Possibility to claim compensation from AirBNB

elsanto

I want to ask about the chances to sue AirBNB for damages, unless there is an ombudsman to go to first.
One of their hosts harassed me with mockery, strong insults and ageist comments while I stayed in their place for 4 weeks.
This happened on several messages, up to 10 in one day, even after I told the host I did not want to communicate with him during the rest of my stay.
The harassment came to a conclusion with a nasty review the host left for me in the AirBNB site for all to see.
Conversely, AirBNB deleted my review of the host, where I spoke about the host's behaviour, claiming 'I referred to the host, not the place'.
A review of your experience in an AirBNB place should include anything that affected you in your stay.
While the harassment was happening, I complained to AirBNB, telling them of the distress it was causing me, a number of times and they ignored me.
At the end of my stay, I said I wanted compensation of $1000.00 (the place was expensive too).
AirBNB just decided to string me along and did nothing.
Clearly AirBNB was biased towards the host all the time.
During the time I made my claim, I told AirBNB that this was formal complaint as I wanted to complete this formality before recurring to the legal route. So I asked them to confirm I was talking to the people who deal with complaints but, once again, they ignored me.
They ended up cutting off the communication.
This happened abroad but I am talking about the AirBNB representation in the UK.
Thanks

JGB1955

What have you lost, financially? Anything else is just waffle.

eskbanker

elsanto said:

I want to ask about the chances to sue AirBNB for damages

On what legally viable grounds?  If a host was unpleasant to you, why do you feel that Airbnb has any liability to you?

ThumbRemote

Realistically, if you stayed there for 4 weeks, you're going to struggle to claim it was so bad - otherwise presumably you'd have left. You have no financial losses so will struggle to claim anything there - you don't really have any damages you can claim. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Was this a holiday or something else?

user1977

elsanto said:

This happened abroad but I am talking about the AirBNB representation in the UK.

Why would the UK be relevant if this happened abroad?

elsanto

eskbanker said:

elsanto said:

I want to ask about the chances to sue AirBNB for damages

On what legally viable grounds?  If a host was unpleasant to you, why do you feel that Airbnb has any liability to you?

Because I paid AirBNB for the service, not the host. My contract is with AirBNB

elsanto

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Was this a holiday or something else?

Working holiday

TELLIT01

elsanto said:

eskbanker said:

elsanto said:

I want to ask about the chances to sue AirBNB for damages

On what legally viable grounds?  If a host was unpleasant to you, why do you feel that Airbnb has any liability to you?

Because I paid AirBNB for the service, not the host. My contract is with AirBNB

I suspect, but know know for certain, that AirBnB will say they simply act as a mechanism for the accommodation provider and the client to get together, and that the contract is between those parties.

elsanto

ThumbRemote said:

Realistically, if you stayed there for 4 weeks, you're going to struggle to claim it was so bad - otherwise presumably you'd have left. You have no financial losses so will struggle to claim anything there - you don't really have any damages you can claim. 

No, there is a difference. The host was nasty for 1.5 weeks, then I cut off the communication. I thought of leaving and I looked for another place but my daughter was not well and I did not want to move her. Also, it is a very popular destination and there is not chance of finding another place from one day to the next. Then I managed to stop the host for 2 weeks but he started being abusive when it came to review time at the end of my stay. That is when the worst abuse came.

elsanto

user1977 said:

elsanto said:

This happened abroad but I am talking about the AirBNB representation in the UK.

Why would the UK be relevant if this happened abroad?

Because I created my account with AirBNB in the UK with my address in the UK.
I thought people would be telling me these things but I seem to be giving help, not getting it.