Solid Proof AirBNB caters to bad guests

[Stephanie365]

Well, I thought AirBNB had my back. A couple of months ago I had a guest whose plans changed. Of course, with my strict cancellation policy he was not entitled to a refund. So he contacted me, said he had a problem with his stay and was leaving immediately.  He claimed my cats kept him awake. When I explained how this was impossible, he said he was leaving anyways and "if I would refund him for the whole stay he would not leave a bad review".

I immediately reported him to AirBNB for extortion and they agreed 100% that this was extortion and would remove any negative review he left. I declined his refund request. He sent a total of 4 messages reiterating his extortion so there was no "confusion" on his part.

He writes in his Resolution Center request for a refund that he left because of a "smell". Changed his entire story. I notified AirBNB of this as well. The guest is clearly lying.

He later notified me he has now left a bad review for me, but he will remove it if I refund him. I contact AirBNB and within 20 minutes they removed the review. High fives to AirBNB, right?

Of course I leave my review (1*) stating the guest checked out early and extorted me for a refund.

AirBNB removed my review of the guest and has allowed him to stay on the platform. 😡

[Laura2592]

@Stephanie365 this is really disheartening. I remember the saga of that particular guest and I recall reading his review and yours. I thought the way you handled it was totally fair. As a host in your area, I do not want this guest. So the fact that ABB took down something to warn me away if he tries to book puts me well on my guard. 

This is one reason I won't do strict cancellations. We have been thinking about it due to the massive increase in cancellations and date shifts over the last few months. Our calendar is like a game of Tetris with people wanting to change, move and cancel stays. But in the end exactly what you describe can happen, and will. If a guest doesn't get their way despite agreeing to the cancellation policy, they can easily come up with some other issue and complain to ABB. And ABB typically entertains these spurious requests. For now we will stick with a moderate policy and just deal with the ever-changing stay calendar. 

[Sarah977]

@Stephanie365  I just cannot fathom what possible benefit Airbnb thinks this type of behavior on their part has.  

Are the occassional service fees they might collect from this guest's bookings really of more value than removing bad guests who no host would want from the platform?  It's pathetic. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Stephanie365 I would look on the bright side

1) Your listing didn't get suspended

2) The guest didn't get refunded

3) The guest's review was removed.

Why do I think these basics are positive?

Well I guess I have been so amazed by poorer customer service yours didn't seem so dreadful!

[Nanxing0]

@Mike-And-Jane0  @Stephanie365 I would add something to the bright side: 1) The guest did not cause any damage to your property 2) The guest did not pour concrete into your drain 3) The guest did not dump a bag of cocker-roaches or bed bugs into your property lol!

When there's a host-guest argument or landlord-tenant dispute, the host/landlord is always on the oppressed side.

[Kelly149]

yikes, but also, the review guidelines clearly say that you can't discuss any claims (I'm paraphrasing) so I think the mistake there is being too specific (which is a bummer, bc the specifics are important). We'll never know if they would have removed it anyway, but I would have gone with "The stay with xxx was challenging and unfortunately I do not recommend him for future ABB stays"

[Jennifer681]

