Airbnb

As a host when it comes to collecting damages left by guests forget it. I sent 5 pictures of damages done in home and was willing to accept a fraction of cost since I did most repairs and cleaning myself. As a result of the damage done we no longer rent our personal home out. The fact we could not get even $ 150 from airbnb for damage was just a further insult. I did leave negative feedback on family who left our home a mess but they had good feedback when we rented it to them, take that with a grain of salt. I am currently looking for another rental service to take care of my other rental property.

I booked an Airbnb in Santa Barbara last December for UCSB graduation weekend in June -- possibly the busiest Santa Barbara weekend of the year and the one in which hotels jack up their rates into the stratosphere. I felt very fortunate to find and book a 2-bedroom condo for 4 at a rate of $178.00 per night. One week prior to arrival the host cancelled, leaving me high and dry. An airbnb host can cancel at the last minute, and the guest, who has paid in full, has no recourse. After several tense hours of searching, I finally located a place for $134.00 more. All airbnb was willing to offer me was a $70.00 credit toward a future reservation. I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and ultimately received a refund of the additional $134.00. Airbnb is all about protecting the host, but does very little to help a guest, who has fully prepaid, when a host flakes out. That policy needs to change.

I have been a host for six years. I have had a front row seat to experience the exponential growth of the company. This growth has come at a price. They have a severe shortage of customer service reps, they often launch new tools online without fully testing them, and unless it involves a small amount of money (under $100) they usually side with guests in a dispute. There are bad actors on both sides. Hosts who see those dollar signs and an easy way to make money but do not keep their properties clean, or are out and out trying to con people out of their money. There are guests that don't read the listing and expect an airbnb experience to be the same as staying at the Marriott around the corner. There are guests who rent as a means to scope out your place, to later come out and rob you. There are guests who shoot porno movies at an airbnb property. While these bad actors represent a very small minority, if you consider the millions of airbnb users, it is unfortunately inevitable that this should happen. I personally think airbnb should put on the brakes for all the marketing it is doing and focus on providing superlative customer service to both guests and hosts and to fix the many bugs in their web site so it's easier for everyone to use. As a host, airbnb has had a transformative effect on my life. When I started I was unemployed and rented one room out of my house so I could keep the lights on. Now, it's a full time, profitable business with three units I rent out. If you're a host, don't lie about your property, keep it clean, and cancel only when absolutely necessary. If you're a guest, have reasonable expectations and carefully read the description to make sure it's right for you. Both should vet the other and have a conversation prior to booking the space to make sure no one is strange/weird or a bad fit.

To Whom it may concern I am writing to you regarding the use of the data published on this platform for a dissertation project, concerning the topic of consumer's motivation in engaging in eWOM activity the case study of Airbnb. I would like to kindly ask for your consent, if anyone does not want to be observed or named please contact me via thannicha.chowi@gmail.com Best Regards Thannicha Chowiwatthana

We went to Portsmouth, VA last year. We rented a whole house for several days. The owner was nice but the house we rented was was not as updated as shown in the pictures. It needed lots of updates.