Unfair decision from Airbnb employee

[Grace-And-François0]

I received an unfair and patronizing decision from an Airbnb employee despite providing professional evidence disputing the claim made by a guest. I repeatedly asked to escalate the subject but this  was ignored. What options do hosts have to appeal such treatment and further, to protect themselves from unscrupulous guests that Airbnb employees believe without authenticating their claims?

[Helen3]

Difficult to say without knowing what actually happened @Grace-And-François0 

I believe you can pay for it to go to arbitration and if you win Airbnb will cover the arbitration fee.

[Grace-And-François0]

My listing clearly states that I have pets. Just to paint a full picture, my dogs have kennels around the property, they are guard dogs and never go into the house. The guest complained about my barking dogs (no physical contact with them, just their barking at night) and claimed that his understanding of pets in the listing was cats or 'small house dogs'-fun fact, house dogs bark too .

I understood his discomfort and agreed to an early check out and refund for the days unspent. The guest demanded that I cater for his uber charges to the new accommodation as well as bank transfer charges he will incur to make a payment to another place which I disagreed to. After a while, he said that he had not found a better place than mine and other places too had dogs or the neighborhoods also had barking dogs and decided to stay.  A few days to his check out, he wrote to me claiming that the barking was unbearable, his stay was unpleasant and wanted to leave immediately. Consistent with my earlier communication, I empathized and agreed to a refund for the days unspent. He insisted that I should cover his uber and bank fees but I still I refused because I did not falsely represent my housing, I had made it known that we had pets. He left that day and reported to airbnb that we had bedbugs!!! Airbnb contacted me, they had deactivated my account until I fumigate and were refunding him for the entire stay. 

I believe this guest wanted a free ride this whole time and would stop at nothing to get it, the timing of his eventual departure was convenient, he could have left earlier but stayed. Anyway, I contacted a reputable fumigation company that had fumigated my house a few months ago, they made an inspection and confirmed that I do not have bedbugs. I presented this report along with my previous fumigation certificate (I had fumigated three months before) to airbnb and requested to see the evidence that the guest had presented. Said guest shared pictures of a mosquito net with a bug and blood, the picture was taken up-close and impossible to make out whether it is my property and I believe this guest got the picture elsewhere. I asked airbnb if the guest can authenticate this picture but they insisted that a guest presenting a picture is enough proof. I asked them if they doubt the credibility of the fumigation company, they said they believe me but have to protect the interests of both the guests and hosts and the deactivation was not a penalty but for both of our own good which was the most patronizing response. They agreed to refund some of my money but honestly I did not find this satisfactory. How does airbnb protect us the hosts from unscrupulous guests? Does it mean whenever a guest makes a claim and gets a picture off the internet, it is taken as the gospel truth?

I work hard to maintain my properties, I presented reports and certificates, I am a super host with history while this guest has no history or reviews (ZERO reviews). All efforts to reason with the case officer fell on deaf ears and I found it unnerving that before asking for me to present evidence or my side of the story, the case officer made a ruling and was not willing to hear my side of it.

[Maia29]

I just personally went through this same issue last week.

I spent my ENTIRE weekend stressed the heck out; raised my blood pressure and made me boiling angry.

A guest made up an entire lie about me after staying for 3/4 of the stay, just to get a full refund from Airbnb. Airbnb deactivated my listing immediately. The guest that reported me was a drug user, smoked in the unit, brough a dog without permission, and was a 3rd party booking without my permission and I had PROOF of this!

The week before that, I had another Airbnb guest who were full-blown meth heads, who left a complete mess along with hyperdermic needles, bloody cotton balls and Q-tips, tinfoil with evidence of someone smoking pills, etc. etc. Not only that, but they were in and out of the unit all freaking night long, leaving every half an hour to buy more drugs (obviously). They brought 2 dogs WITHOUT permission and at least 3 extra guests and had a party. All blatant disregard to my listing rules.

My resolution case for the meth heads was dropped in less than 48 hours without my consent and no explanation.

After I reported that meth head couple, I started receiving messages from customers that booked for this summer, and they were saying that they couldn't find my listing. It's obvious that the outside of the US-based call center deactivated my listing after I set up the resolution case for the meth heads.

In addition, to all of the above-the meth heads threatened me through the Airbnb message system and made racist comments about black people and Martin Luther King Day.

I strongly believe that the call center located OUTSIDE of the US, is "button pushing" happy and they are SO eager to just deactivate your listing for NO reason what-so-ever. The case manager kept emailing me over and over and over again asking for more and more documentation. I would submit documentation, and then she would request more. It was endless; request and request for further documentation with threats to move forward with permanently deactivating my listing.

Then the case manager tried to insinuate that I had cameras INSIDE the listing (as we all know cameras have to be disclosed in both your listing and manual). This case manager was just looking for excuses to permanently deactivate my listing based on COMPLETE lies!

