My Airbnb Disaster! Be;ow

[Don Konipol]

Well, before I go into that, I will tell you that I've been on both sides of the STR equation. In 2015 my daughter and I ran a company in NYC that rented apartments on 12 month leases and then "Airbnb" ‘d them from 1 - 30 days. It was extremely profitable, but we were eventually shut down because of NYC enforcement of minimum 30 days rental…..but that's another story.

Anyway, I’ve been on the customer side of Airbnb probably 20 times in the last 8 years (I’ve also done direct with owner as well as VRBO in their various forms)

We booked a house on the north Jersey shore for July 1 - 31.  Although I always check that the host has a good number of reviews, I do sometimes book with hosts new to the platform.  And up until this month my experience had always been satisfactory plus.

Here is my daughters recap of our experience

On July 1st got to house had to clean out refrigerator full of food that was expired as far back as July 2021 it took 4 trash bags to clean out the fridge and half the freezer
There was no room for us in any cabinets so I put our dry goods on the kitchen counter top
I took the kids outside to the back yard and that’s when I noticed an ant infestation on the right side of the house
I also attempted to do laundry and as I opened the washer there was a pungent smell of mildew
July 2nd went to use the toaster oven to find it unsanitary And completely unusable
July 3rd I bought some ant spray and Affrim washing machine cleaner
On the night of July 5th I found about 20-30 ants crawling all around the kitchen counter tops and on our food I moved all dry goods into bags having to throw away some of it
I then went to kill the remaining ants on the kitchen counter top and when I moved a kitchen appliance I noticed there were ant traps already set
July 6th I contacted Airbnb about all the issues of cleanliness and the ants I said I wanted my money back and there response was that my complaint wasn’t within the 72 hour window
The host sent an exterminator and a cleaning crew to “deep clean” the house and professionally clean the washing machine
July 7th the host set up for the exterminator to come and told me I don’t need to be there and that he will get a neighbor or friend to come wait but apparently he didn’t set that up and so when they came no one was there so they left.  the host had tried to contact me to see if I or my dad was there but I was with my kids enjoying our vacation when I saw the messages I replied and he apologized for the inconvenience and asked if I could wait around for the exterminator tomorrow I agreed
July 8th the exterminator came and spray both inside and outside
July 9th I went to change the sheets in my sons room I took off the mattress topper to find it out and falling apart so much that the mattress was filled with pieces of it I then contacted the host to let him know and as I went to get pictures of the mattress topper I found 2 bed bugs I sent pictures to host and immediately contacted Airbnb I had to insist for the host to send the picture to an exterminator to see what they say (he kept saying he didn’t know what they were and had no solution) and just as I thought it was bed bugs and we had to wash all clothing and spray down all suitcases I immediately collected all belongings put all my clothes in trash bags and went straight to a wash and fold to get everything washed
The maids that were supposed to clean the house came
The exterminator was going to come July 10th
July 10th I told host I’m unhappy with the accommodations and I wanted a refund he refused and said he would only refund me back for the 21st-31st of July.
Airbnb contacted me about the bed bugs and after there “ investigation “ with the pictures I provided and the exterminator having to come out to spray they still held to it wasn’t within the first 72 hours of check in
I told them to go ahead and cancel the Airbnb reservation because I won’t be going back there to which the agreed to do

After refusing to refund any of our money, Airbnb kicked the problem up two levels and told us that we could get 10 days refund, as it would take the host 10 days to get the property resented.  When I pointed out that I couldn’t believe Airbnb would allow this host to rent the property so soon after bed bugs were discovered, as it usually takes two or three extermination sessions to get rid of the eggs, the Airbnb rep told me he would speak to his supervisor.  His supervisor did call me about 6 hours later, and state that it would be best if I could work it out with the host.  I told her there was nothing to “workout”, the property is uninhabitable, it failed to meet Airbnb standards from day one, it was never cleaned, etc.  she said she’d call me back.  She did and said a refund for 10 days (of the full month I paid) and reimbursement for laundry and one nights hotel was all she could do.  I told her I would pursue legal action and publish a review of the situation on every social media outlet available.  She asked me to take no action until she got back with me.  I agreed

So yesterday an Airbnb rep does call, and offers a refund for the unused 20 days.  I thank him, but tell him. I will only accept a full refund for the total 30 days as the property was never in its advertised condition.  He tells me that I didn’t contact Airbnb within 72 hours of arrival, I respond that I’m sorry that the bedbugs weren’t cognizant of the fact that they needed to be discovered within Airbnb arbitrary timeline.  

Next thing I know I get an email from Airbnb informing me of a total, full refund, all 30 days.  Then, bizarre as it can be, I get a phone call from another Airbnb rep telling me Airbnb “made a mistake” and meant to provide a refund for only 20 days, not 30.  And he stated that he needed my permission to charge for the 10 days, and would I give him permission?  When I stopped laughing I nicely told him no.