Suspended Listing

[Charlotte1358]

Dear Community,

I was hoping for assistance to resolve a recent suspended listing. I have contacted Airbnb and they advised a specialised team will be in touch, I think it's been 3 or 4 days now and no one has contacted me and there are no issues in the Listings tab.

I assume it is due to a complaint from the past guest who was annoyed because I politely asked her to follow the house rules and did not agree to extended check out. I did not feel the guest respected my home and was uncomfortable with her self checking out when my home is hosted and I live here and wanted to check her out myself.

I have looked at all the Airbnb articles and policies and trying to update things so comply with everything I can think of.

I want to know how I can resolve and find out what the issue is.

I would appreciate any advice...I am still hosting for 7 days the current bookings but no one can book for the future.

thanks in advance Charlotte

[Charlotte1358]

In thinking how to resolve the issue ... I decided to provide an apology to the guest I assume has complained. I advised the former guest I was sorry if she did not have the experience she expected and provided a 50% refund. 

It is a learning experience, and I will aim to learn from this.

Although I would still like to know if I can resolve the issue with Airbnb and what steps I need to take.

Any suggestions very welcome.

[Kia272]

@Charlotte1358  So now the guest knows that she can manipulate hosts by making false complaints and she'll be rewarded by a 50% refund. 

My suggestion is that you not do this again. The refund won't withdraw the complaint that was made to AirBnB, so you're still suspended. 

I don't understand your insistence at checking the guest out. If there is damage, then you now have to confront the guest in person. It's possible to let guests check out, and you'll easily see what condition they left  your property in after they have left. 

Please don't be held hostage by scammy or unreasonable guests. The more they get away with on the platform, the more they'll get away with on the platform. When guests cause problems during their stay, it's best to ask them to leave. 

Better luck with your next guests. 

[Charlotte1358]

Thank you @Kia272 I appreciate the advice, I am a novice here.

I prefer to diffuse a situation, which was what I attempted to.

I also thought perhaps Airbnb preferred gusts and hosts to works disputes out themselves.

I remain suspended and today I received a message I have an Airbnb call on Monday to hear my side of events.

I feel bullied by this guest and can see with problematic guests the implications for the hosts are very harsh. It's been a very difficult experience for me.

Thank you again for your response and experienced advice.

[Kia272]

@Charlotte1358 There's a lot to learn, being a new host. It's unfortunate that you ran into a problem guest so early in your hosting. Once you have more experience, you can hopefully avoid those guests by trusting your gut, and  reading their past reviews, and also by the tone of their messages. I feel like the best indicator of how a guest is going to be is through messaging. 

You did what a rational, conscientious person would do, but you have to remember that scammers and problem guests don't adhere to the same guidelines that good people do. They're usually looking for a free stay (full refund) , or a highly discounted stay, and they know that they can essentially hold a host hostage because a bad review can be devastating. I suspect that this guest reported a "safety" concern. That, and reporting a camera -even a fully disclosed camera allowed by AirBnB- can usually get a host shut down until AirBnB bothers to figure out what actually happened. With AirBnB, you're considered guilty until proven innocent. 

Once you have more experience hosting, you'll feel better about standing your ground against people like that. It will also help when you have more reviews, as you're not as much of a hostage. 

Always keep all of your messaging on the AirBnB app. Then there's proof of what actually transpired, as opposed to a he said-she said situation. 

Let us know how it turns out, and good luck with future guests. Kia

[Charlotte1358]

@Kia272 Thank you for more words of wisdom.

Yes, I feel like a hostage and it has had a very bad effect on me. The lack of information about what was happening was also traumatizing. 

My gut knew the guest was problematic and as it was 4 nights only I was just trying to wait it out. The complete disrespect of my house and the house rules were good indicators as well.

I will see how tomorrow goes with Airbnb and keep you posted.

Thank you again for the support.

[Rebecca]

Hey there @Charlotte1358 👋

How did it go with Airbnb Support? Looking forward to hearing from you. 

[Charlotte1358 · Accepted solution]

Hi  @Rebecca and @Kia272 ,

My apologies for the delay in feedback after all your amazing support.

I was a little 'stunned' for a while after the experience and thought to keep my head down and keep moving.

I can say I am very happily hosting again and somehow because a SUPERHOST last week .... not sure how this happened after the guest complaint.

Most likely because of your wonderful help, Airbnb did have a phone call with me where I presented my side on the issue. Airbnb also sent a follow up email about their decision, I was not very clear on what this meant. It did note the complaint is permanently on my record. I will have to reread the message to understand it properly.

Airbnb were very professional and understanding on the call and resolved the issue quickly, which was very much appreciated.

I am being more diligent about learning the Airbnb process and getting a better feel on guests.

Luckily I have had some exceptionally lovely guests of late and more 5 star reviews - this has helped a lot.

I really appreciated the support from both of you and the Airbnb community.

Hopefully I only have good news ongoing.

thank you all

[Alexandra85]

Good response. I have a scammer student who booked for 4 mo. summer school. Removed items and told me to get them - I did that but noted the place was a mess router on floor upside down new string of lights over bed - in other words a pig stye bedroom then to top it off he put my appliances on my porch and put his in guest house! He has a friend who has been over there for days off and on even when I said there was a limit on guest use - he spilled ink all over the bed sheets that leaked onto the mattress cover - my linens are top of the line! Then, the person said since the guest reservation was over 28 days this person is now a tenant, which is true where I live. Airbnb did not flag reservation when this person had no stays listed and I require at least stays w some at 5 stars for instant book- so a convenient way to get into a expensive rental with all utilities paid, etc. with no application, background check. lease etc. and all tenant rights! When I reported excessive guest use and concerns about insurance coverage for a guest's guest, the person complained to Airbnb about privacy issues - I have never violated privacy of any guest and there has never been a complaint. This seems to be a regular scam using privacy complaint to get benefits that are undeserved.  i am a super host --now suspended w/o notice to defend myself - guess this is common procedure for Airbnb. Very unreasonable and scary guest who had now changed guest name on airbnb platform?. Well, I just sent the guest a 90 day + 3 for mailing tenancy no cause termination notice to end at end of guest stay or 90 days + 3. what else can you do? Other hosts in similar situations say the limit guest stays to 28/29 days or have guest fill out application, get screened and put on a month to month lease until end of stay. Live and learn - I am putting this out there because this guest planned to scam for $$ or squat in first place. Free dorm room for the summer. Be aware of guests who see $$ signs at your property and use the system to take advantage.

[Michelle4112]

I

am going through the same thing now,  all of my listings were suspended because a past guest trashed my house and I asked her to pay the cleaning of my couch so a month latter she called Airbnb and made up a story that I had a dangerous animal in the listing, so Airbnb suspended all 5 of my listings without calling me. I keep calling support but they are unable to help because it’s a different team handling the case.  Any advice on how your issue was resolved and how long it took?

[Ayesha-From-Casa-Chula0]

Airbnb is going bananas with the listing suspension, i have 3 different listings suspended, with a 4.7 score any 1 star review even if it is on just one of the criteria is sufficien to get you suspended

[Ayesha-From-Casa-Chula0]

The Suport center are of no help whatsoever, they always refere the case to a black box team that takes  3 secons to answer, horrible i think its their new AI realese. its turning everything inside out

[Alexandra85]

Airbnb changed when it went public. Used to be pretty good - it may be time to try your own website or have a pro str mgmt company if not too expensive - VBRO is not much better -