Airbnb blocked my listing for a gas leak (there is no gas line in my building!) and is now ignoring me

[Andrew796]

Hello Everyone

I am a super-host with over 700 stays hosted. I rent my suite full time and it is an important source of income for me, especially during the pandemic.  I recently received an email from Airbnb out of the blue saying my listing was blocked to due a report of a gas leak, and that all my bookings will be cancelled if I do not provide proof that the gas leak has been fixed. Airbnb has not provided me with any details at all beyond this. This is completely bizarre as there is no gas line in my building, no gas appliances in my suite, and no guest has ever complained to me about a gas leak...

The only explanation I can think of is that I recently had a guest cancel her stay after checking in due to the smell of cigarette smoke from the prior guest who had smoked a cigarette indoors contrary to my house rules. I refunded the guest but she told me she was also going to reach out to Airbnb to see if they could flag my prior guest for breaking the rules. My best guess is that somehow there was a miscommunication and logged this as a report of a gas leak by mistake.

I emailed the case manager assigned to the matter to explain the situation and included screenshots of my messages with the guest in which it is 100% clear she cancelled due to the smell of cigarette smoke. I also sent them a recent building inspection report, which does not refer to gas lines or gas appliances because there are none. The issue is the case manager has ignored my emails, all the while my listing remains blocked! I have tried calling Airbnb 4 times,  and they are sympathetic over the phone but keep telling me there is nothing they can do because the Airbnb Safety Team is a separate department and does not have a direct phone number available for hosts. I have tried asking to speak to a manager, but they told me this would be useless as they also cannot contact them.

I am completely at a loss for what to do next. I have been a super host for years and Airbnb is a major source of my income. Now overnight my listing has been blocked and I've been put on notice that my existing bookings will be cancelled with zero explanation and zero follow-up or response from Airbnb... all for something that never happened.

Has anyone else had a similar experience and had success getting in contact with the Safety team?

Thank you!

[Andrew796]

Please spare the sexism, there is no need for it. Not that it matters, but Robyn is a woman not a man. We scheduled a technician from a private company who will write a report but they cannot attend the suite until a few days from now. This technician was able to visit in the interim so we gave it a try. Doesn't matter anyhow since Airbnb has not responded to a single email.

[Ute42]

.

@Andrew796 

I just looked it up and wikipedia says, Robyn can be a male or a female first name.

I didn't know that and apologise for the confusion.

[Robyn351]

Thanks @Ute42 , it happens! Many people think I’m a male because of my unisex name 😂. I appreciate all the suggestions and that everyone is trying to help - we are just trying to reach out through all channels to hopefully have this resolved as quickly as possible 🙂 

It would be nice if AirBnB acted as quickly to reactivate as they did to deactivate!

[John5097]

@Robyn351 

I've only been posting here a few months but almost daily a host gets their account off line because of a guest compliant trying to get a refund. 

The bottom line is Airbnb is a massive company with tens of millions of guest and host all contacting customer support. It must be a logistical nightmare. What's more its free for anyone to create a listing and post it that night and next morning have reservations. So when a guest calls customer support and reports a gas leak the listing is paused for investigation. The customer support likely can not use any discretion, as @Ute42, mentioned. This isn't a local restaurant where you don't like something and complain to the waiter and the chef comes popping out from the kitchen. Its more like returning something to Walmart and you will be in the very back of a long line. If you don't have your receipt, well welcome to Airbnb CS.  

We all believe you and trying to help. I can understand why Airbnb would want a document on file for a reported gas leak. I'd also like to avoid this situation myself. How frustrating. If you are already in contact with CS that may not be much else anyone else here can do. Keep in mind it may not be someone's first language and people tend to read their own frustration into text. Good luck! 

[Ann72]

You need a sense of humor to be an Airbnb host, @Andrew796.

[Sue702]

My listing also got deactivated because the guests requested full refund in the name of gas smell on Saturday December 11, 2021.

The guests checked in the same they booked the reservation on Friday. They were brother and sister. The sister said her brother was losing his eye sight and she flew in to help him to settle in a new place that will work for him. I was moved by this sister and also felt for the brother, since I had an eye surgery myself this year.

Therefore, when the sister said they actually needed to stay until Monday, but could only booked Unit #2 until Sunday, I checked our dates and found her another unit that’s available until Monday. She requested to look at the other unit first and I took her to that unit which I hasn’t done the final walkthrough for checkin yet. She said she smelled gas in that unit, #3, during the walkthrough. I said neither the oven nor the washer/dryer was gas, so probably it was the smell from cleaning products as it was vacant and I hadn’t done walkthrough yet.

She liked Unit #3 and complimented how cute and larger it was. I then asked her if it’s ok she paid extra $97 for an extra day, and she said that’s a good price. So I sent her the change of reservation and she accepted.

On Saturday morning, she wrote if she could revise their reservation back to Sunday as her brother had trouble navigating the stairs. Since we have a minimum 3 night stay, she couldn’t reduce it by a night. Therefor, I sent her the change of reservation. Instead of $97, $27.62 came out to be what she will be refunded. She demanded to be refunded $97.

