Should they pay? AirBnB nightmare

I did stop using them for quite a while after that, only recently cracked because they had so much more choice and better prices for a few recent trips so reluctantly returned to the fold for now. I'm even more careful when booking now though to background check the hosts etc, and have gone back to hotels if they're similar prices and convenience.

Also at least with hotels, there's nearly always someone on reception if there's a problem. We stayed in a flat recently (via booking dot com this time) and the duvet absolutely stank of BO 😷, not the bedding, the actual duvet. But what can you do when it's bedtime and there's no-one to hand to complain to? Luckily the place was hot as hades, so we could just do without...

OP Contest it. If any money has been taken for the booking or locks from your card do a charge back via the company.
I had to do this after arriving at an A BnB and discovering it was a gatehouse to a cemetery, having just lost a close family member it wasn't going to work for my holiday, so didn't enter the property.
The owner wasn't upfront in the description about this, and only one of the 56 photos showed a grave stone in one corner if you blew it up. I called her immediately she was abroad and refused to entertain sort of refund and was somewhat scathing about my reluctance.
I found somewhere else nearby - that in the first line of its description said it was next to a pub. (Should have pulled the covid card!)
A BNB agreed with me but she still refused.
Gave Amex all the info on my return, they did a full charge back - I would have been happy with half had she offered. I had used this card via PayPal. I learnt a lot from that experience, hope it helps someone else.

Definitely don’t pay - go back to air bnb and also they should be refunding their entire trip costs. I had something a bit similar with them when I was asked to pay £500 for a damaged table in an apartment, I’d never used the table it was just obvious wear and tear. You just need to be consistent and in my case I said id be taking legal advice, it took a couple of weeks but they did back down.

Your poor DD, I feel very pissed off on her behalf.

Young girls shouldn't be going alone to AirBnBs. There are far too many safety issues.

@CatNoBag it does make me wonder if it is worth the risk at all. I don’t think anyone ever got a bill from a hotel chain for a locksmith or a broken blind!

Don't get too hopeful - I had an Airbnb host make up things I'd broken after I left them an honest review (not even that bad, but the check in had been truly awful and stressful, so I mentioned that and a few other small things that I would have normally just ignored had it not been for the check in) and they believed the host over me (despite having a lengthy chat history with Airbnb support when I was trying to get in to the place that showed clearly they were lying about sending me an access code) for one of the broken items and as they have my card details they just took the money. Just a heads up that they might not be waiting for her to pay and will just take the money from her card or deposit, as they did with for the blind I broke that was already broken. They aren't as reliable with shitty hosts as they once were sadly.

I am sure you are contesting the bill so nothing more to add on this.

Please make it the last AirBnB you ever use, don't help to increase house prices and deny local people a home at a reasonable cost.

She should also speak with her bank/credit card company re the original accommodation charge to let them know she’s disputing it. They can’t always help but sometime can if Airbnb is not being forthcoming with a refund.

In Italy they have banned key boxes, and unattended arrival. This is a good justification for it too. It's now law that the host has to recieve the guests in person, photo passports and report to the police upon their arrival. It makes running a remote bnb, as opposed to a room in your own house, very difficult, and in most cases barely worth it.

There's no need to do this - and cause herself even more inconvenience.

If the booking was paid for using a credit card, a Section 75 claim can be made through the CC company. Likewise if Airbnb attempt to take a further (unauthorised) payment to cover the alledged cost of the locksmith

This is no longer the case. If the either the host or guest doesn't review, the other party's review is automatically published after 14 days of the end of the stay.

Op, I would absolutely fight this. Get your DD to request a full refund through the resolution centre and if the cost of the replacement accommodation was more, then the difference too.

