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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Air BnB question

59 replies

ginislife · 17/05/2025 08:54

not sure if I’m being U or not so asking here before I go to them. Booked an Air BnB in London for Tuesday/Wednesday night this week as we were at an exhibition at the Excel. The apartment we booked looked beautiful - floor to ceiling windows with a view of the river, 2 bedrooms/2 bathrooms and walking distance to Excel. When we got to London and were looking up the directions I’d been sent a message to say there was no hot water where we’d booked (boiler issue that couldn’t be quickly fixed) so we’d been booked into one of their other properties. It was ground floor, no view, 1 bathroom - and as it turned out no hot water on the first morning as it hadn’t been turned on (involved switching off the main fuse board and back on again as it turned out, which wasn’t obvious as the fuseboard was hidden) and it was 5.5 miles from Excel. Oh and the TV didn’t work very well - we had to spend ages tuning it in.

Would you suck it up or ask for a partial refund ? Or give a 3 or 4 star review rather than 5 ? At the end of the day they didn’t leave us bedless but we were so disappointed we didn’t get our fancy apartment close to where we were going and it was a bit of a trek.

first world problem I know.

OP posts:
Original poster
ginislife · 17/05/2025 13:55

Stichintime · 17/05/2025 12:26

5.5 miles away from Excel? Where did the put you?

Limehouse.

OP posts:
Stichintime · 17/05/2025 14:17

Limehouse, not great for time but straightforward journey. Lovely walks by the basin etc. I would definitely go for part refund, cos of the extra travel time and cost.

Poppy123xyz · 17/05/2025 14:20

Ask for full refund and bad review.

Frostiesflakes · 17/05/2025 14:38

your problem will be that you stayed in the second flat and didn’t complain at the time
so it’s unlikely they will give you a refund / discount

they will say that by staying and not complaining straight away you accepted the second flat

ThinWomansBrain · 17/05/2025 14:42

I know the important thing for your was the Excel centre, but five miles away in the depths of Barking or South East London, or five miles away in the centre of London?
Would make a huge difference to the value of where you stayed.

Just seen the Limehouse update - bit shit.
Nice Yurt café though - did you find it?

Original poster
ginislife · 17/05/2025 16:15

@ThinWomansBrainno, didn’t have time for that - too busy getting lost on the DLR !! 😂

I’ve now spoken to Air BnB and they’re going to investigate. I’ve asked for a partial refund. It seems mean to ask for a full refund as it was ok, just not what we booked, and not really ready for guests with the no hot water and the tv issue.

OP posts:
Dogsbreath7 · 17/05/2025 18:47

That’s why I stay in hotels. If there is a problem you change rooms.

was this a proper holiday let or a residential flat that should really be available for long term rental?

There are loads of people lining up to slag off landlords but because everyone wants their instagrammable ‘insta life’ nobody judges.

WaltzingWaters · 17/05/2025 19:16

I’d want AT LEAST a 50% refund! More like 75%. Make sure they don’t just give you like 10% back or something ridiculous like that.

Yourcatisnotsorry · 17/05/2025 20:06

This happened to us in the states. No water so got moved about 20km away but the house we were moved to was beautiful and 3 bed rather than the 2 I’d booked so we were fine with the swop. In your case it’s substantially worse so I’d want a partial refund of at least the ‘normal’ difference between the two apartments.

Original poster
ginislife · 17/05/2025 20:11

@Dogsbreath7a hotel by the Excel (Holiday Inn Express) was over £750 for 2 nights. We paid £475 for an apartment similar walking distance as the HIE) so why wouldn’t we ? But yes I’d guess it should be a residential flat on a long term let. But I also don’t do instagram

OP posts:
FlyMeSomewhere · 17/05/2025 20:51

Dogsbreath7 · 17/05/2025 18:47

That’s why I stay in hotels. If there is a problem you change rooms.

was this a proper holiday let or a residential flat that should really be available for long term rental?

There are loads of people lining up to slag off landlords but because everyone wants their instagrammable ‘insta life’ nobody judges.

My partner and I have used Airbnb multiple times a year for a good few years now and never had an issue so it's not too common for things like this to happen. It's not about Instagram either! I've had a two bedroomed apartment in a complex with a pool and balcony overlooking Copacabana beach in Rio for about £40 a night! The thing about Airbnbs are that you get the comfort of a full apartment and perhaps other add ons like gardens, roof terraces, hot tubs, parking space etc for a fraction of the price of a hotel room.
My partner and I travel to Macedonia soon, we have an Airbnb overlooking a big lake and right on the banks of it and close to bars and restaurants, the hotel rooms were a lot more expensive and just not in as a nice location.
You pay the price a local person would pay to rent somewhere rather than what a travel agent in your home country would sting you.

carchi · 17/05/2025 21:30

Absolutely not good enough. I would complain and demand a refund. They did not provide what was advertised and paid for. Therefore they broke the contract and should be held responsible.

Muddlingalongsomehow · 17/05/2025 23:02

We had this in London. Booked Fri, Sat, Sun with booking etc etc. Fri morning got message to say flat not available due to a plumbing issue. Offered us somewhere miles out. We said no, cancel.

