Booking was great and communication through the Airbnb chat went smoothly. The moment we got to Malaga keys weren’t were they were supposed to be because Mima had made a mistake and gave the key to the apartment to a different guest that had booked a different apartment with her. We contacted Mima through the chat as always but she was unresponsive…only then we realized she had no telephone number listed to contact her!!! I had to contact Airbnb and let them know I couldn’t get in contact with my host, mind you Malaga was extremely hot and there was no place around that we knew of back then to sit down and wait. Luckily, another Airbnb host took pity on us and invited us to wait inside her apartment. Airbnb couldn’t locate Mima either. It took over an hour until Mima’s brother, Manolo, contacted us. He was very apologetic and offered to refund us for the inconvenience of the one night, so we decided not to cancel our reservation and give it a second chance. Half an hour later we were able to get into the duplex, courtesy of Mima’s mother who was also gracious and apologetic (really nice lady). She changed the bed sheets, cleaned the bathroom and freshened up the apartment so that no trace of the accidental guests remained. After we got comfortable in the apartment Mima reassured me of the refund. The apartment is in a great location, close to major attractions and restaurants. All went well with our stay until we received a message from Mima the night before our check out reminding us about check out policy and to encourage me to check my Whatsapp with a message from Manolo if I wanted to get my refund. The message goes along the lines of “if you want your refund YOU need to give us a 5 star rating, we will only proceed with the refund if your review is favorable to us.” The day of the check out, Mima once again said they’d refund my money but please make sure to read her brother’s message in Whatsapp. At this point I had contacted Aribnb already and had filed a complaint against this host for coercion, unprofessionalism and lack of integrity. This practice is illegal and it doesn’t comply with Airbnb codes and ethics. It’s an outrageous and shameful behavior for a superhost to try to take advantage of tourists who are vulnerable in a foreign country.
Special thanks to customer service call center at Airbnb for assisting and supporting me when I felt frustrated, worried, unsafe and for gathering all evidence of my case. They deserve 5 starts for going above and beyond.