This is really good advice. So often you are asked to text or whatsapp. Once you are in, and happy, then by all means. I agree with most of the posters here, your daughter has been spectacularly let down by accom that was not fit for purpose. It also goes wrong on booking.com (and other sites also) when it says "private owner". Once went to Budapest with 2 young children and we were on the late night flight over when owner decided to cancel mid-flight citing heating problems. Landed with nowhere to stay all of a sudden, but booking.com offered us a sub-standard apartment for more expensive as an alternative (more expensive than it even was on their own website). I ended up booking it on their own website because we needed somewhere and it was the only place left, but went to town on them contractually. Have had lots of good experiences re: airbnb and booking.com (private owner), but when it goes wrong, it really goes wrong. If you need the comfort of it "being OK" regardless of travel disruptions, issues with accom etc, because of the needs of your travellers (be them young children or young adults trying to make their own way), then make it so. You sometimes need the comfort of a 24 hour reception and so on, just for your own sanity. That said, it is still disgraceful, and do not pay any demands, and kick off good style about the facts - basically they could not use the accommodation purchased, and that is enough to throw the book at them. Hope you get somewhere xx

OMG contest and you will have all of us with you. How dare they sell the air b and b knowing the lock was crap making young people vulnerable!!!

Some of the Airbnbs in Paris do not have the appropriate municipal licence to operate as rented holiday accommodation. As a minimum, there should be a 13-digit licence number displayed on the Airbnb page, and Airbnb should be able to look that up and confirm that it is real (and the renter didn't just type in 13 random digits). If that number is absent or fake, the owner would be in for a substantial fine if you were to file a complaint... or she might agree to drop the claim for the locksmith if you were to suddenly forget that you had inquired.

Definitely contest it with Airbnb - I found their customer service really good, I was messed around by the owner who messaged me to tell me to cancel the booking because they had made a mistake on the platform in allowing single night stays - they didn't cancel the booking themselves because they would have been obliged to find me new accommodation and pay the difference. I didn't see the message as I don't have the app (and the booking was still active so i didnt get an email cancellation) so turned up on the day, but there was no signage to indicate where the place was, like a sign with an arrow, and the owner wouldnt answer (I had to wander round knocking on doors for ages and then the neighbour was livid because it happens all the time). Then the key safe wouldn't open and all that time the owner wouldn't answer the phone, they didnt reply until the next day and then were well arsey with me telling me how expensive the cleaner was and that it wasn't cost effective to offer single night stays (even though it was THEIR mistake to list it and the only reason they didnt cancel is because they would have been penalised!) I did manage to get in but not until 6 hours after I was supposed to, so I didn't get my lovely afternoon nap (first time away from baby!) and it was hugely stressful because there was a literary festival and everywhere was booked up. I complained and AirBnb gave me a full refund and I left a stinker of a review.

I've had one awful AirBnB experience and one good. Even the good one, there was some confusion as to who was responsible for something not working. I'd never book one abroad. I feel the waters are too muddied regarding responsibilities, and your experience relies on the personality of the host as opposed to there being a universal standard. Your daughter's host being backed by AirBnB is a total joke.

I tried an air b&b once and that was enough - put me off for life. Pictures not what it looks like in reality, smells, etc. And the price difference compared to a 3-start hotel was negligible. Nothing can compare to a hotel or a little pension.

Just send the bill to your holiday insurance?

Fuck that!

Agree: poor hosting

Am an Airbnb host, agree with @NanFlanders

airbnb should have rehoused your daughter (this is why they charge a % of all bookings as insurance)

also your daughter should refuse to pay the €450 and then the host will claim it on insurance

sorry to hear your DD had to book a hotel: I’ve never had these issues as guest or host but it’s meant to be covered ie Airbnb find you a (better) alternative if there are issues with your accommodation

I know this is besides the point now but if they’re not around nor have anyone to help the guests when needed then how on earth are they allowed to run a AirBnB?

Should be kicked off the site on the spot.

If they and you have an audit trail of communications then I would advise raising this with airbnb to get a refund for the stay. We did this when we had a faulty shower during our stay meaning we couldn’t wash and got a full refund. The owner should have ensured a working lock, advising to be firm shows there was already a problem and potentially the key incident was inevitable

As a host she should have had someone close by with a spare key should there be any issues. It’s probably in the T&Cs somewhere if you find it? I’d be quoting it back to them. There were clearly issues with the lock that she knew about.

Definitely don’t pay and actually they should be reimbursing the cost of the stay and the alternative accommodation!!