How does AirBNB trust the word of a dishonest (zero review) guest over a 5yr, 4 property SuperHost

[Barry346]

I had a guest have additional people at the house and threw wet toilet paper that stuck to the ceiling and walls.

I provided AirBNB with video footage of the additional guests from the exterior of the property and video from the cleaner of the mess they left.

AirBNB paid out on the resolution centre then a month later suspended my account saying I had cameras at the property.

I have provided all the proof showing my listing shows that there are cameras at the properties and that we email guests and state there are cameras the moment they book and remind them 4 days before checkin.

You can see all the proof at https://twitter.com/icepicknz/status/1421993843742834688

It just confuses me how a guest that had zero reviews and was caught out lying and deceitful can make a claim against a host of 5 years with hundreds of bookings and is guilty until proven innocent. 

This doesn't appear to be an isolated situation, searching this community there are so many super hosts in the same boat as me. 

[Laura4076]

@Barry346  Oh my gosh I just read your whole story! I got got nearly the identical email from Airbnb saying they’d like to speak to me about the cameras.  What’s even more ludicrous is the rep stated she’s in Europe and only works from 8-4.  Well I live in California so to speak to her in Europe I need to be available from 12am to 8am. She knew this and actually pointed it out to me in the email.  They also don’t give a number for you to call they ask for your number.  So I have to sleep with my phone next to me!  Her email actually came in at 2am.   I’m pretty sure Airbnb is based in San Francisco but they assign me to someone in Europe? You honestly couldn’t make this up it’s that ridiculous.

[Helen427]

hello @Barry346 

Welcome to ABB CC from a fellow host in Auckland.

I think you will find just because the likes of @Brian may not post here in CC he does indeed  lurk around, as do @Catherine-Powell , and others who do follow up on matters behind the scenes.

Good on you for speaking up on your unfortunate situation and I'm sure you will follow up on those disgraceful and dishonest guests who damaged your property through other Authorities 🙂

Did you finally get your account re-activated?

One has to also question, were those Rental Vehicles they were using?

If so, have they also been dishonest in obtaining them?
Equally of importance, were they recent returnees to New Zealand that came back to New Zealand when PM Ardern and co opened the borders to New Zealand citizens to return home?

The timing of the booking and unlawful behaviours seems to coincide with that, do you agree?

If so, what other dishonest behaviours have they done that they may have previously evaded accountability with?

It's a known fact some people use fake / Fraudulent documents to enter other countries.

NZ, like Australia, has been hit a number of times over the years with such scammers as has oft been reported in mainstream media. Sadly this has escalated over the years due to poor security checks at our borders, those who are paid to check documents simply don't yet are paid to.

There was a good reason Australian Gvt clamped down on back door entry via New Zealand in the mid 2000's.

It doesn't help one bit that Digital Technology has opened the floodgates to people being more exposed to crime world-wide whereas in the past people spoke to each other face to face and knew who was who by their name and paper documents for Identity etc.

You may like to follow up on these other aspects as well with your excellent investigation skills...

As an aside, we request our Guests to provide details of their vehicle, model, colour and registration prior to arrival so we know who is coming onto the property for those of you who may not have cameras.

It enables a little Peace of Mind

All the best

[Barry346]

Thanks 🙂 

if you look at Brian’s profile it saw he hasn’t logged in since October 2020. 

the guest that stayed I looked him up on linked in and Facebook. He works for Noel leeming for the last 3 years and is studying engineering at Auckland uni. I suspect the 9 guys he brought with him were from uni and just didn’t care

[Helen427]

@Barry346 
A heads-up, when replying add the @

to tag who you are replying to.

I'd be inclined to on the quiet contact Noel Leeming Executive and see if they know they may have a dishonest one among there ranks..

Countdown kicked a few out the door in recent years who they caught carrying out unlawful behaviours. Where there's smoke, there's often fire..

[Diana-And-Lando0]

First of all so sorry that you had such terrible guests.  You may want to put in your house rules or check out directions, that you check out the guests personally.  Like hotels where they send someone to check the room before you check out. As hosts we are part of the company Airbnb and we need to demand to know how many guests and listings in like say a year that they have taken off the site.  All these bad folks should be immediately removed and that also includes bad hosts which I have stayed with.  Seems to me that Airbnb is so busy sitting around creating all this new stuff that they have forgotten their brand and Airbnb has a huge image problem.  Then folks like the ones that stayed with you would not consider staying at an Airbnb.  

[BenkaandKeith0]

Perfect point @Diana-And-Lando0  Airbnb no longer gives a s++it to the host community. It is clear, evident and documented in their policies. They USED the hosts to built the reputable company, now they ABUSE them systematically, as working WITH them would be too expensive. The company managed to convert the population of our home from the biggest fans to the greatest enemies. Times to move the majority of work to other platforms. VRBO is catching up rapidly.

[Barry346]

My PMS system where I set pricing of my listings I would give AirBNB a 10% discount as I always preferred AirBNB over VRBO & Booking.com etc. All direct bookings that people called about, I would provide the AirBNB link to book, essentially giving them the 15% of all my direct bookings.

That will no longer happen moving forward. AirBNB will get a 15% increase in pricing so people prefer to book through VRBO or other booking sites when they compare pricing and see its cheaper there.

I will also just take my direct bookings now and process them directly. No more giving AirBNB free money when they treat us like this.

[BenkaandKeith0]

Funny you wrote all this @Barry346 , exactly our decision made last month. And to support the right of decision, we got a call today from VRBO asking us what they can improve to make our hosting experience better. I wonder if they employed all the smart people that used to work at Airbnb...

[Laura4076]

@Barry346  I’m with you, as soon as they address all our damages I’ll be looking into the other platforms. Also I hope you don’t mind that I’ve been passing on your story in other threads. Yours is just such a perfect example of everything that is wrong with Airbnb.  My goal is to make as many people as possible aware of what’s going on.  And it’s disturbing how many hosts are having or have had the same experiences. It needs to change!

[Barry346]

Its exactly why I wrote it, please do share. I have even gone so far as to email it along with why I think it will eventually sink their stock, to try start a discussion with their top shareholders as they are probably the ones that can get it infront of the right people.

[Laura4076]

@Barry346  I to have started emailing as many higher ups I can find.  Someone’s got to start taking notice!

[Olivier906]

@BenkaandKeith0 airbnb kinda became like Amazon...

[BenkaandKeith0]

Sadly so @Olivier906 . This indicates the need to move away and start supporting those who support us. We can not be in the business of making happy guests by the company making us constantly miserable 😞