Airbnb troubles

[Administration]

I stopped using Airbnb for a few years because of the nonsense but recently tried it again. A friend from out of town wanted to visit La Romana so I set up a few Airbnb reservations. I realized hours before we are supposed to make the trip that I had not received a reply from the host despite contacting them on the Airbnb site. So I looked through my emails and found her phone number and contacted her through Whatsapp. She replied that her condo is not available and I should just cancel it on the Airbnb site. The problem with that is they only refund 50% and keep the fees. If i cancel after checkin she get's 100%. So I told he to go ahead and cancel my reservation and refund all of my money, i'm paying zero. Which she has not done. Obviously she's looking for her payday. For nothng. To make things worse, Airbnb only has robots for customer support. I mean they are headquartered in San Francisco as a huge tech company, they could at least get some offshore tech support.


So I'm thinking Airbnb should not even be permitted to operate in Dominican Republic. They enable scammers to take advantage of tourists and only offer support from robots.

Obviously not everyone is evil, but there has to be a more friendly way to do it.

 

[RDKNIGHT]

Morning .

I doesn't work that way anymore. after you make a reservations if they do not confirm it you can cancelled with no penalty .. they must have change it after they found up about that scam... to be honest I never have a problem with airbnb I love it cause i hate paying 18 % tax to the hotels than get my eyes gouge out from the hotels prices

 

[Administration]

Morning .

I doesn't work that way anymore. after you make a reservations if they do not confirm it you can cancelled with no penalty .. they must have change it after they found up about that scam... to be honest I never have a problem with airbnb I love it cause i hate paying 18 % tax to the hotels than get my eyes gouge out from the hotels prices

The restaurant taxes have been a bit annoying to me, it's itbis plus house tip plus server tip, that's 38+% so $100 meal turns into $140 to 150. And more than one server has told me if I pay the tip by adding it my bill and pay using a credit card, the restaurant owner will take their tip and the server won't see one peso. So maybe that's true but it's crappy business in my opinion.

She confirmed it, when I go to the "cancel" page and pick "host needs to cancel" it says "don't do that". They want to refund me for one night, but she would keep the money from the first night and Airbnb would keep their fee. That's the first time I recall the host cancelling but refusing to refund. I'm wondering if she even has a place in that area. she's crazy though in my opinion, with her mobile number in the DR it's possible to get every piece of information about her within minutes. So if she is actually running a scam her days of doing so are numbered, probably.

I've had a few problems but years ago, similar. like property doesn't exist, is 50 miles away because the host listed their personal address on the site. One time a host cancelled online minutes before check-in but gave me a refund. One time a tree had fallen on the house, which was not the host's fault but it had happened hours earlier so they could have contacted me. I stopped using Airbnb for years because they charge up front and there can be issues. With a hotel you get to show up and see that the place exists and everything is OK and then pay them.

Side note, I've stayed in hotels in Brazil where they show you to your room, ask you if it's ok, leave the key with you, then charge you when you leave. I think maybe people did things that way in the US in 1800's Not sure if people ever did it that way in DR.

 

[CristoRey]

Call me old fashioned but I've never taken an Uber or stayed at an Airbnb. I prefer to spend a little more and stick with what works. If ain't broke...

You can buy a pre-paid SIM card (burner phone number) in the street here for 60 pesos. Good luck with getting your money refunded.
Respect, Refund and Responsibility are few and far between.

 

[chicagoan14]

You're right, Airbnb has really terrible support. I got to an airbnb once and they didn't have the room I requested with a balcony so they offered me a room on the first floor with no window...but there was no power the entire day. (I could've dealt with no power with a breeze and sunlight) Frustrated, I wrote Airbnb about the issue. They told me they couldn't issue me a refund until they called the property and I kept asking them what part of there is no power do you not understand?

So i left and found another place. They asked me to send them photos of the "no power" which I thought was absurd. I just turned the lights off at the second place I went to and sent a photo. They say "oh this checks out we will process your refund."

I was in disbelief.

I've been using airbnb for years but only in the last two years has it become an issue. I think the new craze of inexperienced people with "extra" income on the island buying up apartments to rent or their family's vacation properties isn't going to work. Renting out a property on airbnb is more than just making sure it's clean and leaving the key.

Ironically both Uber and airbnb were intended to be cheaper alternatives to taxi's and hotels. Depending on my purpose for renting, hotels are usually more cost-effective unless I have family or friends and want to use a kitchen.

 

[Administration]

The host now claims it is my fault because I booked without asking her first? Is that a thing? I've never heard of having to get permission from the host to book an airbnb listing.

 

[Administration]

Call me old fashioned but I've never taken an Uber or stayed at an Airbnb. I prefer to spend a little more and stick with what works. If ain't broke...

You can buy a pre-paid SIM card (burner phone number) in the street here for 60 pesos. Good luck with getting your money refunded.
Respect, Refund and Responsibility are few and far between.

Maybe she did that? I dunno. Airbnb HQ is in San Francisco which is 'more' accessible for me. They should just take care of it and do the refund.

 

[chicagoan14]

The host now claims it is my fault because I booked without asking her first? Is that a thing? I've never heard of having to get permission from the host to book an airbnb listing.

If that were the case, she should've turned instant book off. Some listings require acceptance because they're listed on other sites or they might just not want to rent at that time.

 

[Joseph NY2STI]

Hate to be a buzz kill, but I've had good luck with Airbnb in D.R.
Twice each in Santiago and Puerto Plata exactly as advertised, but all of the places had lots of great reviews. The owners gave me their numbers to call direct next time I need a place. I like the fact that I don't have to do the perp walk by the front desk if I have a guest.

