Tag Archives: airbnb while black

Racist, Narcissistic Airbnb Host Nightmare

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I have a horrible host story. The guy was just creepy. He was a micromanager who wanted everything done his way (e.g. call, don’t text; stop here, not there; give me your full attention right now; respond to me right now) and just had a weird vibe. It wasn’t horrible until he entered the property when we weren’t there to get a vacuum cleaner, then denied that he was there. He said the day before that he might come and get it for another guest at another site, so who else would want it?

Not cool. We don’t know what he was doing or what he was looking at while we were gone. We decided to leave early, and this is where the fun begins. He wrote me a nice review. My review wasn’t mean, but it was factual. He got his feelings hurt and retaliated with another multi-message rant about how I was weak and everything was my fault. He referred to a previous guest staying in which he said “I will know not to have any more non-native English speakers as guests.” I am brown skinned. He is not. Then told me he would be praying for me.

I reported this to Airbnb and guess what they did? First of all, they did nothing about his entering into the property without our knowledge or consent. That’s not even mentioned. Then they deleted my review. This guy gets to continue his abusive, racists ways and is listed as a Superhost.

Shame on you Airbnb. They say they “care” about racism. No, they don’t. This guy’s been openly bigoted since 2014 and he’s still hosting.

Airbnb Forces Political Views on Account Holders

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I opened an account with Airbnb, and in mid-January 2017 made a reservation for a five-night stay in the US Virgin Islands. I paid the host with my visa card, but when I tried to log into my account again a few days later to ask the host a question, a website popped up asking me to sign on to a so called (political) pledge, including that I would not be discriminating based on race, sexual orientation, gender, or religion. The website gave me two options: either agree to their one-page nondiscrimination pledge, or cancel my account. It stated that if I did not agree to their nondiscrimination pledge that I would not be able to do business with Airbnb in the future. As it is none of Airbnb’s business to impose their political views on me, and in this way insinuate that I would be engaging in such activities, an approach I find totally un-American, I had no choice but to press the cancel option, thereby cancelling my account. That, however, also cancelled my reservation, and I am now fighting Airbnb through my bank and visa for a full refund. I have instead made my reservation with VRBO. For me, it is never again, Airbnb.

Has Airbnb Missed the Mark Entirely?

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Editor’s Note: The views and opinions expressed by AirbnbHell.com users do not necessarily reflect those of the Airbnb Hell staff.  That being said, we will continue to provide a free and uncensored platform for all of our contributors to share their Airbnb related stories, opinions, and experiences.

I am a boring old white male married with three children. I have no racial prejudices: the best man at my wedding was an Indian, I lived in Brixton when it was mostly black, I have gay friends, and I spent 11 years in the Middle East. I have employed Arabs and Jews and have friends who are both Muslims and Jewish – I even have a couple of friends who are lesbians – so clearly I am not racially prejudiced or against any particular minority group.

So what is Airbnb trying to do? They have sent me an email saying that unless I agree to their anti-discriminatory, pro-gay, pro-this and that terms and conditions, my guest house listing will be removed and any bookings I have made as an individual will be cancelled. What on earth are they trying to do? They are just an app with some really annoying features, like removing useful information from emails. This unbelievable arrogance speaks of delusions of grandeur. I will not agree to their new terms and conditions; it is not their business how I discriminate. I can fully understand why a old school catholic family may not want to host gay people. Surely they have that choice; it is their house and I am sure gay people would feel uncomfortable. Similarly, would a black guy want to rent a room from someone who is a member of the UK National Front? Probably not.

We all have our preferences. Airbnb has lost my listing for sure.

The Airbnb Community Commitment

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Editor’s Note: The views and opinions expressed by AirbnbHell.com users do not necessarily reflect those of the Airbnb Hell staff.  That being said, we will continue to provide a free and uncensored platform for all of our contributors to share their Airbnb related stories, opinions, and experiences.

It seems that this new policy is leaving a huge gap in the non-discrimination policy. Airbnb is apparently allowing rampant and blatant discrimination against what certainly is a fair percentage of users. I expect that a federal lawsuit against Airbnb will be necessary to right this wrong. The discriminated group are the pedophiles, child molesters, rapists, and criminals that search for victims among single females or hosts with children in the home. Do you want to hurt the feelings of these criminals by making them feel less than welcome? I should hope not! Certainly you are only partially addressing this discriminated group by creating a mandatory policy for forcing single white women into having black males in their guest rooms! Just because fifty percent of blacks have a criminal record by the age of twenty-three, it is not their fault! This racial discrimination against black criminals has got to stop! I expect that the present administration will use the justice department to correct this grievous injustice in the near future (after all, if they are no longer in prison haven’t they “paid” for their crimes?) and now deserve to be restored to full rights regardless of how many times they have been convicted? Thank you for forcing everyone to stand up and “do the right thing.” This is just the camel’s nose under the tent for moving forward with the political allegiances which should be included in the future mandatory statement. Great job, Airbnb; it is all about controlling the masses and deciding what is best for them whether they like it or not!

New Discrimination Policy: Instant Book

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I’m happy to see Airbnb beginning to address this. However, as a former host, I hope that the ability of hosts to screen customers does not take a backseat to guest satisfaction. Keep in mind you are profiting from people hosting strangers in their personal space – that involves a great deal of trust from a host.  My husband and I found a number of new Airbnb users were approaching booking our home as a hotel rather than a private residence. This included property damage, leaving our home a pig pen, leaving kids unattended, and rendezvous putting us in awkward situations with unhappy spouses. These incidents caused us to hesitate when booking new Airbnb users who did not have any reviews. The increase in promotions on airlines and the number of first time travelers resulted in requests from people looking for a cheap place to stay rather than a home stay experience. I would find it imposing to restrict the ability to screen just for the sake of a few hurt feelings, especially when our booking history showed we welcomed all races, genders, and sexuality into our home.  The problem with “instant book” is that it removes the initial communication between hosts and guests.  Please do not penalize your hosts who are hesitant to allow just anyone into their homes. We are not prejudiced – we are protecting our family and our belongings from those who do not understand the culture of Airbnb. Thank you for your consideration to those who make your business possible.