Had my first bad Airbnb experience

We're in Bethesda for a few days. We rented a house through Airbnb. I've done this a number of times. Up 'till now, the worst house was...exactly as described. The others all exceeded expectations. This one though, wow. 

I could list the many issues we have with this place, but here are the heavy hitters:    

No A/C it was advertised as having ac, but it's inop, and 90 degrees. That wouldn't be soo bad, but there are no fans, so we're sitting here, basting ourselves in our own sweat. 

The front door doesn't lock, at least it didn't the first night. 

The door jamb is beat all to heck too

it was advertised as two bathrooms, one of them has a door that doesn't close, the other, well.....

yup, that is flex-steel or similar that is covering rusty hand rails. 

But wait, there's more!

same bathroom

No, I am not kidding. 

The bedroom door doesn't close

i could go on. It's a dive, not clean, hot, crappy lighting, but we can't afford a hotel, and the other Airbnb bouses are booked. So here we are. 

Airbnb has been good about getting back with me after I filed a complaint. They're going to give me a partial refund. 

Partial refund?  That’s the kind of place where you should get full refund and they should be kicked off from listing it again 

I hope you paid like $20

Man,  that shower head!

Uh, did it have any pictures posted online? Were they using fake photos? 

In reply to Antihero :

Exactly -- what was the rental fee?  If the rental was $50 a night, I can see it being a dump.  If your were paying anything near DC market hotel room prices I'd have walked immediately. No A/C is a deal breaker!

Cotton said:

Man,  that shower head!

What?  That thing is worth at least $0.05.  

In reply to nderwater :

I think the lack of A/C is the least of his worries, id more be worried that the crackheads that were squatting there would come back and find that someone was in their "house"

The fee is a little north of $100/night. 

Airbnb said they'd give me a 35% discount because od the lack of ac, but I think I'm going to push for 100% refund for the first night because of all the issues, including the fact that the front door would not lock. We slept like crap knowing that the house could not be secured. 

After filing my complaint monday night (1st night here) Airbnb contacted the host. He replaced the shower head, and repaired the two doors that would not latch, and the front door that won't close, sorta. You gotta throw your weight into it to get the deadbolt to work. 

He tried to get the ac working, but was unable to, even though he told me it was fixed. 

Supposedly an ac tech is going to come out today (Wednesday) and fix the ac. 

It sounds like airbnb plans on only offering the discount for nights that the ac doesn't work. I'm not standing for that. This place is a dump and is not as advertised. 

The pics were just general pics of a few rooms, none of these issues were visible in the pics. 

Step 1: Get the berkeley out of there

Step 2: Dispute the charges on your card (Hopefully Amex. Always book with Amex)

You can't find a hotel for $100 a night ?

Is your business/pleasure in Bethesda? could you get a place on the redline further out like Rockville and just metro in as needed?

iceracer said:

You can't find a hotel for $100 a night ?

No, looks like $300 is what it takes. Having 5 people limits possible rooms. 

In reply to DrBoost :

Take lots and lots of pictures. Be able to paint a picture to AB&B customer service that this specific host is not abiding with their terms of service and if they tolerate that they're damaging their brand.

I always thought of Air Bnb's as dorms, which given the pictures looks like what you got. After my father-in-law started doing a bnb for a family trip I learned that Bnb's can be really nice. Last year I stayed in one that had a bathroom and shower in every room. 6 rooms!!!

That shower head looks like something posted on failblog's "there I fixed it"!

http://failblog.cheezburger.com/thereifixedit

Can't pay hotel prices so you stay in a cheaper, unregulated option and it's rough? It may fall under "you get what you pay for".

Wow.  Just, wow.

We've stayed in one Air BnB- it was in downtown Phoenix, was $50 a night, and was impeccably clean.  

I can't believe that places such as you're describing exist in Bethesda.  That's some seriously high-rent district there.

We're actually contemplating doing our own Air BnB in Westminster, Maryland.  Our property has a guest house that we're almost finished remodeling.  It's going to be for in-laws and friends to stay at, and we might Air BnB it when it's otherwise vacant.  It would be a bit of a hike from DC for you, but for $100 a night you'd get a fully renovated 1 bedroom detached house with heat and A/C and a brand new bathroom.  Everything's been replaced with new down to the studs. 

Plus there's a dozen old cars parked outside and we have chickens.  

It's only 1 bedroom but the main room has plenty of space for air mattresses.  It'll soon have a full kitchen, too.  

Keith Tanner said:

Can't pay hotel prices so you stay in a cheaper, unregulated option and it's rough? It may fall under "you get what you pay for".

Maybe, but it's also a case of 'I'm not getting what was advertised'. 

This house is not equipped as described, the cleanliness and ghetto factor are a different issue. I paid for a house with:

three bedrooms - check

two bathrooms - nope

air conditioning - nope

furnishings for 6 people - nope

other things that are not stated, but assumed:

a home that can be secured against intruders - nope

doors that close - nope

proper ventilation - nope

not having a combined income three times the national average does not limit my vacation choices to places like The Moist Towelette Museum. My choice to have three kids does severely limit hotel choices. We simply had to work a little harder to find a way to make this affordable. Airbnb is one way of doing that, sitting here in the National Museum of Natural History and eating a packed lunch is another way.   

The house is ghetto, and does not live up to the standard THEY set on THEIR post. 

As of today, the doors are fixed and the AC works as of an hour ago. Now it's been elevated to the level of non-inviting. 

But I knew there'd be someone to mention that. 

Leave it up to the Canadian to be that guy 

Maybe I've just stayed in too many hotels near the interstate in the middle of nowhere or in different parts of the world, those pictures  show a place that doesn't present well but mostly works. I mean, that showerhead would probably be the highlight of a trip for me for sheer creativity. My wife might not see it the same way though.

I do understand having a problem if the place doesn't have the number of bathrooms it's supposed to. That's legit if you have a family. No AC sucks, but I've experienced lots of bad hotel AC over the years. I have low expectations in that regard.

I'm not saying you should pony up and pay for the Ritz. I totally understand traveling on a budget. I've done my time backpacking. I've stayed in some seriously sketchy places. It happens, especially when you're paying way under market price for accommodation.

Work with AirBnB, see what they give you. Trash it in the reviews, because that's what reviews are for. Go buy a couple of cheap oscillating fans at WalMart to take the edge off the heat. And make it an experience.

Dr. Boost..

2 chains to look for in Hotels

Drury Inn  and Embassy Suites.

We are a family of 6 and Embassy Suites are AMAZING.  2 rooms.   Included Cook-2-Order breakfast,  Managers Recep (Free Booze and Snacks), always a pool and hottub.

We had two Airbnb experiences- one was awful.  

We contacted the owner and made her refund a days rent due the handyman that finished the plumbing work at 9pm on a Sunday.   She agreed and we got our refund.   

I think that the most telling action you could have taken would have been to simply leave the first night. Stay at a hotel while also asking for AIRBNB to resolve the issue. Unless the AIRBNB legal language states that you have to stay during the issue resolution period. 

If you have adult kids then maybe you need to get two rooms but with little kids a single room with two double beds would be nice and cozy.