Guest is threatening my partner and I and will not leave property. Airbnb support ambassador won't reply to any messages or calls.

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Guest is threatening my partner and I and will not leave property. Airbnb support ambassador won't reply to any messages or calls.

My guest started threatening my partner and I last night and somehow figured out we were gay.  We quickly realized the people staying are not the person who made the reservation.  I spent 3 hours on the phone with airbnb last night 9.30p-12.30a trying to get this dealt with.  The support ambassador said they would have the guest leave by 10am today, but now no one will answer me via phone or the app thread.  The guest is still there, though they left 3 hours ago, and left the door standing wide open.  I'm terrified for my safety to go down to the property, but airbnb will not help me.  

 

I am at my wit's end.  I've hosted thousands of guests over 4 years, and airbnb has totally failed me in the only case I've ever been fearful for my safety.  Does anyone know how to get a response?  I've told them repeatedly this is a safety issue, but they keep saying I have to wait for my support ambassador to come back in, but that may be 3 days from now.  What do I do?

1 Best Answer
Mark116
Level 10
Jersey City, NJ

@Lee353  Okay, well then you obviously have  to get them out 1) before they can claim tenant rights and 2) ASAP before they destroy the unit.

 

I'm thinking of something like this..

 

Airbnb:

 

I am writing about reservation XXX.

 

It has come to my attention that this reservation is a third party booking, which is not allowed under Airbnb's TOS and therefore neither the guests nor the host are entitled to any of Airbnb's protection.

[cut and paste Airbnb TOS on third party bookings] + evidence of the third party booking.

 

As you can see from XX evidence, this is obviously a third party booking which is not allowable.

 

This booking puts the guests and the hosts at risk.

 

Please provide a neutral Airbnb cancellation for this reservation as soon as possible.

 

_____________________________

 

Something like that, which is very straightforward and see what happens.

 

Your other alternative is to just cancel them and then spend the next weeks and months trying to get Airbnb to open your calendar and remove the host penalties that they will inevitably lodge on the listing.

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54 Replies 54
M199
Level 10
South Bruce Peninsula, Canada

@Lee353 

 

Under no circustances (period) should there be threats.

 

Did you have Airbnb cancel the reservation for...

1 - Safety Issues

2 - 3rd Party  booking

 

Did the guest check out ? Is the guest just out for the day?

 

If you haven't  canceled the booking you need to do so immediately.

 

Also, if the guests are still there and are not the booking party, you may want to call and calmy explain to local law enforcement for advice and assistance.  It may be possible that local law enforcement will agree that this/these guests are tresspassing, since they are not the booking party and do not have a legal contract with you. As well, law enforcement should take threats of any kind seriously.

 

Keep calm, think logically and have detailed information and evidence at hand for law enforcement.

 

Good Luck

Thank you for the reply.  I'm running on less than an hour of sleep over this, so I appreciate the perspective.

 

The support ambassador told me if canceled under the 3rd party booking, the guest would not get a refund, but if I canceled due to the safety issue, the guest would likely receive a full refund minus the nights stayed + cleaning fee.  

 

Should I be canceling it on the app now?  The ambassador never mentioned this at all and said Airbnb would handle the cancellation once they verified this was a 3rd party booking.

 

The guest has already admitted in the message thread that the person who made the booking is not there--he claims it is his wife and they "share" a profile.

 

I just spent another hour on the phone and finally got another support ambassador to agree to at least call the guest and ask them to check out.  If they do not do that, they said I would have to call the police.  

 

I'm truly perplexed at how to proceed.  Calling the police seems like a strong escalation to what I'm afraid is a volatile situation.  I'm hoping this ambassador can talk the guest into leaving voluntarily.

Ann72
Level 10
New York, NY

I second @M199's advice to cancel the booking immediately and get the police involved, @Lee353.  If you cancel the booking, they will then become trespassers, and that combined with their threats should make law enforcement pay attention.

NOT IN ALABAMA 

 

i have one will not leave , he has gotten a full refund and claims under Alabama law he is a resident.. so off to the lawyers i must go!

 

Ann72
Level 10
New York, NY

Thank you for sharing! I read through this diligently last night when it all started.  I guess I just had hopes that airbnb would follow through and have the guest leave today, as they told me they would around 12.30am.  The ambassador actually asked if I wanted the guest to leave immediately, but I didn't want to sink to their level or risk escalating the situation, so I said they could leave this morning. 

