Should they pay? AirBnB nightmare

[NanFlanders]

My 18 yo DD and her friend have saved their wages from their PT jobs (at school) for a year to go to Paris for NYE. They booked an AirBnB (DD is autistic and wanted somewhere self-contained). When they arrived, the door of the flat wouldn't open. They called the owner who told them to be firm with the key - they tried this and the key broke off in the lock. They called the owner who became angry with them and told them they would have to pay, and that it would cost €1000 on NYE to get a locksmith. Things escalated and my DD's friend told the woman to "Fxxx off" (which obviously didn't help and I'm not excusing it) - though she did immediately send a Whatsapp message to her apologizing. At this point DD called me, as I speak some French, and I WhatsApped the owner to try to resolve the situation. She advised she couldn't do anything as she didn't live in Paris, "couldn't work miracles" and they should try a hotel. As you might expect, hotels in Paris on NYE were either extortionate or full or both. They called AirBnB who said they would help them get in the apartment that night - but didn't. Luckily they found beds in a mixed dorm in a hostel and are making the best of things, but today they have been sent a bill for £450 from Airbnb to pay for a locksmith. AIBU to suggest they should contest this? I feel they did as advised, were left in a very vulnerable position, are already out of pocket, and never even got into the flat!

She can whistle for her £450. You should also get a refund from AirBnB as they were unable to stay due to a faulty lock.

Hopefully the young lady paid for the booking Airbnb using a credit card, in which case if she has no joy with Airbnb she should contact the CC company and claim back her payment for the apartment, either as a chargeback or as a Section 75 refund. See MoneySavingExpert about how to go about this.

Likewise, any attempt by Airbnb or anyone else to claim money for the broken lock should be resisted. If there is an attempt to charge the CC, the CC company should be told - and as above, any money that is taken should be claimed back.

It would be nice to think that some compensation would be forthcoming for the inconvenience and extra costs incurred, but I suspect that trying to get Airbnb or the owner to pay this would be more trouble and more costly than it's worth.

Shocking, as an air b and b host myself, I would have called a locksmith and covered the bill
also worth mentioning that hosts have insurance coverage with air b and b
don’t pay it
unfortunately if the hosts don’t review you your review for them will not be posted ,

Sounds like the Air bnb host has requested a payment. They should contact Air bnb contact centre you can do this by message or on the phone. Air bnb provide insurance for hosts if guests do damage and it sounds like the lock was faulty and either the host knew it or air BnB have reviewed their claim and denied it so the host is trying it on.

I think they shoood be able to repair and replace some of the money off their insurance?

The problem with Air BnB is its just normal people are providing a service that they have no understanding or experience in. You have to have someone on site or available if there is a problem.

Contest it the locksmith charge. The lock was faulty and as a result they were unable to utlise the service that they had paid in advance for.

I would also request a refund for their stay due to the inaccessibility of the property. As the owner is not able to attend in case of emergency i.e. a lock breaking, they should have a plan for this type of situation.

Hopefully your DD was able to tolerate the hostel as that is the best option for young travelers i.e. safety in numbers and in most places, you can rent a private room.

As my username suggests, I also had issues with Airbnb this year. They are terrible, certainly compared to a few years ago. They are now sufficiently big that they don't really give a shit about losing customers die to poor customer service.
In terms of the £450, that's just the host trying to claim that via the Airbnb platform. Airbnb themselves are not endorsing that, so I would immediately refuse to pay via the app if that's an option. That's totally outrageous.They should clearly get a refund as well, so definitely push for that. I'm not even sure how you'd deliberately break a lock, let alone why.

due to poor customer service!

They didn’t pay in advance for the cost of the locksmith though, which is what the owner/airbnb are asking for. They should be contesting that locksmith charge plus asking for a refund on the Airbnb charge plus reimbursement for what they had to pay for alternative acccommodation.

Totally agree
Don't pay the key charge
Insist on refund for apartment

If you booked with a credit card, cancel it before they take the money.

Outrageous that the owner and AirBnB left vulnerable young girls on New Years Eve with nowhere to stay. I would be beyond livid if that was my daughter (she also has ASC and this would send her into a complete meltdown). Its not right at all and extremely unsafe.

