This was our first time booking an Airbnb as a guest. I just looked at the pictures & title. I didn’t read the description or the reviews. It was a huge mistake on my part booking Mo’s apartment. I thought I was booking an apartment to ourselves, including a private room in an apartment. I didn’t realize that meant you’re getting a private room in an apartment while someone else is living there. We arrived to find this out, we were shocked & confused to see a trash bag by the front door, chargers, water bottles, & protein powders scattered all over kitchen, as well as a pair of sandals outside another door. We contacted Mo & said this isn’t what we signed up for. His response was “yes you did, go back & read the description.” I did & realized what a huge mistake I made. I called him back, realized I made a mistake, and told him we did not want to share a space with a complete stranger, and that we were going to stay elsewhere. He told me “yes people have made this mistake before.” I apologized for the inconvenience, admitted my fault and asked if I could get a partial reimbursement since we wouldn’t be staying there. His immediate response was, “no, the others have never asked for reimbursement.” He then said he could re-list it and, if he gets someone, he can reimburse us that portion. I didn’t trust him and felt he wasn’t trying to help us so I contacted Airbnb to see if they could help. He then started sending us mean texts and said he would not give me anything now even if he gets someone else to rent the room.
Airbnb is about sharing a space you care for and sharing that space with someone at an affordable price, while putting the guest first. Mo puts himself first and clearly didn’t care about our experience at all. Read the review where a woman stayed for 5 nights and complained about Mo having people over during their stay. His response says it all. If Mo cared he would make sure no one made this mistake again, but this seems to be a theme in his customer service. It feels like he wants people to make this mistake so he can take their money. I was completely at fault for booking his space but I think the situation could have been handled better on his part, a little respect and compassion. In the end, we did receive a partial reimbursement from AirBnb directly, not from Mo.