Recommendations to Circumvent TOS

[Mikki0]

I had a guest try to book my "entire space", for one night. He was having difficulties booking, and reached out to me for assistance. I could see his inquiry, and had the ability to pre-approve, but that didn't seem to matter.  I was unable to help him, so I called customer support to find out why. There was no indication on either of our ends as to the reason he couldn't book.  

The customer service rep explained Airbnb's policy of not allowing bookings of entire spaces on short notice and made it known that there was no way that they could override this policy. 

I explained that their blanket policy was catching those of us who had hosted "entire spaces" (places like duplexes, accessory dwelling units, separate areas on the same property, basements, etc) and that parties would be unlikely, considering hosts were always on site. Her advice to me was to go in, change my listing type, allow the booking, then change the listing type back. 

I vehemently explained to her that I was not going to jack around with my listing because a multi billion dollar IT company couldn't figure out how to fix code. 

So the guest tried from his side to rectify the problem. Because the policy denies bookings for entire listings with any of the following guest "shortfalls", short notice, local, few or less than stellar reviews or under the age of 25, the customer service rep explained Airbnb's policy and made it known that there was no way that they could override this policy. 

This guest was a 4 review / 5 star guest, booking for 1 night (mid week), 7 days away, lived in the same state, and under 25. 

Her advice to my potential guest? Wait a day or two, change his profile to show he was older than 25 and try to rebook. 

Now why is the solution to a screwed up policy NOT to have a human review the case with the ability to override, but to circumvent the policy by lying about listings and profiles?

[Christine615]

I had that problem. Took two weeks to get help. I booked the guest off platform. She couldn’t have been nicer. She suggested I put myself on VRBO so people can find me that way but who has the time to manage multiple platforms. Not me. Now Airbnb is blocking all attempts to communicate with guests before approvals (which they block). I’m an engineer. I’ll find a way to get around the AI bots.

[Mikki0]

@Christine615. They never did help. If I go to another platform, I'm going in all the way. I haven't heard of the blocking communications with guests before you approve them. How are you supposed to suss them out? 

[Christine615]

They’ve allowed inbox messages but have gone into those communications and deleted last names, attempts to send a phone number. At one point I was so frustrated because the guest and I were trying to figure out if my listing would work because Airbnb kept censoring our communication that I asked “are you on FB” and Airbnb deleted the initials. Then deleted all the numbers because it might be an attempt to communicate a phone number.

My house rules say I need the name of each person who will be staying and Airbnb deleted a guest’s sons name and substituted “website deleted by Airbnb”.

so you get newly registered guests trying to book same day with no reviews and Airbnb makes it impossible to know if they will pose a safety risk. UNBELIEVABLE. 

But is silent on the fact that they let a dangerous felon book a shared  host’s home that she occupied.

[Helen3]

Just get him to use a different platform that you use or have him book directly. @Mikki0 

[Mikki0]

@Helen3 

Thanks for the input, but using a different platform doesn't solve the problem of Airbnb Customer Service giving (in my opinion) shady advice to work around a policy they can't override. 

[Sarah977]

Yes, telling a guest to change their age on their profile is terrible advice. That's telling a guest that it's okay to lie about themselves. We have enough lying guests out there who misrepresent themselves and their intentions without Airbnb giving them permission to do so, and it really makes "verified" a total joke.

@Mikki0

[Mikki0]

@Sarah977 Exactly! And with my place being a "Plus" property, I can't even imagine the issues switching my listing type willy nilly would cause!

[Helen3]

Yes but it enables you to accept the booking ...,which I thought was what you wanted to achieve. 

[Mikki0]

@Helen3 

Nope. I want to be able to trust the platform I'm using to have a terms of service, policies, etc that make sense, and not undermined by the platform that instituted them!

[Paul119]

I did the work around for a guest and they were one of the worst guests I ever had. Sometimes I think there is something working behind the scenes blocking a person from booking that the rep can’t see. Wish I hadn’t let this person book. I got the same response about it being a last minute booking of an entire place as the reason they couldn’t be approved. 

[Gregory367]

@Mikki0 

I can relate to this frustration, but as the guest point of view. I booked a trip to my old home months in advanced and booked an entire listing. An issue occurred at the listing I had due to there being bugs running around and while in contact with support I was informed that they have credited my account and I can find another listing. I then found 2-3 listing which whom I was in communication with, but when attempting to book the app kept giving me an error informing something went wrong and try again. Contacted support all night long to be informed that my age group was not allowed to book an entire place rental due to my age group hosting parties and me not having enough reviews. 

I explained to the support rep the issue, she informed she sees it but nothing she can do and I was upset about this because I am a host and I had 3 reviews. I ended up booking a hotel that cost 3x the amount for 1 night and for the remainder of the week I was able to book with a host off the platform since I was in town for 1 week. 

I just think it's frustrating that they have a rule on an age group, discriminating that age level by stating all of them party. I even had a hard time trying to book an entire place a month in advanced and ended up booking a hotel. Which sucked because I personally have an underlining health condition and this was at the beginning of the Covid pandemic.