Criminal Conviction Ten Years Ago and Still Being Punished

I’m going to try and make this short and detailed. Over 10 years ago I was convicted of a felony. I was sentenced and completed the sentence. Since then, I have become a productive member of society, and have started a family. My life today is a complete 180 from where it was 10 years ago.

I recently went on a business trip. My company usually uses Airbnb but we have to use our own account to get reimbursed. This is my first time traveling for this company so I have never used Airbnb before. I went on the app, searched for the perfect spot for three nights and then signed up and completed the reservation. After that I got an email asking for my photo ID, which I sent rather quickly. It seemed like everything was fine.

A day before I was scheduled to leave town and arrive at the host’s place, I got an email stating my account had been permanently deactivated and my reservation cancelled and refunded. Now I was in a bit of a predicament. Sure, my company knows about my criminal history but I still had to contact a supervisor and get approval to use a different OTA to book a hotel. I don’t know who within the company knows about my criminal history, but I know that the supervisor I had to contact did not. The revelation did not sit well with him, but that’s another story.

The embarrassment of having to tell someone (a coworker) I couldn’t use Airbnb was devastating. I find it ridiculous that they can do this. I completely understand that the “hosts” are sometimes renting out their own homes and there is a certain risk that comes with this. But if Airbnb actually did research when a questionable background check presented itself, they would see that they are punishing some people beyond what they should be.

Posted in Airbnb Guest Stories and tagged , , , , , .

4 Comments

  1. Instead of scolding you, your supervisor should be commending you for saving the company a ton of money, wasted time and potential headaches from dealing with airbnb. In fact, you need to give him/her this website and let them read through the stories here. You might even get an apology and a promotion.
    I commend you for stepping up and making the changes in your life.

    With that being said, airbnb is not what it used to be Its full of greedy, scamming people who will lie and do anything to steal your hard earned money. Almost all the places I have book turned out to be horrible. The host almost always will lie in the descriptions, post fake or doctored photos and even have fake reviews. The true conditions of the property are not known until you waste your time, and energy getting there. In some cases the conditions were so bad there were serious health and code violations.
    Airbnb who talks a good game about customer service, doesn’t practice what they preach. They do nothing to help when there is a problem. Why would they? Since they already have your money. The host have the same attitude its your fault for being gullible and booking their properties is what they say to guest. So trust me when I say this: you are better off booking anywhere else. Even sleeping in your car outside would be better.

  2. I had an experience very similar with a guest. She booked my place saying she was coming to NYC for Fashion Week and that she was a model. She did not mention the agency.
    Then she said she was going to have a guest come along etc. Something in her messages made me Google her name. So glad I did, she was arrested in FL for drunk and disorderly conduct.
    Her jailhouse photo was not pretty either. So I called up Airbnb and said I was not comfortable hosting her. They allowed me cancel her reservation and booked her somewhere else. (I think she should not be on the platform with a record like that but perhaps it was a bad night, who knows)

    The argument against you is an easy one. No one says you should not be able to work or be accommodated in an environment that has staff trained to handle any outburst etc that you may have (like a hotel with security) but a host’s property or actually home is not a place for a convicted felon.
    The $100.00 dollars etc per night is not worth the headache. There are people without drug, molestation, robbery etc that act up as it is, the gamble on your stay is not worth the money.

    Be thankful that you have been given a second chance to rehabilitate yourself and start a family and recognize that your penal punishment by the government is only a part of the penance that you will face in society.

    No matter how much you may have done a 180 turn for the betterment of yourself there will always be people who judge you more harshly than you deem necessary but that is the risk you took when committing the crime.

    • Hahaha OMG can you get more high and mighty?? “You did the crime, you deserve society’s harsh judgement and to be punished forever”. We don’t even know what this person did.. Consider yourself lucky, because I’m sure you didn’t have one drunken night which in the wrong circumstances could have turned into a felony conviction.

      Every time you get behind the wheel after enjoying a drink at the local tavern – I hope you remember this comment, and in the future STFU. You can make whatever decisions you want for your home – but spouting your old, overly entitled BS to everyone else is toxic, judgmental and inappropriate. But you know that already, or you wouldn’t have signed it “Anonymous”.

      “Be thankful that you have been given a second chance to rehabilitate yourself and start a family and recognize that your penal punishment by the government is only a part of the penance that you will face in society.

      No matter how much you may have done a 180 turn for the betterment of yourself there will always be people who judge you more harshly than you deem necessary but that is the risk you took when committing the crime.”

      Reading this literally makes my skin crawl with how self righteous you are. Grow some compassion – and celebrate when a person alters the course of their life for the better, lord knows it doesn’t happen often in this sad world we live in.

  3. But Airbnb claims they are not party to the contracts between hosta and guests. My court case against Airbnb should prove that wrong

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