 

[chrisgy]

I love Airbnb . Have used it in Santo Domingo and Santiago many times. The reviews tell the story, and thats what I go by. Over 20 stays and no issues. Love that for a reasonable price instead of a room at a hotel, our family enjoys a full apartment.

I have used AirBNB mostly in DR but I just came back from visiting my sister on the island of Antigua and stayed at an airbnb there, and again no issues. Exactly like my in the reviews

Uber also has been great in Santo Domingo . I normally park our CRV in the garage at the airBNB and we uber during our stay.

 

[josh2203]

The host now claims it is my fault because I booked without asking her first? Is that a thing? I've never heard of having to get permission from the host to book an airbnb listing.

What was said above is correct, as far as I know. There are listings with instant booking available, but we've never used those. Only the ones where the host manually accepts our booking.

That being said, we've been happy Airbnb customers since 2016, renting in 3 different countries (the DR included), never any issues.

We always check the ratings, reviews and such. We have never booked a place without reviews and clear information of the host.

 

[Administration]

A friend who has airbnb properties in Michigan thinks the host is probably trying to be a 'superhost' but according to friend they won't let her do that if she cancels a booking.

 

[JD Jones]

What kind of person joins a public forum to insult other members?

 

[Joseph NY2STI]

What kind of person joins a public forum to insult other members?

Someone didn't get the memo.

 

[Yourmaninvegas]

I love Airbnb . Have used it in Santo Domingo and Santiago many times.

Uber also has been great in Santo Domingo . I normally park our CRV in the garage at the airBNB and we uber during our stay.

I've had problems with both AirBnB in Santo Domingo este. And Uber in Puerta Plata.
My experiences do not negate those of anyone else.
But I have chosen not to use AirBnB again in Santo Domingo este.
But I still use Uber.

 

[Joseph NY2STI]

I've had problems with both AirBnB in Santo Domingo este.

If I may ask, were your problems due to misleading ads, possibly fake reviews, intrusive owners, any other things? Reading about your and other folks' bad experiences has me a little concerned. I guess I've been lucky so far, but do you think there's anything in particular one should look out for when picking a place?

 

[Yourmaninvegas]

When looking for a place I found a nice AirBnB home in Santo Domingo este. I was familiar with the area and so I booked it. I was supposed to receive a reply in 24 hours. The reply came back that the house was booked for the time I requested. And after the response it showed up as blocked. Ok, that was strange.
But then a week later the same place was showing open again and I booked it and I got the same response. The place is booked. And after I received the response the place showed up as blocked.
Now, I thought that was strange to occur two times in a row.
I do not want to violate "the rules" so I cannot tell you here why I think this happened. It might have been because I have no history renting on AirBnB and so the owner did not like that. Or it could have been other things. Maybe they just did not like my picture. But in talking with others are like me who also book on AirBnB I was told that this was something that happens in the Dominican Republic. That AirBnB owners choose who to book based on...personal thoughts and opinions of the people placing the booking. I was told that sometimes a photo on your profile does not help.
Never had a problem with a booking a hotel.
That is what I used before and continue to use to this day.
Now I have stayed in a an apartment rented on AirBnB.
But I knew the manager and they made contact directly with the owner and vouched for me.
I even got a reduced price.
But for me...I still did not find the facilities to worth it at the price I received.

If I may ask, were your problems due to misleading ads, possibly fake reviews, intrusive owners, any other things? Reading about your and other folks' bad experiences has me a little concerned. I guess I've been lucky so far,

Yes, you have.

"Some guys have all the luck
Some guys have all the pain
Some guys get all the breaks
Some guys do nothing but complain" - Rod Stewart

but do you think there's anything in particular one should look out for when picking a place?

No, I got nothing for you on that one other than many stories from others that have used AirBnB.
The common denominator is that these are world travelers and all their horror stories revolve around AirBnB in the Dominican Republic no place else.

 

[Joseph NY2STI]

"Some guys have all the luck
Some guys have all the pain
Some guys get all the breaks
Some guys do nothing but complain" - Rod Stewart

I complain even when I have luck so that will never change. I put my glasses on to read between your lines. I sure hope you're wrong, but I know you may be right. The first time I used it in my home town I got the 3rd degree as well because of no history. The owner even called my job to make sure I was legit! Next time I'm in town I'll get a place for me "plus 1" and bring you along. That should be fun.

 

[RDKNIGHT]

Call me old fashioned but I've never taken an Uber or stayed at an Airbnb. I prefer to spend a little more and stick with what works. If ain't broke...

You can buy a pre-paid SIM card (burner phone number) in the street here for 60 pesos. Good luck with getting your money refunded.
Respect, Refund and Responsibility are few and far between.

I understand . there are some really nice airbnbs in nice areas .. for me everything is overprice in a hotel geared to gouge the client

 

[Administration]

Airbnb support responded last night and refunded the money. The 'replacement' boooking i made was 2x more $ but it's cozy and the host is great.. The other unit i got for friends is good too. We went to Jumbo last night and got two bascarts full of food. (Bascart is a midwest USA term invented by Kroger AFAIK) Two! We are only here two nights, why do they need so much food. And three cases of beer and four bottles of wine. We are all 'older' folks, not party-crazy college students. The young people with us don't drink yet. I would have been good with like $100 of groceries in a hand-held basket. I'm conservative like that. But shopping last night was full of crazy excesses.