He was quite pushy and said "OK YOU have to do the cancelling and then you get your refund". But we had booked at a non-refundable rate. Daughter, whose name was on the booking, said "no! YOU cancelled us" and he got a bit nasty in a phone call and said "don't you want your money back? You don't understand how this works". She stood her ground and got her refund from booking etc etc. And luckily got an Airbnb within an hour. But it was awful

ScarletWitchM · 17/05/2025 23:14

It’s a well known scam -I’d report to Air BNB & leave a terrible review to warn others

Beautifulweeds · 18/05/2025 00:18

Hmm sounds to me they've done thus before, especially in London. Wha did reviews say?

Defo ask for some money back as thus smacks of scam. Xxx

avignon1234 · 18/05/2025 00:38

Agree with most posters here. Go right back at Airbnb and get a resolution, which means some of your money back, you were not provided with what you bought, and although you may have accepted something else under duress, it was fair of you to do so, and it still does not change the fact that you were not provided with what you contracted for. This happened to me, 4 young children flying to Budapest, had a booking which we paid in advance, 3 bedroom apartment near the metro. On the flight over, there was suddenly "boiler problems" and we were left late at night trying to take anything we could get whilst in the airport. Took it (we had no choice) but was far from suitable (not enough bedrooms, rough area, no transport). I got 50% back. I was OK with that - we managed and had a nice time, but defo complain, and set out what you feel you have lost in monetary terms as a minimum. Sounds like they are click and bait too if others on here are saying so. Best of luck, but do push it, otherwise others will suffer the same fate. xx

JungAtHeart · 18/05/2025 00:52

Definitely sounds like a bait and switch to me. I had the same thing happen in NYC - it was flood damage apparently. The apartment they tried to switch me to was not in the area I wanted at all but they assume you don’t know as a visitor. When I refused they agreed to me having a ‘different’ apartment apparently in the same building. They contacted me before I arrived to say if that if I was asked
or approached, I needed to say that I was a family member of the owner. It was 💯 time to cancel …

GiveDogBone · 18/05/2025 06:28

Definite bait and switch, although the only nagging doubt is that it’s bizarre to think they could get away with it. I mean if you’re running an AirBnb, who would even check the boiler on the morning of the check in and also know definitively it can’t be fixed quickly. Even if you need a part, most boiler issues can be fixed same day. And then you just happen to have another apartment available (was it listed under the same person / company?)

  1. Ask for refund (doesn’t need to be a full one, you did get some accommodation, but a minimum of 50%). And, if they refuse, leave a 1-star review. If they agree, you can leave a “better” review to the effect that there was a problem but they found you alternative accommodation and offered a refund. Enough to warn others.
  2. Complain to AirBnb, in either case.
whynotmereally · 18/05/2025 06:39

I would expect a refund (somewhere around 50-75%) and I would leave between a 1-3* review (depending on how it was managed)

I once stayed somewhere which hadn’t been cleaned when we arrived. She had a cleaner there in a hour and 1.5 hours later it was spotless. But it completely disregulated our asd son as he couldn’t do his routines as normal which unfortunately set a tone for the weekend.

I left a 4* review because the women was great, quick communication, sorted the issue promptly and gave us a partial refund. But it had spoilt our stay.

FlyMeSomewhere · 18/05/2025 06:47

JungAtHeart · 18/05/2025 00:52

Definitely sounds like a bait and switch to me. I had the same thing happen in NYC - it was flood damage apparently. The apartment they tried to switch me to was not in the area I wanted at all but they assume you don’t know as a visitor. When I refused they agreed to me having a ‘different’ apartment apparently in the same building. They contacted me before I arrived to say if that if I was asked
or approached, I needed to say that I was a family member of the owner. It was 💯 time to cancel …

NYC is a tricky one because they started making it illegal to have Airbnbs in certain areas which leads to situations like yours where you are suddenly asked to switch location or pretend you aren't a tourist renting the place.

RareFatball · 18/05/2025 15:42

Agree with this, happens a lot and they just hope people suck up the far inferior apartment to what they booked and paid for.

FlyMeSomewhere · 18/05/2025 19:10

A hint I would give about using Airbnb is to click through the reviews and look to see if there are any reviews that are not reviews but instead show "host cancelled booking" - if you are seeing that popping up then it could be a red flag.

pollymere · 18/05/2025 22:01

No... It's a bait and switch. I had this with something I booked and refused the swap. I ended up just finding something else... On the day of travel! They had to give me a full refund.

I would definitely complain and give them a stinking review. I wonder how many other people were due to stay in this alleged AirBnB?

Original poster
ginislife · 18/05/2025 22:05

@pollymere it was a bit late to find something else when we didn’t find out until 7.30pm when we arrived in London. Hotels near Excel were all booked up by that time

OP posts:
pollymere · 18/05/2025 22:12

ginislife · 18/05/2025 22:05

@pollymere it was a bit late to find something else when we didn’t find out until 7.30pm when we arrived in London. Hotels near Excel were all booked up by that time

I know... We were just REALLY lucky that they let us know on our way there. I think they were banking on us arriving late and tired too. I'm so sorry this happened to you. I really think Regulations need to be far tighter. I haven't used that type of accommodation since. I just use Travelodges now.