CO for a ski trip with a friend. Although we let our host know our arrival time 7 hours before we arrived (check-in was 12pm-12am; we arrived around 6pm), the house was in disarray when we arrived. Not only were there no clean linens at all in the house, there was dirty laundry on the floor, and the bathroom hadn t been cleaned. There wasn t even laundry detergent in the house to be able to wash the linens. When we contacted the host to let him know, he stated that we could purchase some laundry detergent to wash a load of linens and offered to reimburse us a mere $50 of $292. We contacted Airbnb to let them know, and after giving our host an hour to respond (in which time he never responded) Airbnb stated they would cancel our reservation, refund us the $292 for the Airbnb and put us up in an available hotel or different Airbnb. Our customer service representative told us to search for hotels and she would search as well. She was unable to find any available hotels or Airbnbs and the only hotel in the area we were able to find was a Holiday Inn. She assured us that Airbnb would refund us for the cost of the hotel up to $150 per night, and when we questioned her regarding if the hotel cost more than this she stated Airbnb would cover the additional cost. With this in mind, we booked a hotel room at the Holiday Inn for two nights. As we booked during peak ski season, the total cost ended up being $708. When we let Airbnb know that this was the cost, our representative contacted her supervisor to request our reimbursement. After many emails and calls back and forth with Airbnb, we were informed that our refund would consist of $150 in cash, and $150 in credit on Airbnb s website. This left me paying $558 for a stay that initially would have only cost me $292. 1) Not only did I end up paying in excess of what I should have, but 2) Our trip was disrupted the inconvenience of having to switch locations, as well as hours spent on the phone and emailing to reconcile the situation. I feel that I was deceived by Airbnb regarding the reimbursement and that I was completely taken advantage of as a customer by a company that could easily afford to pay the difference in cost. I will never use Airbnb again, nor will I recommend it to anyone. Please be aware of this when you consider using Airbnb, they will not protect you should something go wrong with your booking!