Vent. airBnB making me crazy

[Faith-manor]

So we are taking one of our rocket that am alumni to American Rocketry Challenge in May. The three of us are NAR volunteers to help put on the competition. I have been trying to get reservations for a condo for the three of us which is actually cheaper than two hotel rooms for four nights, plus a full kitchen which is such a huge advantage in saving money on food and eating better since I have gluten issues.

Their website is insane. They want the driver's license photo, then a webcam photo, and then they have bot software to do facial recognition but the software is so bad it can't match ANY photos I send. None. It isn't like I have had plastic surgery or become disfigured or something since my driver's photo was taken. Mark tried it thinking his photos might match better, and the website will not allow him to start his own account and wants to link everything to my account due to the software apparently tracking the IP address. He called customer service, and they said they can't help. Nothing is working right. They were extremely rude. Now I get blinged on my phone every five minutes with a new security code to type in to try to make changes to my account, but they have the timer off on the code so it instantly expires. Not exaggerating. In the 20 seconds it takes for me to look at the text, and then go to air bnb screen to type it in, it is already an invalid code. 

Thankfully, I just checked vrbo, our preferred company, and a new listing just popped up. It is right where we need it to be, really nice little townhouse with full kitchen, and it is going to end up being $100 less than the AirBnB. I never ever have trouble booking with Vrbo.

How does AirBnB stay in business with all the hoop jumping, rude customer service, and software that doesn't work?

 

[pinball]

Nobody likes air bnb anymore. 
 

the rules and fees are insane

[MEmama]

We no longer use it. There's a housing shortage nearly everywhere and AirB&B is a huge contributor so we won't support the model any longer. Not to mention the hoops you mention, the convenience of renting an apartment vs hotel room isn't worth it to us any longer. I love the concept and we've stayed in some fantastic places, but it's just no longer for us. 
 

I'm glad you found a place--I hope it works out!

[Faith-manor]

5 hours ago, pinball said:

Nobody likes air bnb anymore. 
 

the rules and fees are insane

Agreed. I really didn't want to book anything with them to begin with, but had not been able to find anything else within our budget. It is so costly to volunteer for these things, but we really want to help. I am happy to have finally found something else.

Edited February 2, 2023 by Faith-manor

[Serenade]

10 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

So we are taking one of our rocket that am alumni to American Rocketry Challenge in May. The three of us are NAR volunteers to help put on the competition. I have been trying to get reservations for a condo for the three of us which is actually cheaper than two hotel rooms for four nights, plus a full kitchen which is such a huge advantage in saving money on food and eating better since I have gluten issues.

Their website is insane. They want the driver's license photo, then a webcam photo, and then they have bot software to do facial recognition but the software is so bad it can't match ANY photos I send. None. It isn't like I have had plastic surgery or become disfigured or something since my driver's photo was taken. Mark tried it thinking his photos might match better, and the website will not allow him to start his own account and wants to link everything to my account due to the software apparently tracking the IP address. He called customer service, and they said they can't help. Nothing is working right. They were extremely rude. Now I get blinged on my phone every five minutes with a new security code to type in to try to make changes to my account, but they have the timer off on the code so it instantly expires. Not exaggerating. In the 20 seconds it takes for me to look at the text, and then go to air bnb screen to type it in, it is already an invalid code. 

Thankfully, I just checked vrbo, our preferred company, and a new listing just popped up. It is right where we need it to be, really nice little townhouse with full kitchen, and it is going to end up being $100 less than the AirBnB. I never ever have trouble booking with Vrbo.

How does AirBnB stay in business with all the hoop jumping, rude customer service, and software that doesn't work?

 

Wow!  That's crazy.  We stayed in a Vrbo for my son's graduation in December, and it was very simple.  That was the first time I ever used one of these services.  So glad we didn't try AirBnB

[Not_a_Number]

I dunno, we've had an Airbnb account for many years and we like it 🤷‍♀️. I think it gets easier once you sign up? 

