Account access limited due to retaliatory guest

[Heather1086]

Hi all...

First time posting, but I have come to this forum frequently as I started hosting with Airbnb last winter. We have had fantastic guests and superhost status.  At the end of July we Had a guest who during her time there I heard nothing from.  So of course assumed all was well... as she left she sent in a review right away... I was assuming 5⭐️ Like every other guest.  My housekeeper comes a few hours later and finds a mess.  Broken furniture, stained quilt, mountain of garbage, etc.  

I call Airbnb and message about what to do, and use the resolution center for replacement and repair of items.  I also leave an accurate review so future hosts have an idea of this renter.  At that point I can read her review, which has low stars across the board.  Her public review is accurate but all the private comments are full of lies.  Airbnb understandably leaves the review since it didn’t violate policy.  

It had the feel of retaliatory given the damage.

Next, she pays for damages in the resolution center and in less than 24 hrs I get a resolution center request for refund of the cleaning fee.  I call CS and am guided in blocking the guest and told it’s okay to decline especially since it seems retaliatory considering she just paid for damages.  In my response to her I let her know that if there were issues during her stay she could have contacted me and I would have worked to make things right.

i think this is all over until last night.  I got an email from Airbnb notifying me that my account had been made limited due to a report of security cameras.  Which is accurate and fully disclosed on my listing.  All exterior cameras show what can be seen from the street or neighbour's house.  During the guests time there they tampered with them and redirected them.  I would assume that Airbnb would go to my listing first to see the disclosure before freezing my acct.

I am fully booked to mid-October and so worried about losing those reservations... we just started to recover after the covid cancellations.  Any advice???  Anyone dealt with similar before?  I’m waiting for my phone call per the letter they sent.

[Fred13]

I looked at your reviews, I can't find a bad one.  Airbnb's review system does have its pitfalls and is subject to outright abuse. 

What does "Broken furniture, stained quilt, mountain of garbage, etc. " really amounted to, in monetary terms? In comparison to what you charge?, which I can't tell because your listing is in limbo. Relevant facts, it determines if it was all worth it. In reality,  Airbnb is a very spooked/pandering company toward guests, and those guests can manipulate them easily and do so constantly. This guest changed the direction of the cameras and took pictures of them during their stay; who does this? What was their original intent? Why would Airbnb fall for this?

  Airbnb/guests both need to be dealt with some degree of gamesmanship and pragmatism. I get the sense that at some point in this whole tete 'a tete you could have thrown something back and skip the next escalating stage of false accusation, which has little consequences nowadays. 

For some reason this reminds of Guns & Roses' song - 'Welcome to the Jungle". 

[Heather1086]

Welcome to the jungle seems perfect!!!  Thanks for the feedback.

[Fred13]

Btw, you do run a nice place and obviously run a good shift, this is an outlier. Happens to all of us.

[Heather1086]

Yeah I think the email with freezing my account compounded with all of the covid cancellations has made me aware of how Airbnb runs.  I am hopeful that my account is reinstated soon and my upcoming reservations stay intact.

btw if I am ever in Belize (which is on my bucket list) your place looks incredible!

[Fred13]

Thanks. Btw, I have heard of a few cases lately like this, a gamester makes an insane accusation, Airbnb 'must' look into it, and then host gets reinstate. It's the times.

[Heather1086]

Fingers crossed for a quick reinstate!  

[Colleen253]

@Heather1086  I don’t have much to add here, but do wonder if you also mention the cameras in your house rules? Airbnb requires you do, even if you disclose them in ‘safety and property‘. If you do, then I don’t think they should have suspended your listing. But as others have alluded, it’s a bit of a “jungle” these days and easy to get shoved offside. Once you’re offside, even if you’re in the right, the challenge is getting hold of anyone at CS who is competent (and never mind in a timely manner!) to make things right. 

[Sarah977]

@Colleen253  She said in her OP that the cameras are fully disclosed in her listing and went on to say she didn't understand why Airbnb wouldn't simply check her listing to confirm that rather than suspend her.

[Colleen253]

Yes but many hosts think that fully disclosed means mentioned in the listing or safety and property or both. It’s not obvious that they need to also be mentioned in the house rules as well. Which is utter silliness on Airbnb’s part. @Sarah977 

[Heather1086]

I had it listed in safety and property from the day we installed them, and recently added them to the house rules (once I became aware prior to all this). When I put them in and I listed it in the safety & property I didn't see a pop up to also put them in house rules.  We have hosted around 22 groups, 19 on airbnb and this is the first (thankfully!) that has had any problem with the house, cameras, etc.  Everyone has absolutely loved the house and their time there... oh well!  I can't figure out what this person is wanting?  It has been non-stop allegations of one thing or another since the day the group checked out.  The group that came right after her gave the house 5 stars and loved their time...

[Colleen253]

@Heather1086 So Airbnb was definitely in the wrong to suspend your listing. Can you take this to social media and call them out that way? Many hosts have reported success getting an issue resolved quickly that way. 

[Huma0]

@Heather1086 

Sorry for your bad experience. I hope your listing status gets sorted soon as that seems to be the most pressing concern here. Airbnb CS is harder to deal with right now than prior to COVID-19, but don't give up.

On another note, you said you heard nothing from the guest so assumed everything was okay. Does that mean you asked her (via the Airbnb messaging) if everything was okay and she never responded, or that you just expected her to let you know if anything was up?

If the latter, don't rely on the guest for this. I check the guests in personally and am a live in host so get a fairly good idea of how the guests feel about the listing, but still, I always message (usually the day after check in, maybe after a couple of days for a longer stay) to ask them if everything is okay or if there is anything else they need. Not only does this help to avoid misunderstandings and give you a chance to remedy anything that they are not happy with, but you then have it there in writing that "everything is great, thanks!" as an extra back up should the guest turn out to be problematic.

[Heather1086]

Thanks for the advice.  Have stared doing the check in since this incident... having come off of so many 5⭐️ And everyone being happy or letting me know of questions I didn’t want to be intrusive to their time and let them feel like the space was theirs.  This has for sure led me to the check in via messenger.  Lesson learned and hopefully I get this all sorted out soon!

[Sarah977 · Accepted solution]

@Heather1086  It seems that you were aware during the guest's stay that they had changed the direction of the cameras? If so, that should have resulted in a immediate message to the guest from you to reposition the cameras as they were. II would have also contacted Airbnb at that point to let them know the guest had done this.

If a guest is doing something they should't, it's best to get ahead of it by taking action. Then at least Airbnb has a record of it.