Tell HN: Airbnb has no system in place when a host cancels on a renter
We landed at our destination and ready to check into our Airbnb that we booked almost 6 month ago, for an entire month.
The airbnb is managed by a company, who I assume manages the entire building.
The host promptly tells us it's no longer available, and that we should accept their offer of either refund or another listing that's in a completely different location, with no picture or reviews, but promised that it's "similar"
Of course, being hesitant, we said no thanks, we're happy with just a refund.
They proceeds to tells us to contact airbnb, and then ghosts us.
We open a ticket with Airbnb, calls them, and they proceed to give us the run around and tell us to just book another stay.
So what else are we going to do? be homeless for a night in foreign city?
So of course we try to book, except it's last minute and the only listings available are the once you must contact the hosts first.
Good thing we arrived at 11am and not 6pm. or we'd be literally f*cked for the night.
Why am I complaining?
Airbnb, you should do better.
I am a startup founder, I understand these types of situations has probably zero affect on your bottom line. So you probably never prioritized the need to spend engineering time "fixing" it.
You also probably look at your metrics and say, well these situations happen to <1% of our overall bookings, it's not a problem.
But PG says, the best startups are the ones who solve intense immediate pain for a small number of people.
Well, my confidence in you is absolutely shaken, and now I'm not so sure your position in the space is so infallible anymore. Because eventually this will happen often enough that "the small number of users with intense pain" will give arise to a newer and better version of you, and you will be legacy.
In the end, we booked another place last minute, had to spend 2x the amount and received a refund (well let's see in 10 days).
If I was in a much lesser able financial situation, I might not have been able to float a few thousands of dollars on my credit card, and may have literally ended up homeless.
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[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 210 ms ] threadWe were staying in a super touristy area during peak season, and the last minute hotel cost us $2000+ more than we had budgeted for the trip.
The host was completely non-responsive and our polite but negative review was removed by AirBnb. None of us have used AirBnb since.
After getting the official cancellation, Airbnb offered a $100 coupon for my next booking and asked me to book another option that fit my criteria. They asked for some "must-have" and "nice-to-have" criteria but basically just did a search for me and couldn't book for me; I had to book myself. After calling them (Airbnb's phone support is actually quite responsive, which is awesome), I was able to up the coupon to $300. Luckily there were alternative listings available for the dates I found at a reasonable price so it ended up working out, but I wonder what would have happened if I had instead booked a very unique stay in a remote area with no alternatives nearby...
- a worse experience
- more expensive
- unreliable
Is it because it's "trendy"? I don't get it.
Hotels pamper you, clean your room and towels daily, often have food and alcohol, often have shuttles to take you around, great locations, etc. AirBNB has none of that. I have to be missing something?
This seems to be increasingly not the case between the pandemic & low unemployment (and the long-term trend towards running laundry less frequently to save on water), but I've always preferred to not have them in my room while I'm there.
Each apartment was exactly as advertised and considerably, like a third or less, cheaper than the least expensive *d hotel around. The hosts were responsive and I had no troubles.
My travel costs would have doubled if I had to stay at a hotel, possibly more since hotels typically don't have kitchens.
We are much cleaner and more reliable than any hotel I have ever stayed in, but I understand that no guest could know that beforehand given the problems with some hosts on the platform.
It also usually makes sense for longer stays, say a 30-day stay where the Airbnb's usually grant a ~20-30% discount, which makes them cheaper than a hotel.
Other than that, I agree there's little reason to choose an Airbnb over a hotel.
If I'm on vacation I want to relax in a house, not a hotel. Hotel's are for sleeping to me. I guess that's fine if you just get up and go do touristy things all day. Feels weird to me that people think of hotels and airbnbs as solving the same problem.
A big part has been life stage changes, but also I think there's been a decline in safety in many major cities, such that I just don't want to risk the crap-shoot of an Airbnb any more. Hotels are not perfect, but it's a known product compared to Airbnb listings.
Instead in professional airbnbs, there's a race to the bottom with extremely bad mattresses, uncomfortable beds, heaters that don't work to save money.
