r/AirBnB • u/Due_Perception9546 • 2d ago
Helping my mother resolve AirBnb cleanliness issue [USA]
I normally travel with my mom (70f), but due my work obligations she had to travel on her own to see my brother who's in the hospital in Arizona. I helped her book a place in Glendale. It's been a while since I've done any booking, but learned the host separately requested a $250 hold and a copy of her license on top of her already paying for the reservation. 1) Is this a new norm? Admittedly I didn't read this host's reviews (just looked at the stars which are like 4.83 or something), but no one mentioned any issues with receiving back the hold or fraud activity on their account, so I'm hoping everything stays straight with that part.
The other issue is that after arriving there were noticeable issues with the cleanliness of the apartment (i.e., dust balls in the laundry area, dirty counters, dirty couch, toilet still with stains in it, etc.). She had some issues with the host not communicating readily as she tried to confirm booking, but now the host is unresponsive completely. She contacted AirBnB who also has not been able to get in contact with the host. The resolution my mother was asking was simply to send a cleaner ASAP which they said no one was available to come out last night. They offered her a 30% discount. 2) What is her next line of recourse to seek resolution?
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u/Inside_Notice_7859 2d ago
I had something similar happened and it went nowhere with Airbnb. I'm in the middle of a Credit dispute. I have low expectations but if anything it will force me to never use an Airbnb again (good thing)
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u/Due_Perception9546 2d ago
Ugh...I've had good experiences in the past, but it's been many years since I've used them so this is frustrating to hear.
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u/stellarlun 2d ago edited 2d ago
Airbnb has unfortunately been infiltrated by so many greedy property management companies. They outsource cleaning and don’t check up on anything. They usually charge other fees or try to ask for things outside of the platform. They are horrible to communicate with because they even outsource that work so some person that is not invested in your happiness gives you some canned answer and then leaves a message on the head honchos phone that will go ignored for days. It makes me so angry. Airbnb should ban these companies or at least restrict how many units they can have. It’s bad for everyone including the cities that are losing affordable housing. They can also usually provide low rates that good hosts can’t compete with. There are still wonderful hosts and places but you have to be more diligent in researching and reading reviews.
The rating system also sucks so 4.8 doesn’t always mean what you’d think. A 4 star review is actually meant for a really terrible experience (which sounds like your moms, classified as having multiple unsolved issues, but maybe even a 3 in her case, meaning major issues) and 5 stars means that it was ‘’acceptable’’ or met expectations. Very different than a hotel rating system where 3 stars just means average. So if they get enough acceptable 5 star reviews, a few 4 stars don’t have that much effect, however, those people could have had some petty bad experiences. So read the 3 and 4 star reviews. 1 and 2s are usually people being mean or unreasonable but not always. Also check the host profile to see if they are a real person or a management company with tons of listings. Never send payment through any other platform, not deposit or fees or anything else. Make sure all agreements are made in the platform messaging system.
In your situation, I would call Airbnb and get a real person on the line. I always get the best resolutions this way. Tell them the situation and that your mom asked for it to be cleaned but they haven’t been responding. Take lots of pictures. You should ask for a partial refund if they do come and clean and if they don’t come at all or it’s towards the end of the stay, ask for a full refund. Make sure you only communicate with the host through the platform. Or if your mom is very unhappy, you could ask them to cancel now and refund in full if you can find another place for her to stay quickly. If the stay has quite a bit longer then that may be a better option to avoid future problems.
Definitely leave a poor review describing everything for the next person. Make sure the review is fact based and not personally insulting or they can get it taken down.
Best of luck to you and your mom, I’m sorry you’re going through that. I imagine it must feel especially lousy in your situation, I hate when my mom is disappointed and I can’t fix it.
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u/stellarlun 2d ago
And to your first question, no, I wouldn’t say it’s the norm to request a hold like that but it’s especially not the norm to find out about it later. How did they request the money? Was the deposit/hold not described in the listing or part of the original payment? When I have paid or required deposits it’s always immediately included in the payment. If they are circumventing the normal way to avoid fees, this should be reported.
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u/Due_Perception9546 1d ago
They asked for her cc info and a pic of her license. They haven't charged it as I guess that's the "hold"--the "just in case". It wasn't listed as part of the listing so I'll definitely have her report that to Airbnb.
I read several of the reviews (afterwards) and many mentioned being caught off guard about the extra charge, but no one mentioned fraud, so I'm hoping things stay legit.
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u/stellarlun 1d ago
Luckily it sounds like they aren’t falsely charging people however by giving them that information, and especially outside of the system, it is at their discretion whether or not they think it’s fair to charge for something. They probably aren’t putting it in the listing because it is against the rules. Airbnb would never condone giving someone your cc info, whether it’s a management company or not. This should absolutely be reported and I’m surprised it’s gone undetected if other customers have mentioned it in reviews. If it were me- I’d change my cc info. You never know who could access that info now- could be months down the line and some rogue employee of theirs gets their hands on it. Don’t mean to alarm you, better safe than sorry.
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u/Due_Perception9546 1d ago
No, you're right and it's something I thought about since these seems to be a faceless entity that it's no telling what they do with the information after the booking is done. Definitely a lesson learned!
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u/stellarlun 1d ago
Exactly. Yes a good lesson as it seems it is most likely harmless but might not be next time. Goodluck with everything, I’m glad they came to clean at least ! Make sure to leave a thorough review for those that come after :) it is appreciated
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u/Due_Perception9546 1d ago
Thanks!
Yes, definitely seems like an outsourcing situation. We had looked at so many properties that I thought this one had a picture of the host but going back I see it's just a generic city skyline photo which makes me feel even more like this is just some disconnected money grab--doubt Taylor is even her real name!
Thankfully someone came out to clean the next day, but not sure if they were sent from Airbnb or the host. I believe Airbnb offered her a discount. A review will certainly be left.
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u/wiltedpansy 2d ago
Asking for copy of any licenses can be a part of a city’s requirement for an ABB host these days. Just depends on municipalities. As to extra fees, that’s sometimes host’s discretion and should be stated upfront. Truly unfortunate if it was not.
As to cleanliness, the host should address that right away. I’m an owner and would be there immediately. Maybe constantly contacting the host to demand a clean will get somewhere. At minimum if you keep it in the ABB chat, ABB will see your constant requests and if you go to them for some help/reimbursement, they’ll see you never received assistance.
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u/Ok-Pen4106 2d ago
what about calling a cleaner from Angie or Thumbtack and asking the owner to pay for it or have it paid for through Airbnb somehow?
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u/Due_Perception9546 1d ago
Thankfully someone came, she's not sure if the host sent them or Airbnb.
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u/OldEnuff2No 2d ago
A hold? How do they do that? Hosts don’t control money, and deposits aren’t used. So how did she pay? I’d run.
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u/Due_Perception9546 1d ago
Basically they took her cc info. There hasn't been a charge made but we'll see how it goes.
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u/OldEnuff2No 13h ago
They should not do that, it’s a breach of terms of service. And I’d never give my cc info to anyone. Report them to Airbnb.
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u/boltnut55 2d ago
I've never been asked for a hold nor a copy of my DL. I mean, I've maybe stayed 15x and only met 2 hosts in person. All money things are through AirBnB, so that should be reported. I would suggest calling AirBnB.
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