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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

I've totally done the wrong thing ...

94 replies

appleaday12 · 02/08/2022 14:00

DH and I recently went away for a weekend, DD stayed with grandparents.

A long awaited trip just the two of us, been so looking forward to it etc.,

The place we booked was an Airbnb hosted by a rental holiday company not directly by a host.

Anyway! It was expensive boutique style home...all very lovely except the first day when we opened the door...you could smell damp!!!!
One of the blinds had visible damp...there was water damage to the flooring close to one of the back doors.
Anyway!!
We let the property managers know but their office was closed over the weekend etc..
We stayed for the weekend but the smell just wrecked it!!
Annoyed I left a bad review on the Airbnb site...I'd rung their office Monday and got a short swift answer by one of the property managers that she "didn't smell anything damp at all...I was there only two days before your visit"
I thought she must have had covid and couldn't smell it!!

Anyway they are raging over the review and I'm now feeling terrible.
Apparently EVERYONE who has stayed in the past has said it was like incredible and I'm an annoying twat.
There is a damp issue at this property!!

OP posts:
NumberTheory · 03/08/2022 04:41

…so I looked like I made it up.

Well you do now you’ve taken it down.

And now the next person who posts about the damp will be told - no one else had a problem. All our reviews are positive.

What is the point of posting an honest review if you won’t stand by your word?

Berlinlover · 03/08/2022 04:43

The only wrong thing you have done is removing the review.

Weatherwax13 · 03/08/2022 04:44

They probably only have great reviews because they've done the same to anyone else who left a bad one!

justfiveminutes · 03/08/2022 05:16

appleaday12 · 03/08/2022 00:35

I didn't take photos.
The smell - well my word etc

There was visible damp on a blind that was in the garage window.

They said they visited the property a day before we were to stay and all was fine.

Every review on Airbnb is positive so I looked like I made it up.

There's not much else I can do.
But won't be booking with Airbnb again.

The only visible damp was on a blind in the garage?

I'm surprised that created a smell so strong it wrecked your holiday. I wonder whether it might have been something else.

If it was a strong smell I'd have left the review though - it's hardly only your word for it as all future guests will smell it too.

Shoxfordian · 03/08/2022 05:31

Do you usually get scared away from your own thoughts so easily op? Stop being such a wuss

Why didn’t you complain when you got there?

justfiveminutes · 03/08/2022 05:36

Shoxfordian · 03/08/2022 05:31

Do you usually get scared away from your own thoughts so easily op? Stop being such a wuss

Why didn’t you complain when you got there?

She complained to the office managers but their offices were closed over the weekend.

justfiveminutes · 03/08/2022 05:36

PROPERTY managers

Hotandbothereds · 03/08/2022 05:40

You did nothing wrong at all, apart from back down so easily.

I would also complain about having no way to contact the company during your stay - what would happen in a really serious situation? You should always be able to contact someone.

I would go back to Ainbnb, tell them you stand by your review, add to it that the property management company dismissed your concerns and you felt pushed to delete it but in hindsight you want other potential customers to be aware.

Another time, get photos to back things up where you can (appreciate difficult with a smell!).

Hotandbothereds · 03/08/2022 05:42

justfiveminutes · 03/08/2022 05:36

She complained to the office managers but their offices were closed over the weekend.

Show quote history

Which I’d also raise as an issue, what would happen in a v serious situation? There should always be a way of contacting someone.

portinahurry · 03/08/2022 05:43

NumberTheory · 03/08/2022 04:41

…so I looked like I made it up.

Well you do now you’ve taken it down.

And now the next person who posts about the damp will be told - no one else had a problem. All our reviews are positive.

What is the point of posting an honest review if you won’t stand by your word?

This. You've allowed the ball to keep rolling.

sashh · 03/08/2022 05:44

What other people think is irrelevant, you had a problem, they should have solved it.

balzamico · 03/08/2022 05:45

You've done absolutely the right thing. We stayed in an air bnb which stank of damp.
We tried to resolve it with the owners using Airbnb's messaging services and because of this I held off writing a bad review (we were hoping for money back as it was an expensive let). They dragged it out past the stage where I was able to write a review (I didn't realise there's a set time period) meaning that not only were we ripped off by them, we couldn't warn anybody else

LDN1 · 03/08/2022 05:50

Put a review back up detailing everything.

