We arrived in India a week ago & had booked a ‘luxury,premium’ apartment.
On arrival we noticed it was in the midst of a building site. Okay we thought, that’s not going to be a problem.
We entered the apartment & within seconds couldn’t believe the dirt. I know I know I hear you all say…its INDIA!
Trust me, this was DIRT. The bins had food in them, the windows covered in hand prints, food all over the kitchen cupboards, urine that had gone dark on the toilets, seats and floors. Sockets hanging off and one that was actually making sparking noises.
The building work went on until late evening and started again at 6:30am and it turned out they were building another floor above us.
Airbnb asked for photos & within minutes had arranged a hotel for us the next morning & within the hour we had a refund.
I had first contacted the owner (great reviews) & he said he and his family had stayed there for 2 weeks and it had been cleaned, but if it wasnt up to our standard, there were cleaning products in the kitchen.
We found old food in the bed and thankfully only had to stay one night.
Airbnb were fantastic and called a few times to ensure we had found somewhere.
We also realised that there were cameras in the doorbell that hadn’t been disclosed.
All I can say is a BIG THANK YOU to airbnb customer service
Hang on a minute … you’re not suggesting that places in India are automatically dirty?
absolutely not!
Having travelled through India extensively, you cant help but notice the dirty streets, run down buildings and rivers and seas polluted with plastic and general waste. Not just here but sadly all over beautiful Asia.
Hotel standards here are generally not the same as elsewhere. 4 star here is more like 2 star without the amenities we are used to at home.
That’s the beauty of travel as humbling as it, we see the beauty beyond the street dirt and dire poverty and see the beauty in the people we’ve met along our way
In poor countries standards are definitely not same a in western world. I am far from.luxury traveler but in countries like India ( never been) I go for high end accomodations and hotels.only . . First it’s a guarantee in electricity,water and other things present . I would think twice as going with Airbnb in such countries . 90% of my experience when dealing with private owners are what you described . Not all but many.
No one here is surprised that Airbnb CS is great from the guest side.
Interesting that you had two substandard Airbnb experiences within the last month. I guess if experienced hosts can’t even pick good ones what chance does the average guest have.
Pics or it didn’t happen. 
You got a refund, but you probably had to at least partially clean the place just to stay there the first night, so the host still made money off of you. 
I’ve seen stories of guests complaining about Airbnb customer service for this exact reason and handled in exactly the same way. @Meander was willing to stay the first night, but most guests would not be.
I’ve seen plenty of guest complaints about Airbnb CS as well. And even when I’ve called as a host but in advocating for the guest they haven’t always been stellar. I do think that people are 100x more likely to post a complaint than a compliment. 
I’ve had nothing but positives from their cs but on this occasion, they were outstanding.
We cleaned the bathroom…not for the faint hearted and as a host I thought I’d seen it all!
Air refunded the whole stay including the night we had to stay.
Well the first I wouldn’t say was substandard…just tweaks that would make it great. Suggestions I made, the owner took on board as positives to enhance her listing.
The second was absolutely substandard.
Wow, That is sad. Hope this does not give a bad impression for other host