What risk? Risk of being abandoned in an unfamiliar environment while AirBnB does nothing. With a hotel, you have the security of the hotel staff, the familiarity of a reception and a desk and an organized structure with a face you can actually talk to. With AirBnB, you get nothing of this local expertise and security. They are only a distant phone line, if you can even find a phone line.
(AirBnB is a vacation rental website, but we don’t recommend our audience use it especially when travelling with family and especially when travelling overseas when you may not be able to converse with the locals. It has a woeful support structure and you really don’t know what you are getting).
With AirBnB acting only as a middleman for the transaction, you are left to your own devices in case something goes wrong. As it did horribly for me while AirBnB staff sent me on a merry goose chase and threatened me with losing all my money if I cancelled.
Picture this:
I land in Padova, Italy after a 4 hour ride from Rome. I am on a European trip with my family, and Padova is a pit stop for Venice. My kids are really tired, and they just want to rest. Except, I don’t know how to get to my accommodation booked on AirBnB.
24 hours earlier, I had made an instant booking for this accommodation on AirBnB. You know, the one where I don’t have to wait for a confirmation from the host. As soon as the booking is made, you can pack your bags and go as AirBnB sends you the address (which later turned out to be incorrect).
Keep in mind that I don’t speak Italian. I am in a foreign land and at the mercy of Italian taxi drivers. I have 8 pieces of luggage, 2 little kids, an irate wife and 1 elderly mother. My internet connection on the iPhone is not very reliable. In any case, my iPhone battery is dying. Ok, none of this is AirBnB’s problem, but I am just setting the scene.
So I have landed at this foreign station and I am deciding whether to just hire a taxi and go to this address. Something though is wrong. I have had no contact back from the host, even though I had sent her a few messages letting her know that we would be arriving soon and if she could let us know the estimated taxi fares. Even though this was an instant booking, some sort of feedback would have confirmed that I am on the right track. Even directly ringing her was going straight into her message bank.
So I think about ringing AirBnB’s supposedly instant help from their iPhone app thinking about what to do? (BTW AirBnB – why does your system go through the same menu twice? Very frustrating when you’re in a panic). Should I just go to the address? AirBnB’s answer? We have sent you an email with further details on what to do. There is another number for the host – why don’t you try and call that as well?
Oh great. First, you want me to open up all my bags, look for my laptop and the right connector, find a power plug, go to Outlook and do a send receive while the rest of my mail downloads (no — I don’t use my iPhone for my mail) in the middle of a train station in Padova, Italy and then follow the instructions in the email. At the same time you want me to contact my host on another number. If you had this extra magical number with you all along AirBnB, why didn’t you share it with me at the start of the booking?
Further, I am in a frustrating, panicky mode. I don’t want to try new things. I just want to go to my lodgings and a resolution. Why don’t you put me on hold, while you try and ring this new magical number for my host and see if it goes through for you? Hmm.. no, let’s just follow your method and the instructions in the email. Or not.
Three phone calls to AirBnB support later, it turns out that they have made contact with the host, but the host hasn’t contacted me still. A tragic situation for the host resulted in her switching off all her communication. Hence the no reply situation to my booking. To honor the booking, she would try and be at the apartment after 6:30 that night.
And as far as AirBnB goes.. the problem has been resolved. All I have to do now, is to wait at the train station with 2 little kids, 1 old woman and 8 bags for 5 hours, after which the host may or may not turn up at the address. Magic!
Needless to say, I lost my cool at this. I told AirBnB that I will cancel the booking as I can’t wait that long. Ah! Cancel? No you can’t cancel.. “you can check out anytime you like but you can never leave“. “May I remind you sir, that the host has a strict cancellation policy and you will lose all your money? Why don’t you just wait for another 5 hours on the railway station platform and then go to this address and if then she doesn’t turn up we will send you another email?“. I hung up the phone.
I called the nearest hotel, made a booking, called a cab and left the station. When I reached the hotel, I had another message from AirBnB “Sir, we hear that you are trying to cancel this booking. Can I please remind you that we will not give you your money back?” (I have it on voicemail).
Meanwhile, a friendly reception staff at the Sheraton Padova hotel was handing me my room key. The difference could not be more stark.
Later that evening, I got a message from the host apologizing for the situation and told me that she will ask AirBnB to not charge me for the stay.
I got a message from AirBnB saying “Even though the host had a strict cancellation policy they have returned your money. However, we are scrooges and even though this was no one’s fault, we are going to keep our massively inflated booking fees – from you AND the host”, or something to that effect.
Ok, so no more AirBnB for me. The security of a hotel is too comforting to resist. The uncertainty of AirBnB booking and its woeful support structure is not for families or people who don’t like change. We have made 4 bookings so far with AirBnB, 2 have been good, 1 has been near disaster, and this one, well, as I write from the security of my hotel room, is a verifiable disaster.
One final note. It was a good thing that I didn’t just take a taxi and go to the apartment that AirBnB had given me after the instant booking. Not just because it was terribly timing for the host, or that she was in mourning, but because AirBnB had sent me the wrong address! The host confirmed the address was wrong. Way to go AirBnB! Way to go!
