What to Do if You Check Into Your Airbnb and It Hasn’t Been Cleaned
My preference for this blog is to write about the amazing places I’ve traveled and the great accommodations I’ve stayed at in each of them, but unfortunately, this was not the case with my Airbnb on my most recent trip to Paris. This experience with Airbnb was so frustrating and never got resolved. It resulted in me paying for an Aribnb I never even stayed at & paying a cleaning fee for an apartment that was literally disgusting when I arrived. I genuinely don’t think I’ll be booking through Airbnb for any of my future travel due to their complete lack of assistance with my issue.
I wanted to share this post so others are aware of how Airbnb customer service works when there is an issue where your rental is not in the promised condition, their policies around when/if they will step in and help resolve the issue, and their general preference towards the host over the guest in the case of disputes. I think it’s useful to keep this in mind when looking for accommodations while traveling, often hotels are similarly priced to Airbnb’s and if there is an issue it can generally be resolved immediately at a hotel where someone is at the front desk.
What Happened
I was in communication with the host during the day. I arrived in Paris super early in the morning and was looking to check in as soon as possible. She told me that 3PM was the earliest I could check in, because another guest was there, which was no problem. The listing had said they offered luggage storage – which was not exactly the case. They provided a link to NannyBag, a third party service that anyone can use, where a local store/restaurant etc. will store your bags for you for a fee.
I found this slightly misleading since the listing made it sound like:
- It was located on the premises (this was important to me because I was traveling for eight weeks, so I had a ton of luggage. Unfortunately, it was actually a store located about four blocks away and not super convenient.
- It was phrased as though it was free / offered with the Airbnb, which is not the case.
This listing has since been updated to clarify this comes at a cost.
This is another thing I prefer about hotels. Early check in is definitely not always possible, but being able to securely store your luggage for free on the day of check in and check out is super convenient and prevents you from having to waste entire days lugging your bags around waiting for check in or after check out.
Overall, the misleading luggage storage offering in the listing wasn’t a big deal, I dropped my luggage off with NannyBag early and planned to come back right before 3 to grab my luggage and check in. I had several paid activities booked for the afternoon that I was heading to after I was able to check in, drop off my bags and shower. I headed over to the Airbnb right at 3 and walked into a fairly disgusting scene.
The trash was full (and scattered on the ground) there were dirty dishes in the sink, the dirty sheets and towels were piled on the couch. There were no clean sheets or towels. I didn’t even get pictures of the bathroom but it was SO gross. I travel quite often and have never seen an Airbnb so dirty at check in.
At this point I was a bit frustrated, because I had waited all day to check in and needed to shower to make it to the rest of my paid activities on time.
Reaching out to the Host & Airbnb
As i first step I tried to contact the host. I did this through the Airbnb messaging section of the app, per their recommendation. I also was traveling internationally, so didn’t have my cellular on and was trying to avoid making a call and paying the charges, if possilble.
I waited 30 minutes or so and didn’t hear back from the host, so I tried to contact Airbnb directly. Airbnb customer support refuses to get involved until the host hasn’t responded for over an hour. I was getting frustrated at this point, as I was just waiting on the side of the road in Paris with 8 weeks worth of luggage. I also knew I was going to miss some of the activities I had booked for the afternoon. I only had two days in Paris and was bummed to be losing time due to lack of communication from the host & Airbnb.
Eventually, I went on my phone and found a hotel nearby. The hotel was nicer than the Airbnb and somehow cheaper, even when booking at the last minute. Since the amount of time Airbnb allots for the host to respond had passed I decided to just book the hotel to not lose any more time & request a refund through the Airbnb app.
As I was on my way to the hotel the Airbnb host responded that their cleaning service had been delayed and was on the way to the apartment, but had no ETA on when the place would be clean. I explained I had limited time and had already waited over an hour and just would prefer a refund at this point. The host declined and offered a free coffee for my troubles.
I ended up having to turn on my cellular to call Airbnb as they said it was the best way to get in touch with them. My first few attempts to contact their support were all in French and I was unable to connect to their English-speaking support for about 30 minutes. Eventually I got on the phone with support and after explaining my situation and sharing pictures/videos support ensured me my booking was covered by “Aircover”
All seemed resolved and she mentioned she’d be looking into my request and would reach out to me when the refund was processed. Over three hours later I received a message from Airbnb stating that after reviewing the issue, they determined it was just a minor inconvenience and could only offer a $15 refund. It cost me $10 just to turn on my phone to call Airbnb and I missed reservations at the Catacombs due to the delay, so I was already out more than $15. They determined that the host “promptly resolved” the issue (I got a message from the host that the apartment was clean 2 and a half hours after the agreed upon check in time)
Why I Won’t Be Booking Through Airbnb Going Forward
As someone who has spent just short of $10,000 through Airbnb since Jun 2021 and has never once submitted a complaint about a host or an accommodation I expected Airbnb customer service to be more willing to help me out with a $317 refund for a place I provided proof was dirty and in which the host did not answer in the Airbnb set amount of time. Overall, the entire customer service experience was disappointing and it was made very clear in my communication with customer service that Airbnb prefers the host in instances of dispute vs. the guest.
Going forward I’ll be favoring hotels in my travels and if I’m in need of a vacation rental I’ll be using VRBO.
Airbnb listing for reference: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/26626147?source_impression_id=p3_1670982558_A2xRTd0AeFrdFcgI
