Airbnb called me trying to re-house a party

[Inna22]

I was without my phone for about half hour and came back to several missed phone calls from Airbnb. I freaked out thinking something was terribly wrong. They called almost immediately and told me they were calling on behalf of a guest to help them book. Right away I got suspicious and asked why this guest needed help with the reservation and why was this so urgent. To make a long story short, this person was just canceled by another host because the host realized they were planning on having a party and Airbnb was calling around to see who would take them. First off, they were not upfront with me as to why this guest was being rehoused. It took a lot of questions to get to the bottom of it and CS was being very vague. Second of all, my initial reaction was to trust Airbnb. If they’re calling and asking me on someone’s behalf, this must be a good reservation. They would not knowingly give me a house party reservation, not at least after everything that happened, I thought. I only got suspicious because in the past when I canceled guess I knew Airbnb was dumping them on another unsuspecting host. I would think most hosts would trust Airbnb in this situation and they are exploiting that. Their persistence and devotion to accommodating the guest was fascinating. This person was dialing me for a good half hour nonstop until I answered. I of coursed drilled the rep about the entire notion of rehousing a known party. I was told that as long as both sides are ok with it being a party, airbnb no problem with it. I did see a blurb about that in the announcement. How does the idea of party houses being banned goes with the idea of parties being ok if the host is ok with them? I assumed at the time that blurb was more about events- weddings, etc but apparently that blurb was all about nothing changing with the way business would be done. Furthermore, Airbnb was not upfront with me about this being a party at all, so my agreement to host this guest would have been based on deception. Do they really make enough money on these reservations to offset the negative publicity and the cost of repairs of host houses?

[Inna22]

@Lizzie the only thing I know about their intentions is that they were planning on playing loud music after than come back from a boat after midnight. This is an apartment building. I have quite hours in my house rules. Furthermore, I check IDs (also in the listing in several places) and they were not willing to show theirs. Honest people have nothing to hide. Also, if they are planning on blasting music after midnight, even if someone would accept them, how is that airbnb being a good community member as per claim it makes?

[Rowena29]

Wow @Inna22 

You sure do seem to come in for more than your fair share of airbnb difficulties.

I think what you experienced is disgusting, but like others, I"m not surprised.  I know that if I ever get a similar call, I will be on high alert.  I'd like to be positive and say  we need to allow a time lag between ANNOUNCEMENTS of changes and staff education to manage said changes. Perhaps I'm overly cynical, but it seems the announcements are spin with very little practical, demonstrable  alteration. I'd loved to be proved wrong.

[Melodie-And-John0]

Wow @Inna22 , thats not the kind of service that we pay for in those fees but I guess I dont really think Airbnb will ever be to us what we think they should when it comes to our safety and security.  We have had a few recent situations with Airbnb guests that let me know that we must continually be aware, prepared, questioning and learning as my wife and I continue in our roles as Owners and Resident Inn Keep's for Bearpath Lodging, a place that has served on and off as an Inn at the top of the hill for 200 years. 

Whats notable is that this kind of guest shenanigans isn't new for inns, hotels and lodgings, its probably just the nature of the business that some guests are gonna play games with our Guest Rules and and we need to be ready to respond when they do, my guess is the Philpots had guests arrive on horseback or buckboard 200 years ago that weren't fit to be here and had to deal with it first hand, my guess is our  challenges will be less daunting! 

[Michelle53]

@Inna22    Airbnb Q&A says this :-

"Can I still allow guests to host parties in my single-family home?

We’ll continue to allow hosts of single-family homes to make their listings available for closed-invite parties and events, which you can specify in your House Rules."

CX was probably hoping you would say ok to the reservation, so that means it is now "authorized" by you, and they could blame you later in case anything went wrong.  The split-second you accept the reservation is when the responsibility transfers to you.  CX wants to move it along as fast as they possibly can. 

My guess is they were only calling people who actually do allow parties. I can't imagine they would be calling someone who has the "no parties or events" box checked.  The question, in this case, is really "what kind of party?"    If it's a closed-invite party, it's allowed. If it's an open-invite party, it's not allowed. 

[Suzanne302]

@Inna22  Un-freakin-believable. As a homeshare host I don't really have to worry about house parties, but it's a shame Airbnb tries so hard to re-house guests who are breaking house rules. As someone else mentioned, if all problem guests were just denied re-housing are they really losing that much money??

More and more it feels as though Airbnb bends over backwards to please bad guests, yet punishes good hosts for minor infractions.

[Ute42]

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@Inna22 

Whenever any of us hosts gets a call from airbnb to accept guests being rehoused, we should always ask for the phonenumber of the host before us. Only a phonecall with the previous host will unveal the real circumstances of the rehousing.

Without such a phonecall, no acceptance of rehoused guests at all.

[Jennifer1421]

That's a fantastic approach, @Ute42 - so elegant and simple! Thank you for this suggestion, should I ever need it in the future.

[Emilia42]

@Jennifer1421 @Ute42 No way Airbnb will give out that info so, "Sorry, no way I will blindly rehouse this guest." 

[Ute42]

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@Emilia42 

Correct. If all the hosts would insist on the phonenumber of the previous host and airbnb doesn't provide it, they would just not be able to rehouse anyone. It's as simple as that.

[Alon1]

@Ute42@Emilia42 @Susan17 

O" for the good old days... 

In the first years of Airbnb, up to about 2014, (Susan probably knows the exact date), it was possible to connect by phone. Customer Services would connect the two parties & monitor the phone calls.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Emilia42 @Ute42 

By reading this forum I also noticed how a rehoused guests are often trouble and decided not to accept any of them if Airbnb ever contacts me.

I agree, there is no way Airbnb would give us the contact of the previous host and hosts should always ask for it. Unfortunately, this forum doesn't have many followers, we are a minority, most hosts are very badly informed about what's going on and they would probably be happy to get a last-minute reservation.

[Sarah977]

@Branka-and-Silvia0  I just read a post on another forum where Airbnb called a host to rehouse someone in spite of the fact that the host's calendar was blocked for that day. Talk about disrespect.

[Michelle53]

Early in my hosting days, I had four girls party in my space, on their last night. Just themselves, but alcohol was involved.  This isn't the general notion of what might consitute them "throwing a party". Probably in line with the notion of "enjoying themselves".    

They caused quite a lot of damage by getting drunk. Broke a caster off the roll-away bed, slammed the bathroom door so it split, left rings on furniture, and bottles everywhere. 

My policy, now, is, of course, "no parties or events", but also "no alcohol allowed on the premises". 

While I can't prevent people going out and drinking, at least I can try to prevent them staying in and drinking.

[Donata12]

This summer i contacted Airbnb after noticing that an upcoming booking i had accepted a few months prior that had no reviews at the time i accepted it (and was satisfied with the info provided by the guest), now had 1 review and was bad. I asked to find out how bad and they told disclose the other host phone number. The other host was also in Toronto. CS called the other host and she agreed to be called and only at that time ABB gave me the number. I ended up cancelling with no penalty. the guest was bad enough.

I guess that interactions between hosts are handled in different ways based on the CS?

[Alon1]

@Donata12 

It's good to know it's still possible to be connected by phone.