I checked in to one of their rentals 4 days ago and walked into a myriad of things that had just…read morenot been cleaned. I reported it right away and someone came out. We walked through the house and grounds. The couch smelled like mildew and dipped down in the middle, they'd left a dirty/orangey dish rack half cleaned just laying outside on a table next to a dirty paper towel and the cleaner, dust everywhere, pile of old bags under a kitchen island/chopping block. I started cleaning up bags and underneath was dusty and dirty and floor under that hadn't been cleaned at all...crumbs and stickiness on chopping block table, dog poo and trash in yard. Old bag and receipt on desk... it was like it had been half cleaned which was ridiculous because it was like 700 sq feet and no one had even done a sweep of the yard at all.
The inspector and myself discussed lots of options. One he presented was a " febreze" of the mildewed couch and a vacuum of the unclean kitchen tile, which i found unacceptable. He did offer a clean the next day, which I had needed some time to think about, due to trusting his promise of that, the inconvenience, having to stay the night in a dirty house, and what that actually meant to this company. We discussed alternative lodging which I decided against asking about at all the next morning after going over the reviews here on Yelp and realizing there was no guarantee that any of their properties would be well maintained.
I had used my entire summer savings (I'm a teacher), had my dogs and all supplies packed in the car, my family was planning a visit. Honestly, the location was great, the cabin was cute, and the yard would've been lovely. The listing promised an "enhanced clean" due to covid-19 and I had been counting on that to feel safe during this time. Even a thorough clean would've sufficed.
I left about an hour after I checked in, which I would have NEVER done if I had felt at all comfortable with the situation at all, having no guarantee of a refund or a satisfactory resolution. I had emailed and called the night before and emailed again in the morning, deciding that the state of the place upon my arrival was unacceptable and I requested a refund. I had also taken some time to look at the Yelp reviews here which I should've done before I booked. I had relied on the listing reviews and my trust in Airbnb.
The only response I got was from Star L., who is the one who has also responded dismissively to several of the bad reviews on this site, was that I should cancel the reservation and we'd proceed from there. There was no apology, no attempt to salvage my stay or reassurances from her about a future enhanced clean, or any kind of refund for my inconvenience or the failed check in. I canceled as she requested, hoping that would expedite my refund.
She then responded that the inspector told her that the place was perfectly clean and he thought I just didn't like the place. She offered me a partial refund if they could re-book it. She told me that since I had asked about other accommodations when the inspector and I were trying to salvage the situation that meant I didn't like the place. I had never once expressed that I didn't like the place, to him, to her, on a voice mail or in writing.
I was floored by Star L.'s response. The inspector saw the unclean parts of the house and garbage in the yard. He acknowledged them when speaking with me. He told my brother in law over the phone the next day that he had spent an hour an a half cleaning the place the day after I had left. It became a case of he said/she said. Ignoring that, I had pictures of the spots I had immediately reported to her and to Airbnb. She acknowledged none of that. I was told that no one believed that the place was unclean, and in so many words called a liar.
You don't know me, she doesn't know me, but I'm not a liar. I had no ulterior motives. I would've given anything to have avoided this stress. I had even started cleaning up the place on my own before I discovered more and more areas that had been skipped by their cleaning crew.
Airbnb is busy right now but I did get a hold of them. and they made things right by finally giving me a full refund, not Russian River Rentals.
I think it's quite clear that this company has terrible customer service. Star L. dismissed me, her customer, as I've now seen her do in response to quite a few unhappy reviews on this site. No one should have to go through this with this company, especially during a time like this.
It looks like some people have had quite nice experiences with their stays. But if you have an issue, I would strongly advise you to document everything as thoroughly as possible. Based on my recent experience, this company is untrustworthy, does not support or validate their renters (in my case, it was implied I was a liar several times) and takes no responsibility when it comes to dealing with any issues that may arise with your stay.