I agree your experience has been very poor. I think that there is always a risk when people do it themselves for various things they don’t do very often. If someone buys a car from auction rather than a car yard, there is very little recourse when the car breaks down the next day. Or if someone does all their own travel planning versus using a travel agent, then they are also left carrying the can.
Truth will win out over hype. Good Hoteliers have nothing to fear from AirBnBs kind of sector “disruption” (stupid word).
Come to think of it, neither do bad hoteliers
Similar experience. Airbnb support is useless and no help at all. After the booking they don’t give a shit and use standard delaying tactics when contacting them.
In your case I wouldn’t waste any more time with them. Go directly to the CC company, request a chargeback and never use them again.
I blame you. Period.
How dare you foist this upon your family. What kind of an idiot are you?
You are a bad person, who relies too much on technology when away from home in an unfamiliar surroundings with a multi-generational family. The Sheraton was the right move all along. Probably tried to be a cheap-ass hero. An unseasoned traveler. Doofus. Crybaby. Worst customer ever.
I can understand your frustration but wonder why you’re posting about it on this website. It’s not related to this website’s typical content. Further, there is no by-line on this posting, which is unusual. Any chance the website has been hacked?
I’ve used AirBnB several times and it has been great. It sounds like you might not understand what AirBnB is for.
It is NOT a hotel service. You CANNOT just book a room, get handed a key by some anonymous desk clerk, and switch off. The website is NOT responsible for you knowing how to navigate your way to a destination.
It IS a chance to be a guest in SOMEONE ELSE’S HOME. You have to organise to arrive at decent times, be friendly and converse with your hosts, and have the opportunity to live in areas that hotels are not (usually at a cheaper price). The confirmation emails supply plenty of ifo on how to contact the host before you arrive, which is ESSENTIAL.
I understand the desire to just want your bed and room, and to be left in peace. When I am in that situation, such as after a long flight or drive, then I get a hotel.
I think you just need to make an effort to research what AirBnB is about, rather than just assuming they’re a hotel service. Or don’t be so tight with your money, and book a hotel in the first place…
This is great to know. Thank you. It is related to this sight. All crafters go on crafting vacations at the very least.
tl/dr:
I didn’t plan ahead for a trip, didn’t understand how AirBnB actually works, and in general was totally unprepared. I’ll try and blame someone else, though.
I agree with Jeff. I’d go directly to the credit card company and do a chargeback. What a terrible experience!!
This reminds me of a Corean family whom I met in Paris as they were trying to understand how to reach their internet-book apartment with the following information:
– the apartment is on 3rd floor
– the location is defined by a sketch of streets with their Corean names, the building is represented by a dot.
They were supposed to meet a representative of the booking company over there.
I tried to help them by calling the contact number they had. We got a voicemail system which basically said “we are currently on vacation, good luck”.
I then tried to recognize the street by the position (by comparing their plan with google maps) and them by having them read out loud the names in Corean, hoping to recognize the name in French.
I am not sure how it ended – I had to go and left them in an “optimal” spot (which looked like a bit like the one they were looking for) as their meeting was due in three hours.
Okay, this was a bad experience, no doubt. But as my friend, who hosts people in her hom all year round in London said, “Who books to stay in someone else’s house when they have two small children without first speaking to the host…?”
Sorry to sound mean but she has a point. It’s NOT a hotel. You need to check the references and speak to the host before you arrive. Ask questions. Print out all the info you will need so you have it handy when you arrive.
For many people, the comfort and security of staying in a hotel is paramount. But for those with an adventurous spirit, the opportunity to live like the locals, among them and even with them, making friends along the way, for a deeply discounted price… For us the reward is absolutely worth it!
I am not trying to blame this guy, but I think it was a bad idea to use this service in a foreign country, when you don’t speak the language and you have dependents. Air B and B does involve risks, even in the U.S. You need to be prepared to have options in case all goes awry. You can save big bucks when all goes right, but you have to decide what kind of risk it makes sense to take.
Hi Lori,
No the website hasn’t been hacked :). Just the site owners on a holiday and writing their experience. We thought that it would be a worthwhile information as it might help some of our readers.
Just want to clarify (and it has been mentioned in the post above) that we did have 2 very decent stays in a foreign country along with our kids. This was a tragic situation (for the host) that was made really bad because of the way AirBnB handled it.
I am both and Airbnb host as well as an airbnb guest and I am very happy with all referrals as well as the places i have stayed through airbnb. I have to say that i WOULDN’T check in a hotel in a foreign country WITHOUT confirmation, phone number and address. Typically you want to be sure you have a place to stay BEFORE you book your airfare to said location? I too blame you for not planning in advance. Who does this kind of 24 hour planning with small children in tow?
Hi Sheryl,
We were already in Italy, and going to a different city. Again, this highlights that AirBnB would be risky to use in a similar situation. I would much rather use a hotel next time.
Have to agree with those that said you took too many risks with fragile fellow travellers. Save that for when you are on your own or as a couple prepared to be flexible. Panicking, and not having email on your Iphone (essential when traveling), didn’t help.
Using your ownership of this website to try to get revenge….not pretty, and not of interest to readers. Please return to what people visit this site for.
Dude – you’re an idiot for forcing your family to go through this. AirBnB is not the sheraton, SURPRISE!!! Why did you ever think it was. I feel sorry for your kids, I’m guessing this won’t be the last terrible experience they go through with you as their dad…