Airbnb limiting my account due to incident

[Miltiadis3]

Hi , 

I had submitted about 10 days ago a request for a refund from one of my guests due to damages. Today i received and email from the Safety team that there is an incident and they have suspended my account . 

Could the two be linked ?

[Elaine701]

@Miltiadis3 

You need to be very careful when filing damage claims through the host guarantee. At a minimum, it often results in a bad review full of fantasies of your incessant abuse of the guest, but in the worst case, can get you suspended or even delisted. 

You should avoid the"host guarantee" wherever possible. It wastes time, and can be very expensive. 

[Colleen253]

@Elaine701 "You should avoid the"host guarantee" wherever possible. It wastes time, and can be very expensive".

I read that and think, yep, that's exactly what Airbnb is hoping for.

@Miltiadis3 Who knows for sure, but it's very likely the guest has retaliated with a complaint against you. Airbnb is known for immediately suspending a listing when this happens, and then doing their 'investigation'. The 'investigation' never involves the host. Do a key word search of the forum for 'listing suspended' and you'll see you're far from alone. Thankfully, the suspension usually doesn't last long.

[Miltiadis3]

@Colleen253  @Elaine701  the guest has messaged me on the platform acknoleding the damage and willing to pay the whole amount ... i dont get how the platform operates ...

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Miltiadis3  it seems nobody gets it anymore...

[Elaine701]

... works in mysterious ways 😁

[Miltiadis3]

@Elaine701 I hope they accept the message from the visitor accepting to pay the full amount of the damage .... i am curious what they will tell me when the call me on Tuesday ... 

[Sarah977]

@Miltiadis3  Don't hold your breath for a promised call-back. Airbnb is  notorious for never phoning back. It would be some sort of miracle if they actually did.

[Miltiadis3]

@Sarah977  they emailed to set an phone appointment .. who knows ... will find out in 48 hours , but customer service is very bad 

[Elaine701]

@Miltiadis3 

Did the guest accept your "resolution center" request for money? If so, it's a rather done deal. If it's just an acknowledgement, you're not quite past the finish line yet... 

I had those before. They admit it and even agree to pay, but never do. 

You might get lucky though 👍

[Mary419]

@Elaine701 you would think that would make it a done deal but I once had a guest agree to pay but his payment method was apparently declined (like a debit card with no money left) and the payout was stuck in my "Upcoming" list for over a year. It is probably still there. I actually wondered if the guest knew that and tried to trick me into thinking he was paying it... knowing he would not really be paying... to not get a bad review. Because he told me his cousin wanted the condo to avoid Covid exposure at hotels, then they had a party with like 50 people.... I requested money for carpet cleaning for the condominium common hallways. It was around $400

[Miltiadis3]

@Mary419  funny you say that because my guest , conviniently said he had the same issue... 

[Mary419]

Yes it actually showed in resolution center as one where the guest accepted my request! I only realized more than 2 weeks after checkout that the money was never sent to me. And a year later if I checked upcoming payouts it was still there. 

btw I recently posted about the resolution center dashboard being unreliable info not much response despite being important 

[Elaine701]

Well, it seems that avoiding the need to file damage claims via the host guarantee is probably your best guarantee of avoiding such problems. And that starts well before the booking.