To expect a full refund minus one night from this Air BnB host? Air BnB experts help please!!!

What was the outcome @Iamthemoom ?

My BNB is next to a graveyard, I do say it's next to a church, never occured to me to describe the actual graveyard, I guess people draw their own conclusions though.

I’m confused. You’re there for work? But you have DD with you?
You paid less than £90 a night for a flat, and are surprised it’s nasty?

Why isn’t your company paying for proper accommodation for you if you are working?

Op. I had an issue with a place not being as described. Out of 54 photos one showed in a corner if you blew it up that it was adjacent to a cemetery. Didn't enter or stay, contacted hostess immediately refused refund, Airbnb agreed with me on complaint but she still refused. Sent sarky email saying there were no ghosts- she had no idea what year I had.

SOLUTION Luckily I paid PayPal using Amex, they agreed with me and did charge back. Full refund, ( I would have been happy with 50% from host)

Did you get a refund op?

Well, quite. I have just looked back at my history and only one of mine has over 100 reviews, and they have all been lovely stays as described.

You should also be able to trust the listing. If it's not as described, that's what the company running the website is there for.

THIS.

This alone should qualify you for the refund.

Good luck - Air B&B tend to side on the side of the visitors, especially as you have submitted evidence.

Maybe I'm missing something very simple (I only used Airbnb once or twice, around 10 years ago, and decided it wasn't for me), but to all the people saying not to book somewhere with less than 100 reviews: What would happen if everyone reasoned like that? How would a property ever get started?

New fire laws for short term rentals have come in across Europe around the same time all aimed at the Airbnb effect. It’s not specific to the U.K.

We had similar once, arrived to a “lovely” flat with a broken lock, broken sofa, washing machine full of stinking rancid black water, stains in the toilet and mould round the shower, paper thin mattresses with MDF underneath them, no curtains, it was disgusting. We arrived late so stayed one night and then moved to a premier inn first thing in the morning, went through air bnb dispute and were given a full refund. I don’t care how cheap the place is, it needs to be fit for human habitation! I wouldn’t touch air bnb again for love nor money.

@Iamthemoom The Consumer Rights Act 2015 would apply to your contract: "If the accommodation is not as described, or not fit for purpose, the provider may be in breach of consumer law". It's possible, from what you've posted, that the accommodation may not be as described, but it's definitely not fit for purpose if it's insecure because the door doesn't lock properly, and I would stress this point, amongst others, with AirBnB. Good luck!

@Mirabai - I’m not in the uk. Hence why I was checking, if this was a uk regulation.

I have everything fire checked even though it’s not a regulation where I live. It’s all connected to local fire brigade also

@Caspianberg You might want to check on the new laws and see if you’re compliant. There are a lot of old properties that are likely non compliant so you might like to get the fire brigade to assess for advice.

We had this, contacted Air BnB and they gave us a full refund and made sure we got another place safely.

I don’t really get this. Something which is cheap and unusable is still unusable, not fit for purpose.
I mean if you bought a jumper marked down to £5 and it had a hole in the front, you would still complain and expect a refund.

It's UK law. Air BnB don't enforce laws or make them. They are just a marketing platform. What they did do was email all hosts in the UK to inform them of the law. It's up to the owner, not Air BnB, to make sure the property complies. Just as someone advertising a property on Air BnB in Greece has to have a licence number for example. Its Greek law not Air BnB law. Air BnB don't make laws, they sell short term rentals.

Right but as soon as you get the address you can check it and if you find it’s on a roundabout you can ask for a refund immediately.

I’ve cancelled an Airbnb booking that looked like it was on a side road but turned out to be on a main road. I did it straight after booking when the address became available.

As a host - the two things to focus on, as others have said, are the smell so bad you had to leave and the security.

I don’t know how you will fare with customer service as it’s not clear how this would be covered by the Airbnb AirCover.

If they fail to help, your last resort will be a chargeback on your payment card.

@Movinghouseatlast
because I correctly assumed it was a British law rather than air b and b. I have a rental. It’s not in uk, and I haven’t ever seen any requirements on air b and b for certain types of locks or fire doors. Hence why I asked.

My own rental is part of my house. We don’t have fire doors etc. but they are thick solid oak so would withstand fire enough for requirements mentioned above. The front door has key only. But every room
had balcony or patio doors with require no locks to open from inside so that would also comply. But like I said, it’s not law here. It’s also not an air b and b regulation. So it must have been a country requirement, hence the question

Yes, you absolutely do need a keyless exit, depending on layout fire doors and you need interlinked smoke alarms. It is UK law and all holiday let owners should be aware of this and should action it.

I really don't understand why you would make this comment when you have no knowledge of legislation. You are simply making it up.

Where you may struggle is you should give the host chance to fix things like a nasty stench or broken lock.. and you haven't

To be fair the host has already inadvertently admitted they wouldn't have fixed the issues, calling them all 'outside of their control' so I don't think that's too much of a problem.

As for people saying OP isn't entitled to a refund - the flat can now be relet so what, the host just x2 the money? Amazing gig if so. Rent out a flat on a long stay, make sure the flat is uninhabitable, guest leaves, keep all the money, rinse and repeat. As if.

I think that's unfair as a host and guest. My house is lovely and I've stayed in lots of nice places. But look for somewhere with more than 10 reviews which are all positive.

Well mine doesn't have 100s of reviews but people still book it. Few have that many reviews. But I do have 20+ and I'm a super host. I think far out and long term discount it sounds normal pricing.

Air BnB will refund I am sure. I had an incident last year where the place was having undeclared building works and scaffolding all over it with workers there daily. I complained to host who said sorry but then tried to deny any inconvenience. We got 40% back from Air bnb after we got back but we did stay for the duration. Air BnB told me if we had left immediately we would have been re housed or refunded in full. Good luck.

In future, I'd check on google street view of the area before you book. I always check the area where properties actually are on.