Edited February 4, 2023 by Not_a_Number

[Grace Hopper]

I understand it’s better for many due to budget reasons, but I really prefer hotels for most travel. We have rented condominiums for family travel, as well as cabins, through professional destination property management companies. In recent years I’ve looked at airbnbs but for whatever reason - destination? date? - it was never cheaper than a good hotel option. In a hotel I also don’t have to clean house to get my deposit back. 
 

I hope you have a great trip @Faith-manorand hopefully enjoy seeing old friends. 

[Harriet Vane]

9 hours ago, Grace Hopper said:

I understand it’s better for many due to budget reasons, but I really prefer hotels for most travel. We have rented condominiums for family travel, as well as cabins, through professional destination property management companies. In recent years I’ve looked at airbnbs but for whatever reason - destination? date? - it was never cheaper than a good hotel option. In a hotel I also don’t have to clean house to get my deposit back. 
 

I hope you have a great trip @Faith-manorand hopefully enjoy seeing old friends. 

Most no longer require chores. Even the ones that do or did usually only ask that you wash the dishes you used (there is almost always a dishwasher) and take out trash. 

My whole metric changed based on two things. One is the pandemic. I can get much cleaner air in a house or apartment where I can open windows and not interact with other people throughout the building.

The other metric is food. I am lactose intolerant and gluten intolerant. It’s such a relief to have a kitchen.

It’s also much cheaper when traveling with a bunch of people. I can get a whole house for the same cost or close to it as a single hotel room.

I am chagrined at how the trend has affected rent and real estate markets. But I am so thankful for the options.

I have never had issues with my account. I hope you are able to get it settled @Faith-manor.

[Malory]

We've had good and bad experiences with airbnb. The absolute nightmare one involved arriving late afternoon in a foreign country and found out there was no house prepared for us at all. And we did all the verifications they asked for in advance. From now on, I would never book an airbnb in a foreign country and would only do it if the savings are significant. 

[teachermom2834]

We have used AirBnB quite a few times and while we have no horror stories we have had plenty of iffy ones. Like places where the individual unit is fine but the building itself is sketchy. Which makes sense because we are always trying to save money so it isn’t surprising that we end up in less than luxurious accommodations. It has always been fine but the older I get the less adventurous I am about booking something and wondering just what exactly we are going to pull up to. The savings seem to be less than they used to be, as well, so more often than not these days we opt for a chain hotel we are familiar with. We still check AirBnB and I would use it again but my tolerance for adventure is decreasing with age. 
 

I think maybe I had an AirBnB account before they instituted so many security measures and maybe I was never asked for them because I don’t remember doing all of that but I have heard others complain about it as well. 

[*****]

We have had good experiences with airbnb overall. But sadly, since the pandemic, the prices have inflated greatly and not just because of the cleaning costs. (Just because they can I guess.)   It is almost as economical to stay in a hotel any more even though I prefer airbnb.

[Faith-manor]

We were able to get something on vrbo on our budget. It is a walk out basement apartment of a family's main residence with private entrance. The kitchen is exactly what we need, and there is a grill on the patio as well. Dh just today was told by his doc that he wants him off dairy for a few months, and I am allergic to wheat. Restaurants will be pretty much off limits. So cooking is a must. I am glad we wont be begging a hotel for permission to let us hunch over a portable hibachi outside in the parking lot which we have had to do before.

Thanks everyone!

[Farrar]

It just really depends. In some situations, I look at Airbnb, others VRBO and Airbnb, others I go straight to hotels. Like others are saying, if you're traveling with a large family or meeting up with people, then Airbnb or VRBO are just so much cheaper and more convenient. Hotels are set up for that.

Most people don't have to jump through all those hoops. I had to put my license on there ages ago, but I don't think I've had to do anything like that since then, and I've been regularly using Airbnb for years.

[Grace Hopper]

30 minutes ago, Faith-manor said:

We were able to get something on vrbo on our budget. It is a walk out basement apartment of a family's main residence with private entrance. The kitchen is exactly what we need, and there is a grill on the patio as well. Dh just today was told by his doc that he wants him off dairy for a few months, and I am allergic to wheat. Restaurants will be pretty much off limits. So cooking is a must. I am glad we wont be begging a hotel for permission to let us hunch over a portable hibachi outside in the parking lot which we have had to do before.

