I’m currently in South Korea on holiday and have spent way too much time dealing with Airbnb instead of actually enjoying my trip.

I booked a place, clicked confirm and pay once, but somehow ended up with three separate bookings for the same property, dates and guests.

All three confirmation emails arrived within a minute (12:46–12:47). Airbnb even sent me a duplicate booking warning at 12:46, but another booking still went through at 12:47.

Airbnb keeps insisting I made three separate bookings, without really addressing the evidence I’ve provided.

The host requested cancellation of the two extra bookings, but I’m still fighting to get my AUD $1,772 back.

I also raised disputes with PayPal. One was denied because they said the transaction was only charged once, which isn’t even what I’m disputing. The other is still under review, and I’ve now involved my bank.

Honestly, it’s exhausting having to explain the same thing over and over while on holiday.

Has anyone dealt with something similar? Did you manage to get your money back?

TL;DR: First time using Airbnb. I paid $1,700 for a pet friendly beach stay for my mom’s 70th birthday, including a $300 pet fee for our two small dogs. I specifically skipped properties that disclosed no pets or pets couldn’t be on furniture/beds because our dogs sleep with us. This listing had a detailed pet policy but never mentioned that restriction. The handbook provided after booking says “no pets on any furniture/beds” and the AC must stay between 70–75°, neither of which were disclosed before booking. We check in today, so I asked if I could bring my own linens and completely cover the beds, and the host agreed, which I appreciate. But now I’m bringing bedding, blankets and fans to make the stay work. Had I known these restrictions beforehand, I wouldn’t have booked it. Am I unreasonable for feeling blindsided, or are these rules that should have been disclosed before booking? Help with options, suggestions, advice. Thanks.

Location: florida

Full Story: Hi y’all. So I booked a pet friendly Airbnb as a surprise for my mom’s 70th birthday. It’s about $1,700 total, including a $300 pet fee for our two small dogs. When I was searching, I specifically skipped properties that either didn’t allow pets or said pets were allowed but couldn’t be on the furniture/beds. Our dogs sleep with us, so I knew those properties wouldn’t work for us. The Airbnb listing for the property I booked had a pretty detailed pet policy. It listed the pet fees, number and size of dogs allowed, housebreaking requirements, additional cleaning fees for pet messes/stains/shedding on linens, leash rules, etc. Nowhere did it say pets weren’t allowed on furniture or beds. We check in today, and this is a surprise trip my mom is incredibly excited about. When I finally sat down to read through the house handbook, I got to the house rules and saw in bold: “There are no pets allowed on any furniture or beds.” The handbook also says the AC has to stay between 70 and 75 degrees, which was not disclosed in the listing either. I’ve slept in a very cold room since I was a kid, so that actually matters to me when choosing somewhere to stay.

Had I known either of these restrictions before booking, especially the pet restriction, I honestly would have chosen a different property. At that point I was freaking out trying to figure out what to do without ruining my mom’s surprise the day before the trip. I messaged the host and asked if I could bring my own linens and blankets and completely cover the beds so the dogs could sleep with us. She agreed, and I genuinely appreciate her working with me. She’s actually been pretty nice but now I’m packing my own bedding, blankets and fans to make the stay work, and the more I think about it, the more frustrated I am. I paid $1,700, including $300 specifically for the dogs, and I feel like I’m finding out important conditions after I’ve already committed to the reservation.

This is also my first Airbnb stay, so maybe there’s something about Airbnb etiquette or expectations that I don’t understand.

I’d genuinely like your perspective:

1. Am I being unreasonable for feeling blindsided/frustrated by this?
   
2. Would you consider “no pets on furniture or beds” and a 70 to 75 degree thermostat restriction rules that should be disclosed in the listing before a guest books?
   
3. Is it normal for additional restrictions like these to first appear in a house handbook provided after booking?
   
4. If this had happened to you, what did you do, what are the options?

I’m not upset that the host has rules. It’s her property, and I completely understand that. My issue is that if I had known the rules before booking, I wouldn’t have booked the property.
Any advice is appreciated.

I don’t know how to proceed.

I booked an Airbnb this past weekend with no reviews, but I felt comfortable because the company had over 6,000 reviews, mostly 5 stars. When we arrived, there were some major issues. It was a great location and clean, but they advertised a lot more than what was there. They also didn’t have basic things, such as a shower curtain or linens for the pull out bed they know we were using (we had to confirm the number of guests multiple times).

