Just opened the door and left one of the worst AirBNBs.
Any hints how to get our money back?

Had one once that clearly hadn't been cleaned. Mouse droppings, trash, no clean linens, and no toilet paper. Contacted the owner who said that he was sorry that he had just gotten a new cleaner and implied my standards were too high when I countered that no cleaning had been done by said cleaner. Sent him photos and he immediately called and was very apologetic and refunded quite a bit.

So take pictures.

What ended up happening with this?

This happened to us last year. Home was advertised with a POOL and HOT TUB. When we arrived the pool was covered in leaves, dirt and algae. The hot tub looked the same and literally had the light laying on the bottom broken. Owner told me the pool guy had a death in the family so it didn't get cleaned. It hadn't been cleaned in weeks. The oven didn't work, the carpet was nasty....I could go on. I left a scathing review....the only bad review I have ever left and we rent often across the US and outside of the US. Owner argued and argued with me wanting me to remove my review. She gave me one out of 4 nights free. I left my review up.

There isn't a force on earth that will convince me to use an AirBnB again. I've never had a positive experience.

Just used it once in Smoky Mountains. We go there, terrible weather, raining etc and the damn thing won't open. It is 11pm. Luckily someone saw that the side door was actually unlocked. Not sure if that is the way it was supposed to be. Then we lost power in the night and were freezing. Maybe that wasn't the AirBnB's fault though. Overall, not too much fun. I prefer staying in hotels.

We have done vrbo and airbnb a bunch and haven't had a bad experience yet. We like actual bedrooms as opposed to a hotel where we all share one big room. It used to be a really good deal, but with all the fees and such, it is about a wash with a decent hotel. Sucks op got a bad one. I would get my money back and then light them up in a review for messing up my trip.

I use Airbnb all the time....but mostly in Latin American and Asia. I like having a kitchen and washing machine on long trips. I've had a couple of issues here and there, but overall its almost always a great experience and a good deal in much of the world.

However, I would never consider using Airbnb in the United States. The prices are ridiculous and the lists of things asked of the guests are insane. I've searched for a place a couple of times when back in the states and it was almost always way more expensive than a hotel. No thanks.

I use VRBO a lot, and I've always had good experiences. As others said, if you do your homework, it pays off.

AirBnB seems to have a lot more sketchiness.

infinity ag said:

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That's why I don't do AirBnBs.
I don't want to stay in someone else's house. And if things go wrong, I will hear from the wife about what a miser I am for the next 20 years.

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If you're a miser, you won't be staying at AirBnBs.

VRBO is owned by Expedia. I've found Expedia to be VERY good when it comes to resolving in home issues.

The only bad experiences I've had are with owners cancelling on me before the trip. Happened twice, and once the guy tried to claim I cancelled and keep my deposit. The houses themselves have always been great.

infinity ag said:

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That's why I don't do AirBnBs.
I don't want to stay in someone else's house. And if things go wrong, I will hear from the wife about what a miser I am for the next 20 years.

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I refuse to make accommodations when traveling with my wife. She gets angry at me for 'not doing any planning'. but it's better than the 20 years I too would hear about it. She has much higher standards and expectations than me, therefore, it's her job.