 

It just seems strange that hosts are expected to take matters into their own hands or call the police when something goes wrong.  I assume the ambassador did send a message to the guest last night because around 12.30am, I started getting rapid fire messages from them apologizing for the threats, saying it was all a big miscommunication, and saying how great the property is.  However, the guest didn't actually leave, and the ambassador was supposed to call them this morning to ensure it happened.  It has been silence ever since.

 

I did just finally get a new ambassador to agree to call the guest and ask them to leave, but the problem is that they likely have the phone number for the booking party and not the people actually staying.  

 

After hosting for 4+ years and hearing horror stories, I never thought it would happen to me. 😞

 

To add insult to injury, the guest literally has reviews that mention these very issues: threats, extortion, etc., but somehow they've managed to stay on the platform and were actually able to instant book my property because I'm guessing they've extorted some hosts into giving them 5 star reviews. 😞 

@Lee353 

 

"It just seems strange that hosts are expected to take matters into their own hands or call the police when something goes wrong."

 

That is exactly the expectation that every host should have. Airbnb is a booking platform whose customer service staff is primarily inept subcontractors on other continents. There is very little they can or will do for you in a situation like this. Please do not wait for Airbnb to help; do what you need to do to safeguard your property and yourself.

@Lee353  Awful situation. But realistically, Airbnb can't force a guest to leave- they don't have some SWAT team they send out to remove objectionable guests, it falls to the host. 

 

Don't feel reticent to involve the police if you need to- you said you were threatened to the point you feel afraid to go over there. That's serious.

 

I realize this was an IB, but you say the guest had other reviews which mention the same behavior. Do you not read a guest's reviews when they book? If you are only looking at star ratings, that's a big mistake, as they are quite subjective and give no actual information.

 

Always read the written reviews and if there are red flags, cancel an IB booking right out the gate.

 

Good luck with this and stay safe.

I have a guest from Hell as well. I told Airbnb i thought this was not his first rodeo with this.. he got mail sent to me house before he arrived  and under ALABAM law he is a resident . I have to get a lawyer to get him out  air bnb has not been much  help 

 

even though i have been afraid of this crazy guy  i think he has done this before and i hope to get him permanently

  bared from booking 

 

 

M199
Level 10
South Bruce Peninsula, Canada

@Lee353

 

You need to have Airbnb cancel. 

 

It's  your life, your business, your income, your investment.

 

You need to get this resolved now.  Sorry if this sounds strong, but...

 

Do not take this crap from Customer Support!!!!!!!!  IT'S YOUR LIFE, HEALTH, BUSINESS, AND INVESTMENT.  YOU OWE YOUR GUEST NOTHING.

 

Call back and tell Airbnb to cancel now, no excuses.  The guest are in breach of a legal contract with you.

 

Once done and you get a confirmation, if the guests are still there, get law enforcement involved.

 

 

I just got off the phone with the new ambassador.  The guest won't answer their calls or messages on the app.  The ambassador Shantel is telling me that she cannot cancel the booking as a 3rd party booking, despite the fact that the person admitted in the message thread with me that the person who made the booking is not actually staying.

 

She said if I want to cancel, I can, but I'm subject to host cancellation penalties.  I am honestly at a loss.  I guess I'm going to cancel and just pay the penalty and hope that I can appeal it after the fact.  

@Lee353 that's ridiculous of course but not at all surprising in the rabbit hole of Airbnb customer support. In your shoes I would certainly cancel the booking first and think about any penalty later.

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

Hello @Lee353 

 

I'm so sorry this happened to you - completely unacceptable.

 

However, Airbnb is just a booking platform. All  they can do is advise the guest to leave. (I'm not sure what else apart from banning the booking profile that you expect them to do??.

 

Once the booking is cancelled it is up to you as the business owner to make sure the third party person leaves your place. You are fortunate you live in a country where the police will intervene. Here in the UK it's a civil matter and the police won't intervene unless a crime is committed.

 

When they didn't leave this morning (presume you arranged for Airbnb to cancel as a third party booking) that was the time for you for your friends/security people to go to the premises to ensure they left at the agreed time.

 

 

 

M199
Level 10
South Bruce Peninsula, Canada

@Lee353 

 

@Sarah977, @Helen3 , @Lisa723 , @Ann72

 

All, Am I incorrect that hosts are allowed 3 cancellations without penalty?