I would go nuclear and expect a refund of the apartment, PLUS a refund of where the hostel and any associated costs, PLUS compensation for the ruined New Years and stress. You should write a very stern letter to Air BnB and I would also write to the owner letting them know exactly what you think. And a shitty review.

Poor kids.

Not only would I not pay, but I’d want a refund for the stay. Everyone knows that if a gadget is “temperamental” , it’s only a matter of time before it breaks. It just happened to break when your DD arrived. It could just as easily have broken next time the owner went there. And what would the owner have done if the lock hadn’t broken but they still couldn’t open it? What was her back-up plan? Presumably nothing.

I’d be complaining loudly and I wouldn’t stop till I got a full refund.

My guess is that if everyone was being told to be firm with the key, the key has bent and weakened over time to the point where it's snapped.

I don't see why they should pay, but this being France, good luck trying to get any sort of happy outcome.

I've had issues with Airbnb before as a guest and you just have to keep battling with them but eventually you will get there. I had a host that charged for a cleaning fee then complained that we'd left the house dirty despite not telling us at check in that she wanted us to clean it and not leaving any cleaning equipment/supplies like a vacuum cleaner or mop. She left me a bad review and I complained and Airbnb gave me a £100 voucher. I've turned up at Airbnb accommodation before and had to leave because it's dirty, unsafe, not as described and I've had to find alternative accommodation and Airbnb has refunded me as long as I've provided evidence. I think as long as you submit any evidence you have , messages with the owner, photos etc you will get compensation.

I snapped my key and just needed some tweezers to pull it out. I’m sure the owners could have had a go at this and used a spare key. They obviously knew it was temperamental so I wouldn’t be paying anything and pushing for a refund.

I accidentally broke my key inside my lock (first time) last year and had to call a locksmith. The locksmith said I probably didn't put the whole key in the door before twisting it and it snapped in the motion. It was just like any other ordinary day opening a door. And there was nothing wrong with the yale lock itself.

Just to say that it is possible from experience... And I've opened hundreds of doors before (worked in property for a few years).

Although in this situation it sounds like the lock may have been faulty or dodgy already and that the Airbnb host knew about it! So do contest it.

Did they pay for the Airbnb by credit card? We had a situation with booking.com in the summer where we’d paid in advance for an apartment in Vancouver and the property’s agent cancelled it when we arrived at the airport, and it proved impossible to get a refund from them or from booking.com. We put in a claim through our credit card for a service that hadn’t been delivered and had a refund within days. Suggest she gets the Airbnb initial payment back this way. And doesn’t pay for the lock, of course. Absolutely not her fault. Tell Airbnb she’ll see them in court, they haven’t got a legal leg to stand on.

Friend has an Airbnb in the village. A neighbour died, daughter inherited her cottage. She pays my friend to manage it for her because she lives in London but wants to retire back here one day.

You really should have a local agent if you don't live locally. Airbnb should insist on it.

Friends arrived at an Airbnb to a water burst from the top floor. They contacted the owner and Airbnb who had them rehoused inside the hour.

Grim. Absolutely contest it, great advice in this thread. This is why I don't use AirBNB - there's no recourse when things go round. At least at a hotel you'd have probably got a room even if it was a bad one.

Contest it. Sounds like the the host knew there was an issue with the lock and it should not be guests to struggle with the lock.

The owner is just trying it on.

I would counter claim for a full refund as they couldn’t access the property and the host had no local representative to resolve the issue.

Collect all the texts together and note the contents of phone calls including the one asking Airbnb for alternative accommodation.

If the owner told them to be firm with the key, it sounds as if they knew there was an issue with the lock, but hadn't done anything to fix it. They may not have been nearby, but there should have been an arrangement with someone to be able to go to the property if needed. A locksmith would probably have been difficult to get, and expensive, but that is one of the risks you take when choosing to rent out a property as a business concern. The only thing your daughter/her friend did wrong was the swearing. In my eyes they should be refunded the costs of the accommodation that they could not access because of a faulty lock, and not be required to pay the boll that was sent to them for repair. If the owner had repaired it when they knew there was an issue, it wouldn't have happened.

Or look to see whether the credit card can help with the fact that they paid for accommodation, but were not provided with access to the accommodation.

Airbnb are unregulated and should be avoided at all costs