Abused and violated Host

Dorina3
Level 2
New York, NY

Abused and violated Host

Hey everyone , as a super host for 4 years I can tell you I worked incredible hard to equip my house to the standards including business friendly and smart green house .

airbnb digested I add to my profile a 250$ deposit .

So I did .

month of feb 16-23 I had a booking that was weird and I got frustrated with the comments , since we cannot see pictures anymore of the guest coming to our house , after an hour late for checking in , I texted the guest and asked if they are ok ?!

she said she didn’t book for herself and someone else will arrive at my house and they are in a taxi

third party booking it’s not covered by Airbnb policy so you know .

i called Airbnb with my concern and Airbnb sent an email to me assuring me this guests are safe and legit . 

So they came , booking was for 3 adults and 3 kids , first lie , kids were 4/5 and only 2 , under age for my policy which clearly said 12 or up .

i have to mention she agreed with all the house rules including no guests from outside. 

Mat night , 10 people start sleeping on mattress they got with them , on floors .

3rd day , 20 people showed up , preparing for a weeding , girls to do makeup , hair, drivers who blocked my neighbors driveways ...screaming until 4.30 am every night , flooding my apartment downstairs , staining my towers , sheets , bed covers , rug , wood floor with ink .

used every piece of linen and blankets in my closets . 

Never answer my texts , calls even ignoring me when we casually meet , like I was a piece of garbage in my own house . 

I complain to Airbnb , nothing , I sent pictures of all damage , people coming in and out, nothing , in the end , this con artists left me a bad review simply saying I’m a predigist . 

Keep in mind , I’ve never seen her face ,before booking or after , she wasn’t there and I hosted people from 35 countries accordingly with Airbnb . 

Still , Airbnb is so bias and the policies they have are all bogus , they do NOT care about the Host who’s providing the housing , at all .

Be aware , don’t be fulled by the big book of rules and the line that said you are insured for 1 million , you will never see a penny ever from Airbnb , you will be violated again and again not only by the guests but also by Airbnb . 

Good luck everyone , my desapointment has no limits afrmter 4 years of providing housing and my privacy to Airbnb . 

Every penny I made was bold and hard work , zero respect from them , zero !

15 Replies 15
Alexandra316
Level 10
Lincoln, Canada

@Dorina3 Airbnb told you to go ahead with a third-party booking? That doesn't seem right at all, as it's specifically against their own terms and conditions.

 

It really does seem like a horrible situation with horrible guests, and based on that guest's reviews, it looks like you weren't the only one to report a problem.

 

I have to ask though: why didn't you ask them to leave? They sound so, so bad: it makes me wonder why you put up with all that nonsense for multiple days.

Mark116
Level 10
Jersey City, NJ

@Dorina3 I would take this as a lesson.  You should have contacted airbnb as soon as you knew they were having children in a listing that is checked as unsuitable, and started a process to get them rehoused to another listing.  Same thing with all the people, you should have told them it was not allowed to have extra people on the property who weren't on the resevation...and if you don't have this is in your listing rules you should add it.  The old saying an ounce of prevention is worth a pound  of cure is absolutely true for airbnb. Lastly, I understand you are upset, but you would have done yourself more of a favor to be less emotional in your review and reply.

 

@Alexandra316  I  honestly think that airbnb doesn't often know or care what their stated rules are, it often even feels to me that they view hosts as an enemy of sorts, since the interactions are so often patronizing or confrontational where the CS are telling the host not to worry, give them another chance, or sure, sure, it's fine a third party or a person with no surname stays at your home.

@Mark116 Yeah, I agree that some customer service people just seem to want to preserve the booking at any cost. I still think that if they guest is clearly breaking both Airbnb's rules and our rules, it's time for us to say enough is enough and say we want them out, no ifs, ands or buts about it.

 

@Dorina3 My concern about your review of your guest is that it's going to get removed because you call them con artists. I think that Mark is correct in saying that it would have been better to write a less emotional review. I totally get why you're angry, and I think it's completely warranted, but a removed review doesn't do anyone any good.

Alexandra , thank you for your comment , it’s not possible to not be emotional when you are violated . 

I keep my statement since I payed for search and found out this woman has 4 convictions in CA and WA .

**

**[Name hidden due to privacy reasons - Community Center Guidelines]

 

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

Oh @Dorina3 

 

What an awful situation to find yourself in. 

 

Personally I would have asked Airbnb to cancel the booking once I found out it was a third party booking.

 

You are a much more experienced host than me, but I really don't understand why you let the booking continue when firstly when children were in your party, against your house rules,  then when you found many more were staying then had booked  (against your house rules) and finally when yet more guests were partying in your place to the early hours (i presume against your house rules).

 

It is such a shame you found yourself in your situation. But I do think you would have been better to ask Airbnb to cancel rather than putting up with such dreadful guests,

 

Also I think the review you left was unfortunate. As hosts we appear much better to future guests if we could our reviews professional and factual.

Helen I actually did , but the attendant from Airbnb left her Shift and didn’t click canceled , she was annoyed also I called . When I called back , Airbnb assured me this reservation was ok in writing , now they don’t take any responsibility for it . Really disturbing 

I understand you didn’t like my response to this guest , but exactly why ? I only saw children under 5 when they arrived to my door , I do live in a very nice and quiet area , calling the police and making a sin it’s not an option , that’s why I asked assurance from Aibnb , which they gave me and now they ignore that . You are a host , I’m surprized you think it’s ok for me to take 1600$ loss , be offended and abused in my own home as normal ?

its not , if you try to book a room in any hotel in NY you MUST show a picture ID , it’s not racist , it’s the rules .

why we , who welcome people in our homes to share per place can’t ?

i can’t even call the Cops since I agreed they coming to my house . 

