Sorry the following is so long. I'm mad.
We had a guest lie about cameras to get out of her two-week stay. Our cleaner is the one who noticed all our listings were suspended. We were never notified. We had to call every day and finally 11 days later someone from Safety called to ask me to defend myself. She wouldn't tell me who made the complaint or what the complaint was. So... how am I to defend what I don't know??? Fortunately, I had been told by another customer service person.
She called a few days later asking for the same information. I finally just asked if we should make a video of the apartments to prove we have no cameras. She said yes, so we did that. NINE days ago she sent a message saying we had not violated the rules so it was resolved in our favor. But we're still suspended. NINE DAYS AFTER WE WERE "EXONERATED." See our messages below.
So we're more than three weeks in; Airbnb has kept the money for existing reservations to pay for the cancelled part of the guest's stay; Airbnb still lets them stay, even though there's a "safety issue," but clearly they're not worried about subsequent guests; and here we are not getting bookings for our quite busy listings.
We keep reasonable rates in a very fun neighborhood and allow pets. So we get a lot of last-minute bookings from people who are passing through. And just in general we get a lot of bookings. Who's going to make up for that? Is the lying liar going to be kicked off for committing fraud and defamation? Are they going to refund our money for that cancellation? Or will she be rewarded for being an awful human? I even sent a not angry message asking her to please rescind the complaint since she'd been refunded. No response, of course.
There is no way to escalate these issues. I have asked CS to escalate it so I can talk to someone with authority and who isn't bound by the script. I have resorted to tweeting the executives even though I quit that mess when it became X (to be fair, it was already out of control). I should get damages for emotional distress just for that! No one ever responds. I can't find information about how to start arbitration, or appeal, or anything.
And if an Airbnb person responds to this by telling customer service to contact me, please don't bother. Every time CS is contacted, they say there's nothing they can do and close the case. There is a better way to handle this, Airbnb!
March 27 (remember this started on March 12 and she first contacted me March 23)
After a full review of the available information we’ve determined that our Community Standards were complied with. We ask you to please pay special attention to our Community Standards in future reservations.
You can read about our Community Standards at:
airbnb.com/standardsFor full transparency, we want you to know that we’ve made a note of this on your account. This is only for internal representatives to see.
Best regards,
**
**[Content removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines- Please note that it is not allowed to share Airbnb investigation and private conversations]
