Horrible Airbnb Support

[Patrick568]

 So I just had the worst experience with Airbnb support I have had in the 4 years my wife and I have been hosts. 

We are in the Coachella valley and had a Coachella festival booking that canceled at the last minute. We got another booking @7:30pm on the friday night. It was a reservation for 4 days for two guys claiming they were going to be hosting a business meeting at the house the next day. The two individuals showed up at 3 am that Saturday morning.

They were at the house for about two and a half hours and they messaged my wife saying they wanted to cancel the booking because the house didn't appear the same. He complained that on top of a shelf there was glassware in the picture, and there was a photo of an area rug by the back door. All items that had been damaged and removed, or as in the case of the glassware were moved to another spot in the living room to get them of a high space because there were children at the house.

 ** [Private conversation removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines]

Our rental:

https://airbnb.com/h/thegoodvibeshouse

My wife heard the message ping on her phone and answered him right away. Explained why the items were not in the same spot and informed him we weren't cancelling his four day booking because of such a minor issue. He instantly threatened us over the review saying that if we just cancelled him he would leave a good review. We refused and knew this was going to be a problem.

At we went back to sleep and at about 6:30 am we got a message from airbnb. The guest claimed that there was dirty kitchenware, and the house was dirty. All complete lies. We informed airbnb this was untrue, our house is immaculate and that the house was cleaned prior to their arrival. Airbnb said the guest provided photos and I asked to see them. Airbnb refused. At about 8:30 the two guys got in their car and left, I figured they were going to breakfast or something since they just walked out, got in their car with nothing(ie luggage) and left.  We have a nest camera in the driveway and so i went back and watched their arrival. They showed up at 3 am, parked and walked into the house with no luggage, nothing. Then one came out at about 4 put on a sweatshirt and went back in. One came back out, smoked a cigarette and went back in. When they departed at 8:30 with nothing I was very suspicious. I have NEVER seen a guest arrive and bring nothing into the house. 

So about an hour later at 9:30 we finally received a message from airbnb that the guests had provided "documentation" of the claim of a dirty house and were allowed to cancel their reservation. I was furious and questioned why they would do this, I was basically blown off, informed that they had provided "proper documentation" for their claim. 

I immediately went to the house. It is a mid century pool home, and is always sparkling clean. You can see the reviews in our listing. My wife and I personally clean and manage the property. When I arrived I walked through each room. No beds had been disturbed, one bathroom had the paper seal on the toilet removed. Other than that both bathrooms were clean. They had taken a packet of oatmeal( we provide some basic food items) from he cabinet and cooked it and there were random spoons, plates and tongs out that had oatmeal on them. Overall the house was basically untouched. I was VERY confused. So i went about cleaning the house back up.

That is when I discovered what this was all about. I found a small baggie of meth by our fire pit, and there was a used condom in the strainer of our pool. So these guys showed up, did some drugs, had sex in my pool. Made a mess to justify their claim with Airbnb and departed.

I made it VERY clear to Airbnb that this was a scam. I explained everything as I explained here. With photos and video documenting their arrival, departure and all movements out front,  that they showed up for a 4 day booking with NO LUGGAGE, not even a bathroom kit. Then they depart 5 hours later in the same clothes they came in. SCAM. 

They didn't care. It was clear this was a scam, and Airbnb just screwed us over, taking the side of these grifters over a super host with years of bookings and sterling reviews.

They even stated we would could potentially have our listing removed because we didn't follow host standards policy. When I asked what policy was that I got no response. I am disgusted at the treatment and complete ignorance from airbnb regarding this whole event. This morning they sent me a message closing the case and not allowing any response. Airbnb is insane if they think treating experienced hosts like this will get them anywhere. My wife and I will be doing everything possible to transition away from Airbnb bookings after this debacle.

[Patrick568]

One of the side effects of all this is that ABB stated they are "attaching a note" to our account. We have a very robust rental property. Suddenly we haven't had any bookings since this incident. I have the distinct feeling that our listing is getting ABB version of a shadow ban.

[Laura2592]

@Patrick568 I am so sorry this is happening to you. Its experiences like this which have made us put our ABB up for sale and collect a nice profit. 

