Airbnb money grabbers

[Toetapper]

Airbnb hosts: Would you consider the following grounds for a refund?

The property was situated opposite a very noisy outdoor bar. I recorded 80db at 10pm at night, and I have videos to share. This was just the sound of the revellers - it was much louder with the music. The bedroom window on the top floor didn’t close, and so the noise was exceptionally intrusive. The property had not been adequately maintained. The listing does not reflect how the property looks now. Most indoor plants are dead. The garden was unusable, as it was dirty. We found a hair on the loo seat, a chip in the oven, mould on the window, and old laundry piled up. The windows were very dirty. Walls were scuffed and dirty. Decoration used for staging the property were taken down, leaving bare walls. The property is not adequately provisioned. We could not find the hair dryer. There was no washing up liquid, no bottle opener and just a handful of mugs. We complained as soon as we arrived, please check.

So, we spoke to Airbnb as soon as we got there. They didn’t resolve. The host declined to help. Said it was our fault for booking it as we should have known about the bar?! I disagree, and think that a/ he should have been honest about it, and b/ should have taken steps to mitigate noise for a comfortable stay. Instead not only was our bedroom window a rotting single glazed window, it wouldn’t close!

Offered a £300 ‘refund’ for our £1100 three night stay, but only if we vacated right away… assuming so he could rent it out again and pocket the £800 it would have cost us for the one night.

It’s now with Airbnb for arbitration, but I’m not holding out much hope. Any advice?

Things like watering plants and washing sofa cushions are incredibly difficult to get someone else to do if you live miles away/ in a different country.

Three words: employ a cleaner.

If you stayed £300 refund is fair.

^ Airbnb host here (1 bed annexe): this is not true, nor can reviews be deleted

What we CAN see is other hosts’ reviews of the guest - so if they were messy/damaged property/stayed beyond check out times/had a party etc

Small claims court if in the UK. Not about the bar noise as the bar presumably has been there for a long time.

Another example of why consumer protection law should be updated. Aged photos on a website should be misrepresentation.

Bad enough the person on Air BnB is denying someone a year round home, at least be decent as a provider.

I do think one can and should extrapolate from a location being city centre that you might get noise, but specific noise from a nearby bar, not made clear in the listing, is different from general city noise.

And for what the OP paid I DO think a hair in the bathroom, a chip in the oven, dead plants, mouldy windows, piles of laundry, scuffed and bare walls (that looked very different to the pictures), no washing-up liquid…
are a big deal.

I generally stay in Airbnb places that are more like £50–£80 a night, and I think the worst I've found is slightly scant and mismatched crockery in one, and a bedsheet/towel (can't remember which) that smelled fusty, and which was replaced immediately when I told the host about it, with much apologising and graciousness.

I have an airbnb. I don't think you can complain about a bar in the city centre - if you want peace and quiet go to the countryside. Cleanliness is potentially a problem, it depends how dirty it was. I wouldn't expect any piles of laundry, but that wouldn't entitled you to a full refund especially if you still managed to stay in the property.

The owners may not be aware of all issues. We've discovered that people break things and disguise it so the cleaner doesn't notice. Including windows (brand new), floorboards, all sorts. Kitchen doors torn off (that one they couldn't hide). I have no idea how they do it. If decorative items are no longer on display that may be the reason.

Hair on the loo seat - a single hair? Are you on Four in a Bed? Just clean it off with a bit of tissue.
A chip in the oven - did it work? Did you need it for your 3 days?
The windows were very dirty. Walls were scuffed - you're only there for 3 days!
Decoration used for staging the property taken down, leaving bare walls - again, you're only there for 3 days, why do you need decorations?

£1100 for three nights? I have a 5 star hotel in Paris booked for 3 nights for £750 you were ripped off!

I’m with you on this. When OP started listing these things she lost all the sympathy I had for her having to put up with the noise. She’s scraping the barrel with these.

Airbnnb - or any other sort of self catering accommodation is not pretending to be a hotel and trying to compare is ridiculous.

