zlacker

I had something similar happen to me a few years ago where we booked in an emergency but the place was under construction without us being informed, and neither my wife or I could stomach it. We got another airbnb and got our refund in a few days amicably. It didn't really bother me personally, because I understood there were multiple parties involved.

It is a difficult problem. Hosts need to be able to cancel for extreme situations, such as damage to the unit, or some other emergency. Realistically, the vast majority of people who can afford an airbnb can float for an alternative place for a few days, although especially on longer stays, that might not be the case. There should at least be a priority routing inside airbnb customer service to immediately escalate to a supervisor and resolve the situation via an alternative booking, if someone comes back and says "I have nowhere else to go". It sounds like you did not get to that point to find out if they have that, but I can see how you felt like you were in an unstable situation.

It's hard for me to draw a line on what is a reasonable expectation here, but I guess they should try to provide immediate funds for everyone. Since at least a subset of people will not find their current process reasonable, and when that happens, they will find it extremely distasteful.

>>sgc+(OP)
If host cancels within a certain time of the booking, they should pay a fee. Its simple, they need to judge weather or not to list. But airbnb doesn’t want to do that because it would reduce their listings. Ergo, users just eat it.

>>sgc+(OP)
If you showed up and there was a construction going on it most likely was a scam. Very common on Airbnb unfortunately. And there aren’t that many parties involved, just you and scammers, and, of course, Airbnb, but this is when they really become “we are just a marketplace”.

>>zadler+11
They do, as I indicated below: https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/990

>>YeBanK+31
No, it was an emergency booking because of fires, and I think they just didn't think of it because there was some rather frenetic back and forth to get it booked. The work was painting going on outside, but it blocked the balcony. I wouldn't default to most problems on airbnb are scams. It seems too cynical to me given my experiences and those of people I know who use it a lot, even if there are some known problems.

>>sgc+33
I agree that not everything on Airbnb is scam and plenty of reasons to use it, still. Now painting outside maybe not an issue, but it depends. If they had a balcony with a view in a photo of a property and featured it in a description, but somehow forgot to mention anywhere that it is obstructed by a construction - it is “scamish”.

>>YeBanK+i5
No view, just a bit claustrophobic without balcony access, and clear plastic along the wall covering the sliding doors making for a distinct "job site" atmosphere.

>>sgc+(OP)
the vast majority of people who can afford an airbnb can float for an alternative place for a few days

all the places i travelled to, airbnb had the cheapest offers. in one place where i could not get airbnb because hosts were not responsive (it was christmas, and i was booking on short notice) i ended up switching hotels twice before we found something in our budget range that was barely acceptable, while there were airbnb listings for full apartments in the same price-range.