[bbertelsen]

The last AirBNB I stayed at, I received a bad review. Their negative review stated, passively aggressively, that I had only completed "some of the checkout list items". The list of chores was 3 pages long and was provided after booking. They also charged me a $250 cleaning fee. Never again.

[mkipper]

It seems like most people have a "never again" Airbnb story at this point.

I once rented a condo in a city on the east coast, and the rules mentioned that the kitchen is available but to avoid cooking anything "crazy". No further details were provided. My partner and I boiled two lobsters and sauteed a few scallops, thinking that wasn't a "crazy" thing to cook in a rental by the Atlantic ocean.

A few weeks later (one day after the review window closed), we got a DM from the owner telling us that they found the lobster shells in the garbage, and that us boiling the two lobsters was in violation of the rules. Supposedly, the odor from our cooking triggered their incredibly acute seafood allergy to the point where they could no longer live in their own condo, and they filed a complaint with Airbnb seeking $500+ in damages. There was, of course, no mention of this seafood allergy anywhere in the listing or in the rules regarding cooking.

Airbnb threw away the claim, but in an attempt to mollify the host, they allowed them to write a negative review of me (after the review window had closed) and how I permanently ruined their condo. Thankfully I don't care very much about having a spotless reputation of Airbnb anymore, but it's crazy to me that Airbnb did anything to appease someone who basically tried to extort another one of their users through their platform.

[willcipriano]

If this was a real business instead of a magical internet business you could take the 3 pages of chores and tell them where to stick it. Why are they allowed to alter the deal once you arrive?

[asdff]

Its not really a magical internet thing in this case, this reads like what a landlord would do with your security deposit. What do you know, let slumlords become unregulated hoteliers and they will do shady slumlord crap in the hotel industry too.

[natoliniak]

the last place i stayed in via Airbnb requested not only to take out the kitchen garbage, but to also deliver it to the city dump. The place itself was nice and worth the money, but after paying the $100 cleaning fee i declined to turn my car into a garbage truck. I have not used it since.

[roflyear]

If they charge a cleaning fee and leave you a bad review about not cleaning you can dispute it usually and maybe even get the fee refunded.

[throwayyy479087]

Good advice, but I don't have to do any of this when I stay at hotels. I really like the core idea of AirBNB, but between their crappy hosts and the damage they do to neighborhoods, I won't deal with them anymore.

[bgorman]

I had a similar experience. Airbnb still has not refunded me, and the negative review is still online.

I doubt I will get a refund. But I will certainly never use airbnb again.

[mjhay]

Go through your credit card - you can generally get a chargeback if the vendor has been unresponsive.

[asdff]

airbnb could ban you from the platform potentially

[BenjiWiebe]

Since they said they'll never use airbnb again, that's probably not a concern.

[bogomipz]

Amazing, a $250 cleaning fee AND a list of chores 3 pages long? So basically you were prepping the AirBnB for the next guest and were graded as if it were their employee. Is staying in private home or apartment over a hotel really worth all this? I just always think my time and stress level is worth more than this and opt for the hotel.

[low_common]

Why would you stay at a place that has a chore list and a $250 cleaning fee?