When I called the Airbnb call center, I could hear the customer service representatives clearly laughing in the background and this is the "health and safety" department. Health and safety is NO laughing matter!

I emailed and called continuously back and forth for three days, then on Saturday, I opened a Twitter account just for contacting Airbnb and I direct messaged them there repeatedly. I also messaged Airbnb through Facebook as well.

I demanded that Airbnb reactivate my listing and deactivate the guest's accounts over and over again. This is my livelihood and I take my responsibility as a host very seriously. I bend over backwards to accommodate all of my guests and I never complain even when I have legitimate reason to.

I recommend:  Demand to escalate your case to a supervisor. Contact Airbnb through Twitter.

To my surprise, on Monday morning I finally received a call from a US-based customer service representative, and they quickly reactivated my listing in less than 15 minutes. The US-based customer service representative was very professional, cordial, and helpful.

I have now opened a resolution case against the guest that smoked and obtained the false refund. However, their profile is still active and so are the meth head's profiles. I just want to protect other hosts so they don't have to go through what I did.

I'm so sorry you are having to deal with this and I apologize for the long rant. I just about had a heart attack and my stress levels were through the roof! 

Beware of the roving bands of drug addicts out there looking to report you to obtain false refunds!

[Grace-And-François0]

My listing clearly states that I have pets. Just to paint a full picture, my dogs have kennels around the property, they are guard dogs and never go into the house. The guest complained about my barking dogs (no physical contact with them, just their barking at night) and claimed that his understanding of pets in the listing was cats or 'small house dogs'-fun fact, house dogs bark too .

I understood his discomfort and agreed to an early check out and refund for the days unspent. The guest demanded that I cater for his uber charges to the new accommodation as well as bank transfer charges he will incur to make a payment to another place which I disagreed to. After a while, he said that he had not found a better place than mine and other places too had dogs or the neighborhoods also had barking dogs and decided to stay.  A few days to his check out, he wrote to me claiming that the barking was unbearable, his stay was unpleasant and wanted to leave immediately. Consistent with my earlier communication, I empathized and agreed to a refund for the days unspent. He insisted that I should cover his uber and bank fees but I still I refused because I did not falsely represent my housing, I had made it known that we had pets. He left that day and reported to airbnb that we had bedbugs!!! Airbnb contacted me, they had deactivated my account until I fumigate and were refunding him for the entire stay. 

I believe this guest wanted a free ride this whole time and would stop at nothing to get it, the timing of his eventual departure was convenient, he could have left earlier but stayed. Anyway, I contacted a reputable fumigation company that had fumigated my house a few months ago, they made an inspection and confirmed that I do not have bedbugs. I presented this report along with my previous fumigation certificate (I had fumigated three months before) to airbnb and requested to see the evidence that the guest had presented. Said guest shared pictures of a mosquito net with a bug and blood, the picture was taken up-close and impossible to make out whether it is my property and I believe this guest got the picture elsewhere. I asked airbnb if the guest can authenticate this picture but they insisted that a guest presenting a picture is enough proof. I asked them if they doubt the credibility of the fumigation company, they said they believe me but have to protect the interests of both the guests and hosts and the deactivation was not a penalty but for both of our own good which was the most patronizing response. They agreed to refund some of my money but honestly I did not find this satisfactory. How does airbnb protect us the hosts from unscrupulous guests? Does it mean whenever a guest makes a claim and gets a picture off the internet, it is taken as the gospel truth?

I work hard to maintain my properties, I presented reports and certificates, I am a super host with history while this guest has no history or reviews (ZERO reviews). All efforts to reason with the case officer fell on deaf ears and I found it unnerving that before asking for me to present evidence or my side of the story, the case officer made a ruling and was not willing to hear my side of it.

[Ange2]

@Grace-And-François0   "Does it mean whenever a guest makes a claim and gets a picture off the internet, it is taken as the truth?    For the most part yes.  Hosts have to have their own backs.  Giving a refund, or letting someone stay after they have complained (because they did not read the description, or...), unfortunately translates to some guests as a  license to escalate a situation and be dishonest and vindictive. 

There is no sure-fire way to avoid this,  Airbnb is a risk calculation. I meet my guests and am usually pretty good at spotting and dealing with such people, but I have been blind-sided a few times very recently (after years of acceptable - great guest).  And each time despite proof to the contrary Airbnb has 'believed' the guest and penalized me.  'Believed' because it is less belief and more business calculation: guests pay, and if not, being refunded (note: with the hosts money) Airbnb encourages repeat customers (and unfortunately encourages them to repeat their behavior).

[Grace-And-François0]

Thank you. We usually deal with guests on the premise that we are all decent honest people but going forward we will try to be more discerning. 

[Lisa723]

@Grace-And-François0 see section 19 of terms of service, re. arbitration.

https://www.airbnb.com/terms

[LaCooVs0]

@Lisa723  thanks I have an unfair decisions by an air bnb employee that I am going to take to arbitration Also . Appreciate the link!