Privacy concern

[Jay1595]

We recently had an inquiry about a service animal.  Long story short, it was made by someone does not have an identify verified on Airbnb, no reviews, has not been reviewed and been on since 2016.  A few days later we were copied into an email going to our local member of parliament.  The name in the email was completely different from the Airbnb account. We’re left wondering, how did this person get our personal email address when it’s not posted anywhere on Airbnb?!?

[Christine615]

Wow. So sorry that happened to you. We don't allow animals of any kind due to allergies. Epi-Pen co-pays in the state are $350 (have to buy in pairs). So nope. And we want people who have pet allergies to have a place to rent if needed.

In this case, you could have declined simply for the fact that they don't meet your minimum bed nights. If you feel uncomfortable, just block one of the days on your calendar and the date then becomes unavailable. But honesty is best and the person who reported you should NOT be on the platform. Airbnb has to be more responsive in these cases and they need to do a better job of verifying that any potential guest on the platform (including those who have been around for years without a single booking) have credentials verified. If they have been dormant, they need to update their credentials every year or at the time of the first booking.

[Jay1595]

thanks for your answer Christine!  It’s good to know we’re not alone here.  Unfortunately it seems like this person is just out looking for a cause and making it into who has the worst medical issue.  Not a very fun game for anyone to play.  We had hoped Airbnb would suspend their account but still active.  What we really want to know is how they got our email address since Airbnb is supposed to protect info like that.  

[Sarah977]

@Jay1595  I once got an email from someone I don't know inviting me to a local host meet-up. I contacted Airbnb Trust and Safety Dept. (this is who you want to talk to, not some front line CS rep, who you have to ask to refer your message to T&S). I told them what happened and asked if they give out email addresses to other hosts organizing meet-ups and they assured me they don't.

I have no idea where these people got my email address then, because that information is private- I'm not on any social media nor have my email address advertised anywhere.

[Jay1595]

Thank you Sarah!  We will send a message to that department.  We had just done the simple report user feature and included all the information above but never heard anything back. 

[Sarah977]

@Jay1595  Flagging the account doesn't generate a response.

You can't actually send a message straight to the Trust and Safety Dept. What I do when I want to have an issue addressed by a specific dept is that I title my message "Trust and Safety Issue". Then my first line is "Please pass this on ASAP to a Trust and Safety rep." (or Tech Support, whatever the case may be) 

Then very briefly describe the issue- you can go into detail with the appropriate rep when they message you back. You don't want to bog the usually clueless  front line CS rep trying to help you- you want them to pass it in.

So in your case, just say you have concern about a so-called guest who sent an inquiry, and then somehow had access to your personal email address.

[Jay1595]

We noticed that too!  We flagged this persons account about 3 weeks ago and hadn’t heard anything...which is why we posted for help here.  Thank you for the more detailed steps on how to get an actual response/assistance!

[Liv]

Hi @Jay1595,

I'm sorry this happened to you.

Thanks for bringing it to our attention. I have checked with the Support team and they have asked you to please get in touch with them so they can open a case and investigate this for you.

I hope this helps.

Thanks,
Liv

[Jay1595]

Thanks Liv.  After receiving Sarah’s messages we followed her steps and spoke to someone about it!