Zonder · 03/08/2022 06:13

Berlinlover · 03/08/2022 04:43

The only wrong thing you have done is removing the review.

This. The people who stay there next will get the same damp and the same treatment.

DobbyTheHouseElk · 03/08/2022 06:32

Of course they don’t want to admit it was damp. Go and write the review again so other people don’t find out like you did . No wonder there aren’t any poor reviews I’d they bully people into removing them.

BTW, Sykes are terrible for this. I wrote an honest review of the place I stayed in with water pouring from the upstairs ceiling running down the stairs and beyond. They removed my review so it’s all positive reviews only. That’s why I don’t trust reviews.

DobbyTheHouseElk · 03/08/2022 06:33

I also would say I’d been asked to remove my review because it pointed out the damp.

DotBall · 03/08/2022 06:34

appleaday12 · 03/08/2022 00:35

I didn't take photos.
The smell - well my word etc

There was visible damp on a blind that was in the garage window.

They said they visited the property a day before we were to stay and all was fine.

Every review on Airbnb is positive so I looked like I made it up.

There's not much else I can do.
But won't be booking with Airbnb again.

AirBnB is a fab portal.
Just make sure you book with a Superhost next time, as well as looking at reviews.

We’ve stayed in places all over the UK from a 16thC one up/one down cottage to a static caravan on an eventing yard and they have all been excellent, without question.

EntertainingandFactual · 03/08/2022 06:42

Why oh why did you remove the review?
Unless you complain about every place you stay in and are a serial 1* Air B&B customer, what you said was valid.

sausage767 · 03/08/2022 06:44

Hotandbothereds · 03/08/2022 05:42

Which I’d also raise as an issue, what would happen in a v serious situation? There should always be a way of contacting someone.

Show quote history

Contact Air bnb help centre... that's what OP should have done from the start.

sausage767 · 03/08/2022 06:46

DobbyTheHouseElk · 03/08/2022 06:33

I also would say I’d been asked to remove my review because it pointed out the damp.

Where did OP say she was asked to remove the review?

sunglassesonthetable · 03/08/2022 06:46

TBH You shouldn't have taken it down OP .

Why ? To keep the management company happy?

If it smelt of damp it smelt of damp.

The old 'no-one else ' thought so is just bluster. As if it means anything anyway.

I would put it back up. You paid good money they took it and you got given a rubbish return.

Do you work for Air Bnb @DotBall ?

carefullycourageous · 03/08/2022 06:49

Airbnb is a menace, they are ruining a lot of places and fucking up housing supply so I'd say stop using them for that reason.

Mindymomo · 03/08/2022 06:52

Had they said they would look into it, it wouldn’t have been so bad. Personally I never book anything that doesn’t have 24/7 call option. You should leave another review, quoting exactly what has happened. To AirB&B they care more in reviews than satisfyingly paying customers. We give honest reviews of where we stay. If there is anything needing fixing we leave notes, rather than put in review and usually get a message of thanks. But a damp smell needs investigation and I’d hate to think of someone else going in after and nothing being done.

WelliesandWine88 · 03/08/2022 06:55

You left an honest review...I see no issue 🤷‍♀️

AngelinaFibres · 03/08/2022 07:17

Honest reviews are absolutely crucial to the next person who books . I always read other people's reviews very carefully and they do affect my choices. I also read the response of the hotel/ apartment etc . If I had stayed somewhere that was damp I would have complained and I would certainly have put it on a review. You can mention positives that come with the location,communication, parking etc etc but mentioning important negatives is also crucial. I have asthma and would never knowingly choose somewhere with a damp issue. I have stayed in visually beautiful apartments that had a leaking soil pipe (insisted on bring moved), another had furniture that was fabulously contemporary but incredibly uncomfortable to sit on, another had windows so covered in filth you couldn't see out. Those are facts. I would never agree to my review being removed because it would be fair but absolutely honest.