GITU

I was one of the most active hosts in Boston and the most active host in Cambridge Massachusetts from 2012-summer 2013. I used airbnb after years of couchsurfing (unfortunately the CS I knew and loved died when they got outside VC funding).

I have had too many bad experiences as a host. I was looking for extra cash to rent out a floor of my place 4 blocks from Harvard Yard that I never used. It was a nightmare 30% of the time. Much easier to go on Craigslist and look under the sublet section and find something direct with a motivated owner. No flash, no glamor, just works.

sandra_lemieux

I hosted once and am going to try it again this summer. So far so good.

GITU

Well, maybe once you hit 3 guests you'll hit the same ratio of problems I've had until then...

stimpy

I got invited to an Airbnb hosting event in Paris. See https://airbnbopen.com/

Can someone tell me why I would want to go to this? It costs €220 not to mention the transport to Paris, lodging, etc. I cannot fathom why anyone would pay that? I might go it if was free and they provided cocktails, but why would Airbnb expect us to pay? We help them earn money!

BuildingMyBento

I airbnb'd in Jakarta and Ubud (Bali) in the past three weeks. The a/c was rubbish in both places, but if we ever had an issue, the hosts were never on-site to help out.

Of course, that's partially why we chose those accommodations - more privacy - but beyond having a washing machine readily available (which we independently repaired for the Jakarta location), I'm still not a fan of airbnb.

milepig

Just had my first bad Airbnb experience (still in the middle of it, actually).

Had an upcoming trip to Oslo in August, booked months ago.

Host contacts me later yesterday afternoon with a somewhat suspicious message about how the "building board" had informed him they'd be replacing the floors in the unit and that it might be during my stay, so he needed to cancel.

Maybe they use different terms in Norway, or maybe its a language thing, but to me a "board" implies that this is a "condo" and owners would be replacing floors in units, not the building.

But, in any case. I replied that I understood and to please cancel on Airbnb.

No reply from him, and no cancellation has come through.

I contacted Airbnb this morning, and also have had no response from them.

MSPeconomist

Do you suspect that the floor (not floods) story is not true and the owner want to give the unit to someone else during your rental period, perhaps for more money?

Can you find something else equivalent easily? Will the owner or AirBnB do anything to help?

OTOH, it's good that the owner contacted you proactively well in advance. It sounds like the exact dates of the floor project haven't been scheduled yet, so would you want to just make a backup reservation somewhere that can be cancelled (such as a hotel) with the understanding that you'll take the original AirBnB place if it turns out that you can stay there for sure for at least for most of the period you want?

milepig

Things are slowly happening. I don't know how all this works behind the scenes, but the owner is apparently in contact with airbnb and they've declared this to be an unavoidable event, and therefore the extenuating circumstance clause kicks in. My "case" has been forwarded from the airbnb help desk to the "customer assistance" team who will "work to provide additional assistance." The owner also indicated that he's "working on solutions". I have no idea what either of those statements mean, since if airbnb is accepting the extenuating circumstances clause as far as I can tell all they have to do is hit "refund". Normally the owner would be the one to process the cancellation, so maybe they are working on something for me, but it would be nice if airbnb would say something as simple more directive like "we're working on options, please don't book another unit until you've heard from us which will be withing 24 hours" or "we're processing the refund, you're on your own."

Seems that they can take your money within 5 seconds of making the reservation - getting a refund/cancellation, not so much.

The credit did come through. They gave me some extra credit if I wound up with a more expensive place, but in the end the one I have a request to book out for was pretty much the same cost as the original.

myassesdragon

Then your full personal/private/financial identity would be exposed (and sold), subjecting you to the real possibility of "Identity Theft". Airbnb and their hosts want guests to be "verified". Quite understandable. Perhaps Airbnb needs to devise a different method that doesn't involve either party using the internet to post sensitive information.

mikesaidyes

I've used AirBnB perhaps five or six times. For the most part, everything has worked out well. I did have my first "bad" situation in Hong Kong. The building gate key broke in the lock at 2 AM. Fortunately, we just stepped out 7-Eleven, but remembered our phones. Fortunately, my boyfriend spoke Cantonese (the 7-Eleven staff did not speak English), and got a locksmith card. Fortunately, I had 600 HKD on me since we had just arrived earlier that day.

The unfortunate part? When I called the host, she simply just said "well, I don't know how to help you, it's 2 AM. I don't know any 24 hour locksmiths." She did reimburse me the full cost of the locksmith, but I was just shocked at how unhelpful she was. She also reminded me she wasn't a hotel. I reminded her that I'm aware of that, but that she should've been prepared for emergencies. Had we not found a locksmith, we would've had to pay for a hotel. Thank God I didn't have to have that battle.

Stuff can happen, sure, but that's the only thing that's happened to me. I made sure to leave my experience honestly on her page and I'll use AirBnB again on my next trip.

abari

Out of curiosity (maybe i missed something i'm not trying to be rude) what should she have done? kick down the door? If you broke the key in the lock (the only way of getting in) and it's in the middle of the night I don't know what options there are. I thought it was nice of her to pay for the locksmith.

The way she handled the situation and her unhelpfulness would annoy me as well. When i stayed in an AirBnb i arrived to no running water.. The host simply said "oh i'm sorry i forgot to tell you they're doing construction this week." Other than ditching the place and going somewhere new (which at the time i didn't realize was an option), i just left a negative review and called it a day.

AirBnB definitely has it's downsides, mainly if you get a lazy/unhelpful host you're on your own for the most part.

stimpy

Believe me it has its downsides for hosts too when you get crazy guests. But at least their reviews and verification system help.

Kagehitokiri

for host, setup seems better than other rental sites?

mikesaidyes

That's the problem. As the host, you should be prepared that something like this COULD happen. We handled it, but it was very frustrating that she was like "well I don't know what to tell you." Well, I know it's not a hotel, but I treat it like staying in someone's house. At said house, even if they didn't know a locksmith, they could look one up. What if I was alone with no phone? Know what I mean?

stimpy

It's better in that Airbnb has a global database of reviews. When someone attempts to make a reservation, I can see their entire review history, when they joined, how they got verified, etc. Most of my guests have good reviews, but some are a bit off.