Wow this was the worst Airbnbn experience I’ve ever had, and I’ve stayed in well over a dozen Airbnbs, either by myself or with my family, in cities such as New York, Boston, all over New England, Lima, Peru and Rome. It’s not that Daniela’s apartment in Florence was not as expected – it was, clean simply yet nicely appointed with a decent location to the center of town, but it became quickly apparent that Daniela, is much more concerned with ringing every Euro she can out of her customers, than she is with the rule of law, the rules of Airbnb or any semblance of ethics. The first hint occurred before even arriving. I messaged her to let her know we’d be arriving later than expected for my 2-nt stay and her first go-to was to quickly explain the late fees apply for arrivals after 6PM. Twenty Euros after 6PM, forty after 8PM and sixty after 10PM. I had never heard of late fees before Italy and am not sure if it’s a thing in Florence or Italy, but for travelers looking to arrive late at Daniela’s, whether it’s your fault or not, it makes the deal you thought you had on Airbnb, now competitive with hotel pricing. On arrival she walked us thru the place quickly, which was nice, pointed towards the washing machine, showed me how to turn on the AC, how to use the gas for the kitchen, and then asked for the 40 Euro late fee. I was skeptical since I had never heard of it, but she showed me the page on Airbnb which list her late fees. So I gave her my credit card and she said “No, only cash”. I had cash but wanted to use my credit card but she insisted again “only cash”. So, I gave her 40 Euros and then she left quickly. The following day I looked for instructions on how to use the washing machine. There were none. So I opened the machine, took out some things that had been left there, and if anyone has ever seen European washing machines, they are sometimes different that the ones in the US. They have a metal basket in them which needs to be open and closed separately than the whole machine. I put laundry in, closed the metal basket, and ran the machine; only to discover a few hours later that the metal basket would not open. Rather than try and force it, I messaged Daniella at about 8PM that our clothes were stuck in the machine and that our party had to catch an early morning train the next day. She said I had broken her machine and that a technician would come out the next day at 11AM and sent me series of messages on the Airbnb platform aggressively and repeatedly saying that I would need to pay 100 Euros to fix the machine. At this point I cancelled my early morning train (40 Euros) and texted Airbnb to let them know of the situation. The 11AM appointment turned into a 5Pm visit by the technician. As I waited for him to show up Daniella demands for money became more aggressive so I called Airbnb support to let them know about the situation and to make sure I was doing the right thing. They told me that no cash should ever change hands between a host and guest and that all payments should always be on the platform and that if she tried to ransom my clothes, I should call the police and Airbnb as well. I also relayed the fact that I tried to pay the 40 Euro late fee with a credit card but that she insisted on cash. Unfortunately I don’t have any proof I paid her the 40 Euros other than the fact that my daughter and her friend were there watching the whole exchange, and that she only let me stay because I did pay it. Within 5 minutes of arriving, the technician had the machine opened and I removed my clothes and put in my back pack. He then told me in Italian I had to pay 80 Euros. I told him in English absolutely not. He got Daniela on the phone and she insisted I needed to pay. I told her she needed to call Airbnb, at which point she said she would call Airbnb and hung up. This left me and the technician, a young man nearly six feet and 200 pounds, staring at each other. As he stood between myself and the door he explained that it was my fault and I had to pay. I told him out of respect for his work I would wait 5 minutes for Daniela to call back. She did call back and on speaker phone said she couldn’t get a hold of Airbnb and that I should call. I tried explaining to her that I was instructed by Airbnb not to exchange any cash. At which point she began speaking over me insisting I pay. I called Airbnb support and started a call with someone there about 5PM Italy time today but was cut off due to a shaky wifi connection. At this point the technician put his hands up, said Daniela was coming and that I should wait. He then went outside. I told him I needed to catch a train leaving in 30 minutes and followed him out. He waited across the street and as I left said Daniela was coming now and that I should wait. I walked away through the hot winding streets of Florence assuming that I would be attacked by Daniela or the technician at any moment. I actually assumed Daniela would wind up try to sequester my belongings and make an attempted legal scene of the whole thing and I was wondering how I would explain to an Italian police that the contract is between me and Airbnb, not me and Daniela and...