We contacted them that night to let them know the WiFi didn’t work, that we wanted a shower curtain, and that there was no hand or body soap in the bathroom as advertised. We also let them know there were no linens for the pull out bed. They were responsive, but clearly all AI responses.

The next day none of their maintenance team showed up, and we were told housekeeping was on the way but hours later had not received our linens. We also noticed there was no microwave or dishwasher as advertised, and there were no handles on any of the cabinets or drawers in the whole place. There were also some other falsely advertised things we pointed out. Again, all apologies but no action.

The next day they reached out via text (not the Airbnb site) to offer us 20% off our stay. I politely declined and said that 20% was not enough to cover nights of sleeping without linens and having to buy our own. They said their housekeeper was in a car accident the night before and that’s why we didn’t have linens.

When we left I messaged saying I would be requesting a full refund and that I was upset at the lack of action. They said they’d forward our request to their team. Didn’t hear anything for over a day so I opened a case with Airbnb.

Airbnb reached out to them, they said they’d refund us 20%. I again declined and said we were requesting a full refund. They declined, so we were refunded 20%. After more back and forth with Airbnb, they agreed we deserved more and Airbnb refunded us more themselves.

I then left a one star, but pretty positive review. I pointed out the issues and said I was disappointed, but also said it had great potential and could be improved to be a great place.

Of course, today they reach out saying they had planned to reach out today but we had already left a negative review, and are now trying to fight with us to change our review. They sent pictures of the newly installed shower curtain and handles to prove that there was change. After back and forth multiple times, they keep insisting I change it. How should I handle this? Should I report it to Airbnb?

Host just called and said she’s putting us in a different unit due to damage in the one we are supposed to be in. There is not a full kitchen in this unit like the other, and we have a cooler full of food to cook. We paid almost $200 (high for this area) because it had a full kitchen. We have no where else to go. What do we do?

I recently booked an Airbnb for Monday through Friday and ended up leaving after the first night because of a pretty concerning safety incident. I'm wondering if anyone has experienced something similar or has advice on how to handle Airbnb Support.

I was staying at the property alone when two people (a man and a woman) entered the Airbnb using the door's access code. They successfully unlocked and fully opened the door while I was inside. I was standing right there when they entered, and they seemed surprised to see me.

They apologized and told me the host had sent them to check on the property. Apparently, one of them was a cleaner, but I had received absolutely no notice that anyone would be coming, let alone entering the property during my reservation.

What concerned me most was that these people had a working access code to the Airbnb while I was staying there. There was also no peephole on the door, so I couldn't even see who was outside.

As a woman traveling alone, I felt extremely uncomfortable knowing that other people could access the property without my knowledge or permission. I decided to leave that evening because I no longer felt safe staying there.

I immediately contacted Airbnb Support, reported the incident, and requested a full refund. I paid approximately $330 for the reservation.

After their investigation, Airbnb informed me that they had taken "appropriate action" regarding the safety incident but would only refund me $171.95 for the unused nights. They're now closing the case.

My issue is that I didn't leave because I changed my mind or wanted to cancel my trip. I left because two strangers were able to unlock and enter my accommodation without any prior notice or consent.

I understand they're refunding the nights I didn't use, but I feel like that completely overlooks the reason I had to leave in the first place.

Has anyone dealt with something similar? Will I be able to receive a full refund?

I remember there being more search options, like OMG or amazing pool. That's what I am looking for. An extravagant luxury pool with waterfalls and maybe a spa cave.....

Using the luxe button only gives me two options. Without luxe I am looking through hundreds of options. Each has to be opened to see if the pool is heated and fancy. It's a huge chore.

Do you have any advice when searching for something specific?

I wish we could enter search words. Like...massage chair!

Some of us are looking for an experience.

Thanks!

When I came back from work to the Airbnb, I found these two roaches in the bathroom (photos in the comments). I am not sure if I should plan to leave tomorrow and look for another place, or just toughen it out and stay. I have this place (basement bnb in Washington, DC) booked until the end of month.

A friend booked an Airbnb in California, and the host showed up late at night without warning. Some things were said that made her feel uncomfortable enough to pack up and leave immediately. She’s physically fine but pretty shaken. Airbnb refunded her stay, and that’s all that’s happened so far. Is that really the end of it?

She’s staying at a hotel for now and wants to know if she has any other options. She asked me not to share the details, so I’m keeping this vague.

