Mediation

Answered!
Josie138
Level 2
Covington, GA

Mediation

Good morning, 

 

I am deeply disturbed by the events of last month and Airbnb's decision and I would like to hear from other host if they experiences similar and how they resolved it. 

 

I thoroughly clean everything in my unit. bedrooms, linen, spreads, towels (washed/bleached)

Floors all through-out swept and mopped. 

door knobs, fixtures, all disinfected. 

Kitchens, bathrooms and tiles disinfected. The cleaning is so detailed that it takes me hours to do it. this is done after each and every guests.

 

Guest arrived, called me and complained that she had to walk thru grass on unpaved ground (no mud)

Complained that there is a hill to walk down to get to the apartment. 

Once in apartment, complained that the apartment was filthy- said there was food on the floor and dish cloth was dirty.

 

I told her I would reclean to her satisfaction. Bought new dish-cloth. Arrived to meet a combative guest that had swept up a little sand that was tracked in by herself and 2 sons. 

 

Pointed to a stain that cannot be removed on shower tile. Said she found a hair in the apartment. I recleaned the apartment to her satisfaction with her watching.

 

Guest later requested more toilet tissue and paper-towels (for a month long stay).

Guest left bags of trash in my driveway, stating she didnt want herself or nearly grown sons to walk on the dirt to get to the trash bin.

Asked to have trash bin brought to her apartment door.

 

left all lights on in the apartment all day while she was gone.

 

on Sept 17th messaged guest to ask her not to leave trash in driveway and not to leave lights on when she was not in the apartment. Lights on is visible from the outside of the apartment.

 

Also, there is a neighboring unit, separated by a door. The tenant in the neighboring unit reported that the kitchen light (seen through space under the door) was shining into her unit all night long which made it very difficult for her to sleep.

 

On Sept 17 Guest reported to Abnb that she wanted to check out do to a cleanliness issue. Abnb reached out to me and I refused to grant a refund to this guest. She had been in the apartment 10 days and her issues were addressed and resolved on day 1.

 

Airbnb wanted to honor the refund but I would not agree to issue and refund.

 

I later learn that the issue was escalated and now it was a new issue. Airbnb refused to tell me what I was accused of doing to the guests, but said there was a safety issue. They later said that I am not to enter units occupied by guests without their permission.

 

And they refunded $1400 to the guest and charged it to my account. So every guest that stays ABNB gets all the money and I am working for free.

 

Now, Abnb did not care about the trust. This guests moved out and Abnb sent me correspondence saying that the guest wanted to refund due to cleanliness and effective the same day.  I went into the apartment after I received this correspondence and only turned out all the lights. 

 

There was nothing remaining in the apartment. During the time she was there I never entered the apartment without knocking. 

Why did ABNB do this and how can I dispute this decision?

 

There was no consideration for my side and my money and business were effected. Additionally ABNB shut my business down for 2 weeks.

 

How can I secure mediation? 

 

 

1 Best Answer
Lisa723
Level 10
Quilcene, WA

@Josie138 your options are small claims court and arbitration. See section 23:

 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2908/terms-of-service

 

Sorry this happened to you. You are far from the first host to receive this treatment.

View Best Answer in original post

9 Replies 9

This is very disturbing and, I just listed a property today so I really can't offer any advice on mediation. You can't enter the property with guests unless you contact Airbnb? There's no phone number and the email address brings you to different scenarios. Although a lot of questions are answered by navigating these tutorials not all questions can be answered. So, how do you contact Airbnb for emergency issues?

Mike-And-Jane0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

@Josie138 Small claims court is cheaper than mediation

@Sydney149 phone numbers are pinned in a post at the top of the help section of this community

Thank you for the information on phone numbers.

 

Lisa723
Level 10
Quilcene, WA

@Josie138 your options are small claims court and arbitration. See section 23:

 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2908/terms-of-service

 

Sorry this happened to you. You are far from the first host to receive this treatment.

Brian2036
Level 10
Arkansas, United States

@Josie138 

 

That is very disturbing and disappointing.

 

It highlights a problem with long term stays.

 

It also serves as a warning to all hosts: When a guest starts making ridiculous complaints on or before arrival, it’s time to make plans to get rid of them ASAP.

 

 The “this guest makes me feel unsafe” excuse might work if you don’t use it too often Z

 

I’m wondering if a possible tactic would be if I suddenly started feeling COVID symptoms and recommend that they leave immediately for their own safety. Full refund, of course, and my deepest apologies.

 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2868/airbnb-guest-refund-policy

You can start with the above article and perhaps eventually find out how to dispute an inappropriate refund. They don’t make it easy and I’m afraid that success is unlikely, but you should try.

Thank you @ Brian2036, 

 

I also agree and my first thought was to begin initiating her removal. 

Mark116
Level 10
Jersey City, NJ

@Josie138  Terrible.  I'm sorry to see a host treated this way by Airbnb.  I have no personal experience w/small claims court, but I know there are some who have won.  For $1400 it might be worth it.

 

In future, if you keep hosting, when a guest gaslights you like that...telling you the place is filthy when you know you've just spent hours cleaning it and then goes ballistic about walking in the dirt...get rid of them.  If you had contacted Airbnb initially you would still be out the money, but the scammer wouldn't have succeeded and you would not have had to deal with all the stress.

 

Keep us posted.

 

@Nick @Liv   In case you can do anything to assist.

Branka-and-Silvia0
Level 10
Zagreb, Croatia

As @Mark116 said - first unjustified complaint and I immediately offer to shorten their stay. Trying to please them makes no sense bc they complain to either shorten their stay or to get a refund at the end of their stay.

Nick
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hi @Josie138, could I please ask you to contact Customer Support again with this? I forwarded all the information you provided yesterday, but there isn't an open case, so they couldn't look into or update.

Upon doing so they will be able to investigate further.

 

Hope this helps.
Thank you