We are US citizens enrolled in an intensive Italian language program at Scuola Leonardo da Vinci in Florence, Italy. We booked Airbnb reservation HM93KNXNKP (host Angela Capodivacca, Via Pietro Metastasio 9, Florence 50124) months in advance for a long-term stay from May 30 to July 26, 2026 — eight weeks to support our language studies. This is not a brief tourist visit. This is our summer residence in Florence.
On June 16, 2026, we discovered an active wood-boring beetle (Anobium punctatum) and Pyemotes mite infestation in the antique wooden headboard positioned directly above our pillows. We documented this extensively: multiple emergence holes across the headboard, fresh wood frass accumulating on the tile floor directly beneath, a live adult beetle found on the bed itself, and progressive bite reactions on both guests appearing exclusively in covered body areas — scalp, neck, armpits, chest, and groin — consistent only with parasitic mite behavior and impossible to attribute to mosquitoes or bed bugs.
The host acknowledged the problem but confirmed she cannot arrange professional pest control on short notice. Her only proposed alternative was a bedroom in her mother's personal residence at the same address — requiring us to continue using the infested unit's kitchen and bathroom. This is a direct bait-and-switch from the private entire apartment we contracted and is explicitly listed as a covered violation under Airbnb's own published AirCover policy.
We opened an Airbnb Support case on June 16 and spent six hours escalating through multiple agents. Senior Case Manager Mundeep refused every request for supervisor escalation, stating in writing that we had reached "the last desk of escalation" and instructing us to close the case and start over if we wanted a different agent. He applied standard host cancellation policy to a documented health and safety emergency, offered a $695.13 coupon as the total remedy for a 41-night displacement from an uninhabitable property, and left two guests stranded inside the infested unit past 1am local Florence time. His final message at 1:28am Florence time read: "Just to let you know, my shift is about to end for the day. Not to worry though! I will follow up with you."
A second installment of $1,613.50 is due June 19, 2026, for a property that is medically uninhabitable.
We have filed a formal health complaint with ASL Toscana Centro and submitted a complaint through the EU ODR platform. We are requesting a full refund of the unspent nights from our first installment of $1,862.17, cancellation of the June 19 installment, and AirCover price-match relocation assistance for our remaining 41 nights in Florence.
Reservation code: HM93KNXNKP
First installment paid: $1,862.17
Second installment due June 19, 2026: $1,613.50