Basically as the title says. Our group stayed at an airbnb last weekend. The host left me (my reservation) a positive review saying "X's group was great." These are important to me as I frequently use Airbnb for large groups which many hosts are wary about, but the reviews let them know our group causes no issues.

I left a review (4 star) because of incomplete check in instructions, broken appliances in the kitchen (nonworking freezer & ice machine, can opener broken and cut a guest, Glad lid to pot that was cracked, etc minor things) and mentioned the fact the twin beds were quite uncomfortable and not fit for adults, so keep that in mind when booking (listing says specifically sleeps 10 so I thought it's good info to read in a review- I would have loved to know that when booking and no reviews had mentioned that at this point, and we had adults who picked couches over the twin beds and so they didn't feel it was worth the price). I still said if they fix/replace those items and people know it should really only be sleeps 6, I'd still recommend it (hence 4 stars).

Less than 10 minutes after leaving this review, the host deleted their review of me as it was "inaccurate". This is clearly retaliatory as I didn't leave a 5 star review of them because the only thing that changed was the fact they read my 4 star review. How does airBNB allow this? Support is saying they can't put the positive review of my group back up on my profile and I can't edit to add to my review that this is how the host reacts to anything less than 5 stars.

Doesn't this defeat the entire point of having reviews both ways and the reviews be anonymous until both sides posted? Is this the host being petty over 4 stars? Am I missing something here because I don't understand how this would be allowed or okay. Ultimately I have multiple positive "great group" reviews on my profile so it shouldn't affect my ability to continue to book airbnb, but dang what a weird experience.

I’m staying in an Airbnb for a week. When I got here the garbage was full and only one toilet tissue available that was half used. Kitchen wasnt as clean because other guest stay there as well. When I entered the kitchen one night I seen a roach took a picture messaged the host about what to do with the garbage and how I seen a roach. I sent it to them and was blatantly ignored no response and it’s been over 24hours. I’m actually very upset about it because I could’ve easily called Airbnb and got a refund but I wanted them to come to me with a solution and they said nothing. In this scenario what would you do ????

My husband and I will be opening our first airbnb in December. Trying to decide whether to protect the mattress with a waterproof breathable cover. For the hosts out there - do you recommend it?

My family and I are traveling to Mexico (total of 14, some elderly) and the Airbnb we booked was a completely fraudulent post, and it was completely disgusting to the point where no one felt comfortable even sitting or laying the furniture. Airbnb has been so slow to respond or fix this issue. My family has basically been homeless and on the street for 12 hours in a foreign country and they’re just giving us the run around, giving us mixed messaging or just straight up ignoring our messages. Anyone else have an experience like this? My family is exhausted, demoralized and stressed on what was supposed to be a relaxing vacation.

I’m currently staying at a lovely AirBnB in France and had a serious issue last night.

We are staying in a flat in a quiet residential building. When we got back last night, the front door to the building would not open. While the key fob was lighting up as “green,” the door would not budge. It was stuck shut. We sent messages to the host; no response. It was after midnight and he was probably asleep, but it just then dawned on me that we had no way of contacting the host in the case of an emergency - something you don’t necessarily think of until you need it.

We tried everything. Being after midnight, there was no foot traffic from neighbors, so we walked all around the building looking for an alternative entrance. There wasn’t one. We tried calling every single phone number on the building call box. Nobody answered. We asked for advice at the hotel next door. No help. We hit that fob 100 times and kept jiggling the door, but nothing worked.

Interestingly, the neighboring block of flats - part of the same building but a separate tower with its own entrance - had its front doors propped open with handwritten signs saying the entry system was not working. I’m thinking this may be a known problem in these towers of flats.

Finally, out of desperation, I had my partner put the key fob on the pad and I kicked the door as hard as I could. Mind you, this was a 100 year old glass inlaid door that I was horrified of breaking, but it worked: we got in. The old door is likely warped.

In the morning, the host responded and was apologetic, but refused my ask for a phone number in case of an emergency. He said he’s not available after hours and the flats have no caretaker or security guard, so sorry, but you’re out of luck if there’s a problem during the night. When I pushed back, he said we should call the “French 911” and maybe the police or fire department could help, which is a ridiculous suggestion.