No offense to you OP whatsoever. AirBnB is not a startup. It’s a public company with a $56B market cap that is optimizing for profit above all else, and your shitty experience unfortunately doesn’t matter to them. They won’t fix the problem until not doing so materially impacts their financials (or incurs regulatory wrath).
Stay at a hotel in the short term, push for more regulation in the long term. If this is innovation, ignore startup celebrities and start taking notes from Comcast.
(Also consider that the value you mention is occasionally driven by ZIRP monetary policy leading to VC capital infusions we may never see again at the scale previously seen; WeWork, Uber, etc)
This money could and should be better spent elsewhere, on actual productive assets and activities, rather than pushing for digital rentiership.
https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/990
We ended spending more money to stay at a much worse place and the host had zero repercussions from it.
We stopped by the home while on the island and found that there were other folks staying there during our reserved dates.
Airbnb knows about this scam but hasn't done anything to stop it.
Here's Joe Lycett on this exact scam:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LhbOKQnhBU
First thought on reading that the "host" offered another place. I've read about this scam numerous times, and you are absolutely correct to refuse it, as the likely target would be a near-uninhabitable insect-infested hole, but without the option to cancel because you just "rebooked" within 24 hrs, after the refund time.
I once arrived in SV and we got to our AirBNB after midnight to find that the listing was nothing like what was described - it was literally 3 different bunks in different random rooms when we'd booked several rooms in a shared house. AirBNB did give us credit worth about half the cheapest single hotel room we could find, but only after arguing for an hour.
I'd previously had good experiences with AirBNB, but it seems seriously overrun with scammers at this point, and the executives just clearly don't get it, especially at the level of PG's "solve intense immediate pain for a small number of people". There's enough of it out there to generate a lot of bad publicity and it just goes ignored. Maybe they'll pay attention with their stock near a 5-year low and under half their 52week high, but I'd sooner short it than buy it.
Was mostly suprprised to read this, as if they'd never even heard of hotels. Depending on the location, a hotel may or may not have been available, but there are shocking number of hotel rooms available on any given night in almost any location (U.S. in my exerience)
Sure.
> Of course it costs more, this is why. You essentially get what you pay for.
What costs so much here is finding new accommodation at the last second. Airbnb isn't significantly cheaper than a hotel on average, from what I can find. It mainly has a lot more options to draw people in. So really, you're not getting what you pay for.
The pricing isn't that different. It's just a worse service.
- Can't open the damn window in >95% of hotels. It's often too warm.
- Noisy ventilation you can't turn off in a significant number.
- No way to prepare your own food. If I'm staying somewhere for a week (or longer) then I don't want to eat out every day.
- There's rarely decent desk to work at. That thing with 20cm depth and a height suitable for midgets does not count.
- There's rarely a decent sofa.
People don't choose AirBnB because it's cheaper. They choose it because it gives them a better service.
It is a difficult problem. Hosts need to be able to cancel for extreme situations, such as damage to the unit, or some other emergency. Realistically, the vast majority of people who can afford an airbnb can float for an alternative place for a few days, although especially on longer stays, that might not be the case. There should at least be a priority routing inside airbnb customer service to immediately escalate to a supervisor and resolve the situation via an alternative booking, if someone comes back and says "I have nowhere else to go". It sounds like you did not get to that point to find out if they have that, but I can see how you felt like you were in an unstable situation.
It's hard for me to draw a line on what is a reasonable expectation here, but I guess they should try to provide immediate funds for everyone. Since at least a subset of people will not find their current process reasonable, and when that happens, they will find it extremely distasteful.
all the places i travelled to, airbnb had the cheapest offers. in one place where i could not get airbnb because hosts were not responsive (it was christmas, and i was booking on short notice) i ended up switching hotels twice before we found something in our budget range that was barely acceptable, while there were airbnb listings for full apartments in the same price-range.
I had 3 terrible Airbnb scam experiences in 2022, so I’m never using them again.
(My most hilarious one was that a host with like 25 positive reviews, listing said they had a hot tub and shower on property. It turns out this meant that we could go her sisters house, a 30 minute drive away, and we could ask to use hers. We tried this and she told us to piss off. That was a fun one.)
