A mother has hit out at Airbnb after being told to pay £2,750 for a mouldy flat with urine-covered toilets.

The mum, who was visiting her daughter in Edinburgh during the Fringe, said there was black dirt and dust in every room, and even mould growing in the fridge.

After making a complaint, the owner rejected her claims, and Airbnb refused to take the matter further as it was more than 72 hours after her stay.

The unnamed guest said: ‘When we arrived, we found there was urine and a wipe in the toilet which did not bode well. The middle section of the shutter in my bedroom was missing, so there was no blackout as advertised in the details.

‘On the second day we began to notice the flat was not clean and there were parts of the flat that were in desperate need of repair. The door handle in the sitting room fell off because there were no screws holding it in place.

‘In the kitchen, there were cupboards and drawers that had not been wiped clean, a very dirty oven, chipped crockery, and a fridge that had not seen a cleaning cloth on the outside and the water dispenser was mouldy.’

As they continued to get settled into their accommodation, they only discovered more problems throughout the property.

The guest continued: ‘In the bedrooms, there was a broken cupboard, again held together with parcel tape, and more dust everywhere.

‘There was dust and screws littering the windowsills under the shutters.

‘The bathroom was also in desperate need of cleaning: both toilet and basin pedestals were dirty, and there was a disgusting toilet brush holder which was so bad we didn’t want to touch it.’

The guests decided not to make a complaint while they were there in the flat as they ‘did not want the confrontation’, but were unaware they only had three days to ask for their money back.

‘Initially I sent a long detailed letter to the host and waited a few days for a reply. He ignored it, so I contacted Airbnb,’ the guest explained.

‘Through telephone calls and messaging it became clear that because I did not complain within 72 hours of arriving, I had no entitlement to support my complaint.

‘However I was advised that I could complain through the Resolution Centre. So I completed it, but did not realise it was going straight to the host. He simply declined the request.

‘I asked Airbnb what their responsibility was in allowing this process to support hosts who rent out properties in this condition. I got nowhere.’

It was only after reporters contacted the holiday rental business that the mum and daughter received some money back.

An Airbnb spokesperson said: ‘We were disappointed to learn about this experience and we have reached out to the guest to provide a partial refund – worth £750 – and a coupon as a gesture of goodwill.’

They added: ‘All our guests are protected by AirCover for free on every booking and in the rare event that something isn’t as expected, we will help immediately when contacted within 72 hours of check-in.’

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