Woman Puts AirBnB On Blast After Receiving A Gift Card That Had Already Been Used, and They Didn't Attempt to Compensate Her At All
Usually, when something like this happens, the company will help resolve the issue.
A 28-year-old woman decided to use an AirBnB gift card that her friends gave her, only to find out the card had already been redeemed. And the way it all went down made her pretty furious, fast.
She records herself holding up the physical card, pointing to the scratch-off area and explaining that she scratched it off just minutes before trying to use it. So when the balance did not work, it raised the obvious question: how could someone have redeemed it already?
What really turns this into a mess is what happened after she contacted AirBnB, got bounced to the gift card supplier, and still did not get any real help.
She starts off her video by stating that AirBnB is the worst company to exist.
She can be seen holding up the gift card she was trying to use and saying that AirBnB is the worst company to exist.
@trash_unrealShe explains the situation in detail, from where she got the card to what happened.
She mentions that she received the gift card as a gift from her friends and decided to use it, only to find out that it had already been redeemed.
“I was like, ‘Well, that’s funny, because this particular gift card has this little scratch-off mechanism on the back, and I had to scratch it off just one minute prior to trying to use it, so it’s been hidden this whole time,’” @trash_unreal said. “How could someone have redeemed it?”
@trash_unrealShe reacted the way any one of us would if we received a message saying that we had never used the card before.
Of course, she contacted AirBnB to see what could be done about the gift card balance. However, AirBnB forwarded her to a third-party company that supplies the gift cards, but they essentially told her that she was misinformed.
Ultimately, no help was provided in this situation.
trash_unreal
Launch Gift Cards is the company that supposedly supplied the physical gift card.
@trash_unreal
They couldn't even get her name right when addressing her about the issue.
“Christina—that’s not my name. That’s number one. That’s the bare minimum level of respect that you can give someone. ... In a text chat interaction, my name is right there!” @trash_unreal said. “Number two, that’s not what I asked.”
She explains that her encounter with their customer service wasn't great at all.
@trash_unreal
People chimed in with comments saying that this is quite common and can happen.
ewwdavid3
It turns out that digital gift cards are much more secure.
shells514
She makes a follow-up video suggesting that this might have been what happened with her card.
And if AirBnB’s gift card mess has you thinking about money owed, this friend refused to reimburse a canceled trip after financial struggles.
A lot of people really support AirBnB.
lyndenland
She's not saying AirBnB is terrible all the time; they just really didn't handle this situation well.
kellielphic
Some people say they've heard bad things about AirBnB, so they don't use them.
jjinseattle2
This would be a better option for sure.
italian.american.man
Clearly, they don't offer refunds.
golden_soph
People are saying that they prefer hotels.
_notmyrose
Right after she shows the scratch-off she just uncovered, she immediately calls out AirBnB as the “worst company,” because the card should have been untouched.
Then the plot thickens when AirBnB forwards her to Launch Gift Cards, and they basically tell her she was wrong, not the other way around.
That’s when she notices the customer service texts miss her name, calling her “Christina” even though her chat name is clearly correct.
In her follow-up, she suggests digital gift cards might be safer, especially after this entire physical-card redemption saga went nowhere.
Well, this video was insightful. We definitely feel that AirBnB should refund her or assist her in some way for the inconvenience.
It's a really unfortunate situation, and not receiving any compensation for $175 is quite a loss. What do you think about this situation and how AirBnB handled it?
She didn’t just lose a gift card, she got treated like her own evidence was the problem.
Want the “free” travel voucher twist too, check out what this Redditor got after a holiday gift turned into a Disney nightmare.
