ACCOUNT SUSPENSION

[David-And-Debbie1]

Help! We opened our cottage in Oct. 2019 and are a 3 time Superhost, with (40) 5* reviews. We had a guest book for 2 days (she had (5) 5* reviews), then she upped for an additional 2 days. Our cottage is on our property on the other acre from our home, but we have self check-in and check-out. She checked out and wrote a 5* review that day. (I didn't see it until 2 days later when I wrote mine). When I went to clean it, the cottage was trashed, no damage, just filthy. Sticky spills and dried dog urine all over the flooring, vomit all over the toilet, food smears stuck everywhere, and the worst was the dog stench. I had to wash EVERY textile, meaning even the curtains and the bed skirt. I could go on and on.  I wrote her a bad review (my first), and the next day my account was suspended, with NO notification from Airbnb. I found out when I tried to message my next guest the check-in instructions. I called Airbnb, and after a week I received an email, then a call, that the guest had accused us of entering the cottage while she was gone and stealing "something", which of course we didn't do either. We gave the Airbnb rep all the information he asked for, but my question is, how long does this investigation take? Also, what else can we do besides just sit here and wait?

Thanks for any information or input!

Debbie

[Emilia42]

@David-And-Debbie1 This is alarming but I am not surprised. There is no innocent until proven guilty on Airbnb. Unfortunately, hosts have to sit around and lose income while Airbnb conducts a one-sided investigation with no presented proof or evidence all because a guest is retaliating. I hope your listing will become active soon. Please let us know how this turns out. 

[Nancy-Louise0]

I would not be surprised if suspension has to do with claiming the guest ruined or stole something.  But, why should hosts be paying for extra repair and replacement.  

[Emiel1]

@David-And-Debbie1 

Unfortunatelly there is not much more to do then just sit and wait.

In the community are reports a temporary suspensed account was reinstated within a week.

A guest writes a 5 star review, you did (offcourse) not and then suddenly the guests comes up with all those accusations.

IMHO common sense calls this revenge, defined as: " a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance" (source: Wikipedia).

[Heather1086]

@David-And-Debbie1  I had my account suspended over the summer by a retaliatory guest, who like yours had positive reviews prior to mine.  Left damage in the house and then reported me for having undisclosed exterior security cameras on site... which were fully disclosed (but why would airbnb take time to see this prior to suspending my listing?!?) It took 2 weeks to get my listing up and going again.  It was frustrating and crazy stressful while this was all going on.  I will say communication was not strong by airbnb as they investingated the report. I hope your issues is resolved quickly!

[David-And-Debbie1]

Well, I got an email this morning that my account was fully restored, with a warning not to enter a guest space again (which we didn't do in the first place). I'm really shocked by the lack of support for hosts, but grateful we are back up.

@Emilia42 

@Emiel1 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@David-And-Debbie1 Glad to see you are up and running again. @Bez8 This is a classic example of the guilty until proven innocent approach taken by customer services. Hence why I changed my top 3 ideas to improve Airbnb on the another post.

[Mark116]

@David-And-Debbie1   I would continue to follow up with Airbnb and get this warning removed, because the next time you have a bad guest who lies, that will be strike #2 against you, so you need to have it made clear that you never entered the guest's space w/out permission.

[John5097]

@David-And-Debbie1 also glad you got it sorted out. This clearly looks like revenge, but one of the reasons I don't allow early bag drop off. Guest might lose something and claim it was stolen. Anything left behind I message guest right away and mail it to them. Some of the smart locks have an access log that may help prove no one accessed the door expect the guest, but doesn't sound like CS would even look at something like that. I'm surprised it took them a week to get back with you. 

[Bez8]

@Mike-And-Jane0 @David-And-Debbie1 @John5097 @Heather1086 @Emiel1 

What a horrible experience. 

I'm glad it got sorted. 

But I have a question. The guest was so hurt by the bad review that they took the time to actually call Airbnb and complain and make up a story? How low and immature do you have to be to do that? These are the questions that always come up for me. 

I understand that Airbnb has to take a strict stance when it comes to security and safety. I get that and it should be the same for hosts and guests. 

I would love a check-in/out feature for guests that allows/requires photos to be taken at the time of check-in/out. These photos are time stamped and should be part of the check out procedure for guests. This would eliminate so many resolutions and help in cases like this. 

This way the guest can verify that the place was exactly as advertised and hosts can be sure the guest left the listing in good condition. The photos or video will require the guest to capture each element of the listing (rooms/bathroom/kitchen). It is captured using the Airbnb app and it's time stamped and cannot be changed. 

I had a similar experience. We had a superhost stay with us for 2 week (with a dog). We had no indication of anything going wrong and fully trusted this person all the way through. I even left a rave review prior to seeing our place (naive and stupidity on my part). He had trashed the place, dog pee and feces all over the bathroom and honestly the worst condition we've ever seen.  The host ended up agreeing to pay us our damage deposit ($400 CDN)

[Emilia42]

@Bez8 

On the forum, we hear about situations like this A LOT.  So much so that hosts like myself and @Inna22 have PTSD (or whatever form of anxiety you would call it.) And this hasn't even happened to us. Yet. 

I don't think it is as complicated as "they took the time to actually call Airbnb and complain and make up a story?"  I think it is as simple as ... guest clicks report and references "safety issue" ... and then the wheels are set in montion to suspend the account, etc. 

It would be interesting and informative to look at what the "process" actually is.

[Emilia42]

P.S. Here are some other good recent reads:

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Let-s-be-honest/m-p/1382116

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/I-am-in-support-Hell/m-p/1390426

[Bez8]

I still have PTSD from my recent bad experiences. 

I find myself not being as trusting and always second guessing myself. 

a host in our local group said "it's not a matter of If, but a matter of when"

bad experiences will statistically happen. It's the support during the incident that makes all the difference. 

@Emilia42 @Inna22 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Emilia42 I guess the P in PTSD can stand for Pre as well as Post!

[Nancy-Louise0]

I implemented an ID for check in and a text for check out.  I also have a security camera monitoring outside