‘I was surprised by his review’: Airbnb guests get their trip refunded after home owner shows up to property unannounced and gives them a bad review

Author image for Eleonora Bader
Eleonora Bader
Mar 17, 2024 12:00 PM EDT

Airbnb used to be way cheaper, but thanks to inflation (among other things), it's almost better to check into a hotel. Also, hosts can be frustrating to deal with. I'm not saying guests are angels, but let's just say it's a double-edged sword. This poster (OP) was attending a friend's wedding and opted to stay in an Airbnb. They had to make sure that pets were welcome, because they were bringing along their dog. Luckily they found just the place but upon arrival, the Airbnb owner showed up unannounced. This is very much against policy… But OP was okay with that… at first.

The owner told them that there was a pet fee, which OP completely forgot about and offered to pay immediately. The owner said it was okay and didn't take their money… Later, things became complicated, because as it turned out, the owner did care, but instead of being upfront about it, they wrote a scathing review. Scroll down to read what happened, and then check out this dude who accidentally turned off his mobile data and demanded the company compensate him. For 20 minutes.

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  • 01
    "Airbnb host left me an unfair review and it cost them hundreds..."
    via Canva
  • 02
    Airbnb host left me an unfair review and it cost them hundreds
    via u/District_Dan
  • 03
    I recently attended a friend's wedding a few hours away from home and the gf and I decided to get an airbnb so she could bring her dog. We found a nice place that allowed pets, took off early from work and arrived Friday late afternoon. About 30 minutes later, the owner shows up to see how we're doing while we have the dog on the porch. We make some small talk, and he mentions that we didn't indicate we were bringing a dog. I felt bad, as it was an honest mistake, and I'd never lie to someone to
    via u/District_Dan
  • 04
    money, and says that he loves dogs and eventually heads out. We don't think too much else about it, but when we leave, we decide to give the place a much more thorough cleaning than was in the instructions. The dog didn't chew any furniture or leave any other damage or mess, at least that we didn't clean up. In our minds the trip was a success and the Airbnb was a great fit. I got the email from them to leave a review and I left a 5 star review and said the house and the owner were great. But th
    via u/District_Dan
  • 05
    that I was bringing a dog, how dogs causes them so much more work, and how we shouldn't leave dogs alone in the house. This didn't sit well with me at all, since I thought we had handled this person to person when he came by on the first day. I was, and still am happy to pay for the pet fee, and there was no indication anywhere on the posting that we couldn't leave the dog alone for a few hours while we were at a wedding, nor did he say that while we chatted and told him we were here for a weddi
    via u/District_Dan
  • 06
    I responded to him that in the chat and said as much, and while Airbnb couldn't do anything about the review since it didn't violate any of their policies, my gf did point out that hosts aren't supposed to show up to the property unannounced. I had no idea and figured this was his property and he is allowed to show up, at least to check in with the guests. Normally I wouldn't care, especially since it was a very cordial interaction, but since he took a cheap shot with my review, I decided to do
    via u/District_Dan
  • 07
    the interaction, and they spoke to him. A week or so later they let me know that he was in violation of their policy, and they refunded me 2/3 days of the stay, which came out to about $200. All because of a bad review.
    via u/District_Dan
  • 08
    heartPotatoes · 1 yr. ago We had an Airbnb host- after reviewing us and a month after our stay message us regarding black sharpie stains on the granite counter. They said my 9 month old niece somehow got on the 4 foot tall counters and defaced it. They said we were disrespectful and should've told them about this instead of trying to hid it under the coffee pot. I told them "have you tried wiping the marks? That looks like skid marks from the bottom of the coffee pot" It was. They didn't apologi
    via u/heartPotatoes
  • 09
    tinyhorseintapshoes . 1 yr. ago I use VRBO, I'm a 5 star guest. We pride on leaving the rental cleaner than when we check in and treat the house like it is our own. One rental had candles for use on the deck, which was really nice for late night dinners. We were out and I randomly grabbed a pack candles to replace the ones we used. We got a 4 star rating instead of a 5 because the candles we bought weren't soy. 6.1k Reply Share
    via u/tinyhorseintapshoes
  • 10
    This-Ad-2281 · 1 yr. ago A family member did a 1 month long rental of an air bnb that was pet friendly. They brought their dog and paid the deposit, cleaned up before they left. The host gave them a bad review.because the pet friendly air bnb had some dog hair in it after they left. 1.9k Reply Share
    via u/This-Ad-2281
  • 11
