Ever been burned by an illegal STR?

Question

Made a reservation last year on AirBnB to visit family in California. It had five 5-star ratings (I only later realized they were all recent which should have been a red flag) Two months later we showed up to check in. I called, texted and emailed the host but he didn't respond. We arrived on site (complex of townhomes) and spoke to someone in the office. It turns out our host was running an illegal STR and had been evicted the week prior. Fortunately, they allowed us to borrow a computer and we managed to find a replacement rental a couple miles away.

have you ever been burned by a vacation rental?

Michael Baum · Answer

Hey @Nathan G., the answer is yes. I started a charity in 2003 and I was heading to CES in 2017. We got a AirBNB for a decent price. If you know anything about CES, you know places are hard to get and very expensive.

We we arrived, no answer, no place to stay. It was raining and unpleasant.

We called AirBNB and they got us booked at another place. Over all a pain in the butt, but AirBNB made it right in a couple of hours.

Lauren Kormylo · Answer

I got burned, but the STR wasn't illegal.  In January, I booked an Airbnb in Woodstock NY for August, during the week of the 50th Anniversary of Woodstock.  In July, I contacted the host through Airbnb with a question about the stay.   He never responded.  I tried again, then called his phone number, then texted him.  Still no response.  That made me nervous.  I then noticed in the reviews that he had cancelled another guest in May.   I called Airbnb and asked if he was still active, and still hosting guests recently.  They assured me that he was.  They tried contacting him and got no response either.  But they said  my reservation was still good and to count on staying there.

Well, 2 weeks before my stay, he cancelled on me.  He said he had been doing repairs on the place over the summer and thought he'd be done by then, but he wasn't.  Obviously he cancelled the person in May for the same reason.

I was furious. At that late date, because of the event in town, finding another place cost me hundreds of dollars more.

I was disappointed in Airbnb.  I contacted them again and they admitted that he had not been hosting over the summer after all.  The first lady had lied to me about that.  I even had to push Airbnb to prevent him from booking new customers until his place was rentable.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

My experience was similar. AirBnB ensured I was fully refunded. I was fortunate to find another rental that day. It was in Riverside, CA a few days before Christmas. There were only a couple options still available and only one of them actually picked up the phone. It was several hundred dollars more, not nearly as nice.