AirBnB Cancels our traveler Booking mid-stay, and turns off host listings - no explanation

[Brent19]

Hello AirBnB Community,

**All AirBnB messages pasted at bottom**

I’ve been a very active member of the AirBnB platform for the past 5 years. This is my first time posting. However - our situation has become very dire and I'm reaching out to you all before taking further action. A bit of background on me, I‘m an 8-time consecutive super host.  As a host, I have over 170 reviews and a blended average rating of 4.95. I know what it takes to be a great host and a great guest.

17 days ago my wife and I began a 36-night stay as travelers at a home. At the same time, we’re still hosting multiple guests at multiple locations that we manage. Since the beginning of this 36-night stay, we’ve had problems. Many features of the house that we expected to work have not been functional. A lot of items were not provided clean and there was absolutely no documentation during check-in. Whenever we have communicated with the absentee owners, they have been very defensive and reactive. We have since stopped even communicating our concerns and just living with the issues that include no hot water, no filtered water, no dishwasher, no functional spa, etc. This booking cost approximately $9000 so it wasn’t cheap.

Suddenly 2 days ago, we get a message from Airbnb telling us that the reservation has been canceled. “That Airbnb can no longer support this reservation.” No explanation. Keep in mind we are on day 17 of our 36 day stay. AirBnB demands that we check out immediately. Of course, we are in the middle of the highest demand time of the year in Santa Barbara and there’s nowhere to go. Furthermore, my wife is 8 months pregnant and we are concerned about Covid.

It took all day but we finally reached Airbnb. We spoke to someone who barely spoke English. They gave us no explanation and told us we must check out immediately. They said that the booking has been canceled and they were going to conduct an investigation and only until after we check out will they tell us why the booking was canceled. Again I would like to remind my community here that we have been impeccable guests and have followed all of the guidelines even though there were very few provided. Yes, we did let the owners know in the first week about some of these problems but that was our duty as responsible guests and as paying clients.

Airbnb continues to send messages telling us to check out and until we do they can’t tell us what’s going on. On top of that, we discover that they have disabled all our listings we manage as hosts !!!  Our listings are now no longer visible on the platform. We have a few reservations that are still active in the future but no new reservations. We again escalated this to Airbnb sending emails and calling but no one has gotten back to us.

We contacted the host Owners and told them about what’s happening. They told us they contacted Airbnb and requested that the contract be canceled because we broke the house rules. I asked them what House rules are not being followed and they agreed ultimately that that wasn’t exactly true. That it was a “misunderstanding”. We recorded the entire conversation. We let Airbnb know that we have this documented and recorded and that we have not broken any rules and the host simply wanted to cancel the contract.

Still, nothing from Airbnb and our listings are all still inactive. I cannot believe this is happening. I am in such disbelief that there has been no communication and no dispute process whatsoever. The notion that our 36-day booking can be arbitrarily canceled and on top of that our active listings disabled is preposterous. We have done nothing wrong. We have been great users of the platform. I am taking this step communicating with all of you to find out what to do and how to reach someone at Airbnb who can actually address this problem.

Please let me know. We really appreciate your help in advance.

Brent Masters

Here are the messages from AirBnB - curious that they state "there may be a potential breach of our terms of service by your host."

**[Sensitive information removed in line with - Community Center Guidelines]

[Helen3]

I am sorry to hear about your experience, particularly at this difficult time.

Not sure why you decided to move somewhere so late in the pregnancy, but could you not move  to one of your multiple properties, while you sort out this mess that Airbnb has created.

I am sure you have kept all the messaging on Airbnb with the multiple issues you found about the listing you booked. What did Airbnb say when you first alerted them to problems at the listing? You are more tolerant than me, I wouldn't have stayed a day, let alone over two weeks in somewhere with no hot water. 🙂 What were their previous reviews like?

Not clear from your post what did the host say you had time in terms of violating the house rules that they then admitted hadn't happened?

Have you tried contacting Airbnb via their social media including contacting the owners. I have heard stories of where Airbnb has blocked profiles when they investigate host or guest complaints. I do hope it gets resolved soon.

Best of luck on trying to get them to lift the block on your listing.

[Brent19]

Hi Helen - 

Thank you so much for your reply. We have had these plans for almost 4 months. All of my other listings are completely booked up and we can’t stay at those locations as we would never just cancel on people.  There are no other viable options for us in Santa Barbara for long-term stays. Everything is booked up and anything that is available is extremely expensive. And we’ve been able to take a quick cold showers without too much of an issue. The problem right now is that I’m not getting any response from Airbnb. There’s been no consideration and no questions asked. We haven’t even filed any complaints about the listing with Airbnb. The host owners told us that they originally told Airbnb that we had violated the rules by accessing the garage. Although there is absolutely no mention of the garage being off-limits. In fact, when you first walked into the door, the garage was open and the garage door opener was sitting on the front cabinet. All we’ve done is have our bikes in there. It makes no sense.

We’re just trying to get our listings reactivated and some resolution. Any advice and help would be appreciated. Our level of trust in Airbnb is at an all time low.

[Helen3]

Ah your original post said there was 'not hot water'.

What a shame you didn't file any complaints with Airbnb about the listing. I am sure though you messaged the host so there is a record of all the issues you encountered.

If your permanent home is not available, and there are no family or friends  you can stay with, within an easy drive, it sounds like moving out to a cheaper area might be an option to consider. It must be so worrying not having a home with the imminent arrival of your little one.

