What to do when airbnb deactivates your hosting account - for no reason?

[Dave192]

My account was suddenly deactivated today because airbnb "determined that it is in the best interest of Airbnb, and for the users on our site, to deactivate your account permanently."

No warning, no complaints nothing.

I have nothing but 4 and 5 star reviews! I've been a model host for the airbnb community and have been selected as a community speaker to inform the community about how to host a property for airbnb guests.I am at a loss for words. This is unreal, a total and complete shock and the most unprofessional thing that has ever occurred to me in my professional life.

I had just put my house up for rental in September and have already recived over $2,800 in bookings in 6 weeks! Things were going great. Was I making too much? Charging too much? I dont get it.

I had one guest stay Oct 23-25 and he has not left a review. If he called to complain for some reason, would 1 guest complaint be enought to deactivate my account?? Im stunned. 

Is there any way to get answers from airbnb? Who should i contact?

[Bonnie239]

Yup!  Just happened to me.  NO REASON, and just deleted everything.  See my story below.

---

@Sarah977 wrote:

@Marianne301  A few months ago a guy who had been hosting for many years, with good ratings and hundreds of satisfied guests, who was a regular contributor to this forum, was delisted suddenly with zero explanation and they absolutely refused to tell him why he was delisted. It's outrageous. I can see them not giving out personal information about hosts or guests, but closing someone's account without being forthcoming about the reason? Can you imagine getting fired from your job and your employer refusing to tell you why? They'd be taken to court or labor relations board and the employee would win, no problem.

I hope in your case it was just a tech glitch that gets remedied quickly, good luck.

---

[Bonnie239]

I have a half dozen friends who list their properties, and several hundred who use the site for travel.  I will let them all know they may want to change platforms.

[Bonnie239]

The same thing just happened to me!  I am a super-host with 2 current properties and working on a listing for a third.  Great reviews until one recent guest who was a terrible guest.  I called airbnb during their stay because of my concerns, and they said they would stand behind superhosts with great track records (which I have).  The guest left the place messy but thankfully not trashed.  Stole my key and a blanket, and left smelly marijuana behind!  She was a young mother, and after moving in had numerous family members join in the property (unregistered guests).  She complained that she "didn't feel safe" to me and asked to get a refund and move out early after we had to knock on the adjoining locked door at 2 am to ask that they "keep it down".  I'm sure she registered a complaint.  I called airbnb to ask what my recourse was, and they said simply that the review system is the only thing I could do.  Three weeks after she checked out, I got a notice out of the blue that all my accounts (traveling and hosting) were cancelled!  My poor guests that were to come this week!  They will have trouble in my area finding lodging at short notice and airbnb simply cancelled all my reservations.  Even left me in a pinch for an upcoming trip as a guest.  I emailed to ask why and got no answer but "to insure safety of the community" and that this was a "non-reversible" decision.  VERY POOR business practices!!!

Did you ever hear anything more?  or move on to HomeAway or VRBO?

[Jacob43]

I just got banned from airbnb a few days ago. I had dozens of reviews and had earned superstatus. Then one day a woman left a bad review and my co-host (who happens to be my wife) got pissed and unloaded on her with obscenities. She is a volatile woman; this is not the first time she acts like this, nor will it be the last. I immediately removed her from co-host status. Next day she got an email message stating that her account was deactivated. For a brief moment I thought I had escaped by the skin of my teeth, but the following day they deactivated my account.

I guess I'm lucky that I do know why they did it. What I don't understand is why they are so caegy about these deactivations. Today when I called them, the rep said he ccouldn't pull up my account. He asked for my email and phone number and kept saying that he couldnt find my account, even after I had made it clear to him that my account was shut down by Airbnb and the purpose of my call was NOT to for him to "find" my deactivated account but to provide an authoritative person to orally discuss the matter.

For the record, while it is absolutely abhorrent what my co-host did, at the end of the day it's not fair to hold me fully (if even partially) responsible. I'm not the one who uttered those words, and I cannot control what other people say or do; I can merely react in a responsible way, and I did in fact terminate my co-host at once. More importantly, what bothers me most is that the company wouldn't give me the courtesy of a phone call --as if I'm varmin and they need to stay as far away from me as possible because of this incident, even though they know that it wasn't me who did it. I could possibly understand why the company would be motivated to punish me too, but a lack of professional courtesy is inexcusable.

At this point, even if they reactivate my account eventually, my esteem for the company will never be the same. Each day that passes by that they refuse to communicate to me directly my mind grows more averse to Airbnb. Reading this thread I realize that their peremptory god-like deactivation declarations are their stock in trade. Strange and repugnant.

message from Airbnb:

****

*[Content hidden for privacy reasons – in line with the Community Center Guidelines]

[Lizzie]

Hello @Jacob43,

Welcome to the Community Center, my name is Lizzie and I am a Community Center manager here. 

I am sorry to hear about this, it's so unfortunate that you have been impacted by this. 

I wanted to say that due to the Community Center guidelines I have had to remove the messages you included here, as you can imagine the language included was quite strong and was removed for a reason. I've left everything else so you can continue the discussion if you wish, as all the main content remains. 

I wish you well in getting this sorted. 

Thanks,

Lizzie