I have been an Airbnb host for 8 years. Recently starting Experiences on my lake property. Three weeks ago a guest and her husband showed up with a service dog for an Airbnb experience. Prior to booking the guest had asked if I had any pets. I assumed she was afraid of dogs and said I would put mine up for her time at the property. I have a no-pet policy and have never had a guest come with a service animal, and I already thought she had a fear of dogs, so I was really caught off guard when she showed up with a pet and I asked her about the dog. She said it was a service animal, and not realizing I was not allowed to ask this, I asked if she had any documentation for the dog. She told me I wasn’t allowed to ask that but told me the dog had a tag to indicate it was a service animal. After our slightly awkward intro, I asked if we could start over, I then apologized for my ignorance and offered her extra time to make up for the time spent talking about her dog. She accepted the extra time, we talked for a bit about their careers, they seemed happy and went on to enjoy the visit. While she was there she did not have her dog on leash, she left it on shore with her husband while she paddle boarded, and she let the dog run around chasing a frisbee and pooping a few times on the beach. During their three hour visit the dog was barely by her side. They had 32 acres to roam but decided to stay at the common swimming area with other guests. When I asked to bring my own dog outside, she said that her dog was hostile towards other dogs and that my dog could not be outdoors while they were there. Despite all of this I, not wanting to create any more tension, never addressed the dogs behavior, asked her to harness the dog, nor did I ask her to leave. At the end of the visit, she and her husband said how much they would love to come back, and I said that they were more than welcome but expressed that I would not be able to keep my dog indoors. She again said that her dog would be hostile towards other dogs and that would not work for them. Things still felt ok at this point, I helped to teach her how to paddleboard, and she and her husband seemed happy. I went indoors and they left without a goodbye. I checked-in via text to make sure all was well. No response. After she departed she waited until the last possible moment to leave a very negative review, ask for her money back, and accuse me of discrimination.
Matt at Airbnb sent me an email advising me of the discrimination accusation and gave me some "tips" to avoid it. I immediately replied with my side of the story. No response. Reached out again to Matt - no response. And yet again - nothing. Started to call and talked to various reps, who each asked to me fill them in on all of the details. I have been shuffled from dept to dept with each rep telling me that they have marked the ticket as urgent and that they have escalated it. To where? It has been two weeks. No contact.
I did not at any time ask the guest to leave, nor did I ask her to remove her dog even though I would have been well within my rights to do so once she told me it was hostile (which constitutes a safety hazard). Her claims are libelous and untrue, and I would like Airbnb to remove her inaccurate review. BUT I CAN'T SEEM TO GET A RESPONSE FROM AIRBNB and I have spent hours talking to Airbnb reps taking the details of the situation over and over again - to no avail. The guest has since left me a very lengthy aggressive message via the Airbnb site.
Help!
