This is the worst experience I have ever had with an Airbnb stay. My friend and I spent the weekend in Seattle to attend a wedding and were very excited to stay here, because it's right in the heart of the university district and we would be able to walk to a lot of the places we wanted to go. We messaged Melissa explaining that the two of us would be coming up and she approved our request to stay for two people.
Everything seemed great, but not even five minutes after checking into the room Melissa knocked on the door to ask for money for the second guest. I was confused, because I was pretty sure we had booked for two people and already paid in full. Something must have gone wrong with the booking request though, because she showed me our reservation and it did in fact say 1 person and demanded either cash or my v.enmo/z.elle account. I told her that I was unable to pay her that moment and asked if we could sort it out the following morning. She agreed and said she would send someone by to collect the money from us.
Later that night we decided to call Airbnb to discuss the situation with customer service. They informed us that Melissa is absolutely not allowed to ask for cash or personal banking information in order to add extra charges. They told us that for our safety, all transactions must be done in the app and said they would call Melissa to tell her she needed to put in a request for the extra money. Melissa messaged me later saying that we could pay through the app and everything would be fine. I was happy that everything seemed to be sorted out.
The following morning while we are still sleeping, someone starts knocking on the door very loudly. I started getting dressed to answer the door, but before I could open it, I heard a key enter the deadbolt. The door was unlocked from the outside and opened by the person trying to get in. The chain lock kept him from getting the door completely open and upon seeing me, he quickly closed the door and relocked the deadbolt and tried to walk away. I immediately opened the door to ask who he was and what he wanted. He told me that we needed to leave because it was checkout time and he needed to clean the room. I informed him that it must be a mistake, because we were booked for another night. He then showed me that we were on the checkout list that Melissa had given him but agreed to leave.
A few minutes later I received a message from Melissa saying that he wasn't actually there to kick us out, but to collect the cash for the second person. I replied that according to Airbnb's policy she was not allowed to ask for payment outside of the app and that sending someone to enter our room looking for it was highly inappropriate. She proceeded to message and call me repeatedly. I ignored all further messages from her and paid the additional fee in the app.
If you value your safety and privacy, stay literally anywhere else.