Sexual harassment by a guest

[Leharna0]

I recently had a guest who drank quite a bit and then tried to kiss me. 

This happened on two occassions over a week of his stay. 

The first time I was so shocked I just ducked his advance and left it at that.  The second time I called his behaviour out, told him it was inappropriate that we werent friends, he was renting a room off me for a few weeks that was all.  He replied saying other women would welcome his advances.  I told him that no woman would welcome that kind of behaviour. 

He then went upstairs to his room and starting  banging and crashing about.  I was really frightened.  I had locked myself in my  room by that stage and decided the only safe thing to do was call the police.  I then called Airbnb.  Airbnb's response to the situation has been appaling.  I have sat on hold waiting for a 'safety' case manager for over an hour with still no progress.  It is 18 hours since the incident last night.  Airbnb have refunded this mans accomodation fees despite hot having spoken to me about the situation.  He will be making bookings with other airbnb hosts at their peril.  He needs to be banned from the platform. 

Having waited for 45 minutes to speak to a safety case manager, the line went dead.  No one rang me back  I cant believe how incompetent and dangerous Airbnb's handling of this matter has been.  I have now called four times.  I am yet to speak to anyone who can actually take the complaint and take any action on the matter. 

Has this happened to anyone else?  How do you keep the host community safe when these kinds of people are allowed to keep on booking accomodation??

[Robin525]

Yes, I’ve had the same experience on more than a handful of times. Being sexually harassed by Air Bnb guests has become the norm and I expect it now. I have had trouble getting through to Air Bnb on the phone so many times it’s super ridiculous. And like you, once in a very dangerous situation. I wish I could ban men from renting from me but….

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Robin525 why can't you ban men from renting from you?

[Robin525]

@Mike-And-Jane0 I don’t believe you can discriminate on Air Bnb based on gender and there is nowhere to state in the app that you only rent to females. Therefore, I would have to turn down reservation requests where I’m asked to provide a reason for my refusal to host a guest and I cannot say it’s because they are male. This would affect my approval rating and overall rating which is important if I want to stay on the platform.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Robin525 assuming it is a home share you are allowed by Airbnb to only take guests of your gender.

[Helen18]

You have the right to call the police a sthey would respond quicker.Then report it to airbnb.You should not have this in your own home.maybe put it in your house rules .

Regards 

Helen 

[Robin525]

I tried to put it in house rules but the way it’s set up now, you can’t. It’s only a list of boxes to check. 

[Kira32 · Accepted solution]

Dear @Leharna0 

If feel bad for you having to deal with this situation with no support from airbnb and even losing money over it.

When it comes down to safety always have a man who you can call if you don't feel comfortable with a certain kind of guest(go by your intuition, first 5 minute impression says enough). 

●Invite your friend/boyfriend/brother for a cup of coffee without telling it to your guest. It will make your guest feel uncomfortable and will back off. 

BIG HUG

kira♡

[Anne1641]

I have been trying to get a response from Airbnb for three weeks. The police in Tasmania are also trying to get hold of them. THEY JUST DON’T CARE APPARENTLY. 

If anyone has a phone number in Australia, that is actually answered in Australia, We would really appreciate it. 

[Ana1136]

+61 2 8520 3333 - @Anne1641 try this number. 

[Anne1641]

Thank you Ana. That is the number that they say is in Australia. However it goes straight to one of their call centres in the Philippines. You just get the same platitudes that are probably read from a script! 

[Susan17]

@Anne1641 @Leharna0 

Aisling Hassell. Airbnb Global Head of Community Support Operations. 

**[E-mail address removed due to safety reasons - Community Center Guidelines]

[Anne1641]

Thanks for that Susan. Appreciated. 

[Ana1136]

@Anne1641 you can try Twitter or Facebook. Is there anything we could possibly give you advice on? 

[Michelle1725]

How appalling! I’m so sorry this has happened to you.

Keep calling and asking for an escalation until someone hears you out. 

I hope this person is banned for the platform for everyone’s safety! 

[Quincy]

Hello @Ute42, 

Thank you for your reply here. I am aware that Leharna has tried to contact Airbnb. I have mentioned in my previous comment that I have passed this on to the team due to the sensitivity of this situation (just trying to help wherever I can). 

The quickest way to actually get help is by contacting the support team and I think having this clearly mentioned here on the forums could perhaps also help others reading this. 

Thanks,

Quincy 

[Robin525]

I don’t know what quick way you’re talking about, because it’s not quick by any means. Left on hold, call drops when transferred, or phone system just doesn’t work.

[Ute42]

.

@Quincy 

We all know that the community center is not a dedicated Airbnb help channel. We all know that we can call airbnb and we know we can use the airbnb/contact function. @Leharna0  did all that. The reason she posted here is, that she got no help from airbnb using the official "help channels".

Quincy, come on.

[Robin525]

Thank you for stating the obvious thing that people aren’t understanding 

[Quincy]

Hello @Leharna0, I am so sorry to hear that this has happened to you. As per your post I can see that you've already contacted Airbnb. Due to the sensitive nature of this, I have also escalated this to our support team. 

For anyone reading this needing assistance, please contact our support team at +1-415-800-5959 or +1-855-424-7262 (toll-free) or by visiting the contact page here: www.airbnb.com/contact as this is not a dedicated Airbnb help channel. The Community Center is a forum for hosts to connect with other hosts or travellers to ask and share advice.

Quincy 

[Thomas1033]

@Leharna0 Join the Facebook Airbnb blacklist group and name the man and @Geevaka0 you should join as well and name the professional wh*re.  There is a searchable data base for really bad guests there.  Yvonna (cohost)