Punished without recourse -cleanliness complaint - incident counts as a violation of the Host Standards Policy

[Eric122]

Hi,

I have been an AirBnb host Since 2016 and been a Superhost the vast majority of that time. I am booked almost solid, year round.

Guests booked my house for 8 nights. They did self check-in and spent the night. They ate there and left a full trash can with take-out stuff.

The next day I got a letter from AirBnB that guests reported a cleanliness issue upon arrival.

"shared documents of the issue and has consequently left the listing."

AirBnB canceled the reservation,  gave them a full refund and wrote me that the incident counts as a violation of Hosts standards Policy.

AirBnb then listed the cancellation as done by me, the host! That means the calendar stays blocked, I can't be Superhost for a year and other penalties.

AirBnb won't show me or even tell me what the alleged violation was. Claiming it's confidential. 

I was accused, tried and convicted without even being given a chance to try to come to an agreement with guests, offer a discount or re-clean or even see if the guests were totally making the accusations up.

I contacted AirBnB and they said that it cannot be reversed, they will not show me any proof, allow me a chance to defend myself and in fact "I work for them." 

What can I do? Does anyone have a link to the Host Standards Policy where it reads that they can cancel a reservation then say i canceled it?

Do we hosts really work for AirBnB? If so, are we independent contractor or employees?

[Helen350]

Sending sympathy @Eric122 - All very Kafkaesque. - There but for the grace of God go all of us. And many others have, sadly, if you read these boards.

I always thought we were independent contractors. I'm shocked.

[Eric122]

I thought Kafkaesque too! Thank you. Did any of the boards you read give any solutions?

I actually think AirBnb works for us. We pay them the commission, right?

[Emiel1]

@Eric122 

It is again a rediculous story. Offcourse we do not work for Airbnb.

The support robots at Airbnb CS need a reset. (CTRL-ALT-DELETE)

[Eric122]

Thank you! Do you have any suggestions on how to proceed? Do we really have no rights?

[Mark116]

@Eric122  You pretty much have no rights.  In the past, Airbnb was more responsive to crazy decisions like this if you made your case on twitter or facebook, but I don't know if that is still the case.  

You could consider suing them in small claims court, I don't know if that is more trouble than its worth.  Or, just keep trying until you might find a reasonable person, but that could be never.

[Eric122]

I appreciate you validating that it is a crazy decision! 🙂 

We should form a hosts union for collective bargaining...

I'm considering suing just for the justice of it.

I will try twitter and facebook. I once had them overturn a crazy policy but it took me months. 

(Guest's credit card did not pay airbnb for the stay so Airbnb tried to make me give them a refund after guest had stayed a month! i said it's my job to host and their job to get paid.)

[Sarah977]

From Airbnb's Terms of Service:

5.3 Independence of Hosts. Your relationship with Airbnb is that of an independent individual or entity and not an employee, agent, joint venturer, or partner of Airbnb, except that Airbnb Payments acts as a payment collection agent as described in the Payments Terms. Airbnb does not direct or control your Host Service, and you agree that you have complete discretion whether and when to provide Host Services, and at what price and on what terms to offer them.

So if they actually told you "You work for us", direct them to their own policy.

@Eric122

[Eric122]

Thank you Sarah. I'm especially intrigued by 

"you have complete discretion whether and when to provide Host Services, and at what price and on what terms to offer them."

[Eric122]

They don't care. they keep closing the tickets if it's resolved.

[Sarah977]

It's a good idea to print out Airbnb's TOS, circle any of it that could relate to whatever issue you are having, and keep it handy so when they tell you things which are counter to their own policies, you can throw it back at them, chapter and verse.

@Eric122

[Eric122]

I would but then this...

"5.2 Modification or Termination. Airbnb reserves the right to modify or terminate this Guest Refund Policy, at any time, in its sole discretion.

[BenkaandKeith0]

We keep repeating ourselves in so many communication threads and the final conclusion is always the same: Airbnb does not five a flying f***! The hosts are on their own. Airbnb will back every and any guest, regardless of the situation. Much contrary to what Airbnb used to be. 6 years ago when we started hosting, they actually called you for every dispute, listened to you, worked with you until the case was solved. Now, by default and the corporation's instructions, making the guests happy is the only priority. Airbnb no longer call any hosts, nor care about them. This statement is 100% tested and verified. Sickening! Not sharing the information/proofs with the host is ridiculous, unprofessional and this  "confidentiality" is an excuse they use every step. Dishonest business that clearly shows how much you are (dis)respected. We all are. They canceled one booking in our name, for us, claiming we did it. I went through the roof. Took me a month of my free time disputing the case, while talking to dozens of Airbnb 'experts' while they were being payed for their lack of expertise. Airbnb used to be fun. Now is just a bunch of crap that is pilling on the shoulders of the hosts and bury them. Try with listing on other travel platforms and move away from Airbnb.  They are killing their own future and dragging us all behind. VRBO, Tripadvisor, Booking.com, etc... Good luck!

[Karen2738]

Hi There

I have been with Airbnb for 15 years.  Sadly I had a similar issue, where after the guests checked out, they reported the place as being filthy and the beds had bed bugs.  Airbnb and I asked for photos of the bites, and evidence of this filth, which of course they could not produce.  So this guy went on to complain that he was expecting to use the pool but couldn't.  He asked me about the heated pool which I said we didn't have one and went on to say he wanted to be refunded for lack of that amenity even though it is not advertised as an amenity.  Without warning, I have been charged 440Euros by Airbnb for this.

I have had another situation this year where a guest refused to pay for the extra nights stay after asking for the extra night - she said I said it was free of charge!

My concern is that the Airbnb case people often do not hear your side of the story which means we are being subjected to the scammers out there.  It is all a game!

I have 4 listings and I am seriously thinking of cancelling all 4 listings as I cannot deal with the stress of people who think its ok to behave badly and Airbnb do nothing about it. @Eric122 

BenkaandKeith0

[Julene2]

Wow. I KNOW there are people gaming the system now. How? Book a long-term stay, then stay shorter and expect same rate. Make complaints to bully Hosts. Wish I'd come to community about this topic a while ago. Since COVID I have taken many more long-term rentals. Never instant-book. Always a conversation first. However, I just had the one bad experience you all mention. Two individuals wrote about booking same dates. They said they were married and the wife finalized the bookings. She had one short good review. He had all the questions. They booked 50+ nts. Arrived and next morning said my condo wasn't "mountainy" enough and they wanted to check out. I'm a long time super-host with 5star reviews and PLENTY of pictures to show what is to be expected. I told them they were welcome to check-out. Even offered to help find another rental (IDIOT!) Then, they said, no, they would stay a week. So I changed the reservation to one week (MISTAKE #1) but charged the one week rate. "Please just cancel and we'll pay cash..." (RED ALERT) I say no. Now the complaints and following explanations about the new rate, et al. At end of week, I sent a text to remind them easy check-out instructions were in the House Book etc etc. Now I get complaints about noise and and a demand for a refund or they will write a bad review. Or "If no refund they just won't review me" So I write to Support. I am sent a series of "canned" answers. Cost to me? Over $5k in lost revenue. Does Airbnb want to see the threats in texts? No. I have not reviewed this couple who left my kitchen completely re-arranged, furniture moved and lied about a service dog. It was a rescue chihuahua. Thoughts? I am sure they will write a horrid review and I don't feel like I have ANY SUPPORT in this matter. Airbnb get it together!