Booking cancelled by Airbnb for "security reasons"

[Tiziana57]

Hi everybody,

A booking made a few weeks ago was cancelled by Airbnb for being "unrechtmässig" I suppose some kind of irregularities. The guest was given a complete refund and I have been left with a gap in the reservation which in the low season will be difficult to fill up again. Airbnb refuses to explain the reasons for this cancellation because of data protection issues. I have checked the booking, the previous history of the guest and our brief conversation, could detect absolutaly nothing irregular, I also contacted the guest who is also just unpleasantly surprised and got either no explanation. I suspect the security system of Airbnb had just seen a problem where there was none. Does anyone had already experienced anything like that? I can't help but feeling incredibly patronized by Airbnb and I cannot accept the idea to loose money without any explanation for that.

I am very thankful for any help!

Tiziana

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Tiziana57

You probably avoided a bullet - first we should be thankful that at any sign of problems with payment that AIrBnB steps in. Otherwise you may have hosted the guest and not been paid. You say you contacted the guest who was surprised - what makes you believe that the guest was being honest and that their credit was ok? 

On balance I would perfer to have AirBnB cancel a reservation if they suspect irregularities (and that could be anything from bad behaviour by the guest, lack of credit, previous fraud etc.) so that I don't have a potential scammer (or worse) staying.

[Tiziana57]

@Gerry-And-Rashid0

Even if I have avoided a bullet I like to be informed and not patronized. The possibilty of hosting a guest and not being payed is not an option: The guest had payed already and got the money back from Airbnb.The guest has only positive feedbacks and, yes I do believe they are not fictitious- how xan you make a false feedback on  aplarform like Airbnb?- I have the right to an explanation and this may and must happen within the terms of respect of the pricacy and personal data of the guest.Not a word was spent in the checking,  montorising and eventual adjusting   of the safety system. The safety system of Airbnb has proven to be overzealous in many an occasion in the communication: I guess there is none of us who has not experienced at least once, perfectly  innocent content erased by the system as "hidden content"just for example. At the same time is ineffective : There are sometimes unfair members who try to get in touch and avoid Airbnb fees, I always reporteded them since this is not ok and damages us all.  I am more than grateful to be protected and guaranteed by Airbnb, I find the host guarantee for instance  a great thing , I do since 6 years my best anr I give my contribution for making Airbnb great. What I cannot accept is the drastic intervention without any explanation, I find this authoritarian and patronizing and, sorry I am not grateful for that.

Tiziana

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Tiziana57

I work in fraud detection and you would be surprised how many 'good' people have murky credit ratings. You are putting a lot of stake in what the guest tells you - and unfortunately you don't have a right to be told exactly why AirBnB decided the guest was unreliable under data protection laws in Europe (and most of the world in fact). 

It may be over-zealous but these forums are littered with complaints from guests who were not paid, or scammed. Yes I agree with you it is drastic - but believe me there is a reason for that. AirBnB does not willingly give away a penny of revenue - so for them to cancel and loose revenue is a strong signal that all was  not right with these guests (in one way or another).

If you trust the guest implicity - then of course you are free in this instance to go off platform and honour the reservation. 

Good luck whatever your decision - I know it feels harsh but...

[Sahar11]

Hello Tiziana

@Tiziana57 

your post is now more than 15 months old but I would like to share my experience with you. Our guest made a booking and stayed for a couple of days, no issues she was fully “filtered” by the so efficient Airbnb. She then wished to extend which was ideal for us during the time of lock down. We accepted the extension Under a new booking. One day into her second booking, Airbnb cancelled and refunded the booking with absolutely no explanation. They didn’t bother notifying me of cancellation. I just saw the cancelled banner on the reservation in the app by accident.  I called them 3 times, opened 3 tickets and they had nothing to tell me. So I asked them if you believed that she has any safety issue, why did you accept the 1st booking? ...nothing.... why did you cancel the booking at 7 pm of the day that she was already in my property from the night before? .... nothing .... I then had to go to the guest asked for identification and asked her to transfer the money to me in full. And she did on the spot. Airbnb patronised me?? Absolutely 

at the end they claimed they’d rather creat a safe community. Well that’s not the way to start 

