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No Support for Hosts, Airbnb Gives us the Runaround

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I decided to rent out my property for the Christmas holiday. I was selective as some people had too many in their party, or had large dogs — I accept animals under 25 lbs. I rented to a woman who said there would be her and two dogs. I usually only accept one pet but since she had no partner I thought it only fair to let her stay with both animals. We agreed on a $100 non-refundable pet fee just to allow her pets to stay, not for damages.

When I was leaving the property after prepping it for her arrival, I noticed two large commercial trucks pulling up. I doubled back as I thought they were at the wrong house. The boom truck drivers were dropping off the pick up driver’s stuff, then left. I said, “you are not Crissi?” She said no and called her husband who in turn gave me her number. Only then did she inform me that it was her employee staying there. The dogs she had stated were 25 lbs. were bull terriers weighing between 45-65 lbs and one was in heat according to the employee.

Crissi was supposed to provide a pet deposit of $100 and said she would give it to the employee to pass on to me the following day. He wasn’t there the next day (a wasted trip for me) but the next day he was home and said he knew nothing about the deposit. I reached out to her again and she said she would be there at the property in 10 minutes. I told her I was running an errand but to leave it under the mat so I wouldn’t disturb her employee staying there.

I wasn’t happy that she deceived me and actually looked up online (since I couldn’t find a customer service number to reach out) to see how Airbnb handles these situations. I read that different reps have given different advice to hosts. Some say to let it go and just see how it plays out, while another said to cancel the reservation because they put a “third party guest” on the property and Airbnb doesn’t cover damages for third party guests. I decided to leave it alone as the gentlemen seemed polite enough.

Following that, we had an unexpected storm with hurricane winds which required a lot of cleanup. I left a notice on the exterior door that I would be by the following day (24 hours’ notice) to do a cleanup of the exterior grounds, even soffits from a nearby home had blown onto the property. When I went to the property the front yard was littered with large piles of dog feces. I reached out to “Crissi” and said that her employee needed to pick up the dog mess as my lawn guy won’t drive through dog feces with his equipment. I immediately got slammed with a return message saying, “that’s what dogs do” and I and my neighbors were harassing them and peeking in the windows.

That came out of left field. She basically said that he would pick it up when he was good and ready. I explained that my lawn care guy would not cut the lawn if he had to roll his equipment through dog feces, he makes that clear. She said it will get picked up tonight. I said, no, it needs to be cleaned up now as my guy is coming to cut the lawn today. She said I didn’t tell her that and I said, I don’t have to tell you that, he is on a set schedule that he makes. Do you stay at a hotel and expect to be told when they cut the lawn? And do you let your dog crap all over the hotel/motel lawn and tell them, sorry we will pick it up when we get around to it?

I called her out for deceiving me as to who was staying there. I later noticed that one of her reviews read, “I can’t give a review as she wasn’t there.” Now it made sense. This woman was dumping employees in Airbnb’s who were using it as a crash pad. Seems harmless right? Wrong. I can’t give a proper review because I am basing my opinion on her and her reputation of other stays she has had on Airbnb. Most importantly, Airbnb will not cover damages if a third party stays on the property.

The employee she had staying there left his dogs in a guest bedroom during the day while he worked and the expensive thick mattress cover, expensive bedsheets, and high end comforter set were all covered in blood from his dog in heat. He could have easily left them in the kitchen area during the day with the baby gate provided to keep pets on tile vs. carpet when owners step out. He apparently left the dogs in one guest bedroom during the day while he worked, hence the blood everywhere. The beds are there for guests, not for dogs in heat.

What happened next blew me away. I received an email saying that the guest has closed out their stay. When I reached out to Airbnb asking if I could go by to make sure they didn’t damage the property on purpose on their way out, they suggested I reach out to Crissi to see if they vacated the premises. She snapped back to stop harassing her and to contact Airbnb, that she filed a complaint against me for harassment and I will be investigated. I told her Airbnb told me to reach out to her, and all I want to know is if there is someone still at the property, that’s on you. She chose to ignore me, that she herself said she would have her employee pass on to me. It wasn’t until I stated the dog feces needed to be cleaned up as the lawn guy would be coming to cut that she started the harassment complaints.

The outcome? You will love this: they took her recorded statement and my recorded statement. I thought they would back me as to her deception as to who would be staying there, and damages were incurred. Since the employee had no direct concern as to what happens in the property, I am only left with dealing with Airbnb. They told me to reach out to this Crissi and explain the damages. I told them, “I am not reaching out to her as she is already saying I am harassing her and this will only add to the problem.”

After a short investigation they decided to block me — temporarily, they said — then two days later made it permanent, saying I could appeal. However you can’t go on their site and appeal once they have blocked you. So they run you in circles telling you to appeal within a certain amount of time knowing you can’t. They sent me emails from five different reps saying do this or that, only adding to the confusion. I asked to deal with one person and they said no, that different departments handle different issues, e.g. claims for damages, or to file an appeal against closing my listing.

