Advise needed from other hosts

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Milo351
Level 2
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Advise needed from other hosts

HELP, not sure I am here on the right place. But need advise from other hosts. Because the lack of support of Airbnb is unheard of. I am 10 days busy trying to convince airbnb to act. I have a guest with mental problems and financial issues. Even though this person is unfindable on the internet, airbnb convinced me that he is reliable and pushed the reservation without confirmation on my behalf. I do not use direct booking or such, so was surprised that the reservation was confirmed. Since the covid, I had to cancel many reservations and did not get any compensation or whatever. So I had to try and host this guest who was pushed by airbnb 24 hours before check-in. He has been nothing but troubles. He is a senior british citizen who is reliving his youth. Manic depressed and with unexpected behavior made me worry about him. After 3 weeks he ran out of money and he asked me for loan and reducing the time, so he would get a refund by airbnb. I acknowledge admitted to his needs and reduced the reservation. He then transferred money through airbnb to me( as compensation), which was approved by airbnb with an official e-mail that I would receive the amount and it would be processed immediately.  The problem is that is after the official check-out, the guest refused to leave (his reason: because airbnb did not refund him)and the money that was being transferred to me, was blocked by airbnb (even though I did get an official e-mail from airbnb guaranteeing they give me the money). So now I have a guest who won't leave my apartment and airbnb won't offer any assistance and is not transferring the money which already was approved and confirmed. 

The guest is still in my apartment!  Airbnb is not giving updates or responding. What should I do????

A third party has advised me to confiscate his possessions. But I am not sure about that and afraid it will only create more problems...HELP someone please 

1 Best Answer
Linda108
Level 10
La Quinta, CA

Pretty sure you have to take whatever civil action is available to you as there is little Air BNB is able to do for you.  The guest, whom you have doubts about mental capabilities, is telling you Air BNB is not refunding some promised money and that is why he is staying.  Could be that the Air BNB system is just super slow in the refund department but that is not your problem except you are allowing it to be.  

Why do you think law enforcement will only worsen the situation?  While I am not a fan of bringing law enforcement, if a person is staying beyond the reservation, you might have to take the legal steps allowed.  Unfortunately, you could have a squatter.

I understand why you are hesitant about cancellations as you have many cancellations during a period last year.  Compounding your situation is that Air BNB CS is in a bit of disarray, and is not communicating well.

In short, do not wait on Air BNB.  Take the necessary steps to clear your listing.  Good luck!!

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9 Replies 9

@Milo351  How was Airbnb able to push this booking on you without your consent? Was this one of those cases where they call you and ask you to re-house a guest at the last minute?

 

If the guest is trespassing, your course of action depends very strongly on local laws, so you'll have to contact law enforcement or an attorney for advisory here. You definitely need to get this person out of your home - regardless of the money - but also be careful to follow the rules and not violate the guest's civil rights in the situation.

Milo351
Level 2
Amsterdam, Netherlands

@Anonymous I was told it was done by instant booking option(never activated this option or requested it).

It was not really forced, cause I could refuse the guest at the door. But I have been punished before, with cancellations in the past. So gave the guest the benefit of the doubt and thrusted the airbnb assurance guarantee.  But they do not mention the background checks that were needed as requirement for instant booking. This person had only a valid ID and credit card.

 

In this case I prefer the careful method and not try to worsen the situation. I have just tried to get as many advise as possible, that is why I posted here.  I do feel pity for the guest, and want him in good health and spirit. We had a sit down 10 days ago and we agreed on the early cancellation (cancelled on my behalf)and I promised that airbnb would refund his part of the money. We both were behind the same screen when this was done. So I do understand the guest, that he has no other choice, since I promised that we could solve it together with airbnb.

I followed the advise of an airbnb case manager not to put him on the street, when I called them on the night after check-out. 

But since then airbnb won't return my calls or send updates or procedures to follow. Police or law enforcement will only worsen the situation. I am not looking for enforcement, but for assurance and advise from airbnb. 

Mark116
Level 10
Jersey City, NJ

@Milo351  I'm not sure how Instant Book would have gotten turned on w/out you doing it, but anything is possible in the glitch-ridden platform.  I also don't know that you should be holding out for airbnb to fix things, you are going to need to get the guest out on your own, so you may end up having to call the authorities.  I doubt it is legal to confiscate his possessions or lock him out, but I'm not familiar with your country's laws. 

 

You could try twitter and facebook posts as well as customer service in order to get some answers from airbnb at least on where the money/refund issue stands. 

Milo351
Level 2
Amsterdam, Netherlands

@Mark116 I am afraid you are right. Maybe to naive to actually think they might have a straight forward policy for these matters. 

I will look into the social media options. After this situation ends, I still want to know if the assurance really mean something or it just a trick to let you accept as many guests as possible.

Linda108
Level 10
La Quinta, CA

Pretty sure you have to take whatever civil action is available to you as there is little Air BNB is able to do for you.  The guest, whom you have doubts about mental capabilities, is telling you Air BNB is not refunding some promised money and that is why he is staying.  Could be that the Air BNB system is just super slow in the refund department but that is not your problem except you are allowing it to be.  

Why do you think law enforcement will only worsen the situation?  While I am not a fan of bringing law enforcement, if a person is staying beyond the reservation, you might have to take the legal steps allowed.  Unfortunately, you could have a squatter.

I understand why you are hesitant about cancellations as you have many cancellations during a period last year.  Compounding your situation is that Air BNB CS is in a bit of disarray, and is not communicating well.

In short, do not wait on Air BNB.  Take the necessary steps to clear your listing.  Good luck!!

Milo351
Level 2
Amsterdam, Netherlands

@Linda108 

If airbnb was more transparent maybe I could have some relief. But you are right. I have no other option to act now. I guess the longer I wait, the more risk I take.

It is great to know that these groups exist. I get more insight and understanding here, then I get from the support team itself. It is so frustrated that they hang up on you with false promises of calling back or sent updates.

Mike-And-Jane0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

@Milo351 There is a Dutch speaking forum which may have more knowledge regarding the law where you are.

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Milo351  Instant Book is turned on by default when you set up a listing. You have to turn it off in your settings if you don't want to use it. And if you do use it, you can set requirements, like govt. ID and previous good reviews.

 

I'm not sure what you mean, you could turn a guest away at the door. You can't turn away a guest who has a valid reservation, of course you'd be penalized for that. The only exception would be if the guest arrived and was extremely drunk or drugged and/or belligerent. Or wasn't the person listed on the reservation.

 

You can't expect Airbnb to deal with situations like the one with your current guest. Even if Airbnb called the guest and told him he had to leave, how are they going to physically enforce that? That part is up to you. When a guest's reservation is over, they are then trespassing if they won't leave. So they need to be dealt with however any trespasser would be.

 

Depending on your local laws, letting a guest continue to stay past their reservation dates, because they are in financial straits, or keep saying they'll pay you "tomorrow", could mean they end up being there long enough to claim tenants rights.

Having empathy for others is wonderful, but not to the point where we allow them to take advantage of us.

Cormac4
Level 1
Dublin, Ireland

Air bnb send you around in circles when you ask for support, they are absolutely useless