The guest quality has declined substantially in the last 2 years and ABB does less than nothing to assist in keeping hosts safe and protected. Just look at what happened to Kelly in Austin recently-- she posted on this forum. ABB GAVE OUT HER CONTACT INFO to a guest who had NO RESERVATION. He broke into her space and had to be removed by the sheriff. This was another late night sketch-o-rama reservation. 

If you decide to stay on the platform I would look down your listing as much as possible. Take IB away or at the very least no last minute stays, 3 night minimum and only guests recommended by others can do an IB. But truthfully the answer seems to be to find a different platform, rent privately or sell your property and get out of this whole nonsense. Best of luck.

[Liana1935]

What other platforms do you think are working better for the hosts?

[Sammy-L-0]

You need to go over this CSR's head. Treating a host like this is not OK 

[Emilie]

Hi @Patrick568, 

I'm really sorry to hear you've faced such a challenging experience with your latest guests and haven't felt supported afterwards. I've pinged the team, and if I get any updates I'll follow-up with you right away!

Thanks, 

Emilie

[Patrick568]

I appreciate your interest in this issue. It's still a MAJOR red flag to me that Airbnb will take the side of someone that is clearly pulling some sort of scam over a super host with multiple years of sterling reviews. These customer service reps are like zombies. They seem to be following a yes/no flow chart with seemingly no ability for critical thought. It's maddening.  

This above all else needs to change!!

[Liana1935]

Hi, I am also being scammed for $607 and I have been trying to contact someone in customer support to give me some help and all say that my case has been escalated and that they will contact me more than 48 hours and no one has been in contact with me either….. do you have an email for your legal department or a supervisor email that i can have cause i have opened about 3 cases and they all shut me down saying someone will contact me and so far not even 1 call

[Emilie]

@Liana1935 I've nudged the team for you, hopefully someone will be able to follow-up with you very shortly now!

[Liana1935]

Good morning thanks for nudging them but it has been literally 1 week since the theft arose and so far i am still getting excuses when I call but no solutions and no answers from anyone and my money is still being illegally retained…. So even if I don’t like the idea small claims court is looking like the only solution, since any issue is solved within hours of it being reported but my issue has taken over a week and still no one even bothers to call me  or tell me why it is taking so long to solve, which is just disrespectful on behalf of the person who has my case assigned 

[Emilie]

@Liana1935 The team has come back to me and confirmed your case is in progress, so someone will follow-up as soon as possible. I hope it won't be long until everything is resolved. 🙂 

[Liana1935]

Good morning thanks for the feed back but they have not called me…. They have not even bothered answering any of my emails …. I have had no updates and I still have $607 retained illegally from my account and it has been more than a week since this issue caused by your company started so I am really doubtful at the is time and several lawyer friends of mine are urging me to sue…. Cause they say that airbnb is not going to solve this problem since all this time has passed and they have not even bothered replying so far…. All everyone says is to wait …. But will airbnb pay interest for the time my money was illegally retained or will airbnb pay my international phone bill…. The damages are increasing and no straight answer

[Emilie]

@Liana1935 Unfortunately, as I am not part of the Support team, I am not able to give you any more details than the above nor an estimate as to when you'll get an answer. All I confirm is that someone is working on this for you and will reach out when they can.

If I do obtain any more info, I will make sure to let you know!

Emilie

[Christine615]

Demand arbitration. 

[Stephanie365]

@Liana1935  @Patrick568 
This is where you need to become very assertive with AirBNB. Go full ***. 
Get a new Customer Service rep.
Blow up their Twitter feed,
Blow up Chesky's twitter feed.
Bombard Customer Service. 
Don't put up with the reps blowing you off,  the whole "My shift is ending but I will be back in 2 days" BS.
Be a royal pain in the ***.
Don't be put off by their bot's form letter responses. Keep messaging back, demanding an answer. 

If they dig in their heels, offer to share your hosting experience with the media.
Coachella being a big party event and all....

[Liana1935]

Thank you!!! That is exactly what I did !!! They actually solved my issue yesterday, but it did take over a week of calling twice a day and opening new cases twice a day and offering a small claims law suit for the money retained plus damages …. But thank you!!! For confirming that my being so difficult is what was needed.