Listing suspended over false accusation

[Mirko116]

Hi fellow hosts. I'd like to share my experience with other hosts and Superhosts. I had my listing suspended for 10 days over a false claim from one of our guests. They accused me of having security cameras and recording devices inside my apartment when, in fact, it's clearly stated in my listing that we have security cameras outside the house, and an Echo Dot for our guests' convenience to turn ON/OFF lights, adjust the temperature, etc. This has always been stated in the "House Manual" and "Things Guest Should Know" sections of my listing.
I tried to get in touch with Airbnb since the first day, almost every day, and was never able to talk to the agent assigned to my case. When I finally spoke with the (second) agent handling my case, after 10 days, telling him that Airbnb should have contacted me and talk to me first, before suspending my listing, he said that that is the Airbnb policy when they receive a claim of privacy violations. My listing wasn't visible for 10 days, and I lost bookings and earnings because of this. I, very highly, suggest Airbnb to change this policy and try to get in touch with the host, before suspending their listings for claims/accusations from a guest. We, hosts and Superhosts, are giving work and money to Airbnb every week, and we should get a "preferred line of communication" and respect, compared to an occasional guest who decides to accuse an honest host!

[Ana-Maria111]

Same here!! This is insane!

[Camille609]

It happened to us 2 days ago!

The guest booked and checked in last minute, and just assumed that we had cameras inside the apartment and she canceled before we were able to respond. And the message I sent after made her think there was (I take the blame for that). 

I understand that happened to her getting harrassed and all before and she was just cautious.

We even contacted her about reassuring her that there weren't any cameras, it was a misunderstanding that the message was I assumed that there were cameras installed not inside but outside and my boss wasn't able to inform me ahead that he installed cameras (Again, I take the blame for that), and even offered a discount but she doesn't want to. Either way, she would probably still report the listing.

Now the property is now unlisted because of that unfortunate event.

I was surprised that AirBnb would just unlist the property without calling the host and inform him about the report not asking what happened to clarify things.
WE HAD TO CALL SUPPORT FIRST TO FIND OUT SOMEONE FILED A REPORT! Where's the due diligence before unlisting the property without letting the host not knowing about it. It's one-sided really!!

[Fabien150]

This has just happened to us too. Our listing has been suspended as a result of unfounded accusations that we entered the guest's bedroom and "violated her human rights while she slept from day one" (she stayed for 16 nights).

We are a gay married couple, and we genuinely don't know why she would make up such a serious allegation when our What'sApp conversations would prove that we were amicable and professional and that she checked out on good terms.

Air BnB aren't getting back to me when I try to reach out to them and this guest's accusation could potentially harm my and my husband's professional reputation as we are healthcare professionals with a predominant female patients and clientele in our line of work.

@Quincy @Stephanie this is a very serious accusation and we need to have our name cleared please. We might have to consider legal action against the guest or delete our listing and account if it comes to that. Any advice please would be most appreciated?

[Fernando1561]

The same thing happened to me, I had a security camera in the parking lot, for the security of the guests, a guest said that I  had cameras and Airbnb suspended my account, they never asked me anything about it so  I had to remove it, can you believe that?

the truth was the guest wanted to leave early(2, 3 days) and  he find out that way to get the refund for those days

[Kary141]

Hello how long is your suspension?

[Mirko116]

Sorry, I thought you were asking about my suspension, which was 10 days. 

[Ann31191]

@Mirko116 @Kary141 @Fernando1561 @Fabien150 @Camille609 I honestly am questioning my decision to even be in business with a company who allows an account to be suspended without notifying the host first. A pool at one of my places is just about complete. There was a miscommunication and my contractor accidentally sent workers to the place while guests were there who I immediately demanded be sent home as soon as I found out.  The guest contacted Airbnb citing a privacy concerns and all of my listings are suspended. I looked the guest Warren Lotas up and he was ordered a cease and desist for selling fake Nike shoes. Unbelievable Airbnb is willing to suspend a superhost’s 5 listings because of a complaint by a con artist that workers accidentally showed up while he was there. 

[Mirko116]

Wow, that’s f***ed up! Airbnb either needs to change their policy on this matter of suspending Superhosts’ accounts without notifying, or checking their side of the story first, or they need to change some employees!

Sorry this happened to you!

[Evelyn846]

I agree it’s very unfair and should be illegal. How are we being treated so unfairly?! Something has to be done. And will be done im speaking to lawyers. 

[Brian2036]

@Ann31191 

I’m questioning my relationship with this company as well. They won’t get to harass me this way more than once, I promise you.

Suspending the listing subject to the false report was bad enough.

Suspending the other four unrelated listings was absolutely unjustifiable and unconscionable.

So let’s see…if a mail carrier, meter reader, or some annoying religious peddler is seen near the house, is that a privacy violation too?

[Iain143]

I’m currently having exactly the same experience; have been suspended because a guest (who ignored almost every house rule, then wasn’t happy after being reminded and subsequent poor review) has reported us for allegedly having a hidden camera! Our exterior Blink cameras (which we purchased from an Airbnb endorsement) are clearly marked in all our documentation as well as the usual places on the web site, and around the property, but of course as we well know; no one ever bothers to read rules or instructions. 
I received an email late on Friday night when I was out at a concert and dinner stating that my account had been restricted and someone from Airbnb was going to call me within two hours (during the concert) I then received another email to which I had to respond to within an hour. I did this, sending the evidence they requested. In response to this email I got an another stating that the representative was going to be out of the office until Monday night and they would try to call me at 6pm…..66 hours later!! And that’s out of a 72 hour window before they suspend my account! Currently no-one can view their booking or make any new ones. I’ve had future booked guests get in touch worrying that we’re not doing Airbnb anymore. I called the helpline and was assured that someone senior to the ‘week day only worker’ would resolve this matter, but as yet I remain suspended! I can understand them having to chase up safety and security issues, but  cant believe how poorly Airbnb deal with this type of situation and have such disregard for so called Super Hosts! 

[Ana-Maria111]

This just happened to me!!! 

[Olivia891]

Same, this is absolutely infuriating!

[Caroline2118]

Going to hop on this bandwagon as I’m experiencing it now too. Guest started with asking for a discount, then suspended my account, gave me all 1 stars, then requested 2/3 of the money back. I have been a super host for 6 years with over 500 great reviews over 2 properties. This is really messed up. I don’t know how to switch from using Airbnb though.

[Ana-Maria111]

I just bought a subscription on Lodgify. Quite convenient to have your own website, advertise as you want, etc. I made the mistake of having vrbo and Airbnb’s calendars connected. When they suspended me, all calendars were blocked for the whole year. It was awful. I am transitioning soon. I have a friend who was suspended for a month over an accusation of her infecting guests with Covid. Can you believe it?  Guests seem to have even more power now with the aircover policy and they can get away with everything. After they find out it’s a false accusation, they only apologize, and no one pays for the damage of having your account suspended for days. It’s actually unlawful to be suspended over a false accusation of having cameras under a bed!!! The worst part is that we can’t do anything even when guests are blasphemous with very illegal accusations. Why can’t I go after the guest to get any sort of compensation for illegally accusing me? We should do something about this!