Heidi B.

Airbnb will always take the side of the host. I arrived at the Airbnb home of M. W. in Ocala, FL last Friday evening. Her home was pitch black inside and out. I knew she had 2 dogs but I didn't know her dogs would be the only ones home and greet me at the door barking aggressively. (I later learned they are Pitbull mixes.) When I unlocked the door and cracked it open I knew I was in a risky situation and immediately closed the door and locked it. As a dog trainer I knew a stranger walking into a dark home with dogs of any breed barking like they were was not safe. I messaged the host on the app but got no response. I left and went to a hotel. A message from her was finally received a day and a half later. To make this long story short. I posted a negative review for the host on Airbnb causing her to become very irate. She did refund my payment but later said she would cancel the refund (which was not possible). She continued to harass me on the Airbnb app. I was told to block her by Airbnb so I did. She then found me on Facebook and sent me a Facebook message continuing the harassment. Airbnb said they could not do anything, to contact police. I blocked her on Facebook and somehow she found my cell number and then texted me and left me a nasty voicemail. Airbnb again said there was nothing they could do. To top it all off I later got a message from Airbnb that said they removed my review for inappropriate content. I read the link they sent explaining what is inappropriate and I still didn't see how I had violated their policies for reviews. I asked them if I could edit my review to meet their requirements and to tell me specifically how I was in violation. They said I could not, nor could I post a new review and would not tell me specifically what was wrong with my review. I don't believe there was anything wrong with my review. Either she harassed them until they removed it and/or they only care about hosts earning more money for them. I chose this host partly on her stunning reputation shown by her reviews, which I now know are skewed. My situation was unsafe and handled very poorly by Airbnb.