Absolutely
Airbnb has become a complete disgrace
I have used Airbnb for around 10 years, but my recent experience has convinced me that I will not be using it again.
The biggest problem is the way Airbnb now appears to be allowing certain commercial hosts to impose additional terms, charges and requirements on guests—sometimes buried deep within terms and conditions that are very easy to miss when making a booking. These are not necessarily costs that are made clear at the point where a customer thinks they are agreeing to the price of the accommodation.
What makes this even worse is Airbnb's response when things go wrong. Rather than protecting the customer who booked through its platform, Airbnb appears perfectly happy to hide behind the host's terms and wash its hands of the consequences.
In my case, I have been left dealing with a commercial operator rather than what most people would reasonably understand to be a genuine Airbnb host. I have always treated properties respectfully and left them clean, yet when I raised legitimate concerns about the property and the way the booking was handled, Airbnb's response was essentially a series of generic, automated-sounding messages rather than any meaningful attempt to resolve the issue.
There are also serious questions about the damage claims process. Damage had been reported correctly and promptly, and there was evidence that a previous guest had already raised concerns about damage. Yet money was still being withheld from guests. How can Airbnb's system give customers any confidence that these claims are being assessed fairly?
And this doesn't appear to be an isolated concern. There are numerous complaints from customers about unexpected additional charges, hosts imposing requirements that customers say were not sufficiently disclosed, disputes over deposits and money being retained, and people finding themselves liable for costs relating to accommodation or conditions they say they never agreed to.
At what point does Airbnb accept responsibility for the system it has created?
If Airbnb is going to act increasingly as a platform for commercial property-management companies, rather than individuals occasionally letting out their homes, then it needs to be completely transparent about that. Customers should know who they are actually contracting with, exactly what they will be charged, and what terms they are agreeing to before they pay.
Instead, Airbnb seems to have created a system where the headline price gets you through the door, additional conditions can appear elsewhere, and when you challenge them, customer support simply points you back towards the small print.
That's not transparency. It's not customer service. And it certainly isn't the Airbnb I remember using for the last decade.
I wouldn't trust Airbnb with a booking now, and I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone who wants certainty about what they are actually paying for.