Living with rats, poor host, and 0 Airbnb Support

This was a Christma trip to Yosemite. We arrived on the evening of 12/22 and were immediately disappointed by the conditions at the Airbnb. The house was very cold, and one of the rooms, located in the garage, had a non-functional air conditioning unit. Additionally, the entire house was dirty. We contacted the host who promised to inspect the air conditioning and send a heater the following day. As a result, one of our families had to sleep in the living room that night.

On 12/23, we discovered mouse droppings in multiple areas, including the inner bedsheets, next to the bathtub, under the sink, and on the tables. My baby developed a rash, and others started sneezing from the dirty environment. We contacted the host again, she replied with “Rashes, Okay, from what?” Though he promised to send someone to clean, the cleaning job was not thorough, and poops were still visible in several areas and on the comforters. He suggested we bring the comforter to the laundry and offered a $200 discount. We agreed on that and thought it was for the cleaning fee.

12/24 at 2 PM, the host sent the $200 but also requested that we not leave a review, which is not acceptable. That evening, while having dinner, we heard mouse noises and recorded videos of droppings in various places, including under the oven and dishwasher. It became clear that the mice had been living in the house for a long time. And the volume of the poops indicates there are more than one rat.

On the morning of the 25th, we saw mice actively moving around the house and recorded a video of one running. We sent the video to the host and told him we were willing to return the $200 but would not agree to his request not to leave a review. His response was sarcastic and dismissive, “So you are telling me that you want to give $200 back so you can leave a review that you have seen a mice?!”,“I am sorry you are in the largest mountain range in all of the US and there are more mice.”, “Thx for watching out for other humans; that is very kind of you”. One of the adults in our group also started developing a fever that night. This ruined our Christmas.

Communication with Airbnb:

On 12/26, I contacted Airbnb after the stay. A representative assured me someone would contact me ASAP.
On 12/27, I waited all day without hearing from anyone. I called again and was told a call would be scheduled with the resolution team for the next day, 12/28, between 9-12 PT.
However, on 12/28, I waited all day again without any contact.
On 12/29, I spoke with another representative and explained everything. She instructed me to email photos and videos as evidence.
On 12/30, a representative confirmed receiving my attachments and mentioned I might receive a 30% refund from Airbnb.
On 12/31, another representative confirmed the issue was still being processed and promised updates, but the ticket was closed without informing me of any resolution (despite my clicking "yes, I still need help").
On 1/3, I called again. The representative claimed the issue needed to be reported during the stay, however, the policy clearly states that we could report in 72 hours. They also told me there would be “0” refund because the host had denied the claim. This made me question why I had even contacted Airbnb if the host’s denial was the final word.

The representative advised me to request a refund through the resolution center and upload all evidence again, though I had already submitted everything via email, as advised by another representative before. The host promptly denied the refund, and the status indicated, "Airbnb support is involved."

On 1/10, I received only a partial of the cleaning fee, and the case was closed.

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This entire experience has been extremely frustrating and time-consuming. The time and energy we spent negotiating with both the host and Airbnb support have been completely dismissed in the solution. This isn’t just about the poor living conditions; it’s about the harm caused both physically and mentally to our entire group. We experienced physical issues, such as rashes, sneezing, and fevers, and the situation negatively impacted our mental well-being, especially with the children involved.

I expected a resolution that genuinely reflects the severity of our experience. If this is Airbnb's standard for handling such blatant breaches of responsibility, I would strongly advise future guests to be cautious and reconsider using Airbnb, given the lack of effective support.