My women's church group of 8 women (ages 35-60) booked this house for a weekend retreat. When we arrived, entry and instructions were as noted. When we entered, there was a very apparent smell of weed. At first glance we could see the incredible amount of dirt and dust that had been accumulated in this home. There were flies all over the kitchen including the bottle of wine and two wine glasses that were set out for us on the kitchen island.
After going into the cabinet to get some glasses and dishes, we pulled out dirty dishes. There were only 6 chairs at the dining table even though the picture displayed online shows 8 chairs. When sitting at the table, the light above the dining table didn't even work. In fact, the dining table shown in the picture was NOT the dining table that was in the house.
Also, of note, the outside backyard area was not as pictured and had a bunched up dirty rug when you walked outside as well as two metal lawn chairs and two nonmatching Adirondack chairs.
There were no towels in the downstairs bathroom and there was hair on the countertop. There were no linens or blankets for the daybed that we were to use in the living room. We looked in all closets and cabinets but there was nothing. There was a thick layer of dust throughout the house and most notably the kitchen on and in the toaster, in the cabinets and countertops. Upstairs, the master bedroom had hair in the bed when the sheets were turned down.
I texted Lee and he did not respond for well over an hour. His listing says that he lives nearby and responds within an hour. I then tried calling him three times. The first two times, no one answered. The third time I received a voicemail that said "Mailbox full." I then continued to text him. He texted me back about 1 hr and 45 minutes later with a message that he was on vacation and service was spotty. I asked him to call me but he did not. He texted that most issues are handled through the AirBnb app which he had someone handling. He also said he can forward it over to the cleaner of his house and house manager. Oddly, his listing also says that he does not contract any work out.
He finally asked me what I would like done that evening and he would pass the message on to his cleaners and that otherwise things will have to be addressed in the morning. He also said that if it was that dirty and not workable for us that we could check out and he'd refund us the money. I told him that we would stay the night and that we needed chairs, the light fixed, linens for the daybed and the house cleaned that evening.
He asked if there were no linens for the daybed and no hand towel in the bathroom downstairs. I told him once again that that was indeed a fact and reminded him of the other things that were not working for us. He told me he was waiting for a response from his cleaner. Then he asked me if the door was unlocked to the kitchen closet. I told him yes. He asked if there were extra sheets/towels in there and I told him no. That is the reason along with all the other things that I am texting him. He replies, "Well, that closet is supposed to be locked."
I continue texting him with questions of what the status of everything was. He finally texts me back stating that he doesn't have anyone who can make it over for the night. This was at 9:08 pm. This was not acceptable to us and I told him to comp our night and he could get a cleaning crew in there the next morning. He told me that that was the best he could do that evening, (Which was absolutely nothing) Not even an apology for the extreme filth of the home. He told me that if I wanted to find another house, he would comp the stay. At 9:08 pm, I wasn't about to start looking for another property that we would have to pay for again. I'm not sure anyone would have accepted us at that time of night anyway.
In the morning, he said that I could have a refund and that he would call AirBnb and cancel the reservation. He said his cleaner would be there shortly to cleanup the property. I asked him how much the refund would be for and sent him pictures (of which I still have) of all the dirt and hair and flies and missing furniture. He tells me he's been on the phone with Airbnb for 45 minutes. He also said it would take a couple days for the refund to go through and said to feel free to pack up.
After roundabout texting, he said he would be happy to let us stay the 2nd evening and fix the couple things that we wanted fixed but would only refund the first night. After me commenting that he had never even apologized for the condition of things, he finally offers an apology 12 hours after I first began texting him.
We left it that we would stay the 2nd evening, he would refund the first night and get a cleaner in there by 2 pm on Saturday and we would not be paying for cleaning. I then sent him more pictures of hair in the bed as well as stains on the pillowcase. He then says at that time that it's probably a breaker that caused the light fixture above dining table to not work. He said he couldn't explain the dust and dirt and that's not what they allow (although they clearly did) in their properties..
He assured me a cleaner was coming