Plug in Air Freshners in VRBO properties?

Four hours on multiple calls with VRBO. Even the phone customer service person is reading off an AI prompt. So it is a low paid human being that is on the other end of the line,with absolutely no authority to "help" the customer in any way, but who simply reads off her screen the words that AI provides in response to the customer's complaint. It used to be a hand written script that customer service reps were given in the 2000s or so,but evidently because customer service reps would go off script sometimes, this new AI response bot produces the customized script now "read"by a human but created by AI. So these humans are sad buffers that try to diffuse or spin off the customer complaint. '
I rented a place in Ephrata, Pa, a small basement room, but quite lovely in the photos--there was a plug in air freshner that almost made me gag,and both my partner and I got a horrible headache and sore throat from just 1 or 2 minutes in the space. when contacted the owners said that they had rented to hundreds of people and "never had a complaint" . No doubt I am more sensitive than some people, but it is hard to believe no complaints. They lied and said it was "pure essential oils" but I took a photo of the vile pinkish oils. Straight from the laboratory. I am asking that VRBO insist that their hosts disclose if they are using plug in air freshners on the listing, so that people can avoid those listings. The customer should not have to ask,oh by the way "do you you intend to poison me in my sleep for 8 hours?"' My question is have others experienced this? I have encountered overpowering plug in air freshners only 3 times, in perhaps 350 bookings on airbnb and vrbo. One in Murwai, New Zealand,a musty cottage that the owner was trying to "freshen" up with toxic chemicals, and one in MOnterey,California (5 plug ins in a smallish house) that was trying to cover up a horrible dog smell, and then this one in Ephrata, Pa, that was in a very small basement room, andwas evidently a cover up to a musty smell.

Posted Oct 11, 2025, 7:41 PM UTC

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