Hi everybody,
On November 7, when we had 3 days in Playa del Carmen, we walked to some cenotes that were supposedly public. Upon arrival, we realized that it was the “typical tourist trap” (Native Park) and they charged $80 to enter the cenote.
We continued walking to see if we could find an access to the beach and the Xcaret security personnel told us that the only beach with public access was the one in the center (which we had seen the day before and was horrible).
There my soul fell to the ground, and I realized that Playa del Carmen was the same as Tulum and Cancun: mass tourism and everything privatized.
In my concern, I said to Diego: What if we cancel the second reservation? It was a saying since canceling the reservation meant to lose the $1400 we had paid.
When we got to the downtown beach and I connected my cell phone to Diego’s hotspot (since we only put a line on his cell phone), I immediately received the message that the host had canceled my reservation for the following month.
There I felt good and bad at the same time because of all the work that this cancellation was going to entail: hours looking for other accommodations, deciding if we were leaving Playa del Carmen or not, buying flights to a new destination, starting my battle against Airbnb so they assume their responsibility, etc.
At that time, we were still not disgusted with the first accommodation and since they had the Christmas week reserved, we decided to extend the stay there until December 20 and leave the country.
Initially we had not booked any longer there because in December it got excessively expensive.
I wanted to go to Argentina because there I could spend the holidays with my friend Angélica, but it bothered me to have to take such a long flight again. Then we saw that, although you could travel to Argentina, they asked for PCR despite being vaccinated and a medical insurance with covid coverage; so, we discarded that country for the moment.
We decided to go to Bogotá because there were no covid restrictions and it was a relatively short flight. In addition, it was a good destination to start touring all South America.
This is easy to tell, but we spent days of researching and making reservations.
In the second accommodation (where reservation got cancelled), the night cost $48.8 and in the first accommodation where we had to extend 20 more days, the night cost us $81.87. Which means an additional cost per night of $33.67 for a total of $572.39. The cancellation of the reservation meant that I had to spend $572.39 more than what I initially planned.
In addition, it was the only thing there was because by the beginning of November, all the accommodations in Playa del Carmen and its surroundings were reserved.
Airbnb’s only solution was to give me a coupon with fraudulent conditions: less than a month to use it and for a minimum of $1200. This amount didn’t include Airbnb’s fees neither cleaning fees; in addition, it had to be a new reservation, so the extention of the 20 days in the current accommodation, didn’t count. As you can see, a coupon so you can’t use it.
I spent two whole months fighting with Airbnb to get them to take responsibility and pay me that extra money that I spent. Every day sending messages and writing on all social networks. In addition, I reported Airbnb to Profeco (consumer office in Mexico) and an European consumer defense organization.
At the end of the first month, I had managed to change the conditions of the coupon to use it in a year for any amount. Also, I got a refund of $306.
Those $306 correspond to the amount of fees I paid to Airbnb for booking through their page. I mean, they weren’t giving me money either.
As a result of spending time every day writing on all social networks, I found some impressive cases of other guests that I even felt lucky.
People who had everything stolen from the accommodation, a family who booked a cabin that did not exist and lost the money of the reservation, rooms infested with cockroaches and full of cigarette butts, couples who had been threatened and had left out of fear that host would hurt them, a woman who complained on LinkedIn because Airbnb owed her more than 100k. You wouldn’t believe all the cases I found.
With the refund of $306 and if we took the coupon of $149 as part of payment, Airbnb still owed me $117.
What I learned from this experience:
The fees you pay to Airbnb assure you absolutely nothing. In fact, there is no way to talk to someone urgently; The only thing you can do is send a message through the platform and wait for weeks for them to respond (depending on the pressure you can exert through social networks).
It is a lie that you have an insurance of many millions that protects you. When you have a problem, cases are solved based on “miserable policies” that ensure that the company does not lose money with any client, no matter what happened. You already must burst the social networks daily so that they would give you some money that will be a pittance and will not compensate you for the situation you have been through and the time you have lost.
One thing that is new to me is that now the customer service agents are “passing the buck” and perhaps the fifth or sixth agent is the one who can give you an answer.
You must have several options, you can’t just stay with Airbnb. From there I did exhaustive research and I saved accommodation search websites for future destinations.
Also, I read a comment saying that Airbnb is now “only for the rich.” I remember that years ago a friend told me to use that platform because it was very cheap. Now, Airbnb is anything but cheap; between cleaning costs and other fees, it seems to be a luxury service.
In the end, if nobody is going to protect you when you have problems, it is better to rent directly from local websites and in cash since it will be much cheaper. Facebook Market was recommended to me, and I have to give it a try. But this is when one goes with a little more time to go visiting accommodations; In countries where you can only spend 3 months as a tourist, we preferred to book and avoid wasting time; Of course, if you have a bad accommodation, the entire stay will be ruined.
The ideal thing for me is a hotel that has mini-apartments with a kitchen, because in a hotel you will always have people who respond immediately and you are much more likely to have the minimum guaranteed standards: cleanliness, internet, good bed. It is also an excellent option if you have contacts in the destination you are going to, who can help you find accommodation with the locals; that way you pay when you arrive and if you don’t like it, you go somewhere else without losing your money.