The odds of getting scammed is probably 1:100 if not less, and if people keep using them the next time even when they're the 1%, they have nothing to worry about
Good old bait and switch.
Besides issuing a prompt refund and hopefully banning the fraudulent host, what exactly is Airbnb supposed to do in such situation?
They operate a platform, not an hotel chain. They have nowhere to actually host you and are in no contractual agreement with the guest to actually get you a place to stay whatsoever. Buyer beware so they say?
They could take a deposit in advance from the host that is forfeited (and goes towards compensating the would-be guest) in case of a major problem. This would remove the financial incentive for bad actors.
Same can apply for delivery drivers, etc - if the law can't be enforced (or if the law doesn't cover this bad behaviour), you need an incentive to keep them honest.
Problem is, doing this would eat into the company's margin - bad actors still provide "supply" in this marketplace and as long as the actor isn't bad enough to land them in significant PR/regulatory trouble, they are actually still an asset to the company. Most people for example, would settle for this scam when stranded in a foreign location late at night, so in the end both the scammer and Airbnb benefits. In terms of food delivery, a dishonest driver nibbling on orders here and there is likely to go unnoticed for a long time and is better than throwing an error about no delivery drivers being available, and the occasional complaint for an outright-stolen order can be stonewalled as most people (even here!) don't seem to be aware that payment card chargebacks are a thing.
Weeding out most bad actors would mean that prices on the marketplace will rise as the downwards pressure from less scrupulous hosts (if not outright scammers) goes away, to a level where it's no longer competitive with hotels.
I think the ask is that they do these things at a bare minimum; at the moment, it appears they do neither with any reliability.
How do you expect airbnb should handle this situation?
AirCover policy says that they will find a similar place (whatever it means) or do a refund.
To not risk getting homeless, I think you need to always plan in advance for what to do in case expectations are not met with your stay.
I finally threw in the towel and switched back to hotels after our previous stay in Toronto that was a nightmare, which included:
* Claimed we had the whole house but actually there was a family living in the basement and the laundry room was shared
* Host had crudely typed out instructions and labels over everything in the place
* House rules were extremely strict and required us to clear snow
* Had a 10pm curfew (which we broke because we got in late exhausted)
* Place wasn't terribly clean despite a listing with a $250 cleaning fee
* Absolutely the worst bed I've ever slept in
* Check-out instructions included a list of chores that went above and beyond the usual asks (eg: throwing out trash)
It wasn't always like this, but I feel like the quality of hosts has gone way down. I'm guessing most of the good hosts moved on during the COVID years.
It's often more expensive. I don't understand it either.
Chores and curfews, no (although they often have rules that you have to be "quiet" after a certain time). Cleaning fees, yes.
Why would anyone use them?
Honestly I can only think of two good reasons.
You want to stay somewhere really out of the way where there aren't any hotels.
Sometimes when you are 5 or more people it can be cheaper to rent one large apartment rather than 3+ hotel rooms.
I know sometimes people also use them if they're going to be staying for a several weeks and want a real kitchen, living room etc.
Other than that, I would never use Airbnb. And even in the cases where Airbnb would be useful, I would seriously consider booking with another company before using Airbnb.
Full disclosure. Never personally had a problem with AirBnb, but heard enough stories and know enough people who have.
If you have 3-4 kids, many hotels will require that you rent a second room. That usually makes the AirBNB cheaper.
In many cases, the prices are noticeably better, but the two big other reasons are location and a unique experience.
The last time I traveled, it was to Europe (I'm US-based), where I visited France, Germany, and Switzerland. The AirBnB we had in Provins, France was amazing—it was basically just a shed in a backyard (far enough away from the house that no sound reached there), but it was very well-appointed, and right outside the window were chickens, and we were encouraged to just go take freshly-laid eggs for our breakfast.
When we stayed in a guest room in a German village near the border with France (I'm afraid I've forgotten the exact location), the host couple invited us down for drinks in the evening—we're not big drinkers, so we didn't take much, but the selection was (at least to our American eyes) amazing, and the company was just lovely.
