AirBnB blocking existing Ukrainian listings

[Taras3]

I created my listings a few years back.  Because of the pandemic I was not hosting actively, however the account was fully verified and listings finalized (listed with calendar blocked, no additional listings/units added).  My listings are in Ukraine, in the city of Lviv.  

In early March I opened by calendar to host refugees coming to Lviv.  At that time there were hundreds of active listings on the site.  

Immediately my listings became 'suspended'.  

I called AirBnB support on March 11th, 2022 

The first agent started a new 'issue' same date and advised that it will go to a 'specialized team'.   He advised that I should hear back within 36 hours at the latest and that I will either receive a call or an email.  

This did not take place. 

I called again and spoke with Rahul who provided me with the issue number, said he will escalate and that I will receive a call either same day or next morning.  

This also did not take place. 

Then I spoke with Dennis on March 19th who again said that he will 'escalate it' and promised a call back / email that did not take place. 

Then the same story with Dave on March 20th and so on. 

In total AirBnB agents promised a call back at least 10 times during the last month that this issue has been outstanding.  

Not a single person from the team responsible contacted me. 

Multiple managers passed the buck.  

To this date I have not been contacted.  No reason has been provided as to why AirBnB publicly states their support for Ukraine and in practice blocks legitimate hosts with existing listings.

It appears that AirBnB considers its Ukrainian hosts as dispensable and such that can be ignored.  

Sad, unfortunate, and frankly feels discriminatory.  

[Kate867]

@Taras3    According to your profile you have no reviews, live in Canada, and have a different name to your User name here.  If living in Canada, then you are not suffering the hardships that the Ukrainians living in the Ukraine are.  The initiative to book and not stay with Ukrainians was intended to get money quickly to those that needed it the most and it was advised that people should book generally with ‘home share’ hosts without multiple listings.  Unfortunately, many scammers did start to list, for the first time, multiple listings and Airbnb suspended these and also generally those that did not have active listings prior to March 2022.  If you wish to offer your accommodation (s) to Ukrainian Refugees to stay in you can do so by registering with Airbnb.org who have partnered with a number of Charities in order to facilitate this.

[Taras3]

Hello Kate,

My understanding is that a listing had to have been listed, not have reviews.  Please provide policy that indicates that listed listings without reviews would be restricted.

Yes, my user name is different.  It is not uncommon to use a different name as a user name.  AirBnB has verified my identity as per their policy and offer the ability to choose user names.

Furthermore, descriminating against me based on my place of residence, and disclosing my personal information is unacceptable.  Does AirBnB have a policy of not allowing listings in multiple geographic locations? - If so please provide this policy.

I have a grand total of TWO listings.  Both were listed for at least a couple of years.

My family who live in Ukraine and whom I support using my personal funds are suffering those hardships.  Unfortunatelly due to AirBnB's descriminate actions my verified listings are sitting empty instead of generating much needed revenue that can be used to help people that need it.  My other relatives are refugees and also require support.  

"Unfortunately, many scammers did start to list, for the first time, multiple listings and Airbnb suspended these and also generally those that did not have active listings prior to March 2022."

- My listings do not fall into any of these categories.  It is sad that AirBnB treats hosts with such hostility as to assume that we are scammers.  

Please clearly state the grounds on which AirBnB has deemed my listings as scam.

Please also state specific reason why my listings with 'active/listed' status continue to be restricted by AirBnB while hundreds of similar listings are not.  

Furthermore please explain why my listings continue to be restricted after the listings status has been changed from 'suspended' to 'listed' after a month long "review"?

Furthermore please explain why AirBnB has not contacted me in regards to an issue outstanding since March 11th, 2022.  Is it another one of AirBnB's policies to ignore hosts?

Why has AirBnB not communicated any concerns to me, nor requested any information in order to resolve the issue?

To be clear I consider that AirBnB is violating my rights and is acting in discriminatory manner against me by restricting my listings without valid grounds for doing so.

Lastly I would not under any circumstances release control of the use of my property to AirBnB or any of it's affiliates.

Look forward to reading your response.

[Kate867]

@Taras3   I do not work for Airbnb, this is a community forum where people ask for advice and those that can or know the answers will try to help.  Also, just to clarify, when you create an Airbnb account your country of residence on that profile becomes public.

I tried to explain above why generally,  listings, both new and old were suspended.  You yourself said that although you had created and had verified your listings, that they had never been active.. as you had all the dates blocked off.  Many people in response to a social media campaign started to ‘book and not stay’ as I detailed above in order to help out.  At which point, there was a real influx of both new listings and some old ones which had not been used in a very long time suddenly being activated.  These mostly were done so, in order to benefit from international generosity.  Given the status in the Ukraine then and now, it would be hard for Airbnb to check which were legitimate and which were not.  I assume then, that the decision was made not to allow these to go ‘live’

You are not being accused of being a scammer at all,  and you are not being discriminated against either.  The whole situation is tragic and I am sorry that your family are having to endure this.

It would be unrealistic to assume that your two Airbnb’s will generate income from International visitors currently, but if you really want to rent them out to Ukrainians then as I mentioned above, you can list them with Airbnb.org for people to stay at either free or at a discount, you still get the same protection.  The charities identify who needs the accommodation and put the proposal to you.  Alternatively, surely there must be other platforms within the Ukraine that you can use?

[Taras3]

I think the point should not be whether there are other platforms.  Also I have no intention to provide the apartments as charity.  My intention has been to generate income on AirBnB.com, not .org, and to use the funds generated at my discretion to support people and causes of my own choosing.  I think your assessment that I was not being discriminated against borders legal advice, as determining whether AirBnB is discriminating against me and for what reasons is a matter of  legal opinion.  Also, the point should not be overlooked that AirBnB has not provided an actual reason, not speculation on a public forum, an actual reason why my listings continue to be blocked after more than a month.  It appears that there is an intentional policy to ignore all my request and I believe that this amounts to discrimination against me. Again, I believe this amounts to discrimination and it is important for other hosts, guest, general public and any other stakeholders to know how AirBnB treats the very people it relies on for staying in the business and that it seems do so selectivelly.  Lastly, if you consider other platforms are a good option, perhaps you could share what other platfoms you are as active on as on AirBnB forum and why you do not change your listings and public forum work to other platforms if those options are equivalent or better in your view?