'AirBnB denied the refund': Vacation upended when guests find eviction notice on host's apartment door

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Apr 22, 2023 8:00 AM EDT

Imagine this being your long-awaited family vacation. You've been planning this week in Los Angeles for months. You reserved a nice AirBnB in the perfect neighborhood. The week finally arrives and you're all good to go.

 

According to this Reddit thread, things went downhill pretty quickly for this family after they discovered an eviction notice on the front of their apartment door a few days into their stay. Not only did the host refuse to properly sort this out with their apartment management, but also the couple didn't get their much-deserved refund. The good folks at AirBnB seemed to think that since the couple agreed to accept the cancellation policy upon their initial payment, there was no need to grant them a refund. What a great example of a company refusing to do the right thing simply because they didn't have to do so. Here's hoping this family gets a proper vacation with no hiccups like this very soon.

 

For more stories like this, here's one about a landlord's failed attempt to increase the rent mid-lease. 

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  • 01
    Font - "[My AirBnB]" got [an] eviction notice during my stay." NOTICE OF EVICTION Court Case Number: 493-R0**
    via Allan Vega
  • 02
    Font - BOOKING FROM HILL! Apt got eviction notice during my stay. Need help fighting Airbnb I'm so furious with Airbnb for ruining my vacation and I need help because they are denying my refund. I need all the twitter hashtags and ideas of which consumer advocates to report this to. I booked a 7 night stay in Los Angeles. I was traveling with my husband, and our two young kids which included our 1 year old baby.
    via u/roguecrabinabucket
  • 03
    Font - Two nights into our stay, we returned to the apartment in the afternoon to find an eviction notice on the door from the property management. The eviction was for multiple months of unpaid rent. The notice clearly states that if the rent wasn't paid back plus extra fees within 3 days, the property management would seize possession of the premises. And we had 5 more nights that we had already paid for.
    via u/roguecrabinabucket
  • 04
    Font - I called Airbnb immediately and told them I felt UNSAFE and that our stay was no longer secure. I only asked to be rebooked immediately elsewhere to a similar property in the area. I had concerns if the host would barge in and start removing her things from the apartment, harass us or what she was capable after this notice. An eviction letter is not a first time warning so obviously this was a long standing problem.
    via u/roguecrabinabucket
  • 05
    Font - Airbnb gave me 2 options. A) Contact the host and have her release us from booking. Spoiler alert: she didn't and I knew she wouldn't. It wouldn't be in her favor to do so financially. Or B) Trust the host if she said that she resolved it with the apartment management. The host said all was resolved but did not provide proof it. There's no way I could trust someone who was accepting Airbnb bookings if they didn't pay the rent. And as a 3rd party, the apartment management has no obligation
    via u/roguecrabinabucket
  • 06
    Font - So I stayed up until 5 am, desperately trying to escalate this with Airbnb, asking to speak to a supervisor, getting absolutely nowhere with them and simultaneously trying to find another place to stay right away. I could only connect to call centers outside the US, where their reps only read from a script and were devoid of any urgency or incentive to help.
    via u/roguecrabinabucket
  • 07
    Font - And Airbnb had the audacity to say if we vacated early, that we would be held to the cancellation policy which meant no refund. I asked how that was possible to ask us to stay when there was a 3 day timeline for the eviction and we had 5 more nights? Crickets.
    via u/roguecrabinabucket
  • 08
    Font - In the end, we quickly left to a hotel and I contacted my credit card for a fraud dispute. I also emailed the apartment management, sent them the Airbnb link and asked if the tenant (aka the host) was allowed to sublet to Airbnb. They replied that absolutely not, the lease prohibits any subletting.
    via u/roguecrabinabucket
  • 09
    Font - I wrote a negative review of our stay, cited the eviction debacle and the host replied that the apartment management never informed her of any problems! Obviously a lie because our messaging within the Airbnb app included her saying that she was emailed the eviction notice.
    via u/roguecrabinabucket
  • 10
    Font - Despite all the documentation, AIRBNB DENIED THE REFUND!! They're citing that I agreed to the cancellation policy and I'm not entitled to any refund. I've had my credit card re-escalate the dispute. But I need all the best twitter advice to shame them. And any consumer protection advice. I plan on notifying the Better Business Bureau at a minimum. If you'd made it this far, thank you!
    via u/roguecrabinabucket
  • 11
    Font - emw92928 hr. ago Wow I am so sorry, the pic of the eviction notice and email with the apartment management will get a refund with your credit card, because, as you said, you were in fact defrauded. I'd try my best to enjoy LA and be a bit patient if possible because you'll be refunded. 83 Reply Share
    via u/roguecrabinabucket
  • 12
    Font - roguecrabinabucket OP. 8 hr. ago I'm back home now. I definitely lost a lot of time of my vacation worrying about this. Sadly, despite all that evidence, they're still denying the refund! I'm floored as to why. I'm tempted to tweet the Airbnb link, the eviction notice and letter from management publicly. As of now, the listing is still up!! 43 Reply Share
    via u/roguecrabinabucket
  • 13
    Font - V65Pilot 7 hr. ago FWIW, the BBB is pretty much useless. It's a private organisation with no government ties. members pay to be members. Occasionally they can help with disputes, but in reality, they have no teeth. They can tell a member to refund monies. If the member refuses, the best the BBB can do is cancel their membership and place a bad review.
    via u/roguecrabinabucket
  • 14
    Font - My company got a bad review, and then the BBB contacted us. We weren't member to start with, and when they suggested we refund the monies to the customer, I pointed out that the customer had never dealt with us, instead, they had purchased from another company, in a different city, that had a similar name. Their response? "Are you sure you can't do anything for the customer?" Wait, you want me to refund money to a person who has never done business with me? Idiots. Took me weeks to get th
    via u/roguecrabinabucket
  • 15
    Font - roguecrabinabucket OP. 7 hr. ago Sorry that you were harassed by them. But if they help even a little bit in my case, it'd be worth it.
    via u/roguecrabinabucket
  • 16
    Font - Poprhetor 5 hr. ago Just so you know, reporting them to the BBB is 100% useless. It is not a government entity. The BBB is just pre- internet Yelp.
    via u/roguecrabinabucket
  • 17
    Font - UltraSPARC 6 hr. ago Hey! Your story dealing with ABNB is similar to mine but instead of an eviction notice we had multiple RATS. We had a 10 month old baby. Same deal with the call centers being completely void of any intelligence, ABNB saying if we leave then no refund. We also ended up getting a hotel. We disputed with our card company too and abnb LIED and said we stayed for the entirety of our booking to the card company. Luckily, we documented everything and had a good conversation
    via u/roguecrabinabucket
  • 18
    Font - What we've learned: ABNB has saved money by outsourcing their call centers and they don't give a about customer service anymore. They haven't, however, gotten cheap with their legal department and are eager to fight every dispute claim. It's completely ridiculous.
    via u/roguecrabinabucket
  • 19
    Font - Document document document! We wrote a very clear narrative and timeline with all supporting documents including screenshots of the message exchange we had with our host and ABNB support. It's been helpful to do this. Good luck!
    via u/roguecrabinabucket

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landlord guests Airbnb host reddit thread Reddit vacation apartment
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