They contradict their emails. One rep told me I had 72 hours to provide further information about my case and four hours later told me they had permanently cancelled me off their site. When they told me I could appeal, I asked what specific issues were they concerned about so I could address them. Airbnb would not tell me, so I had no idea what I was defending myself against. They wouldn’t tell me if they had shut her down also for deception of who was staying there, for lying about the size of the animals staying, and for putting company vehicles on the property where it is a violation of city ordinance. Airbnb is judge and jury.

At last stand, I asked if the department that handles damages is still reviewing my claims and nobody has gotten back to me. They basically shut me down, affected me financially and turned their back on me after years of listing on their site. I have rented for over 40 years, long term and short term, in more than one state and have letters of recommendation from guests, and often these people became good friends. I take pride in giving people a place I would want to rent myself. I work hard to provide a nice experience for the guests that Airbnb tells me I am renting to. To shut me down shows how little value they see in their hosts when a problem arises from a guest and we are their bread and butter.

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Airbnb Truly is Hell When They Defend Guests Like These

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I was happy to stumble across Airbnb Hell, as that’s exactly what happened to me as a host. I had used the platform for years as a guest and loved the community and having the comforts of home when traveling. When a chance to travel to climb and work presented itself, I felt this was a no brainer to make some additional money while gone. However, my experience was cut very short after my second guest booked for a week and decided to violate all the house rules.

I alerted this guest that I would be by to pick up my truck camper and explained not to block it in. She told me family was visiting but ensured it would not be a problem. Upon arrival, my camper was blocked in, and after attempting multiple calls, text, and knocking on the door and seeing children inside unattended, I decided to let myself in. The house smelled strongly of marijuana, which I’m not opposed to but not in the home. Four young children were on the couch and I had a “no one under 12” policy. Then a cat appeared.

After speaking with the guest and explaining the house rules, I decided her ignorance might be honest and decided to give them another chance. However after climbing the next day and returning into service range I was alerted by my neighbor co-host there were more children and now a dog on the property. At the same time the guest had requested to book additional time, to which I responded “your stay is being canceled and I would like you to leave the home immediately.” All communication stopped and I sent the co-host over only for them to lock the door and refuse to answer.

The following morning I sent my best friend — a strong male — over to attempt to resolve this matter. However, again, they wouldn’t answer and he informed them that he would be letting himself in. Upon arrival, the same violations were occurring and he and the boyfriend got into an argument. Basically I called the police to have them removed for trespassing because Airbnb continued to say they were working on the matter.

I sent the police over with my friend and they were astonished the guest had been there for days and not weeks or a month. There were cameras up, random new tools most definitely stolen and all kinds of weird stuff. They stayed until the guests finally gathered their possessions and I thanked them for their service. This whole time for over 48 hours Airbnb support did basically nothing besides state they were looking into the matter. With the s%#&, smoke, drugs, and the thought of my newly remolded home being destroyed I took matters into my own hands.

Within 72 hours, I got a wonderful pre-Christmas gift of being removed from the app. I’ve attempted to be reinstated but can’t file the forms due to Airbnb locking my account. When calling and emailing them I’m basically running in a circle. With other bookings coming, I paid my co-hosts a large additional cleaning fee, and funds to replace the sheets and blankets.

I’m now left with that cost and the horror of attempting to resolve this as it feels like I’m in purgatory. Basically Airbnb can get AIDS, COVID, and be tortured for all I care at this point. They have the worst customer service I’ve experienced in my 38 years of existence. Thank you all for listening to my rant and I only hope no one ever experiences anything like this.

How Airbnb Scams Hosts — Waiting for a Test Case in Court

I called Airbnb today with a simple question. They have dodged and squirmed and promised to have a manager call me, but they have essentially gone into hiding.

When I signed up as a host (I’m an excellent host) I was told that I was in control of the settings that would control who could book. I set my settings to things like: must have reviews, must be verified. Then there are rules, which I was also told I was in control of. I can’t have children or pets in this building (no child gates on windows — this is NYC) so I set criteria like that as well.

I was also told that I could choose when to host, so I set my calendar accordingly. I use my apartment part time, so I am literally unable to host when I block dates. Then with all of my settings in place, I chose to let the people who fit all of my criteria auto book because customers like that and it makes things easier.

The problem is this. I have a wonderful business going with my great guests who can auto book, but I am constantly being interrupted by Airbnb with “requests” for bookings. These requests don’t meet the criteria, but Airbnb doesn’t tell you that, and they don’t tell you what criteria they don’t meet; you have to take the time to look through everything.

