AIRBNB does not treat their hosts or guests well. This is a well-known fact and a common grievance amongst hosts and guests. This is likely because their goals as a business do not align with your goals as a host/potential host. They want as many hosts as possible and they want to spend as little as possible per host/stay. This makes sense but most businesses have ethical boundaries in place to keep things sustainable long-term and ensure good relationships on all ends. But not AIRBNB. What does that mean for hosts and guest?
Overcrowding of their platform which drives host occupancy down to unacceptable levels in many markets
Very cheap, low-quality customer support outsourced to areas like India
Overly complex reimbursement procedures where they try and nickel and dime the compensation you should be getting for damages and you have to escalate to regulators or lawyers to get any help
Misleading statements about supporting you when issues happen (Spoiler: they don't support you or do anything but send the guest or host a message)
Have AIRBNB's negligent, unethical actions harmed you in some way? What can you do?
Contact us here; input your information. When we receive enough similar claims we can hit them where it hurts with a class action. Please ensure you input accurate contact information for this purpose.
Submit a complaint to your local attorney general about what happened. This is a great option as these cases are stored for later use in group actions similar to a class action while also escalating your voice to your local consumer protection advocates. (google > "[my state] attorney general complaint" and also "[my state] consumer protection complaint")
Reach out to your local representatives about how AIRBNB treated you so they understand what kind of company they are dealing with as they vote on related legislation.
Some Real Examples of AIRBNB Neglect/Abuse:
AIRBNB placed someone in a home through their charity (forced-accepted/auto booking). On their way out, the local 'refugee' stole an Xbox and several other possessions from the property. AIRBNB refused to reimburse for most of the damages until it was escalated to the local police and attorney general for handling and compelling AIRBNB to act ethically.
Issued a refund to a guest for something that had been closed for over a month with no communication they would be doing this. This was never discussed or notified previously. The only area this subtraction of dollars was visible for the host was through the payout summary notice showing the negative amount.
The guest refused to leave the property. After involving airbnb support their response was "Okay, we have told the guest to leave" and firmly stated that was all they could do! Laws in this area are tricky and having the police remove someone can get very complicated and could easily turn into a several-month eviction process. AIRBNB, despite what they imply in their marketing, does not support you in situations like this. Very misleading.
A simple mix up with a guest will mean HOURS of frustrating, wasted time while speaking and texting with the offshore support team. Even something as simple as the guest hitting the wrong button when selecting their review, and then admitting it to AIRBNB support this was their error, warrants no real response or escalation from them. When smaller items like this get stuck, they remain unsolved due to lack of proper support and no escalations beyond local supervisors on the customer support team for unique, smaller issues.
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