We are going to an Airbnb apartment in Spain next week. It has three bedrooms, separate sitting area with a big kitchen, two bathrooms, balcony. Washing machine/dryer. It's just so much more convenient as a family. hotels are great too, but are totally different.

Having said that, it's not unreasonable to expect basic cleanliness. I don't think their choice of books is relevant, and you could have checked out the location better yourself.

I don't want a hotel
I want more space
I don't want to just sit on the bed
I don't want to get up and dressed for breakfast.
I could go on....

Superhost here. I think you can reasonably complain about cleaning and you can leave an honest review too about the condition of the place. Complaining about noise is tricky - you know the location so that’s on you but something like the fire alarm going off repeatedly is down to the host. So try and think about what the host can and can’t actually control.

The bookshelf looked really interesting - clearly they have an interest in personal finance, it’s not a dirty subject!

We had a burst main outside one of ours and the road had to be dug up for emergency repairs. The guests complained. Airbnb backed us as there was literally nothing we could do. It’s like people complaining about the weather!

The other thing is, if you complain immediately then there’s a chance for the host to try and resolve it. The (rare) guests who try it on are without fail the ones who complain towards the end of their stay and threaten to leave a bad review if we don’t refund. This has happened maybe twice in about 400 bookings - but both times we forwarded the conversation straight to airbnb and they removed any retaliatory review and in one case banned them.

We always look to see what rating the guest has before we take the bookings. Sometimes you can spot trouble a mile off.

Also a host here…. What resolution do you want?

If you had complained and said the apartment was unacceptable, you’d probably get a full refund but would be expected to leave right away.

I guess you haven’t done that but have been offered a substantial discount.

What would be acceptable to you? It’s not reasonable that you would be given a full refund and still stay there.

City centre noise complaints hold no truck with me.

Music venues and clubs with years of history are being forced to either close o'r spend tens and tens of thousands on legal costs to fight noise complaints from folk that expect a city to switch off and be silent from 10pm every night. It's bad form.

It's a city centre. Pack earplugs and eyemask.

Re decorative items: I’ve had one guest steal a decoration I hand made for the Airbnb (it was clearly this person as it was there when I cleaned prior to their stay, but walked… I did ask if it had been ‘accidentally packed’ but apparently not by this guest who had admired it)

Another guest asked to take an item - I said no and was grateful that he at least asked! This may be the reason the decor is no longer in place …

Again, this wasn't a cheap and cheerful place; it was expensive.

It is disingenuous at best for a host to deliberately stage a property to take photos and then change the appearance/contents of the property.

The host obviously can't control noise from a bar, but I think it's common sense and common courtesy for them to say there is a lively bar on the street and it can be lively until quite late at night (I've seen a lot of Airbnb properties where the host makes this clear). Then at least people can make an informed choice.

And even the one remotely compelling complaint the OP does have (the noise), given not one single other glowing review mentions it… it would seem it was a one off and completely out of the owner’s hands

3 nights
to celebrate daughter finishing exams
you e got super lucky with the sun

and this is how you’re choosing to spend this mini break?

Without posting any pictures of the things you found dirty/unusable etc how can anyone here judge if you’re being reasonable or not?

You can't - I wish you could! Some guests are dickheads and you don't know until they leave you an unreasonable review (and yes, the vast majority of my reviews are 5, but when I get the occasional 3 from someone because 'it's too far from the sea' or 'the pillows are too soft' I think they are dickheads). Also as a super host you're encouraged to allow instant book so you can't just screen guests if you want to be top of the listings. Airbnb algorithm will punish you if you want to screen all guests first.

We stayed with air bnb in an apartment which had a hole in the entrance and sewage running through (in a Spanish city). The smell one night was unbearable . The host sent someone over who sprayed some air freshener around.
i complained and was offered £50 as a good will gesture then the host stopped communicating with me.

A hair on the loo seat sounds petty

moise from nearby bar - onus is on you to check google maps and the reviews
gardens well they tend to be dirty - it’s a strange word to use about a garden
mould on the window - rather depends on the level but that is a health risk - especially for asthmatics -and if you had a clear photo of that it’s reason to be concerned

I think any complaint should be focussed