Unfair business practices by Airbnb

[Neil239]

I’m sure I’m not the only home owner that’s been treated badly by Airbnb there must be thousands out there. I’m sure if we all got together we would have a class action lawsuit against this horrible company. I own three vacation rental properties and I’ve been shafted on everyone of them by guest who damage and lie about how many people will be staying. The last experience I just had was this week 7/20/19 the guest booked instantly for 6 guest and within minutes canceled then rebooked for 4 guest to avoid the extra guest fee. I immediately contacted Airbnb and the guest who I told there was a full time property Manger on-site 24/7 and if they showed up with more then the 4 guest they had rebooked for they would not be allowed to stay. Once the guest knew this he admitted there would be actually 6 of them going and paid the extra guest fees. Well on the day of check in they turned up with the 6 but the very next day 3 more guest showed up not only have they violated the rental agreement but I also was informed by the property Manger that they lost the keys to the condo and bust the lock off the front door to get in. When all they had to do was go and see the on-site property Manger who would have gladly given them the spare keys. Once I found all this out on 7/22/19 two days after there check in I contacted Airbnb who’s agent was absolutely terrible he could not care less about the home owner even though I provided him with emails from the licensed property Manger and photos of the smashed lock, said if I terminated the stay the guest would be refunded the moneys for the days they did not stay. And even told me I would be penalized on my account for canceling the reservation. How on earth does that make sense. I’m so disgusted with Airbnb and there policy’s they have zero consideration for the home owner. I wish the owners from around the globe United and brought a class action lawsuit against them for all the wrong doing that must go on with there business practices. And there customer service agents have absolutely no customer skills whatsoever in fact the one I had to deal with made me feel like I was the bad guy. Outrageous  

[Cheryl389]

As a workaround, I charge the same price. I allow up to 13 people, but the price would be the same for any number. When I price it, I assume there will be around like 7 and I try to be competitive with the homes in that range.

[Thomas1033]

You have every right to be mad and this guest needs to be blacklisted.  Join the Facebook Airbnb blacklist group where you can add the guests name to the data base as they are liars cheats and have done damage to your property and do not deserve to be allowed to rent an Airbnb ever again.  You will get more support and real life suggestions you will never get here where everyone acts polite because “it’s the right thing to do to let perfect strangers lie cheat steal and destroy your home in the spirit of Airbnb “. Yvonna (cohost)

[Helen3]

@Neil239 In your situation I would have called back and provided Airbnb with evidence (presume you have CCTV or similar) of the additional guests.  I would have insisted they cancel the booking. i would have sent a payment request for the extra guests and to replace locks/damaged door.

And left an honest review.

To be honest apart from one guest four years ago I have never had a bad guest or bad experience with Airbnb so have no reason to want to join a 'class action'.

[Neil239]

I did even better then providing cctv although that was mentioned to Airbnb. I went to my condo because other owners who live in the building full time were contacting me saying how disruptive these guests were being till all hours in the morning. When I got there I took the security guard and maintenance man with me to the condo to confront the guest they admitted they had all gone out till 5:00am and lost the keys to the condo so when they got back and could not get in decided to smash the lock off the door. I’ve already made a request through Airbnb to be repaid but as of now they have not paid. They have continued to cause trouble and damage items at the condo and Airbnb tell me if I terminate the stay I’ll have to refund them for days they don’t use. Photos and emails from the licensed property manager and other owners have all been given to Airbnb yet they do nothing to help my situation. That have no loyalty to the home owner. This is my business yet they want me to refund a guest who as clearly violated the house rules and caused nothing but stress and worries for me. 

[Sandra-and-Andrew0]

And I thought I was having horrible Airbnb experiences. My sincerest apologies to you.

[Hettie7]

I'm a SuperHost and have been for years (member for 7).  My guests love everything about the experience, yet yesterday, without warning, I was disbarred!  They wouldn't let me even talk to a supervisor.  They said I was turning down too many reservation requests.  I turned down some because they didn't follow the guidance on my site.  I was afraid to host people without reviews, having had problems in the past.  I also turned someone down because they had a baby, which also goes against my post that says 2 people only.  Didn't want to tackle the liability.  Whatever the case may be, I have no place to dispute this on AIRBNB.  It's my income.....what to do!!!!!