Super host Suspended with no Explanation

Joseph752
Level 2
Houston, TX

Super host Suspended with no Explanation

Went to check my calendar the other day and see that my listing was suspended. Checked other listings and suspended as well!

 

I haven’t had an issue with any guests, nearly 5.0 ratings on all listings, and did not violate any policies!

 

Have called support twice and they cannot explain and can only escalate. It is frustrating because I never received any notification that my account is suspended or reasoning why!

 

When trying to contact by Chat, my case is immediately closed without any response whatsoever. 

This down time is preventing potential guests from booking. Anyone else know whats going on here?!

21 Replies 21
Gwen386
Level 10
Lusby, MD

@Joseph752 Are you sure you can’t think of any thing in one of your listings:

 

1. Undisclosed camera

2. property not as advertised

3. bed bugs, pest infestation

4. Entering guest space without advance notice

5. Guest partying, noise complaint from a neighbor

6. Is it legal to operate an airbnb in your county

7. a guest complaint, request for a refund?

8. Any appliance malfunctions

 

If not, keep bugging airbnb

Mike-And-Jane0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

@Catherine-Powell Another day - another Superhost suspension. Will it ever end?

@Joseph752 You can only hope common sense will prevail at some time I am afraid

Hi @Joseph752,


We escalated your case to our CS team and I understand they've been in touch and confirmed your account is active. Please don't hesitate to reach out if there is anything else you need.

Kindly,
Catherine

 

@Mike-And-Jane0 

@Catherine-Powell  Thanks for the response but I have not had anybody get in touch with me and account is still showing Suspended. 

Hi @Joseph752 

Thank you for following up. It looks like your account was pending a background check, which caused a delay. I have followed up with my team again and they confirmed everything looks good. Please let me know if you are having any other issues.

Many thanks,
Catherine

@Catherine-Powell 

 

@Joseph752 is a Superhost with excellent ratings and over 150 reviews. Why would Airbnb be doing a background check on his account?

 

I see that you are responding individually to these cases, but can anything be done in the broader sense to address this issue of hosts being wrongly suspended/having future bookings cancelled and then getting no answers from CS or having to sometimes wait weeks for a resolution?

 

We see reports of these every week here on the CC and who knows how many other hosts it's happening to who don't participate here...

 

I know that you are not in charge of the Trust and Safety department, or whomever it is at Airbnb that doles out these senseless suspensions, but this is a really sh*tty way to treat long-standing, well-performing hosts so, as Head of Hosting, I would hope that you would have enough influence to request that this policy of 'guilty until proven innocent and we're probably not even going to tell you what we think you're guilty of' be reassessed. 

 

It's nice that you are responding here to individuals, but wouldn't it be better if the overall problem could be addressed so that you wouldn't need to?

Hi Huma,

 

Thank you for always being so vocal and for advocating for our entire community of Hosts. Removals and suspensions happen for a wide variety of reasons, most of which I've seen referenced here in the Community Center. What I do know from just capturing comments in this forum, is that we need to message more broadly the work we're doing around removals and why it happens, share more about how we are fixing the lack of transparecy when it does happen and make sure our Hosts have the fastest path to resolution if their account is affected. These are key priorities and we will plan to share an update to our broader community very soon.

 

Warmly,

Catherine

 

@Huma0 @Joseph752 

@Catherine-Powell 

 

Thank you for responding. Fixing the lack of transparency and faster resolutions would be amazing, but there is also the issue of 'guilty until proven innocent', i.e. that a host's listings can be immediately suspended without adequate proof that there is even a problem. 

 

I know some cases are more complex, but one of the most common issues seems to be security cameras when, in fact, often the guest is complaining about cameras that were not hidden, but clearly mentioned in the listing. Airbnb could easily double check this before suspending the listing. 

 

Also, the host's track record should be taken into account. So, for example, when a guest makes an accusation of filth/squalor for a listing that has hundreds of reviews a 5.0* rating for  cleanliness, should Airbnb not take this accusation with a pinch of salt and speak to the host about it BEFORE suspending the listing? It's just common sense, surely?

@Catherine-Powell its good to see you are back. Just sad that your staff are giving, even you, duff information. What chance do the rest of us have I wonder....

Joseph752
Level 2
Houston, TX

@Gwen386 thanks for the suggestions but none of those apply. Been hosting for 4 years and nothing but positivity from my guests and no changes from local jurisdictions that would warrant prohibiting STR’s. 

@Joseph752 @Mike-And-Jane0 

All these suspension without any communication is really scary. I guess it’s a numbers game. Any host, any day, can get suspended. 

I have just had the third in a series of 'appeals' for adjudication tossed without warning. One reply from the 'team' was cursory. The second was rude and grammatically challenged and actually began victim-blaming.  The third attempt, in which I tried to elicit some understanding of how the structure works, was simply erased while in process.  I have a feeling that some kind of 'wokism' is triumphing and that the entire complaints process has been either farmed out to low income countries or, as a first line of defense, algorithmed. It is a long time since I have felt anything like support as a host. And I have very few complaints but this false 2 star review in question, among 53  five star reviews, required some kind of action on my part.  Looks like it is a no-go.  Any serious discussion/adjudication is now impossible.

@Franz26 I only wished that you had not left a blow-by-blow response to this guest. It put you on the defensive and not what you want when future guests read your response to a guest’s review. I felt your response to the review was delivered in an admonishing and condescending manner.

 

Now, if you had only stopped typing after your first paragraph, that would have been a perfect response! Other guests are able to deduce that this one, 2* review out of many 5* reviews is an anomaly.

 

In the future, don’t let a guest take you to task over how they viewed your hospitality. And remember, you know you’re a wonderful host. 

That was my plan.  To ask for at least permission to edit my overly long reply.  I wrote in the heat of the moment.  Always a bad idea.  Now if only someone at Airbnb had the class and tact that you have, my impression of Airbnb staff would be as high as my impression of you is.