They send me “requests” for people with babies, and dogs, who have no reviews and on days that I am booked. Then they tell you that you are able to decline, but they will penalize you by locking your calendar for the days that you didn’t accept the guest who wasn’t qualified. So all someone has to do to shut me down for two weeks is send a “request” that I can’t fulfill and they can do that. I’ve asked them to stop sending me these requests that I am unable to fill, but they refuse.

Here is my question: is this actionable? Has anyone done a test case in court? Can they tell you that you have a choice but then lock you out of your business if you don’t take whoever comes along? If I take Joe with his ferrets and he burns down my building, is he a client of Airbnb because they in fact were the ones who made it impossible for me not to take him? Anyone?

I don’t want some five-part solution where I have to get around this BS by checking a series of boxes to get out of taking these people. I don’t want to get requests that I’ve already set my settings to show that I can’t and won’t take. Here is the truth: if they weren’t so shady in trying to force you to take these people, and then try to penalize and ruin your business if you don’t do it, I would be happy to see if I could accommodate some of them. But not now.

Retired Public School Teacher Staying in Costa Rica

Our first stay in Costa Rica we used Airbnb for a stay that should have lasted three weeks. Because of problems with the host and his large dog, the host agreed to let us leave early. After we left he did not return our messages and eventually sent an email saying that he had decided to keep the $1,000 payment to teach us a lesson.

We contacted Airbnb but they closed our case due to not being able to reach the host in Costa Rica. The reason the place wasn’t working out was because his large German Shepard was free to roam around during our stay (including in our small pool) keeping our dogs from being able to leave the house freely. The dog also jumped up on my wife standing up trying to keep our dog away from the other dog. The dog was able to push his muddy paws on my wife’s face.

The last straw was when the host cut down a large tree outside our window and then started burning construction trash. The smoke and toxic fumes filled our rental. We told the host but he did not stop. We yelled that we needed to leave asap and he agreed. We stayed up till very late repacking all our stuff and cleaning the unit (three bedrooms, two story) only to be ripped off by this man. Another issue is that early on he told us that he was heavily armed on his site which now we believe to be a threat. We reported each of these issues individually to Airbnb and they have yet to respond to them.

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Anyone Can Walk in, No Soundproofing

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I booked an Airbnb for two nights and I should have known I was going to have an issue when the host never responded to my inquiry about early check in. Later I messaged them again and she seemed really confused and didn’t get back to me with any firm information until 12:30 the afternoon of check in, well after I had made alternate plans.

I arrived at the Airbnb and, even though she knew my ETA, I had to figure out which “guest suite” was mine, where to park (I was immediately boxed in by other renters), and how to get in without any instructions. The real issues came when I opened what appeared to be a closet in one of the bedrooms and walked right in to the next unit over. The door between units was not properly secured and, while there was a way for the other unit to lock me out, the people renting next door could easily access my unit/belongings.

I immediately called Airbnb about this issue but received little to no help, unsurprisingly. Also, the door between units was so thin and ill fitting, you could literally hear conversations at normal volumes in the next unit from two rooms away in ours. I left the next morning after sending Airbnb and the host detailed messages as to why the situation was unacceptable. However, the host quickly stopped responding to my messages, refused my later request for a partial refund, and lied to the incompetent Airbnb staff.

Basically, she got away with scamming me and I hope it was worth the scathing review I posted for her property. So, beware of this host and any of her slummy listings. She uses the same profile pic for everything and (ironically) works as a realtor but yet somehow claims to be ignorant of soundproofing and security issues. Avoid this like the plague.

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Airbnb Guest Sublets Our Property to Film a Commercial

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We are a Superhost family who has been using Airbnb since September 2019. This was the second time around the Airbnb had sabotaged our listings. We recently had a nightmare guest, who had horrible reviews on Airbnb. We tried to give them another chance and decided to host them.

She was a nightmare. She sublet our house to a group of filmmakers and videographers to shoot a commercial for Adidas, while she was away. We saw in the surveillance cameras that a large group of filmmakers came to our house. They were taking all the furniture outside. When I called her, she didn’t answer. After this incident, she lied to Airbnb, saying that her friends who were staying at a different house came to visit her.

After she checked out, she left a defamatory nasty review, full of insults and attacks, lying about safety, etc. Her reviews were thankfully removed for violating Airbnb policy, but the Trust and Safety department — which I do not trust one bit — emailed to go over her booking. The last person I was speaking to twisted the story around and 30 minutes later she suspended all our listings. She claimed she was doing an investigation, based on the guest’s lies. We asked to speak to another one of the untrustworthy “Trust and Safety” personnel. So far there has been no luck since last Friday.

We’re planning to send a demand letter by tomorrow, and if this doesn’t work, sue Airbnb for unlawfully framing us for wrongdoing that we haven’t done. Any suggestions?

