Swindled out of my lawful income

[Elena3309]

Hello dear hosts around the world! 

Recently, I have been contacted by an Airbnb employee from resolution department to ask me for my consent to cancel a long term reservation after 17 nights with the promise that all those nights will be paid at my normal fare for the short term reservation. He asked me if it possible to accept the check out right away in the same day because the client is complaining about “cleanliness”. I have found that complaint ridiculous because after he stayed 17 nights he suddenly decided that the place is filthy and he can’t stay anymore. I agreed and I proceeded to change the reservation but the guy contacted me again and told me that the guest changed his mind and wanted the check out next day. I changed the check out for the next day and then the system calculated automatically the new price for the short term reservation.
Everything was okay and then another guy from resolution department was assigned to my case and told me that the change was complete. 
Then, I noticed that in my future payout appears a debt and I asked him what is going on and he told me that my reservation was “shortened at the long term price” and I own money to Airbnb… I was flabbergasted after I have been assured that it will be applied the normal price for the short term reservation, Alex M. had been overriding the system and my own price to cut my income in half and he said that I can do nothing about it and to accept it because as an exception he didn’t apply penalties.

 I have been swindled out of my income and silenced. They shifted the reservation while another guy was assuring me that I will receive my money for the short term reservation. 
Now, I can’t find a case manager available but there are plenty of attorneys and in the end I intend to press charges for fraud. They intentionally deceived me to secure unfair gain on my expense and to deprive me of my lawful income and contractual rights.

 I wanted to share my story because probably many other women in my situation are silenced, dismissed and taken for granted. I felt voiceless and powerless and I won’t go away silently. 

Best wishes, 

E.

[Sarah977]

@Elena3309  Certainly Airbnb has handled this poorly. If you have the agreement to charge the guest the short term price in writing, I suggest you be persistent and patient. Wrong decisions are often overturned, but it can take months to work through the system.

What Airbnb has done has nothing to do with being a female host, though. Airbnb does these sorts of things to all hosts, regardless of gender.

What you actually should have done was not agree to the cancellation, but I realize you did that because you were promised to be paid out as if it were a short term reservation. When you agree to shorten a long term reservation, it can negate the long term cancellation policy which, had the guest been held to it, would mean he would have had to pay the following 30 days of his original booking, even though he wasn't staying.

Airbnb is really not set up for long term bookings, even though they promote them. There are too many risk factors.

[Elena3309]

You are very kind to give me your feedback and I am patient and I am not in hurry now, it’s a matter of dignity. Alex M. -“assigned to assist me” did it with excessive power… he wrote me that it’s decided and I can do nothing against him! That is what fired me up and made me fight back against this unfair treatment.

 I tried to talk with a case manager but they gave me again assistants who forward my message from one to another. Last evening a very nice woman Charrissa called me and I told her my story and she said that it’s unfair and she will do an investigation to find out why Alex made that unfortunate decision. I told her that I don’t even want them to pay me the difference for the new short term reservation and I give them back their super host vouchers but they must erase that unfair debt. Immediately after we ended our phone conversation she emailed me that she is forwarding my case to another colleague to do the investigation. After another hour another colleague called me but for an unknown reason she seemed like she didn’t get anything. She either did not care or who knows?! It’s hectic to tell the story again and again and start everything with a new assistant and then they will not understand or will pass me to the next one and so on. All I asked for was an experienced case manager but the last assistant asked me which one because I talked with so many people that it’s confusing… Is it my fault that they send me from one to another and don’t analyze the entire case from the beginning? 
I told them repeatedly to review my conversation with Andrei the first assistant who called me to persuade me to cancel the reservation and to accept that the guest will check out in the same evening. I made him promise me that I will receive my normal fare for short term reservation and he promised that everything will be exactly in that way. Then, he messaged me that the guest wants to stay one more night and he prefers to check out at noon… I did not agree but I felt sorry for Andrei whose mission was to persuade me to cooperate because he could not do anything about the guest. So, yes, I was mentally and emotionally exhausted I was willing to see the back of this guest but I agreed with Andrei that all my rights and payments will be untouched. Then, I did change the check out time for the next day and the system calculated automatically my normal fare which was even more expensive than the original reservation, and not that I would have pursued them to pay me for the difference but imagine my shock when I have seen on my future payout the debt! When I asked why do I have the debit then Alex M was extremely rude and made it like he did me a favor that he didn’t apply penalties! He kept the long term price for the short term… practically he cut in half the real normal price that was publicly displayed just because he can and I can’t do anything against him. He doesn’t have any hint of shame to abuse his attributions and my rights and just goes rogue with the racket.
They misled me that I will be paid for a short reservation at the normal price while behind my back without any formal consent or notification they shift my reservation. Imagine, the short term reservation was more expensive than the original one and it was sent out to the guest just the way it was calculated by the Airbnb system for 18 nights. 
He then, had the cheek to tell me that “my” new reservation was approved while he cunningly halved my price. He confiscated my money recklessly without any consideration for my moral and material damages.

It looks to me like they plotted to defraud me. I don’t know if Andrei worked in complicity with him or not because I haven’t heard from him after I changed his check out even he promised to send me the email after the change is completed. It seems that they worked together to make a misrepresentation of the fact that I will be fully paid for the short term reservation if I agree to move the check out next day with the intention to cheat me. They knew that I will rely on the misrepresentation to my damage. 
The intent to defraud me was clear in their strategy to deceive me to agree with their proposal and they induced me that I relied on their deception to alter the reservation. 
Luckily, the entire conversation was recorded and the attorney told me that the recording is enough to prove the fraud. I have been tricked to accept a contract that was false. 

