The satellite image of my Airbnb rental is shocking — I want a refund!
Some of our cases get relegated to the dismissed file simply because of the attitude of the consumer. This Airbnb guest’s story was almost one of them.
Almost.
VACATION RENTAL PROBLEMS AND SCAMS
These are the real-life stories of travelers who have encountered dramatic and expensive vacation rental problems or scams and asked our consumer advocacy team for help. From bad hosts to outright scammers and everything in between, we tell the real-life experiences of vacation rental guests and Consumer Rescue’s efforts to fix their problems.
Mon Dieu! In real life, that cute Airbnb rental is uninhabitable. What now?
Airbnb guests Elizabeth Knox and her husband recently discovered bed bugs aren’t the only pests making accommodations uninhabitable in Paris. Soon after arriving at their cute rental in the City of Lights, they found another family already enjoying the apartment.
My Airbnb host pulled a $13,314 bait and switch on me. Help!
Isaac Chambers says an Airbnb host just hit him with an expensive bait and switch scam of sorts. After you hear his troubling story, you’ll likely agree.
Many months after Chambers booked the perfect vacation rental for his wedding party, his Airbnb host abruptly canceled the reservation. Citing “synchronization” issues as the cancellation reason, the management company suggested several undesirable replacement properties in Palm Springs.
Now just two months before his wedding, Chambers’ group has nowhere to stay. That is unless they want to rent the exact same Airbnb vacation rental with this host – for an additional $13,341.
So what are those “synchronization” issues that allowed the host to cancel this Airbnb and relist it at a much higher rate? That’s what Chambers is asking Consumer Rescue to find out.
I booked two Airbnb rentals by accident. Can I get a refund?
No one needs more than one vacation rental in Paris at a time. So how did Virginia Wong end up booking not one but two accidental Airbnb rentals in the City of Lights?
An Airbnb nightmare: Am I looking at blood stains in the bed?
Koji Kawana and his family were looking forward to an exciting five days in New York City. The group had a tight schedule with plenty of activities planned. What they hadn’t planned for is the Airbnb nightmare that was about to confront them.
Now Kawana wants to know: Shouldn’t Airbnb refund him for this nightmare of a vacation rental?
A filthy vacation rental is not my thing! How do I get a refund?
When an Airbnb host directs Andrea Walker to use the service elevator in the building where she is renting an apartment, she’s slightly suspicious. However, when she opens the door to the unit, she knows she definitely won’t be staying. The Airbnb host apologizes for the state of the filthy vacation rental and quickly agrees to a refund.
So why does the host later tell Airbnb that Walker spent the whole weekend at the property?
Why is this Airbnb host asking me to sneak into the property?
What if you traveled halfway around the world only to find the vacation rental you booked on Airbnb is likely illegal? That’s the situation that confronted Alex Tarce when he tried to check into his Tokyo rental, and the host asked him to sneak in behind the doorman’s back.
What’s going on here?
I lost $1,721 in the “TripAdvisor” long term rental scam!
TripAdvisor is not in the business of long term rentals, so if you come across one on the site, it’s surely a scam. But first-time apartment hunter, Haley Cline was unaware of this fact.
When a friendly “TripAdvisor-approved owner” emailed her about a spectacularly discounted year-long rental, no alarm bells went off. The scam only came into focus after Cline sent her initial $1,721 deposit via Bitcoin to the online predator.
My vacation rental host won’t refund my security deposit. Is this a scam?
Can a vacation rental host refuse to refund your security deposit — no questions asked? I discovered the answer from one unreasonable VRBO host is, “Yes, I can.”
I have news for her: No, she can’t.
This story is another in our file of outrageous tales of travelers being fleeced by vacation rental hosts and franchise hotels alike. These owners are helping themselves to hundreds and even thousands of dollars of their guests’ money with little to no justification. And unfortunately, the cases are piling up at an alarming rate.
Is this legal? Here is the most excessive Airbnb cleaning fee ever!
James Parker just got hit with the most excessive cleaning fee I’ve ever seen as a consumer advocate. Soon after checking out of his recent Airbnb rental, the owner sent him a $1,470 bill to clean up the mess she says his family made.
But what mess was she really cleaning up?