I then replied, “Would checkout today work better for you?” I sent her another change of reservation which she would be refunded for 2 days and wrote, “ The official checkout time is 11 Am, but we can make an exception. You may check out at 6 PM.”

She replied “Ok, thank you.” 15 minutes passed and she still hasn’t accepted the change of reservation. I wondered if it was more convenient for them to just stay.

Then, I started to recall there’s a wall heater and suddenly thought the pilot light might be out. I wrote, “I can go check I the pilot light in the wall heater is out.”

90 minutes has passed and she still didn’t accept the reservation change or reply back to my request to go in to check.

I went to knock on the door. She answered the door shouting “we are leaving.” 

“But you haven’t accepted the change of reservation yet.”

“I am doing it now.” She went to sit down on the sofa while leaving the door wide open. 

This is an old house built in 1945. The wall heater is near the front door. When you leave the door open like that to let in heavy wind, the pilot light will be blown out.

I stepped in and said “may I check the pilot light really quick?”

The 6-something foot tall brother screaming and walking towards me, a 4-foot-11-inch tall little old lady, ”we have the place until 6 PM, you have no right to budge in”. He was so loud that the people on the parking lot 100 feet away can hear and even scared for me. Then, the sister demanded a full refund all $430.68 which included the cleaning fee.

Fear for my life, I accepted it and they checked out. However, the reservation didn’t get cancelled afterwards. Airbnb called and emailed me a long list of things I needed to do to get this listing reactivated, such as to hire a professional to confirm the “unsafe feature has been removed” (the gas smell I think”,  and “Remember to ask your guest beforehand if they’re okay with you going into the space”.

I then scheduled a plumbing company to come over to make sure everything was fine and documented it.

At 10:13 PM that Saturday, I suddenly realized, this reservation was still active according to Airbnb. Wondering I might get into trouble for sending someone there the next day, so I called Airbnb. To my dismay, I was told the reason Airbnb didn’t cancel that reservation was that I needed to pay another $430.68 to cancel it. That $430.68 request I gave out was simply the money I wanted to send to them. I almost fainted right there and then. That moment the Airbnb receptionist realized she needed to get someone else to handle this. Then, another agent took over and told me Airbnb cancelled it on their end and the guests were staying at a hotel. 

After sending in the paid invoice documenting what has been done by the plumbing company, I haven’t heard back from Airbnb.

I am still in shock and feeling the need of therapy. I don’t know what to write on this guest review.

[Huma0]

@Sue702 

I see two active listings on your profile. Do you have a different one that has been deactivated, or has your problem been resolved?

Sorry for what happened to you. If there was no gas leak or gas smell (as I am assuming from your post) the guests might have been scammers. The fact that the lady mentioned the gas smell as soon as you took her to the unit and is now trying to get a refund for the entire stay, most of which was in the other listing, makes me wonder if that was her plan, or maybe I am being cynical. Why would she think she was entitled to a refund of the cleaning fee, for example?

I don't know if it would do any good, but it might be worth explaining to Airbnb that you only agreed to the full refund because you were scared for your safety and felt threatened by these guests. 

Also, I don't know how it works with Airbnbs, or how it works in your location, but in the UK yes, you need to ask tenants permission before entering the rented space, but if there is some sort of emergency, such as a suspected gas leak, then you do not. You only need to inform the tenant.

[Sue702]

Yes, I have two other listings that are active. This one being deactivated has not reinstated.

The guest kept wanting to change her reservation which the settings didn’t even allow and I had to make the change for her several times. In the end, she got her full refunds and stayed for a night for free. I ended up cleaning two units without getting paid for cleaning fee and the dates weren’t taken by others. That’s nothing compare to all the emotional injuries I had suffered from the encounter.

I just submitted what I posted here as an extra information to Airbnb.

Thanks for reading my long story. I really appreciate your reply!

[Lyvana0]

OMg that is soo bad ! 
I would take the listing down and start all over … I am so sorry that happened to you and very disappointed to see how this “safety team are handling it ! 

[Hackett-Lu0]

We are new to AirBnB but what we have learned from prior experience is never have all your income depend on one platform. It is best to diversify your revenue streams.

[Αλεξης0]

Hello everyone,

I have exactly the same issue: no gas-line or gas appliances in the building but suspended due to a gas leak report.

Airbnb is not replying to me. 

Did you find a way out of this madness? does a certificate from a gas expert help?
Any help would be really appreciated.
Alexis

[Αλεξης0]

Hello everyone.

I have exactly the same issue. no gas line installed but gas leak report and account suspended.

Does the invoice from local company claiming there is no leak really helped? any help would be highly appreciated.

Thanks.

Alexis

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Αλεξης0 it appears you are better off getting a statement from a reputable company that there is no gas leak rather than trying to convince Airbnb that there is no gas!

[Lyvana0]

Yeah I would get a reputable company and show it to Airb&B… if that do t works then I probably close the account and build a new one or simply get a regular tenant .