They failed the test! Airbnb scam alert from Leysin Switzerland
Airbnb apartment rentals Leysin Switzerland scam alert Location appartement Ils ont échoué au test
Leysin, a small and typical town nestled in the Swiss Alps. Here, they find an apartment rentals through Airbnb. Everything sounds perfect. The description and the pictures look good. Our testers place a reservation for 3 nights. Their guest, Michel (or Philipp, as the case may be), send them the booking confirmation with the promess that they would receive a code by SMS 24 hours prior their arrival, for our travelers being able to open the box which countains the key of the apartment.
But… the 24 hours come and still no code on the way! Our testers send a message then, for requesting the code, which is finally sent by the owner… only an hour prior the arrival! What a stress! They got it so late but everything seems now on place for a perfect stay. Once on site, although the building looks really poorly maintained from the outside, which surprises our visitors, the apartment itself has been renovated, what is reassuring.
The trip has been a long one. Once in the apartment, our testers need a shower. Unfortunately, there is no hot water! And no WiFi allowing them to contact the guest through the Airbnb website (unless they accept to pay important roaming fees). Fortunately, our travelers have two cell numbers of the owner so they contact him in order to ask for hot water and the WiFi. On that moment, the only answer our testers get from the owner in response to their demand is (quote) :
– Thank you!
The day after comes. Our testers want to visit their friends so they give the owner the authorization to enter the apartment for resolving the pending questions of the hot water and the WiFi. The owner confirms his visit. Everything will necessarily be okay the evening to come, when our adventurers return to the apartment.
So the night comes but… still no hot water! And no WiFi either!
Here, the owner send a message (quote) :
– Please feel free to ask if you need another box for the WiFi.
But there is no modem installed here, actually, no router, no “box” at all for being connected to the WiFi. So… Another box, uh!? All of this sounds just like “mockery”.
Now, two days have passed already. Out of this 3-day planned stay. With no hot water nor WiFi. On the morning of the third day, with no possibility to take a single shower (or only with ice-cold water directly coming from the mountains), our testers have no other choice but to leave, what they do, for another accommodation. They inform the owner while requesting a total refund of the paid amount. The owner will later accept to refund a third of the paid amount, which is not a compensation but simply corresponds to the unused day of the planned stay. Clearly not enough in the eyes of our travelers, and not enough in our mind either! All and everyone understand that vacation, paid because you have worked hard for, are not for spending your time in requesting hot water and WiFi.
Moreover and among the events described above in connection with this adventure, let’s specify that the landlord asked our travelers to send him a scan of their IDs by email which is in a clear opposition to Airbnb’s policies, even though our testers already had submitted their IDs through the Airbnb website as per the usual process.
Test failed !
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