I cannot explain how much stress and fear this situation caused us. Kicking in a door is not the right solution, and I think it’s wholly unreasonable to not give your guests any emergency contact. There’s plenty of issues that can happen in the middle of the night and need immediate help that the police or fire department can’t help with: broken pipes, flooding due to appliances, doors falling off, keys getting stuck in the door lock. Believe me, as a landlord, I’ve seen it all, and while middle of the night phone calls from tenants suck, it’s part of the business.

I am genuinely seeking feedback: is my request for an emergency contact number reasonable? I’ve never given a bad review to a host before, but his indifference and refusal to provide a phone number after an actual incident has left a really bad taste in my mouth. Thanks in advance for your advice.

I’m going to visit my sister with my parents and staying at an Air BnB at the local beach since there’s not room at her place for 5 extra people. The plan was my sister would come by with her twins for an afternoon so we could all go to the beach together. She’s never met my baby and I’ve never met hers, so we were all super excited that the first time the babies would see each other was at the beach.

I was reading over the house rules that the host sent me just now and it says no one is allowed on the premises other than people on the lease? It was not listed that way when I rented it, I would never have chosen the house if it had been. When I tried to contact them they didn’t even reply to my question other than by copying and pasting the rule back to me.

Is this normal? Is there anything I can do to put their mind at ease? My sister offered to send them a copy of her driver’s license so they could background check her or whatever, but I didn’t know if there was something else I could try? It’s such bullshit. I totally get not wanting parties, but to say I can’t have a guest for three daytime hours one day out of my week+ long stay is insane.

I am staying only 4 nights in Madrid, Spain. After accepting my Airbnb booking, the host sent me a lease contract to sign outside of Airbnb. I read the contract and it seems standard, but im wondering if that’s normal..Should I refuse to sign it? It’s only a 4 night stay.

I just searched for a 2 bedroom unit. The description starts, "...to our 2 bedroom..." then the 3rd paragraph says that I only have access to one bedroom and that the 2nd bedroom is reserved and not part of the booking. Is this normal?

hello, i have an upcoming trip to new jersey in november.

i already booked my airbnb, but did it under the reserve now and pay later, i was wondering how i could split my payments up after that cause it only gives me an option to pay the whole cost up front .

Has this happened to anyone else?

I am a host and had a chat with a support agent who was completely unhelpful, just copy pasting replies. Nothing got resolved and I basically said it’s fine, left the chat open and went about my day.

A little later, I got an Airbnb verification code I hadn’t requested, immediately followed by a login to my account from India. I logged onto Airbnb, removed access for the Chrome account from India and changed my password. Then the exact same thing happened again. Changed my password a second time, but I was freaking out so I changed all my other passwords as well.

Some time after that, I went back to close the support chat from earlier and noticed “No, I’m done” had already been selected under “Do you still need support?” even though I never selected it. I clicked the feedback option and it said “Thanks for your feedback” as though feedback had already been submitted too. I never did that either.

Am I going crazy or does this look like the support agent accessed my account somehow? Has anyone had anything similar happen?

Hello currently at an Airbnb in Palm Springs and we arrived this evening and the smell is just really bad. It’s a smell from the vents or something musty.

The last review on the property was in April so we were wondering if the property had not been used since then.

I contacted the host via messaging at 1:40 AM (I know very late, but we were trying to find the smell and deal with it) we then contacted Airbnb and the transcript is below (couldn’t figure out how to add a screenshot).

Basically…. What are our options here? Do we just keep calling the 1800 number?
——
To Airbnb support:

After I called 1800 number and started taking via chat:

“This is the message I sent about 30 min ago to the Airbnb host:

Howdy Dustin, sorry to bother you, and maybe we can resolve this in the morning but there is a “musty” / wet smell that is permeating through the house. It’s quite strong and is unfortunately bothering my partner quite a bit.

It’s unfortunately keeping him up and we are looking at potential options of cancelation or moving to a different property in your portfolio possibly?”

From Airbnb:

Okay, thank you. I’ll do my best, but they’re not responding right now through the call, so we’ll need to wait until the morning. Sorry about that.

Me:

At what point can I escalate?

Because the smell is very very strong.

Hello? ( sent after 5 min of silence)
——-
Never heard back after my hello

Edit: put screen shot in comments (sorry it’s 3:00 and I’m fumbling 😅)

EDIT at the bottom. We got contacted by Airbnb about this situation.

So we’ve booked an apartment with the active filter “pets allowed“ because we put our 3 dogs in the booking details beforehand.