I had an unruly guest and her party keeping us up until well past 3am. I never saw the booking guest. Never heard her voice or her introduce herself. I contacted ABB at 2am after someone was vomiting over our front porch (not a shared guest area). The rep agreed the guest was in violation and said she would ask them to leave. Stupid me, I said they could stay until first thing in the am. The people I did see were visibly intoxicated and drove to the house. I did not want to be responsible for more trouble or an accident. Someone was shouting from the apartment through the door that if I called the police they would definitely give me a bad review. Again, stupid me, ALWAYS video any interaction in this kind of situation. Long story short, the booking guest left a horrible review. She said I entered the apartment DURING her stay. She said I went into the bedroom while she was naked and screamed at her. I Had a 4.97 now I don't. My account was suspended while "they" reviewed the situation. The guest's account was never suspended. ABB agreed this guest broke several ABB policy rules as well as our written (must be agreed to before booking will complete) House Rules. Yet, this guest is still free to book. Yes, I did get to reply to her review. Any potential guest will see the issue is with the guest not me. Any potential host of this person will see my detailed review and hopefully not let her book...BUT this guest will just delete her profile and start over. Why is this allowed??? ABB absolutely does not care about their hosts. This was a dangerous situation. A safety issue for sure. I don't think ABB even contacted the guest to make sure they left in the am. This terrible guest did not leave until 12:30pm. She refused to leave until her hair was done. It was her birthday, I was ruining it, and she did not want to look like garbage. (Maybe don't drink yourselves to the point of vomiting publicly) Check-out is by 11am maximum. We had other guests coming and were then delayed. Not only did this person cause us much stress and loss of sleep she impacted the stay of the following guests. Total BS ABB!!!!

[Toetsie0]

what a dreadfull story! good you can let your steam off here! 

and as airbnb has their info my idea would be to ban this person for at least 5 years.

okay: here is allll of my frustration with airbnb. grrr.

whats the benefit of airbnb over booking now we-the hosts- pay the same charges? im looking into booking. 

i recently got annoyed by airbnb: i lost my superhost status just now in january after 9 years straight superhost status because of a glitch in the translation system of airbnb and the ongoing pandemic in Europe. and there was NO possibillity in giving my situation the coulance i still think applied to me. my rating now is 0.1 point to low.. whaaat?? i spoke with a manager who called me at my request. and.. they could not do a thing for me.

and i offer my guests -for years now- who travel consiously and compensate for their CO2 omissions (and let me knowhow) a good discount. i gave it to my first guest of the year just this week.. And Airbnb CHARGED me €1,65 changing fee.. Whut!??? i did not get a message about that as a new thing and NEVER saw that before! might have been applied forever allready and that i never noticed, bit im sooo not amused! 

im really not happy and probably will just run only my Bed&Breakfast site soon. And booking.

thanks for letting off my steam. 

formerly happy host, now frowning host. 

[Fred13]

"Of course I leave my review (1*) stating the guest checked out early and extorted me for a refund."

@Stephanie365 By stating the real reason you gave Airbnb their perfect reason to duck the whole issue. Best to fight a guest hustle with a high degree of cunning. It is a bit of a game.

[Huma0]

@Stephanie365 

I believe @Fred13 and @Kelly149 are correct. Annoying as it is, mentioning the guest trying to extort you for a refund goes against Airbnb's content policy. That's probably why your review was removed. 

Hopefully you won't have another experience like this but it's a good idea to familiarise yourself with the review and contents policies. That way, should you get a unfairly bad review in future, you will know whether there are grounds for its removal or not.

[Sybe]

Hi everyone,

Just a quick update on this. I've been in touch with @Stephanie365  via DM, and together with CS we've agreed to open a new case so this can be looked into.

[Stephanie365]

Well @Sybe , they removed the review AGAIN.  I asked for an explanation and none was given.  Furthermore the customer service rep LIED to me and said, "Once a review has been removed it can't be put back."  Well, considering this review had been put back once already.... I really, REALLY hate being lied to.

If this doesn't scream that AirBNB cares more about catering to bad guests instead of good hosts, I don't know what does. 

[Don-And-Emily0]

Similar thing happened to us as well. Airbnb needs to do some work on supporting hosts. Without ou4 homes they don’t have any inventory to make money 

[Stephanie365]

Well, I am pleased to announce that AirBNB reinstated my review of the Extortionist. No explanation given why it was removed in the first place, but I'm glad it's back up.

[Stephanie365]

AirBNB removed my review a second time AND they lied to me saying, "Once the review has been removed, we can't reinstate it". Except they did just that back in February.  I really, really hate being lied to, especially by cubicle dwellers.