On March 2nd I had a rogue guest in my family home who held a party for 30 people, spilled beer on our brand new oiled white oak floors, stole an expensive portable speaker, smoked cigarettes, cigars and joints on my deck, vomited on an expensive antique quilt and brought in huge, rented speakers which they used to blast the house until neighbours threatened to call the police. My trusty cleaning lady had to shut down the party at 1.00 am because I was out of town enjoying a night away with my husband and 9 year old.
My house rules state: no evening guests beyond a maximum of 10, no smoking and no excessive noise after 11. I have ample documentation that these rules were broken.
I initiated a conversation with Mark, my guest, and he admitted in writing to having 20 guests (there were more), blowing the rented speakers he'd brought to my house and borrowing mine, and to letting things get generally out of control, with uninvited guests being allowed in. I started a case with the Resolution Centre that same day. (March 3rd).
Things went wrong with Airbnb from Day 1 of this process. Weeks went by with endless calls and messages, and this was just to try to 'Involve Airbnb' because the interface wasn't working properly and I was unable to hit the correct button. Eventually I was assigned two case managers: Mark, for Trust and Safety, and Jack for my property claim. Jack asked for:
- a police report
- a receipt for the replacement speaker
- a quote for repairing my floor
- a photo of the stolen speaker in my house as proof of ownership.
I provided all these in a timely fashion. The quote for the floor stated $1600 to fix it. Jack said Airbnb would only pay $300. He mistakenly though the flooring company had said it was $600. I responded numerous times to his messages - he'd started to just repeat himself, in a curt and insulting tone, with a cut and paste email that he sent repeatedly, without reading or understanding my message to him. He ignored my messages and started to threaten to close my case without resolving it, if I didn't agree to his offer within 72 hours. This was on April 11th. I responded straight away, saying that I could not click that link and accept his offer, because I didn't agree to the offer and wanted him to read my messages and address my concern, before I agreed to anything.
I was being bullied and coerced into signing a resolution agreement I had excellent reason not to agree with.
The next I heard, this Airbnb employee had closed my case. I was not reimbursed for my stolen speaker, or the beer-damaged floor. Other employees - including the Trust and Safety employee, (also called Mark), assured me the case was still open and they were trying to work with Jack to encourage him to keep the conversation with me open. Things became very bizarre, and very untrustworthy; it was implied that this employee was allowed to simply take matters into his own hands, flout Airbnb's resolution process by arbitrarily closing a claim that was open and had all the paperwork submitted and accepted, and essentially take up about 15 hours of my time on numerous phone calls, emails and messages (including literally 3-4 hours on hold, on several phone calls) and then shut the door in my face. I was told that there was simply nothing to be done; Jack could do as he pleased, and I was the victim. Airbnb thought it was OK to simply close off my case, give me nothing for my stolen and damaged goods, and 'disengage' (i.e. break its promises and refuse to discuss further).
Note: I had replied to Jack's message and complied with everything required by Airbnb. Essentially, at this point the company has 'gone rogue' on me and broken its Terms of Service and its customer service committment to me.
I run 6 Airbnb properties and frankly, this is not going to stop here. I will do all it takes, to ensure that these unethical and illegal practices - and supporting the activities of unprofessional rogue employees who try to cut off contact in the middle of a Resolution proceedure - are publicized and stopped. My family and I have suffered a lot of anxiety and stress as our efforts at resolution are met with such incredible rudeness lack of cooperation. Simplye human values such as respect and honesty are lacking here: it is not OK. It's also not legal to ask a customer to click a link to an offer they don't agree with, then remove the entire offer.
If, as Airbnb users, you have any advice for me on how to proceed, I would find that very useful.