Thanks everyone!

That’s an interesting set up (two levels and the owners in the same building). Please come back and tell us how it was. Sounds ideal for your needs. 
 

I know many of y’all have had great Airbnb experiences, I guess that just goes to show that with so many individual “hosts,” it can vary widely. 

[Faith-manor]

22 minutes ago, Grace Hopper said:

That’s an interesting set up (two levels and the owners in the same building). Please come back and tell us how it was. Sounds ideal for your needs. 
 

I know many of y’all have had great Airbnb experiences, I guess that just goes to show that with so many individual “hosts,” it can vary widely. 

I will try to remember to let you know. The trip is in May so it is going to be a while. Even thought the teams do not know if they are scoring well enough to be invited to Finals or not, due to 8th grade D.C. field.trips, and the 200 NAR volunteers and their families making reservations now, I think we might have ended up renting a stall a horse barn if we had waited! 😂

[Halftime Hope]

1 hour ago, Grace Hopper said:

That’s an interesting set up (two levels and the owners in the same building). Please come back and tell us how it was. Sounds ideal for your needs. 
 

I know many of y’all have had great Airbnb experiences, I guess that just goes to show that with so many individual “hosts,” it can vary widely. 

We've stayed in a number of places like this and have never had a problem. None of our hosts have had children, though. Little feet running overhead might be a deal-breaker.  (Not at all anti-children, just anti-interrupted sleep.) 🙂

[Grace Hopper]

47 minutes ago, Halftime Hope said:

We've stayed in a number of places like this and have never had a problem. None of our hosts have had children, though. Little feet running overhead might be a deal-breaker.  (Not at all anti-children, just anti-interrupted sleep.) 🙂

That’s something I was wondering about, overhead sounds/noise. In a hotel or apartment one should expect it, I suppose. 

[Farrar]

The different levels and the Airbnb on one of them is what we have in our house. At least, we're supposed to. I keep not renting it out, though we honestly need the income.

[Halftime Hope]

15 hours ago, Farrar said:

The different levels and the Airbnb on one of them is what we have in our house. At least, we're supposed to. I keep not renting it out, though we honestly need the income.

Out of curiosity, why not? (I wish for something like that.)

[Farrar]

10 minutes ago, Halftime Hope said:

Out of curiosity, why not? (I wish for something like that.)

There are like a dozen really tiny things we need to do. Change certain locks, set up certain systems. That sort of thing. And then we have to actually maintain it. Dh likes to hide down there, lol.

It needs to get listed. Right now I'm leaning toward trying one of the more long term sites first. There are places that list it for a month instead of day by day. And those are geared more toward traveling nurses, internships, etc. We're in a very good location - walkable to the subway, restaurants, etc.

[Tree Frog]

We've stayed in Airbnb 's about 5 or 6 times. We like using them because my mom and sister sometimes join us and it gives us a private place to hang out and play games together. Except for the last one, they've all been good. I don't remember needing to upload my driver's license. 

Our last Airbnb was at Christmas in a duplex. We knew it was a duplex before we requested it. (We always find the house before we book it.) We weren't loud, no parties, but I don't think the neighbor of the adjoining unit liked it being an Airbnb. His main (?) room connected with a bedroom where we were and he blasted his music from about 5 pm to 2 or 3 am every night we were there. It didn't affect the rest of the house, but it was loud in the bedroom. There was only one other review mentioning the music. We also mentioned it in our review.

I recently came across this Reddit update from a (retired? attorney). I know to beware of social media posts, but this sounds legit. I'd never given much thought to cameras, thinking that decent people wouldn't have them in bathrooms or bedrooms. In this particular case, I apparently was wrong. 

We have one more scheduled Airbnb stay for a college graduation. After that, I don't know if we will use them again. We just received an email with their terms and services. I haven't read it yet.