Their customer service is abysmal and will not refund bad experiences. I see Airbnb as having a high churn rate business.
In terms of being as trustworthy as Craigslist, the main advantage is that hosts have to go through verification just like guests and they have bank accounts linked and many hosts have reviews from previous guests which gives you more confident of how good of a host they are.
Refunds are available if the listing is not as described or there's any personal safety or cleanliness issues. What was your experience that you felt warranted a refund?
My experience: rented a room in South San Jose for a week. After coming back from dinner, the apartment building was surrounded by police and I wasnt able to get back in so I had to get a hotel instead. After going through support, I ended up getting $150 in credits on a $600+ stay.
I still use airbnb often as I'm fairly risk tolerant. I'd say it's about 1 out of 10 times I end up in an unlivable place that I have to leave (losing my booking money).
Agreed, not for everyone.