AIRBNB GOT HACKED? All my bookings got cancelled!

Aya20
Level 2
Makati, Philippines

AIRBNB GOT HACKED? All my bookings got cancelled!

Did this ever happen to anybody else? All our future bookings are gone! 

We cannot even message our guests anymore --- our inbox has been wiped out.

What is happening? 

23 Replies 23
Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

How awful @Aya20 

 

This is a forum of hosts and guests so we can't help with this. You need to call Airbnb immediately,

Aya20
Level 2
Makati, Philippines

Yes, thank you, I understand. They are still scratching their heads over there at Trust & Safety. Am awaiting their nth call. But I am wondering if this also happened to someone else. I just need to badly talk to someone else who experienced this and how she/he solved it.

Rebecca181
Level 10
Florence, OR

@Aya20 This has happened before to hosts who have been 'disappeared' by Airbnb. I hope this is not what is happening to you. Sometimes it takes a few days for this to be made clear. It's happened to quite a few hosts, and recently happened to David in Colorado (a well established host and contributor to this forum here) a few months ago. He was 'disappeared' by Airbnb for offenses he was not aware of or ever informed of and it started out in this same way. Do keep us posted, this must be just awful for you - It is a strange thing to say, but in this case, let's hope it is an (isolated incidence) of being hacked!

Thanks, Rebecca. I spoke with someone from Airbnb and it seems that their Trust & Safety Team intentionally cancelled all my bookings and deleted my inbox.No official advice yet on why they did this though. They also suspended my co-host's account. The worst part is, they did this without any notice or warning. I have been advocating Airbnb rental among friends and family as a way to partly pay for mortgages of condo investments. Because that's what I have been doing and now I have several condominium units. I feel so drained and stressed about this. Not worth it.

Mark116
Level 10
Jersey City, NJ

I had a feeling it would turn out that airbnb had cancelled.  You can certainly try to find out the reasons why, but they will often simply end any communication by telling you that you broke the terms of service, without explaining why, and that's the end of things.  You can probably figure out who has reported you based on recent guests and if there were any unpleasant incidents....but not always, there was a super host here for many years whose listing was de activated and he never knew why at all.

 

I would start the process of listing your properties on other forums asap.

Susan17
Level 10
Dublin, Ireland

@Aya20 

Is there a possibility your listings may have been suspended/delisted in relation to the new Airbnb regulations for non owner-occupied rentals in Metro Manila? Sounds like legislation is quite tough there now, especially for condominium listings in owner-corporation strata buildings. I believe Airbnb had to sign up to a code of conduct, which includes sharing data with local government, which means they'll be on the hook for facilitating any transgressions, so it's likely they'll be ultra-cautious with everything particularly in these early stages. 

 

I can imagine how stressful and worrying  this is for you. Hope you manage to get some answers and resolution soon.

Aya20
Level 2
Makati, Philippines

Thank you so much for all your responses. 


There was actually no explanation until now. Everything's back to normal after a few days but the cancelled bookings created so much chaos. Dealing with the disgruntled cancelled guests was hard. But I think I had PTSD from it.

This exact thing just happened to me an hour again. My home is unlisted and all future reservations gone too! Airbnb not picking up the phone!!!!

@Suzy69 Did you ever find out what happened? Did you get re-listed?

New regulation in NYC says one house, one host. I fit this category. But I have a manager who helps me. He has other listings that he manages. We were lopped together and cut off in a NYC Airbnb sting. If Airbnb would support their members, we could have made them understand that we honestly didn't break any rules. Airbnb, in their attempt to appease the new city law, did not care to listen to why we got targeted incorrectly.

By removing the managers contact information from my profile, I was able to begin a new listing. By contacting all cancelled guests for the year, all but two rebooked on my new site.  I lost some money, and with plenty of aggravation, got back on board. I now know that Airbnb does NOT have our back. Very disappointed.

This has just happened to me! I have spent 2 hours contacting guests but as it's in the middle of the night most are not replying. One has been able to re-book, one booked elsewhere, & one is blaming me 😞

I've contacted Airbnb regarding every single reservation but not yet had a reply.

Seriously thinking of listing elsewhere!!

Airbnb is crappy in communicating. They should spend some of their millions to fix this. We deserve better communication as we help each other grow business. We need them but they would be nowhere without us. I feel that as a host, I rep their business. But they don't have

my back. 

If you list a phone number that connects to another listing elsewhere ( another address or manager who helps other Airbnb houses) you might get cut off. If your listing is in a multi family dwelling, you might get cut off. Check the regulations of your town.

Aya20
Level 2
Makati, Philippines

Oh no, so sorry to hear this. Airbnb never fixed it,  I also never found out what triggered it. 😞

@Aya20 Did you get your listing reinstated on Airbnb? Sounded like you did (above) and was wondering how you were able to do this successfully as most never do. Although one host in Balitimore, MD took Airbnb to Court and she won and she was reinstated. And the Judge chewed out the attorney representing Airbnb for their shameful treatment of the host. It's on YouTube (the audio), perhaps you have already seen it. @Karen1142 this might interest you as well.