Airbnb And Hurricane Ian Experiences
In this post, you shall read some people’s experiences with Airbnb during hurricane Ian in USA.
On social media, most especially on facebook, some people have been sharing their encounters with the airbnb. Some shared positive experienced but most of them shared negative experiences with the airbnb.
Below are parts of what some people shared on social media about their experiences with Airbnb:
– An Open Letter to Airbnb,
Thank you for demonstrating to me that you care absolutely nothing for your customer. My wife and I had to cut our Washington trip short due to Hurricane Ian, in order to get back to prepare our home. And for me to be available at the hospital after the storm.
Meagan spent a day and a half on the phone with their customer service reps to no avail. We received an offer of a $25 dollar coupon on a $1200 dollar stay. Their response as to why they couldn’t refund us was because hurricanes are predictable weather events.
So for all of my Florida friends and any one on the Gulf or East Coasts of the US just know that you are not able to book a trip between June and November because that is Hurricane season and they are predictable during that time.
Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk!
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– Mom rented Wizard’s Way(Airbnb)for our Hurricane Ian getaway. Amazing place… I kept getting lost in this place.
For Irma we went to a shelter… My dog did not do well there ? this Airbnb allowed pets. We did lose power on Thu. I let the host know we were leaving and said since we have no power might as well go to Parrish where we don’t have power ?
There is a YouTube video on this place. It had a pool and a spa.
If you look closely at the pics they had like 80 candles on one table and it said please don’t light them….the whole place was like Harry Potters house… The train bed made noises… It scared my cat.
We made it to be as fun as we could until we lost power and realized we didn’t have any supplies there… Hahahah. I went out and everything was closed… There was one Love’s open and I had a headache from no coffee… I went and got in line and made 3 large cups of coffee… I then went to put tops on and noticed everyone was touching every top… So the germaphobe Amy walked away…. No thank you.
Memories… Lol
Mom’s house did fine and she still has power… So that is awesome. We just have a lot of debris. ? ??
Orlando (Champion’s Gate).
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Airbnb And Hurricane Ian Experiences
– I should be sleeping with an alarm set to wake up super early tomorrow to go resort hop around Disney and walk around Disney Springs with Brittany.
But. I’m not. Because Hurricane Ian. Which is fine.
What’s not fine is the fact that I have been arguing on the phone with Airbnb and Vacasa for two days because they won’t issue a refund on a reservation THAT I PHYSICALLY CANNOT GET TO BECAUSE IT IS UNDER MANDATORY EVACUATION IN CAPE CORAL.
State of Emergency, mandatory evacuation, and 99.8% of the zip code being in a power outage but “your reservation is not eligible for a full refund and our manager is not willing to make an exception under this circumstance”.
First moral of the story: I, Chelsea Zangari, have THE WORST travel luck of anyone you will ever meet.
Second moral of the story: Greedy companies will always be greedy and I don’t recommend doing business with AirBnB or Vacasa because neither of them care about their customers.
The end.
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– I’m not usually this person but after going back and forth with Airbnb since Saturday about our reservation for a large group in Nashville this weekend.. They have officially decided they are not giving any type of refund or credit for our reservation that we could not, because of our safety and flight cancellations, check into. They repeatedly said that Hurricane Ian was a foreseeable circumstance beings it’s hurricane season and is not included in their extenuating circumstances policy. It was then up to our host which said “Sorry about that”.
The representative told me that she now recommends that if i plan to book with them to make sure to purchase travel insurance. So on top of the cleaning fee and everything else that you pay through booking with them, don’t forget your travel insurance which costs almost half of the reservation cost!
Please share this so all of your family and friends know to either book with travel insurance or don’t book during hurricane season because you will not receive any type of refund unless your host has a heart and would give you a refund for unforeseen circumstances. Our reservation was $3,000.
I am posting the link below so you can see the host, Jonny. He owns other Airbnbs in Nashville so please steer clear renting from him. He actually has 47 listings on Airbnb.
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Airbnb And Hurricane Ian Experiences
– I rarely do my complaining on social media. But I will NEVER rent from Airbnb again! They charged us in September for October. And gave the money to the host before we arrived. We cannot get back to Pine Island, physically or legally right now. The bridge is totally gone in 3 places and the Coast guard is not allowing people to boat to the island, which is under manditory evacuation. It is also unsafe to be there. Not only from the damage and downed power lines, but also the police are evacuating and looters will begin breaking into evacuated houses. We are told the house is a total loss.
We paid a lot of money and expected Airbnb would protect us if we could not stay at the place we paid for if it was NOT SAFE or if there was no way for us to get there. To Airbnb Hurricane Ian is not an “Extenuating” circumstance nor the fact that they are totally ignoring federal, state and local laws by telling us we need to go to the island or it is not extenuating circumstances! But in fact we are not allowed to go there legally at this time.