On the other hand, our AirBnB in Switzerland was almost as bad as some of the horror stories being told here. The host couple was disinterested almost to the point of hostility, and they left us a very bad review on AirBnB afterward, for reasons I can no longer recall, after pressuring us to give them a perfect review. Even if the pandemic had not stopped our travel after that, this experience was enough that we were seriously, seriously reconsidering using AirBnB ever again.
And that's the thing: when you're planning a vacation, one bad experience can so easily overwhelm all the good experiences—especially when it comes to having a safe, clean, reliable place to sleep at night.
It's not about money, for me at least, but the experience. Hotels are generally boring, soulless, and isolated, whereas AirBnBs tend to be more like an actual home: comfortable, with personality, located in the place you are there to visit. You generally get access to a kitchen. A hotel is more convenient if you're just crashing somewhere for a night or two, but if you are trying to visit a place, and enjoy the time you spend living there, an AirBnB is better.
Back in 2011 @bluehat and I started one of the first professional hacker houses in Silicon Valley (Palo Alto).
One of our competing hacker houses had somebody die at it (found out later it was of meningococcal meningitis - yay fun terrifying times). I believe we had multiple calls from Airbnb support to help absorb some of their guests.
I also distinctly remember multiple times where we had support contact us trying to help a guest who had a last-minute cancellation from someone else. But my data is super old… We shut that hacker house down around 2016 that was around the last time I had any of these kind of calls. I also haven't hosted in 5 years.
She had some sort of dementia which is sad, but I could not comprehend how she had been a superhost with Airbnb for years. That is, until I left a review of my experience and Airbnb promptly deleted it. I'll stick to hotels from now on. As far as LA apartment hunting goes I still think I made it out unscathed.
Oh, also I started shorting $ABNB shortly after this experience and it's almost made the whole thing worth it.
Edit: It feels really good to finally tell someone about this. It was so bizarre I'm too embarrassed to tell friends or family.
That’s interesting. They can do that? On what grounds was it deleted?
The place itself was fairly standard but the host was very professional and appreciative of the custom. Seems this is a lot to expect nowadays?
And after having similar and more issues with Airbnb, i look for a hotel room.
Thought about starting simple AirBNB guest insurance company, but if it was successful, AirBNB would just offer it as a service and business would be dead within days.
If you’re going to book on AirBNB only use super hosts, since odds of them canceling a stay is significantly less, especially compared to new listings.
In my case, hosts cancelled the booking with less than 24-hours prior to the month long stay starting; Host messaged me via AirBNB’s system asking me to cancel it and saying they would refund me off platform (which I obviously didn’t do and is against AirBNB’s terms of service); AirBNB cancelled the stay for host; AirBNB told me to pay the host 3-4x more to rebook the stay, then when I told them that’s bait-and-switch and fraud, they told me to take them to arbitration; AirBNB allowed the host to relist the booking for 2-3 times more and rebook the stay; AirBNB refused to let me leave a review on the listing and/or post an automatic review saying my listing had been cancelled; they funds tied to the booking for the month long stay were paid upfront and not refunded in week after booking was cancelled; AirBNB made no effort to find a like or similar stay, they basically said using their website was identical to them helping find a stay; etc.
Do NOT trust AirBNB as a guest - always have a backup plan and funds available to cover it.
AirBNB is not the one to blame here, this problem is extremely hard to solve and all you can do is minimize the risk by renting well vetted apartments from superhosts.
AirBNB left Russia and friends told me that private renting experience went downhill. You can't expect AirBNB to solve all problems and edge cases, only to minimize them. You should prepare to eventually get screwed anyways.
There are bunch of additional issues here, like having hidden cameras in your rented place. How you expect AirBNB to solve this?
They're charging very high premium for what they offer and this creating wrong expectations in the beginning that they will solve all sorts things for you if something goes wrong, but at the end you realize that you have to deal with it by yourself at 10pm when you arrive, in foreign country.
Yes, AirBNB is possible to blame. US state attorney general should investigate them.