The host welcomed us yesterday without any trouble.
He even let our dogs play with his own dog.

He then called us today at 17:30 that no dogs are allowed and we have to either throw them to some dirty cage behind his house or he has to throw us out.

I managed to calm him down so we’re staying one more night right now.

I wanted to find out who’s at fault here and found out that their “house rules” state “no pets” after you click on them and expand the list.

We find this very confusing. The host must’ve seen our booking. He must’ve seen that we arrive with 3 pets AND confirm it. It doesn’t make sense.

Also why do we see apartments like this if we have set the filters to only show us apartments where pets are allowed?

We didn’t try to hide anything. How is it possible that something like this can happen?

EDIT:

We had a friendly call with someone from Airbnb and they stated that the host changed the rules earlier today.

So the accommodation was listed as pet friendly which allowed us to book it.

We are eligible for a 100% refund if we want to leave and they also contacted the agency behind our apartment regarding this case.

EDIT 2:

The agency tried to move us to a different apartment which didn’t offer the same services that we needed. We said that we can’t accept this apartment to which the agency said that’s all they can do.

We then gave the keys back and started to look for a new apartment for the same day. At the same time we tried to get someone from Airbnb on the phone to finally resolve this issue.

it took us 3 hours of texting and calling until we had some manager on the phone who agreed to refund us the original booking 100% plus a little bit extra for the ruined day.

I’d like to name the agency but I’m not sure if I can here. They ended up with nothing now and if they would’ve just agreed on giving us the money back earlier it would’ve taken not even one tenth of the time we spent yesterday to resolve this.

Why after almost 10 years of renting on Airbnb as customer and being verified that entire time are they suddenly asking for another verification in order for me to book this new reservation. What prompts this? And how can we bypass this? It's so dumb!

We checked into a cabin on Sunday for a 5 night stay. The listing was new and had no reviews but the host had a high rating. The listing stated twice that the cabin has “no visible neighbors” and a mountain view from the deck. No visible neighbors is a direct quote. After booking, I noticed that they didn’t show any pictures of the mountain view. I messaged the host and he confirmed there is not a mountain view. That should have been my first red flag. I kept the booking because at least we would be secluded. I also messaged to confirm the indoor fire place works because it’s something that’s important to our kids. The host confirmed it was working.

48 hours before check in, I received the arrival info. It stated there are 2 neighbors within 50 yards of the cabin. Since the listing clearly said no visible neighbors, I assumed it meant they were hidden behind a bunch of trees.

I was incorrect. One of the cabins is close enough that I can see people walking in it from our master bedroom window. The other cabin is directly across from the hot tub without any kind of screen. There are a few trees in the way but if the person is outside of their cabin they can clearly see us. As a side note, the fire place that they assured me worked does not.

I’m requesting a partial refund because of the inaccurate listing. When I asked the host about the neighbors after arrival they pointed to the arrival notes. Again, the listing specifically touts no visible neighbors and the 50 yards info wasn’t given until 48 hours before check in. What percentage of a partial refund should I ask for? The rental was around $2,300 USD for 5 nights.

Edited to add: crazy the number of people who… think I would book there again? Based on this month later message from host. I do know how private property works, it’s more the fact that someone can be that childish about their business over honest feedback. Carry on though

Can they do that? He sent me a very detailed and butthurt response to my PRIVATE, not even public, feedback on his BNB. My main issue was with cleanliness, due to the towels and washcloths being full of someone else’s hair, which I discovered after I had showered. I let him know that in the feedback that that was my only issue. The feedback was also given on September 19 or 20th, and he just responded today.

He proceeded to respond with letting me know that we’ll never be allowed back with him since he’s so imperfect and he needs perfect Airbnb ratings to support his daughter. He then proceeded to block myself and my husband, who was responding to him. I didn’t see this until a little bit later so I didn’t get a chance to talk to him directly or defend our feedback.

But since he specifically cited us not giving him five stars as the reason he doesn’t want us back, I’m pretty shocked to say the least. Not that there was really a chance we would’ve used him again, because we’re local and we did a staycation. But now we definitely would look elsewhere.

I’ve used Airbnb many times, almost all good experiences. We always follow checkout instructions and leave it just the way we found it, and I’ve always received good reviews from the host. We rented a great place last week, I told the host several times during the week how much we were enjoying it, we left the place the way we found it and I wrote a glowing review. But nothing in return (now a week later). What’s up with that?