I assume every country have different laws , I know mine and I felt violated to the core of my soul . 

I have prof of correspondence with this guest , all on Airbnb trend , she read and agreed with all house rules , also broke them all from the beginning . 

I feel so violated , I will not stop here , I just hired a lawyer , politically correctness it seems took over the world big time and justvyrowing a word out there it’s enough to convict , I have prof of everything , hundreds of pictures from neighbors and from my security camera from outside . 

You let a criminal get away with a crime , he / she will do it again . I’m speaking for the entire community of hosts in New York , be aware of Yosra Ali from California !

 

 

@Dorina3  I'll answer for myself.   You stood by and let this guest basically run roughshod over you and your rules.  That doesn't change the fact she was apparently, a terrible guest.  But I see this a lot on the forum, of hosts who go all out for clueless guests who don't even realize, let alone care, that they've taken time off work, reordered their whole schedule for some random guest reason.  People need to stop doing that and stand up for themselves.

 

I don't know if you spoke or communicated with her about all those people, the children who are not supposed to be allowed, but, if you didn't, why not? 

 

And if you did, and she kept ignoring you, why didn't  you call airbnb to get her moved out?  I understand that airbnb would have tried to convince you not to do this, but they can't actually force you to host someone.

 

You could, as an example, have told her that the neighbors have threatened to call the police due to the noise.  You'd be amazed what a well reasoned threat will do for someone's actions.  You would not have needed to call the police, just raise the idea of police being called, my guess is, this would have gotten them to calm down and if not, maybe you should have called the police!

 

I assume you are hiring a lawyer to get the damages from the guest directly?  You might win, or not.  I'd say it might be worth inconveniencing the guest if you can afford the lawyer's fees.  

 

Mark , I see what you say , all makes sense but in my case I did tell them several times Day time and 2.30 am to stop the noise .

everything I mentioned is documented , all correspondence with her was on Airbnb trend and they have it all , also the email from Airbnb reassuring me it’s ok to host her even though it was a third party booking .

i also called Airbnb but the only thing they do is call her and she didn’t answer .

calling the police would be filing since they don’t come if it’s not assault , drugs, or guns .

its NY , you will be surprised . My chances of getting them out would be successful but it would take days , meaning I would have to miss work , and take the fall if they would damage my apartment further .

i just prayed the 7 days pass and they leave , and unfortunately Airbnb is betting on this sentiment also .

i never had a problem like this before so obviously no experience , I learn my lesson and I will make my own judgements and I will take  responsibility for that .

i will never budge anymore for this racist crap they shavenin our faces , I hosted people from 36 countries without predigism so I’m done .

i payed a search for this woman and guess what , she has 4 convictions in CA and WA .

go figure , I’m happy it’s over and I know I will get no money from Airbnb , she already said she’s not paying , but I will make a point for may own sanity . 

Mid constantly we just go with the flow and keep quiet , we deserve what we get .

the only funny thing is , I posted this to help the host community on avoiding a disaster , notbone person asked me what’s the Con Artist name 😢

Mark116
Level 10
Jersey City, NJ

@Dorina3   I read your house rules, I would definitely add a 'quiet time' hours from some time in the evening through early morning, especially since you have the nice patio area outside.  I would also absolutely add that no visitors or anyone not on the reservation is allowed on the property without prior approval from the host...having these as rules will give you better standing to control people who misbehave, because  you can direct them to the rule they probably didn't read...and it makes it much easier to make a case w/airbnb if things go badly.

Mark , I actually have that and I ALLWAYS ask my guests to read my house rules and confirm they did . 4.30 am is not even comprehandable for disturbance anywhere , to me it’s a insult . Every civilized person can understand Airbnb is sharing a house with someone and respect it’s the basic rule , regardless , I even have that in my profile , quiet neighborhood , respect for host and neighbors ....

all there , all confirmed by this guest before , all ignored , also ignored by Airbnb !

Strange and of ending with all due respect to everyone . This guest name is Yosra Ali , I’m pretty sure she will open another account and do it again , she seemed a professional con artist , hateful and definitely RACIST . 

Be aware !

Julie143
Level 10
Princeton, NJ

I saw the profile of the guest in question. I also see that she has a review from another New York host who mentions that she did damage. 

 

If I were a guest thinking about booking your place and I saw Y.’s review, I would check her profile and see that she is a problem guest. It would be obvious that her review is revenage, and I wouldn’t pay much attention to it, since your other reviews are good.

 

 

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Dorina3   I'm so sorry you had such a scene.

You say "i can’t even call the Cops since I agreed they coming to my house ."  You did not agree to have a third party show up, with children who weren't mentioned and violated your rules about the age of children your place is suitable for. You didn't agree to all the extra guests. Therefore no, you didn't agree to host the people who showed up. You could have turned them away at the door, which is what I would have done, while calling Airbnb and stating the reservation had to be cancelled.

@Alexandra316  I've read quite a few posts here lately where hosts called about a third party booking and were assured by CS that it was fine. They really have to be read the riot act on urging hosts to accept things which clearly violate the TOS.

Sarah ,as I said in my post , I did canceled , I read the Airbnb policy on third party booking , clerk from Airbnb didn’t click cancel and was annoyed I called at the end of her shift . 

When I didn’t receive confirmation on cancel I called back and Airbnb assured me it’s a legit booking

i asked for a confirmation in writing and the sent it 

I have that email .

i would never let them in my house without that . Once in your house , unless they assault you , getting them out it’s a complete nightmare . 

Police don’t even come over it no assault or guns or drugs .

NY has the worst laws in the world