The Airbnb concept has come a very long way since 2007, when its co-founders came up with the idea to invite paying guests to sleep on an air mattress in their living room. According to Airbnb’s latest data, it now has in excess of 5.6-million listings, covering more than 100,000 cities and towns in about 220 countries.
And while there are still many “mom and pop”-type hosts, there’s huge growth in the number of those who own more than 100 properties.
What if you happen to arrive at the property, having paid upfront for you stay, and you find it’s rundown to the point of sewage in the driveway or a green swimming pool?
Well if your hosts give you the cold shoulder, Airbnb will honour your “guest guarantee”, provided you act fast.
Brand coach and radio personality Liezel van der Merwe, from Cape Town, had a nightmare experience at an Airbnb in Port Alfred which her family booked for a Christmas break at R7,500 a day.
“On arrival at the seven-bedroom home, we noticed a number of areas in the property that were unclean, but initially we chose to overlook them, not wanting to tarnish our family holiday,” she told me. But the issues weren’t minor, certainly not at that daily rate: the house had clearly not been properly cleaned for some time; the utensils and pots were rusty; the crockery was chipped; the cutlery draws were dirty; the oven was greased up; there were loose wires; and the kitchen cupboards were sticky, inside and out.
There were no bulbs in the bedside lamps, the windows in the downstairs bathroom and bedrooms wouldn’t open, the curtains in one bedroom were filthy and literally stuck together, and there was bird poop on one sofa. Plus, the drains were blocked and it was impossible to miss the sewage smell.
But worse was to come.
The sewerage system collapsed and on the best weather day of their holiday they had to wait for plumbers to arrive, then supervise their work. The only amends the owners offered, Van der Westhuizen said, was an extra day’s help from a domestic worker.
“They had various excuses for the condition of the place, ranging from the fact that no one else had complained to the Covid-19-related lockdowns having hampered maintenance work.
In general, their attitude was that we were being over-critical and that our ‘Cape Town attitude’ would be better suited to a hotel.
— Liezel van der Merwe
“In general, their attitude was that we were being over-critical and that our ‘Cape Town attitude’ would be better suited to a hotel.”
On the plus side, she said, the house was in a wonderful position, beautifully designed and the sheets and towels were good quality and very clean.
In another case, S’bu Rantsoabe of Durban made a spur-of-the-moment booking for a two-bedroom Cape Town flat for his family of four from December 21, departing on December 26.
He had already travelled 600km and was nearing Bloemfontein when he received a message from the Airbnb host saying that due to “synching issues” his booking was cancelled.
He protested, of course, and was eventually given similar accommodation, but for one night less than he’d booked for and, because he wasn’t refunded in time to book elsewhere, the family ended up driving home on Christmas Day.
“It was my first Airbnb booking, but I have seen others complaining on Airbnb about such cancellations,” he said.
I contacted Airbnb’s media office in London about both cases. The company’s response has many lessons for those making an Airbnb booking.
“We were disappointed to learn about Van der Westhuizen’s experience and have made things right with the guest and taken appropriate steps with the host. In the rare event that something is not as expected, guests should contact us within 24 hours and our customer service team is on hand 24/7 to help,” I was told.
Here’s why: Airbnb only releases payment for a stay to hosts 24 hours after check in.
“If an eligible issue comes up during a stay, we offer refund and rebooking support to guests through our guest guarantee,” Airbnb said.
The company also stressed that all communication and payment for stays should be done on the Airbnb platform.
Van der Westhuizen paid her hosts directly and communicated with them privately, not on the Airbnb platform.
So if a host asks you to pay your deposit directly into their account, take that as a red flag.
Airbnb continued: “We have taken appropriate action with the host, including educating them on our policies and standards. The listing has an average 4.7 stars out of 5 for cleanliness based on previous guest reviews and we’ve not had prior cleanliness complaints. We hold hosts on Airbnb to high standards, including on cleanliness, and violations can result in removal from the platform.
“Our global Community Support team is on hand 24/7 to help our community and can be reached by phone, through our Help Centre and on Twitter at @Airbnbhelp.”
As cancellations by hosts can have serious implications for a guest’s trip, we enforce strict penalties, including blocking listing calendars for the same dates, unless the reason meets certain limited exceptions.
— Airbnb
About Rantsoabe’s experience, Airbnb said: “The guest did not report this issue to our customer service team at any point. While this was handled directly between the host and guest at the time, we’re disappointed to learn about the guest’s experience and have reached out to offer them a coupon as a goodwill gesture towards a future stay on Airbnb. We’ve also contacted the host to look into this further and take appropriate steps.”
As for hosts cancelling bookings, Airbnb said: “As cancellations by hosts can have serious implications for a guest’s trip, we enforce strict penalties, including blocking listing calendars for the same dates, unless the reason meets certain limited exceptions. Under our guest refund policy, if a host cancels on check-in, we will rebook the guest into a new listing of equal or greater value, or offer 100% of their money back.” Rantsoabe received a R4,000 “coupon” from Airbnb.
The most recent view of the Port Alfred property Van der Westhuizen rented was posted on its Airbnb listing in September 2021 and it contains a clue that standards had begun to slip.
“The house is not entirely bad, but we were disappointed a little when we got there.”
So that’s a top tip: always read the most recent reviews, especially now, given Airbnb hosts would have lost a lot of income with the lockdowns of 2020 and maintenance and refurbishments may have been reduced or stopped as a result.
Here’s another tip: when looking for a property on Airbnb, add “Superhost” to the filter. They gain that status by having 80% five-star reviews.
Always leave a review of the Airbnb you’ve stayed in as a service to other consumers. If your experience was bad, say so, give detail and be truthful. It’s not defamation if it’s true and in the public interest.
Always take the trouble to mention the positives as well.
And remember: if you’re unhappy with what you find in your Airbnb spot, complain within 24 hours of arrival to benefit from that “guest guarantee”.
CONTACT WENDY: E-mail: consumer@knowler.co.za; Twitter: @wendyknowler; Facebook: wendyknowlerconsumer
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