Getting the address wrong, not providing the real number, and expecting worldwide email connectivity for support was all poorly thought out. But worst is that AirBnB offered an "instant booking" without having any idea whether or not the host was currently willing and able to honor it. Rule #1: Spammers lie.
>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).
If you're travelling with all of the world's luggage, two kids and your mother in law, why the hell would you book accommodation the day before? It's not a setup that can bear any risk. Or even chill out at a nearby coffeeshop for an hour or two if your host gets delayed.
So he takes two little kids to a country where he doesn't speak the language, with no directions, no confirmed place to stay, unreliable internet connectivity and somehow he isn't the one to blame?
> "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"
Key question: is that actually how it works? If Airbnb says you can go directly to the address as soon as the booking is made, and expect to be let in, the author has a valid complaint. If not, well, not.
I don't know how Airbnb works, but my hunch is that an "instant booking" just means you get instant confirmation that you have, in fact, successfully reserved a room for a given set of nights. I would be surprised if it also meant that you have a right to expect the host to let you into the house immediately. If I reserve an Airbnb room at midnight, and show up at the address at 2 am, surely I don't have a right to expect to be let in on the spot.
> I don't know how Airbnb works, but my hunch is that an "instant booking" just means you get instant confirmation that you have, in fact, successfully reserved a room for a given set of nights
It also means that I am instantaneously liable for the cancellation charges. If the host doesn't respond after the instant booking (as happened in this case) I forfeit all the money. There is something wrong in this business case and AirBnB should look in to it.
I have already talked about the other issues in my post.
Yeah, this sounds like poor planning to me. Most of the complaints are limitations of the traveler writing the story, not AirBnB. Plus, the author admits that a tragedy was the reason the homeowner didn't reach out. That's unfortunate for all parties involved, but it does not represent how the service generally works.
This seems to have nothing to do with Airbnb. Wouldn't common sense tell you that even though it's "instantly confirmed" to get some other kind of confirmation before taking your whole family to Italy without speaking Italian?
I am the author of that post and just wanted to clarify a few things.
First, the intention of the post was twofold: Blow off a little steam at the anger I was feeling and second, to highlight the risk someone is likely to face in a similar situation.
I have already admitted that this was risky, and therefore, not a great idea to do. In a similar situation, a better deal would have been to book a hotel rather than go through AirBnB. And that is the crux of my article. AirBnB is risky in a similar situation (travelling with family, travelling overseas etc.)
Next, the major issue and the failures were AirBnB's on multiple fronts:
1. Sending me the address wrong. I am not sure how this happened, but either the host deliberately provided the wrong address to AirBnB or something went wrong in the AirBnB's system.
2. Their support insisted that I wait for 5 hours or more for the host to be at the address. Otherwise they would charge me for the cancellation. Again, note that the address that they wanted me to go to was the wrong address (and no one knew at that point that that was the wrong address).
3. Asking me to follow up on the email rather than try and sort the situation over the phone.
Regards,
Vikram
I will individually reply to the comments if there is something specific that needs addressing.
It is only "risky" if you do what the author of the article did and leave no room for error. I have used airBnB several times in foreign countries and always had a fine time (albeit with a few minor glitches). Although the same is true even for hotel arrangements, with airBnB it is even more important to plan ahead, confirm things, and stay flexible.
So the faults of AirBnB would be much clearer if the author would make clear that he understands he made obvious mistakes. This is one of those cases a little bit of mea culpa would have made his point so much clearer. As it is the reader skips over judgement for AirBnB and only thinks about how can this author think what he did to his family was ok.