Have you contacted them as suggested on their social media channels. @Brent19 

[Brent19]

@Helen3 . correct. No hot water. 
We have not left the house. We spoke to an attorney and they told us that we have paid for the contract in full. The owner cannot force us to leave Early. Right now my priority is getting our listings reactivated. When you say go to social media, what do you mean exactly. How will that make a difference? I’m trying to get someone at Airbnb to examine this carefully and they will see that this is all a huge mistake and the actual culprit is the host. We have not in anyway violated any guidelines or terms of agreement. This is absurd.

[Helen3]

1. Your lawyer is wrong. You will know as a highly experienced host that once Airbnb cancels the booking (which they will) you don't have any legal right to stay there. They can absolutely force you to leave. You are not a tenant with rights under Covid, you don't have tenancy rights, you  are a short term guest with no legal rights.  If that wasn't the case any guest could squat at the drop of a hat.

I know you are worried about your business, but please do make sure you also ensure there your pregnant partner and you have a decent place to move onto where she can have her baby or you can get to family/friends, when you get told to leave the STR.

2. When I say go on social media, I mean post on their social media and the owners social media asking them why Airbnb has shut down all your listings, following complaints you made about the accommodation you are staying in not being as described with no hot water etc.

3. Difficult to comment further as you haven't said what issue the host accused you of in terms of breaking their house rules which led to the situation.

[Lisa723]

@Helen3 his lawyer may not be wrong. It depends on local laws. In the state where my rentals are located, it is currently legal for any occupant, specifically including Airbnb guests, to refuse to vacate and refuse to pay, if they can claim a covid-19-related justification.

[Brent19]

@Helen3 
I thought I explained above. The host stated that we accessed the garage and it was not a part of the listing. There’s no mention of the garage not being part of the listing. And when we arrived the garage door opener and key to the garage was sitting in front of us on the cabinet. It wasn’t until eight days after we arrived that they told us the garage was not to be accessed. That was the basis for their complaint AirBnB. As far as the legal rights go, I respectfully disagree. We have a contract that has been paid in full and there’s been no violation of any terms or conditions. California’s evection laws are quite clear and especially in this time of Covid, a landlord or owner has to have a very good reason to evict and they don’t have any reason here.

The notion that we are in anyway responsible for what is happened here is absurd. This host simply decided he didn’t want any guests staying his property and created a fictitious complaint. We have a recording of him apologizing and agreeing that it was a misunderstanding and that we did not violate any rules or guidelines. Despite all that, Airbnb has not responded to any of our inquiries for explanation or to unblock our listings. I will ask a friend post on Facebook because I don’t have an account there.

[Helen3]

I can't see that you did @Brent19 thanks for clarifying. It does seem ridiculous.

Sorry I didn't realise in the US COVID restrictions applied to STRs as well as long term rentals. I thought as you had only been there 18 days, if Airbnb cancelled the booking you wouldn't be protected by a 30 plus booking.I guess as a Mum I think how worried I would be about being forced to move somewhere so late in my pregnancy, so finding somewhere safe to stay with hot running water would be more important than my STR business.

Hope you get everything resolved soon.

Do let us know what Airbnb says in response to your posts on social media.

[Brent19]

Thanks @Helen3 @Linda108 @Lisa723 

My friend just posted on the Airbnb Facebook page what is happening and requesting some help. I appreciate all of your advice ladies. Please advise me what else I can do here. Is there someone at a senior level I can speak to? A special phone number. Again, I’ve never encountered such a ordeal. I can’t believe this is happening. To think that there was no due process and no discussion and that this is also affecting our lives listings is just so completely preposterous.

[Helen3]

I would suggest you, rather than your friend,  posts on FB and their Twitter accounts and as I said before the Twitter accounts on the Airbnb owners. 

All Airbnb will do is ask your friend to ask you to get in touch as they won't liaise with your friend, so you might as well post directly.  This is your quickest route. No special phone number, No senior person to speak to.

[Linda108]

Unfortunately, the terms of service you agreed to allows Air BNB to take unilateral steps with any listing without having to notify or prove anything.   So,  I suggest you list elsewhere during this high season.  Don't deactivate your listings on Air BNB, but give yourself another option.

[Helen3]

I am sure as an experienced property manager @Brent19  is already listing on multiple platforms so hopefully will get bookings through these platforms. More worrying for him and his guests is what happens to the existing bookings already made through airbnb.

[Brent19]

@Helen3  and @Linda108 - Yes, we're on VRBO and other spots more locally.  Honestly, I was a big fan of AirBnB until now. I even managed to work through the debacle of leaving hosts out to dry during the initial covid crisis. But something like this?  To consider that a Superhost with my reviews and my track record would get no due process and be told to check out and have my listings deactivated is truly the definition of untrustworthy.  Trust is the single most important brand component.  I was thinking what it would take for this to legitimately happen. The host would have to claim that we broke the law - categorically and patently and that they were in deep fear of losing their home - or something like that. But even that would not trigger my listings being deactivated. So they must have been saying that I was offensive, inappropriate, discriminating?  I don't know. I am trying to fathom what could possibly have been concocted to justify AirBnB taking these actions. The damage is done even if/when things are re-instated. Once you lose trust at a fundamental level, it is so difficult to ever get it back.

I have reached out to the handful of reservations we have on AirBnB so there's a direct connection which many guests prefer.

Still NOTHING from AirBnB on this.... thank for your support community. 🙂

[Lisa723]

@Brent19 you are far from the first person this has happened to. Airbnb deactivates first, asks questions later-- if at all. Please let us know what happens if you can.