Unauthorized party

[Mariya24]

Airbnb community - please HELP!

I need to get some response from Airbnb safety department. Guest threw a party in my place with intoxicated underage visitors. I called and called and called for help - with no much help offered. 
Any suggestions? How to get the safety department getting back to me? 

thank you in advance. 
Mariya W.

[Anonymous]

@Mariya24  Under what pretext did these guests gain access to your property under shelter-in-place orders? Were they posing as essential workers under a special Airbnb program?

[Mariya24]

They booked my entire-place unit for one person (I don’t know how Airbnb verifies then). Than before check-in time I called to ask if that’s for sure one guest stay in and was told 3 will be staying there. So I adjusted reservation to 3 people. 20+ was the actual number last night. A lot of them - underage. Police was called by numerous people numerous times. They don’t “remove them” from the property ( “you can evict them or call Airbnb for help” that’s what they say). 
after 2 hour of attempt to talk to some “case manager” I finally got a call from “safety department” and a childish voice with a very poor English read some scripts to me when I asked how they will address and resolve the Airbnb policies violations. 
I called, I e-mailed leading for help. 
today my maintenance finally was able to kick those guests out (turning down electricity, water, gas - for “maintenance “).

Two hours later I got one e-mail from that mysterious “safety case manager” that they “reached out to the guest and were told they left”... 

what a nightmare- still trying to clean my place and remove smoke smell from non-smoking unit... 

no call back or any another communication from “safety department” - even after several attempts to get in touch with them..

cant even place a claim for damages... they removed that booking like it never even happen.... like that guest even never checked-in...

Please help me with suggestions how to get someone from Airbnb helping me 

[Anonymous]

@Mariya24 What exactly did you think Airbnb could do for you? They are a listing service, rather than a property manager. It's still your job as the owner to maintain control over your home, or to hire someone who is better equipped to take responsibility there. 

Moving forward, if you want "help" you might need to be a little clearer on what that would entail. If you need compensation for physical damage, you should initiate a claim right away and begin collecting photographic evidence and scanning receipts. If you need to report criminal activity, you go through the police. If you're just feeling overwhelmed and need emotional support, there's nothing wrong with asking the community for that - but that's not what an overworked call-center operator is qualified to provide. 

[Mariya24]

Can initiate claim since Airbnb removes that guest “confirmation of reservation” - it shows like they never checked-in in my records on Airbnb app. 
I don’t expect overwhelmed call-center to do anything that they can’t do - get the “higher level safety department” calling me to reassure that they will “investigate” and give me resolution.

I wish I could screen the guests before I accept request, but Airbnb doesn’t allow to do that. I even can’t see a photo of person who is requesting to book. But that’s another story... 

Any suggestion in regard of how to get “higher level - safety case manager” getting back to me - would be greatly appreciated. 

[Mariya24]

Correction 

- read “Can’t” (just a typo) 

[Mark116]

@Mariya24  I guess the order would have to have been that you get airbnb to cancel the reservation and then the guests would officially be trespassing and so police would remove them.  

I don't know what the orders are for Redondo Beach and STRs, so I won't get into that.  But, you should take this as a lesson and don't expect anything useful from airbnb in real time in the future.  

Did you call the party hot line number?  

[Mariya24]

What is a party hotline number?

can you please tell me more about it and maybe share some ways I can screen guests? 

thank you in advance. 
sincerely,

Mariya W 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Mariya24 

Once you have a confirmed booking there are ways to *screen* guests before you give them access to your home. Like @Anonymous says..... Airbnb is nothing more than a a listing service, comparable to hotels.com but for home shares. It is up to the individual host to check and verify the guest is who they claim before sending the entry code or handing over the key (just like hotels ask for ID before they hand over the room key)

Airbnb doesn't make it easy to check or verify guest identity.... that I completely agree with. 

[Mariya24]

Can you please share with me what sites can I use to screen ? I have to get that under control. It getting worse and worse with strange people requesting to stay at our places. 
Thank you in advance 

Sincerely,

Mariya W 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Mariya24 

I don't use *sites* - I simply do not allow instant book so I am able to screen guests by communicating with them before I approve them for a stay by reiterating our house rules and expectations regarding guest behavior.

I'm an on-site host meaning Henry or I make it a point to always physically meet and greet all guests at the entrance of our apartment building. We make sure the profile photo and the person that comes is identical before we give them the passcode to enter our building and the key fob for our apartment. I include in my house rules that I may ask to see some ID at check in, but most of the time I haven't needed to. 

We live in an residential apartment complex that has a security guard 24/7 and a lot of cctv surveillance cameras in common areas including all building entrances and elevators. I also have a motion activated peephole camera at the entrance of my home - all of this is disclosed in my listing description and house rules. 

So all things considered....... strange people planning to throw an illegal party will completely ignore my listing. 

[Mariya24]

I don’t allow instant booking as well. 
I have security door-bell video cameras on each door. I try to get some insight while communicating with the guest prior of accepting request to book. Some people know how to manipulate through all the check-points. 
This mysterious “higher level safety department” is not responsive. The customer service reps don’t have any ability to talk to them and all urgent requests for call or actions are ignored ...

I just hope there is some magic button I can push to get them getting back to me ... 😞

thank you for your advise and sharing your prospectively - I REALLY appreciate your time put into this communication 

sincerely,

Mariya W. 

[Helen3]

Hi @Mariya24 

It is up to you to put systems in place to screen your guests. And down to the regulations you have in place for your area regarding regulations for STRs and the corona virus.

For example in the UK we can only let to key workers, those attending a funeral etc.

What regulations do you have where you live?

In terms of vetting, I only accept guests with photo ID, who let me know why they are travelling, why they chose my place etc.

I use this information to ensure there is a good fit.

If you are letting remotely, then I would say CCTV is an essential to monitor how many guests are using your place and whether people are coming who haven't booked.

[Anonymous]

@Mariya24  The "Trust and Safety" department might not be the relevant body at this point, if the party has already left your property and returned the keys. Do you still feel that your safety is compromised?

How much $$ in damage are we talking about here? Is this going to be a major claim on the Host Guarantee, or just some extra cleaning and minor breakages?

It's not surprising that you're getting exceptionally problematic guests during the lockdown. What kind of people do you expect to be renting an Airbnb under nebulous pretenses in a time like this?

[Mariya24]

I am heating the same wall of ignorance again...

mysterious higher level safety department is the only one who apparently is authorized to address ANY issues related to this nightmare guest. He posted 1* review with a comment that I “tried to  kick him out for partying”. I don’t try - I KICKED him out with assistance of that safety department. 
I called and called and called to get that injustice undone with no success - I was told the “higher level safety department case manager” will get in touch with me shortly... I e-nailed them to... no response. No call.
please - anybody - help with advise how to get them undo this injustice

thank you in advance.

sincerely,

Mariya Wrightsman