    ShowMeTheTrees · 1 yr. ago I had something similar but no way to get revenge. It was my first time doing home-share on any site and it was vrbo. Paid the pet-fee. Followed every rule. Cleaned up like crazy. Left the place spotless. Owner asked us to strip the beds and "put the sheets on the floor" of the laundry room. I did that, except I put them in the laundry basket instead, thinking it was nicer. Last step to cleaning was putting everything in the dishwasher and started it up as we walked ou
    via u/ShowMeTheTrees
  • 12
    She asked us to review and we gave 5 stars and happy words. She instantly hit us with 4 and said "could improve". I can't even imagine what that meant???? I treated the home like my own and you couldn't tell that anybody had spent the weekend - just 2 old folks and a dog. If I do home-share again it won't be VRBO. I don't want to start off with a bad impression. Edit to add - I kind of resented the cleaning since these places charge a HUGE cleaning fee. I mean, when I stay at the Hyatt, I walk o
    via u/ShowMeTheTrees
  • 13
    This is one reason I really prefer to stay a Hyatt than a home-share. If I wanted to spend the weekend cleaning I could stay home. 885 Reply Share adgxhfajidv. 1 yr. ago Extended stay hotels have kitchenettes and are totally comfortable. They even have some meals included. Whenever possible my husband and I choose hotels or extended stay hotels whenever possible. 317 Reply Share
    via u/adxghfajidv
  • 14
    rockthrowing 1 yr. ago I don't do Airbnb so I didn't know they had a policy about owners just showing up (it's awesome that they do) but as soon as I read he randomly showed up I was immediately uncomfortable. That's just not okay. I'm glad you reported this 660 Reply Share Sweet_Attention_1064 • 1 yr. ago It actually made me wonder if he has cameras on the property and that's how he found out about the dog. As well as the dog staying by itself (although that could have been because he knew abou
    via u/rockthrowing, u/Sweet_Attention_1064
  • 15
    • susanforeman42 · 1 yr. ago My family (5 adults, 1 older teen, 1 8-9 yo, 1 dog) stayed in a Vrbo in July. We followed the cleaning requests of the house owner (stripping the beds, washing dishes, etc), paid the pet deposit, and in the follow up, the owner said she couldn't tell we had a dog or two kids at the house. It was a beautiful place and we want to keep it on the list to visit again. The host was so tickled at having good guests that she asked what she could do as a host to make it bette
    via u/susanforeman42
  • 16
    Nessie Reddit · 1 yr. ago I remember the golden days of AirBnB when they were cheaper than hotels ans hosts cared to provide a great experience. Now there are very few and rare situations where I'd stay in an AirBnB again because they're now typically way more expensive than hotels and many of the hosts are money grubbers looking for a quick buck without any care for the guest experience. 200 Reply Share
    via u/NessieReddit
  • 17
    Domestic Chaos • 1 yr. ago Once when we were planning a move, I booked an AirBnB for my daughter to get a head start on job and apartment hunting. She took her best friend, and they basically stayed in a bedroom. They did what they needed to do during the day, attending job interviews, saw a couple of rental possibilities. Then they went for supper and came back to their room around 8/9 pm. I got the weirdest review back, basically the owner saying "I don't know why your daughter thought it was
    via u/DomesticChaos
  • 18
    know that while offspring can be not always what we expect them to be, I have never experienced any of my kids use a fork to munch off a whole chunk of cake. Meanwhile there were three other teenagers in the house, the Airbnb's own kids. So....huuuhhhh. I wonder who the real cake thief was? (The owner also sent a photo of the fork in the sink. Like that was the actual crime?) 228 Reply Share
    via u/DomesticChaos
  • 19
    itspronouncedkc . 1 yr. ago My two sisters and I recently rented an Airbnb that slept four people. Two in the queen size bed and two on the fold out couch. My eldest sister was to stay on the fold out couch by herself which I stated during the booking process. I assumed, going off of the listing photos and details, that the fold out would be a full size. Upon our arrival to the Airbnb, we found that the couch was only half opened up making it a single instead. I contacted the host and apologized
    via u/itspronouncedkc
  • 20
    touch the fold out and that she'd already contacted her cleaning guy to come back over and set it up as a full, but that we'd be charged an extra 25$ for his return trip and could pay him directly. I responded quickly saying that we did not have any physical money on hand and would just go without the additional bed set up and instead swap our original sleeping arrangements, promising to leave the couch as it was. She then said he was already on his way and we could just pay her through the Airb
    via u/itspronouncedkc

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reddit stories guests dogs pets refund airbnb owner Awkward homeowner bad review Airbnb policy couples pet fee trip unfair review holidays vacation
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