Airbnb Allows a Convicted Felon as guest and allows false claims to be displayed in her review.

[Ivona29]

Hello, this past week I had a two time convicted felon stay at one of our Airbnb’s. I had no idea until the cleaning crew showed up and the place was a disaster.  Soiled clothing,  piles of trash everywhere even  dirty diapers scattered around floors, on the sofa etc . The place looked like it had been in a tornado.  The guest left her social security card behind and two business cards to her parole officer.  On googling her name it immediately prompts links to her arrest records.  BATTERY - GRAND THEFT AUTO, she has a unique name and the photos match her airbnb profile photo.

The guest booked back to back instead of extending her stay. Allowing her to leave two reviews instead of one . She had no reviews prior.  Of course I gave her one star. Someone like this should not be on the airbnb platform based solely on the way she left the home. Her first review has 5 starts.  After both our reviews went live she decided to leave a review for the second leg of her stay.  It’s only safe to assume she read the first review because her first review was decent. The second review had false claims.  Saying "pubic hair all over the floors".  She also claimed I kept s"showing up announced" I never once met the person nor showed up to the home. I do not live on site and would never show during a guests stay. I have  complained to airbnb and have tried escalating this but their robotic responses are all this same. In the areas of need improvement she of course check off everything possible. At this point it is now slander and defamation.   It is appalling to thing someone would read this and believe any of it about me or the home.  It is irresponsible for airbnb not to consider these unique circumstance and give a true effort to assist their hosts.  I firmly believe her reviews should be removed and she be banned from airbnb. I am now in fear of our safety.  She is a felon  convicted of battery.  How do I know she will not retaliate because of my review? 

I’ve had 3 Airbnb plus homes and am assisting a client purchase a new home to turn into an airbnb. I have many friends who too have Airbnb’s.  I am an airbnb advocate here in Chicago where the city makes it difficult for owners to turn their spaces into an airbnb.  It is unfair for airbnb to turn away hosts when we speak up about issues.  They should consider these complaints case by case .  Anyone reading that specific review would be hesitant to book. Even after still being super host, airbnb plus, and consistent  5 star rating.   It is impossible for her slander to affect our business,

Airbnbs  system of taking a complaint , then faux escalating via email with out a return email address , contact information or direct contact is irresponsible and negligent .  Something has to be done.  

can anyone give me a contact number to someone at airbnb who might actually want to help.

[Christina-and-Jared0]

I just had drug users in my family home. They wrecked the place I contacted Airbnb about it all and they have shut my account down without telling me. No one will give me answers as to why. I feel for you. As Airbnb Super hosts trying to pay our mortgage I wish I never complained but I felt the next host should know this man may wreck their place. I hope you get your answers.

[Colleen253]

@Ivona29  A two time convicted felon shouldn't even be on the platform, never mind leaving reviews. You need to be talking to someone in trust and safety. Keep calling until you get someone competent to handle this. Unfortunately, that, or going to social media, is often what it takes. You can also flag/report this guests profile.

[Ivona29]

Thank you. I have reported to trust and safety but have yet to received a response.

[Emilia42]

@Ivona29 Do you require that guests must have a verified government ID to book? Wondering if this guest had an ID but failed to go through Airbnb's alleged background check.

[Ivona29]

I do require this. What is scary is she is a violent crime felon.  How can Airbnb allow to jeapardize our safety and not listen to our concerns!?!!

[Colleen253]

@Ivona29  We can NEVER trust in Airbnb for any vetting of guests, as you've come to discover. Always do it yourself first, before the guest gets access to your space. 

[Sarah977]

@Colleen253  But guests don't even have to give their full name to hosts, so how could anyone check to see if they have a criminal record? If you ask for ID at the door, it's not practical to leave them standing there while you go Google their name to see if anything awful comes up.

[Colleen253]

@Sarah977  Yes, that’s true, and  it’s despicable that Airbnb doesn’t help hosts in the slightest, in the vetting process, especially as when things go wrong, Airbnb often doesn’t come through for the host. I am usually already pretty confident in my guests, by the time the booking is confirmed. But once that booking IS confirmed and I have their full name and ph#, the first thing I do is investigate to see what comes up, if anything. If I ever found anything that raised alarm bells, that would be the end of the reservation. 

[Rowena29]

@Ivona29 It all sounds appalling and unfair adn highly distressing. I agree completely with @Colleen253  - I'd be contacitn news agencies or posting all over social media re this to get some action - the company really dislikes negative publicity.   

One thing I don't understand - you say you left this guest a positive first review which you assume she read.  Why on earth did she then leave you such a slanderous review for her second review? Had there been some conflict between the two of you? It seems odd.

[HyMay0]

This is HyMay the co-host. I posted the same as Ivona. Thanks @Rowena29  , Sorry we weren't clear.   First review: I gave her a 1 star review and she gave us 5. Following review she gave 1 and added more fake complaints.  

[Rowena29]

@HyMay0 @Ivona29  oh ok that makes perfect sense then.

I got a bit confused when Ivona said  " She had no reviews prior"  and  "Her first review has 5 start"    I knew you had left a 1 star review but I thought it must only have been the second one.

I'm guessing this is how it happened . AFTER checkout often second  stay, you left a one star review for both stays.   Guest couldn't see what you had said on review of her second stay, but on the basis of the review of her first stay ( which went live before the expiry period of the second stay review) she anticipated it would be bad, and left a retaliatory  review??

 Something  to learn here ( easy to be wise in hindsight) might have been a good idea to send in cleaners between the 2 stays  - which you have every right to do because 2 separate stays come with  a check out and a check in - which you obviously don't need to enforce, but you can if you elect to - and assess her qualities as a guest before the second stay commenced.   I can see though if there were no red flags prior you wouldn't have thought to put the guest through this/