Further we lost all the things we had to leave behind and the host is saying she deserves to keep the money for October because she is “storing our stuff” that we believe is also a total loss. Again, why did Airbnb give money to the host before the month of October? We can’t get back to the Island to retrieve our belongings or prove things are there and not damaged. We have insurance which I will begin a claim tomorrow, but we can’t prove at this point what can be salvaged or not. Or that the host doesn’t throw them out before we can legally get back on the island to get them.
Now we are paying an addional $100 a day to stay in a hotel since September 27 in addition to the $2400+ we already paid to stay at this Airbnb for all of October.
We have heard, albeit second hand, other stories that Airbnb is demanding that people who are renting their houses through them have lost their house due the Hurricane, and are told they have to continue to post their rentals otherwise they have to pay a cancelation fee to Airbnb even though their house isn’t liveable and can’t be rented. Other issues we have heard are that people, like us, who paid in advance but can’t live in the rentals due to the Hurricane are told too bad you aren’t getting your money back. Even ebay holds your money intil you recieved your purchase or service before paying the seller. But this isn’t how Airbnb handles it.
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– I am asking anyone that reads my post send this out to everyone you know on every social platform you use to get out the disshonest practices of Airbnb. The person my girlfriend talked with even lauphed at her when she said she we lost everything because it was covered in muck & brine water. Airbnb’s response was to contact our insurance. Sorry for your loss and goodbye.
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Airbnb And Hurricane Ian Experiences
– I’m not aware of any other company that can get away with taking your money without providing the service. Even Airlines. Cruise lines, hotels and other travel venues, at worst case, gives you credit to use what you purchased at a later date if they can’t provide you with what you paid for at that time! And most provide a full refund.
I’m not poor, but this is still a lot of money. It’s getting tiring to buy services that are advertised in plane English, but have hundreds of pages of fine print that only an Attorney can understand and some unscrupulous companies use inappropriately for their profit.
It would cost me more to sue them than I’ve already lost, but a class action law suit might be what is needed if there is a law firm that thinks they can win it. In any case we are sending a letter to the Attorney Generals office & FEMA, who declared this area a disaster & state of emergency. Airbnb even went as far as wanting us to prove the island was hit by the Hurricane and not accessible! Of course we did because anyone that can google it can see the pictures of the devistation!
But with help from others who believe as I do that they should provide you with a place to stay for the time you’ve paid for or refund your money then maybe the bad publictiy will force them to fullfill their advertisement of being there for you under “Extenuating” circumstances that by them means whatever they want it to mean that prevents them from meeting their obligation. In this case the host cannot fulfill the rental of her house to anyone and also can’t provide a safe place to live in right now.
Thanks for reading my rant and thank you for those who take up my cause by posting to every social media you use about the handling of peoples loss in an unethical way!
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– Do you know I have been fighting with Airbnb and Stay Grazie to get a full refund for my reservation I had to cancel in Sarasota?
Their own policy is that natural disasters which are declared emergencies are legitimate reasons to get a full refund. The entire state of Florida is under emergency declaration right now. My conference was canceled due to hurricane Ian and @Staygraziesarasota.com refuses to adhere to Airbnb policy. To make it worse, Airbnb won’t enforce it.
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Airbnb And Hurricane Ian Experiences
– made it to the cutest Airbnb on the opposite coast, hoping #hurricaneian stays away ??
Conclusion
Another person wrote to advise the victims of hurricane Ian…
For all of my Family and Friends dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. I just wanted to give you some info that was helpful for me when I survived Hurricane Andrew and stayed to rebuild.
First thing is to get in touch with your insurance company to make a claim. (also car insurance) Then find temporary housing. Check Airbnb’s, rentals, RV. Don’t be afraid to ask family and friends if you can stay, you will be surprised they want to help. We actually bought a RV and parked it in our yard and watch as our house was being rebuilt.
THERE ARE SCAMMERS POSING AS CONTRACTORS. Make sure you check them out licensed and insured. Get references. We got 3 quotes and checked reviews and references. I do remember a few of our neighbors got caught up with scammers and lost $$$$
Get in touch with FEMA..they are there to help.
Its going to take time to rebuild, remember you and twenty thousand other people are all trying to rebuild at the same time. It will take months and possibly years. It will get frustrating at times but keep in mind this is only temporary.
There are looters, protect what property you have left.
Propane, chainsaw, water, gas cans and gas for the generator was essential for us. Fix a flat and tire repair kits were used often! There’s debris everywhere so be careful of driving.
SEE ALSO : Do I Need Flood Insurance And How Can I get It
These are just a few thoughts that came to my mind while im looking at all of the destruction from Hurricane Ian. Keep your spirits up and I will be praying and thinking of you all.
Credit : Facebook