[Amanda2063]

I am a guest who keeps being approved for stays I have paid for in full and they keep being canceled. I am getting no explanation from AirBnb other than the vague "security" reason. I have tried reaching out through messaging and phone calls to their support and am getting the run around. I have a good rating and always pay up front. I don't know why I'm being targeted as a "security" issue and no one is explaining it to me. I was most recently told I am "unable to book a whole space" for that night at this time. I don't know why they can't simply explain the reason. I am waiting on a call from a "specialist" who is supposed to explain to me why I'm being told to book a hotel. 

[Amanda2063]

In addition I keep being told it's "not my fault"... then why can't I book anything in my price range for the night I need? 

[Tiziana57]

@Gerry-And-Rashid0

Dear Jerry and Rashid,

thank you for your reply, still I have the feeling you do not get my point. I am still  anxiuos to hear what other members of the community have to say about it.

Kind regards

Tiziana

[Alon1]

@Tiziana57 

Since you were quoted 'data protection' it is impossible to enter into the discussion with anything

other than conjecture or speculation. 

It would only be more helpful if you had translated "unrechtmässig" as other than 'I suppose some kind of irregularities'. I'm not a German speaker, but an online translation gives 'UNLAWFUL' or 'ILLEGAL'.

Moreover, the fact that it was dealt with by humans at Airbnb serves to differentiate it from our common experience  of 'perfectly  innocent content erased by the system as "hidden content",' which is clearly computer generated - also human programming at source, but probably not checked at every turn by Airbnb Safety & Security.

Consequently, it seems you are left to chase your tail in a frustrated quest for an explanation that you are unlikely to ever receive. And you are probably still at it because of the singular reason of it being 'low season' and potentially losing income. In other words, if the booking was quickly replaced, you probably wouldn't spend so much time preoccupied with this matter. 

The best you can probably hope for if other Hosts on this forum inform of similar cases, which is clearly what  you would like. So lets see if anyone else contributes.

[Nanxing0]

I would suggest that you be thankful and respect the decision from Airbnb. A few weeks ago I had a cancellation like this just a couple hours after the reservation was made and then the guest started threatening us with idiotic words I posted on the forum as well. It appears that Airbnb closed his account due to some reason, I guess it was something they revealed in the background check, probably mental issues as can be suspected from the conversation. Airbnb does filter out some potentially problematic guests for us. It might not be effective and might result in some false positive, but I would give it at least some credit in protecting us.

[Joelle82]

What is a "security issue" that would merit a cancellation?

[Brian2036]

@Joelle82 

I could come up with an extensive list without much thought.

Guest has a history of demanding refunds for ridiculous reasons.

Guest has been banned before and attempted to avoid it through third-party bookings.

Guest is attempting to use a stolen credit card.

Guest’s registration information is inaccurate.

Guest has threatened, assaulted or vilified a host.

Guest has outstanding criminal warrants.

Guest has a history of rule violations.

 The possibilities are endless.

[JoAnn1528]

We are just a week from departure and called the host for some additional information. We were shocked to learn airbandb had canceled our reservation two months ago and did not tell us.  We were told the cancellation was for security reasons but can get no further information. Airlines tickets are paid for; three people have arranged vacation time and we have no place to stay. 

[Sarah977]

@JoAnn1528  Do you have your Airbnb notifications turned on? You should have gotten a cancellation notice.

I'm sorry this happened to you, but if it were me, I would have checked that all was well with my booking before paying for flights, and I certainly wouldn't have waited until a werk before a trip, having let months go by without double checking on the reservation.

[Leon2284]

Had this issue today, with the guest in the house sleeping. Airbnb cancelled the reservation at 1am!!! I Called in the morning, they told me that she needed to follow some steps to complete id verification and then i can make an offer. She left the property but I didnt get paid for that night! And had to clean again and find new clients. Also had to take a day off from work to deal with this.