Charlatans are everywhere… be aware of them and don’t accept any deal that will put you through endless conversations with bored assistants who will waste your time.

Right now, I delisted my place because I don’t know if I want to host anymore. I am disappointed and I can’t trust them anymore. Are they crooks? Who acts like that? On the other hand, the house is a pigsty and he smoked breaking my house rules. Above all, he consumed 100 kWh in 18 nights, fact that affected my green consumer status. And to add injury to insult he left all my bedsheets and textiles in trash bags because my house is trash… he even wrote this libels and Alex M said that he doesn’t see any abuse nor offense in this guest lies. Now, after 18 nights after he soiled 5 bedsheets, pillows, duvets etc now, the house is indeed dirty and smelly… it takes a lot of work to get rid of the smokes’ smell… I put everything out in the open air before I sent them to chemical cleaning or ask for some help because the walls must be washed with vinegar and soap to get rid of the smokes’ smell. The entire house is covered in a thin layer of ash… and some strange soft fur… maybe it’s just dustbunnies, 😂 

Thank you again, Sarah, your support means a lot to me,

💗 

E.

[Elena3309]

***“What Airbnb has done has nothing to do with being a female host, though.“***

Sarah, you feel in this way because you have had your own privileged experiences but don’t dismiss other women experiences.

Sometimes you must take a break from judgmental sentences and let others tell their experiences because you don’t know if the men that dismissed all my complaints were raised in patriarchal cultures or not. Maybe, my perception of being discriminated is based on certain behavioral patterns that I have been trained to recognize. If you didn’t review the entire case then, it’s better to let other women tell their story.
Many of us had internalized discrimination, marginalization, misogynism, ageism and many other forms of systematic belittling. 
The Airbnb policy has nothing to do with its employees who are not properly trained. 
Remember sisters, we only have rights for less than a hundred years. Patriarchal power was unchallenged during the entire history of our humanity. Even in the western society if you look at the statistics… women are killed and discriminated every day… it’s what it is and many of us know better.

[Sarah977]

@Elena3309  All women have experienced such things- I can assure you I don't speak from my own "privileged experiences". That's a decidedly unsisterly thing to say to another woman and I don't need a lecture on the oppression of women in patriarchal societies.

Your post concerned your poor treatment by Airbnb customer service and my reply was based on the fact that I have been participating in this forum for several years and I know that rude, inappropriate clueless and unhelpful responses from Airbnb customer service staff are experienced by males, females, whites, blacks, Asians and everyone else. 

[Elena3309]

Today I woke up with great news! They told me that it was a mistake and refunded me. 
Sarah, I don’t want to lecture you about the pervasive discrimination against women that is as old as the humanity. I just want to emphasize the fact that it’s so pervasive and the entire society gaslights women when they speak out about their experiences. Even other women believe that we live in a postfeminist society and we have too many rights that men are now the victims. Statistics don’t lie… women die everyday killed, raped and terrorized on the streets of the western world. Men from patriarchal cultures don’t even realize how badly they treat women because they are raised in cultures that empower toxic masculinities. 
Unless you have reviewed my conversation with the Airbnb assistants Andrei and Alex you can’t judge my experience. All of them, including the guest were macho men who told me that I have no other option but to accept that the guest will leave in that evening and I can do nothing about the way they decided. Which was bossy and in contradiction with our contract. Then after I complained about the situation, Gabriel, thanked me for reporting them and now I know that I did the right thing. 

This is my experience and even if I am too emotional and hypersensitive, I have a heart full of love and good intentions towards others.

with my best wishes,

E.

[Bob297]

@Elena3309 
That's good news that ABB refunded you!!

[Elena3309]

Yes, indeed it is… the so called assistants were crooks who lied to me that I will receive my normal price but behind my back they cut my price in half without any notice… just told me that they decided an I can do nothing about it. They thought that I will be bullied into submission because they decided that the guest was right to complain about the cleanliness even he stayed there 18 nights without complaining about it before. In fact, he complained directly to the Airbnb and not to me… maybe he Andrei were friends because they are from the same region, speaking with the same accent. Who knows?! They probably chose to scam me because the guest was a big bully and I didn’t seem a threat to them so, it was just easier to fully refund the guest and put me in the corner telling me”this time we did not apply penalties as an exception” like they did me a favor. I hope that this difference will be taken out from their paychecks and sent to retrain and learn to do their job.
It’s important to fight back these charlatans thus, I am very aware that many hosts don’t have the power and energy to put up with them and they are scammed without mercy.

We all must stick together and advise each other when we have trouble. Together we can be stronger.

Best,

E.

[Elena3309 · Accepted solution]

Update… I have hilarious news… they did not do what they said in message that they were going to do. In the morning it was a certain amount of money that it was in my payout including in the October income and then a few hours later they took again the false debt out of the “additional” payout that the case manager decided. So, yesterday I have received the resolution from the case manager and from the person who processed the payment and both assured me that I will receive that amount and the debt was a mistake and it will be erased but it takes a few days to update the system. Now I can see that they extracted the “mistake” out of the payout… and that’s not what they messaged me. 
I cannot work with people who will never do what they say they are going to do… it’s confusing and they are not trustworthy. 
They have too many people who are not doing their job properly and confuse us. 
It’s such an endless drama…