Airbnb Claims Hosts are its Partners but Shows Differently

I feel that Airbnb has taken a drastic downward spiral and supporting its “partners,” as they eloquently call its hosts. It’s just plain bad business and I find it condescending in light of its behavior. I’m sure I’m not the only Superhost that has been treated so poorly. The platform seems to have taken a paradigm shift of supporting guests who feel entitled in today’s trying times and punishing hosts. They do not stand by us like they want did.

I had a guest who stayed at one of the listings that I manage. I left him a bad review. He waited two weeks to see if he was going to get $100 out of me because the host had actually gone in and changed out his toilet paper. It was a new host and he just wanted everything to be perfect. When the man got back to his room he said he didn’t request to have new toilet paper. He claimed that he didn’t know that I was the manager and that there was someone else who was the owner living in the attached property. The listing makes repeated mentions of the owner, his name, and that he lives in the attached property for the convenience of the guests.

I cut and pasted all of the sections for him and sent them to him. He thanked me for the clarification and seemed fine. Then he revisited it and said he never asked for these items, yet again. I told him the host would not be entering his listing again and asked if there were any other concerns that I could alleviate. He wanted to know that the owner was vaccinated. I reassured him that the owner indeed was vaccinated, that he wears a mask and gloves when entering the property and that he is the person that cleaned the property moments before the man arrived. He thanked me again and said he understood but just wanted me to understand how he felt.

I told him just as a good gesture we would offer him $100 credit towards a future stay in hopes that he would have a much more pleasant experience. This was not required, and quite frankly nor was it deserved…. but it was offered. Immediately the man replied back he would like to have that hundred dollars applied towards his current stay. Once there was a time when if you bent over backwards to put extra accommodations and amenities like a better quality toilet paper, people would’ve said “well, what a nice gesture.” Now they just steal the supplies if there is an abundance and complain about the extra gestures as though they were invasive.

What reason did he give for wanting $100 applied towards his current stay? He lived out of town and he “might” be moving out of state. Weird fact. Practically all of our guests live out of town, thus the reason for lodging. I told him I would sit down with our team and figure out whether or not this would be justifiable under the circumstances. He was so helpful that he immediately sent me a link on Airbnb as to how to refund his money. I never said I didn’t know how to refund the money. I said I needed to figure out with our team if it was justifiable. That’s a huge difference.

Needless to say, we reached the conclusion that the host should not be punished for trying to do a good deed that was misunderstood. We left him a review right away. Naturally it was negative. He waited the full 14 days and got a hold of us again and said are you gonna give me the refund you “offered“? We never offered him a refund on his current stay. Further when he saw his review and realized he was waiting to see if he could get money before giving a review, he called to Airbnb to complain.

The thing that troubled me about Airbnb is that I called them immediately when the situation occurred during the individual’s stay. Airbnb seemed to stand by me and thanked me for calling them. They said it appeared as though this guy was used to doing this considering he sent the link right away. The customer service rep even laughed about it, suggesting the gall of this person, as outrageous to think such a thing.

This is why it confuses me that two weeks later and right after the man’s review appeared, he called and complained about the situation. His complaint was retaliatory because he did not get the refund he was looking for. Ironically without even asking me about the situation or referring back to our original call with Airbnb, they paused my listing. There was no notification, no email, and no explanation.

When I called them, I reached one of their reps that works from home and was reassured they would call me at 9:00 the next morning. Needless to say, I am writing this story after 10:00 the very same morning and still have not received a call from Airbnb. I think it is one of the worst business practices to suggest that we are partners and treat us like we are a dog that gets slapped in the nose with a newspaper whether what we’ve done is wrong or just because they’ve decided to take the side of a guest without even hearing the side of the host.

It’s unfortunate because we have been with Airbnb since 2012, only four years after they even started business. We are part of the house that built their platform and made them so successful and they treat us like trash at this point. I have tagged the review I wrote about this unscrupulous guest, but then Airbnb has become that way so I can see why it would attract that type of individual. They endorse and condone Machiavellian behavior.

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Greedy Host Working for Tourism Company in Area

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After a year of lockdowns in Melbourne our two families decided to book a holiday on the Gold Coast. Due to another outbreak, our lockdown has been extended and I approached the host for a refund or a credit.

The host has replied saying there was no refund or credit but I could reschedule. I communicated that due to the current escalation of the lockdown we don’t have a date available and appealed to his good will. I then tried to reschedule four times for available dates on the Airbnb website, and called Airbnb for assistance. That’s when he turned and started threatening me, abusing me over email and declining all rescheduling attempts while bullying us to cancel.

Only later did I learn that he was trying to get the 50% cancellation fee and enough time to rebook the property. I also learned that he works for Gold Coast Tourism and the properties he works for offer flexible terms for customers. He has no empathy for hard working Australian families. SeaWorld and JetStar were very easy to offer credit for future use.