I once took it upon myself to do an investigation after a terrible experience. Within 15 minutes I found that:
1. The building had numerous building code violations per NYC
2. The building owner had links to the Russian mob written up in Nytimes.
I dealt with completely awful customer service. Like terrible from Airbnb. Hours on the phone dealing with idiots. I finally get someone who mattered after I cc’d my friend who was an editor at the WSJ threatening publication of the experience. She finally gets on the phone, and I’m like, “ever thing to check listings against building code records?” Her response, “Wow, that is a great idea! Why didn’t we think of that!” Ditto for criminal ties and records of the building owner. I ended up getting a full refund and $5,000 in Airbnb credit. What she basically told me is to never book unless it is with a preferred host.
Needless to say, I no longer would ever use Airbnb unless it’s in a ski resort, or something similar.
1. The building had numerous building code violations per NYC
2. The building owner had links to the Russian mob written up in Nytimes.
I dealt with completely awful customer service. Like terrible from Airbnb. Hours on the phone dealing with idiots. I finally get someone who mattered after I cc’d my friend who was an editor at the WSJ threatening publication of the experience. She finally gets on the phone, and I’m like, “ever thing to check listings against building code records?” Her response, “Wow, that is a great idea! Why didn’t we think of that!” Ditto for criminal ties and records of the building owner. I ended up getting a full refund and $5,000 in Airbnb credit. What she basically told me is to never book unless it is with a preferred host.
Needless to say, I no longer would ever use Airbnb unless it’s in a ski resort, or something similar.