harassment

[Crystal11]

I am having a problem with a former guest harassing me for hours via the Air bnb website, threatening extortion and harassment after being asked to stop contacting me several times. He din't stop till I threatened police. I started the refund process as soon as I recieved his first "complaint" email, but he hasn't accepted it. I have made three complaints over the last 18 hours, called and held until I hung up after waiting so long I needed sleep. I flagged his threatening posts, sent up safety questions and get nothing but "we are working on your problem, we'll get back to you soon, updated (insert random times), and no contact from anyone at the company. 

I am new here and this does not make me feel good about the customer service with this outfit. What can I do to get some help here?

[Allison2]

I'm so sorry that's happening to you. That sort of behavior means ABB will almost certainly remove their account, but their process for doing so is SO SLOW.

Post on Twitter @AirbnbHelp - they're fastest. If that doesn't work, post to more of their social media.

[Amaris0]

Contact Airbnb via Twitter, you'll get a response real soon. Inform them you are very concerned not only about your safety which is why you have now decided to report this incident to the police but also it is causing you an untold amount of distress. 

Inform Airbnb that you have done everything from your end in terms of authorising a refund and therefore the matter really should have been put to bed by now. Ask them to investigate the delay ASAP and refund the guest ASAP also, as the delay in completing this refund is having a detrimental impact on you. Inform them that since you have done everything required of you, a failure along the line outside of your control is the direct result of the on-going harassment. Request that they respond confirming that the refund has now been completed and that the guest has been informed to desist from harassing you.

They are normally quite good with stuff like this so I'm surprised you haven't heard back and I’m sorry to hear it has got to this stage.  I would suggest you do not respond to any messages from this guest and that you flag all messages received up to now and any more you receive whilst the matter is being addressed.

Click on the link for contact options, try Twitter- Contact Airbnb

Hope you get it sorted soon,

Ama

[Gabi13]

I suggest police fast. Airbnb is a corporation so it will take them months before you see any answer /response according to this, unless police gets involved.  That means NOW PRESSURE (not corporate speed)

[Debbie8]

Call AIRBNB ASAP!  They are wonderful at taking care of this type of situation.

[Crystal11]

Someone called me back after I posted to Twitter. I feel a little better, but think the customer service is lacking. I have removed instant booking and will be more careful from now on. I felt something was wrong from the minute he showed up, but... Live and learn.

[Stay-At-My-Place0]

False, airbnb does not do anything about it. They request that you call the police if you need assistance now. You have to either take the harassment or lose the reservation. Airbnb will not ask the guest to stop harassing a host, they will not provide assistance in anyway besides “escalating the case” which means you won’t be addressed for a few days or more, and they will not - UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE - penalize a guest… they give guest’s whatever they want and put the burden on hosts. 

[Christine1]

@Crystal11, Sorry Crystal, the behaviour of your former guests sounds very upsetting and not ok at all. 

In addition to all the other steps you will take in this matter, may I suggest that you seed product feedback about this experience associated with using "instant booking".

You can access feedback via the Help icon/menu.

https://www.airbnb.com.au/help/feedback

I think it will be worthwhile adding your experience to their feed back database. 

Much appreciated and hopeful of a happy ending for you. 

Please let us know how you got on.

Regards, Christine.

[Andrea9]

@Crystal11

To all these suggestions I'd like to point out another one.

You can report the guest by flagging them with the little gray flag in the guest message.

You'll be given the option to comment and mention 'harassment'. Airbnb will check the messages and decide on which measures to take. For good measure, go flag all the inappropriate messages he's sent you.

If you ever get a phishing or spam message btw this is also how to handle it.

[Crystal11]

I flagged everything from the moment the threats started. Apparently they are way behind following up on flags...

[Michelle411]

Hi,

I am currently experiencing a guest harassment. He left already but is sending messages thru AirBnB that scaresme and my family. 

I don't know how to request AirBnB to block him from my message feed.

My knees are shaking, I hope there is help that AirBnB can provide. If not I might pullout from AirBnB. It is not worth it if hosts are being threatened afterwards . 

[Helen3]

Hello @Michelle411

This is so dreadful.

Call them or use their social media. 2nd post Community Help forum for all contact details. They should cancel his profile. You may need to push to get this done quickly.

Ignore the messages, but screen shot them so you have evidence.

Flag the guests profile too.

[Stay-At-My-Place0]

This happens to me all the time. Also, if you ask the guests to stop communicating with you, they are eligible for a refund for the night that they didn’t stay, simply, if they ask. Their reason is because you asked them to stop communicating with you. It doesn’t matter if Airbnb informed you what to say to them and how to handle it for that specific case and agreed with them harassing you, they are eligible for a refund. 

This means, as a host, you need to accept harassment, or risk losing your reservation and payment. The guest is also never punished in any way. They are free to harass the next guest. 

This needs to stop.