Bad experiences w evacuees

Linda324
Level 3
Altadena, CA

Bad experiences w evacuees

I have a couple who scammed Airbnb into posting them as evacuees. They are from no where any fire. I went to turn off lights and blasting a/c w no one there and found drug paraphernalia everywhere. Airbnb is zero help! I have to call the cops to get them out. W.TF???

22 Replies 22
Helen427
Level 10
Auckland, New Zealand

hello @Linda324 
Sorry to read of your unfortunate experience.

Yes of course you have to contact the Police, they are Law Enforcement, not ABB C/S who you must also advise.

 

Make sure you take photographs.

You may also like to ensure with future Guests you obtain Car model, colour and registration regardless of who they are prior to arrival.

 

Take care

Linda324
Level 3
Altadena, CA

Thank you Helen. I have been sending urgent messages to top level Abb folk who have not replied to anything in over 36hrs  I let them know I am calling the sheriff tomorrow if these girls don’t leave before 8am. I photos the car plates. The room was so upsetting I just ran out. Literally 4 dildoes on my brand new comforter. Pipes, huge cakes of hash and everything thrashed. 

Ugh

Pete69
Level 10
Los Angeles, CA

I don't get the whole notion that these displaced people need a FREE place to stay. They're homeowners. They HAVE money. If their homes burned down then insurance is going to pay for their lodging.

 

The next time I need to have my house in Pacific Palisades tented for termites then maybe Airbnb will help me get a FREE place to stay. I'm displaced. Show some compassion.

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

Wow @Pete69 

 

What an unsympathetic response.

 

Why would you assume everyone affected by a disaster is a home-owner?

 

It is always the most poor who have little whose lives are devastated by natural disasters. Surely you remember the impact on Hurricane Katrina in the New Orleans area and those having to live in makeshift inadequate shelters for weeks at a time. Do you really believe the 134,000 that lost their homes all owned them and all had appropriate home insurance?

 

Show some compassion.

Unsympathetic? Read the original post. Scammers LOVE to take advantage of people after disasters. Airbnb is evidently helping to accommodate scammers.

134,000? Nice apples to oranges comparison. This thread is about the Saddleridge fire in which tens of structures burned.

Having homeowner's insurance is elementary.

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

I wasn't referring to Linda's awful experience with scammers. I was referring to your comment

 

"I don't get the whole notion that these displaced people need a FREE place to stay. They're homeowners. They HAVE money. If their homes burned down then insurance is going to pay for their lodging".

 

Your comment was a general one about the concept that displaced people facing disasters not needing a free place to stay.  Not all those displaced in disasters are home owners or have home insurance which will cover all their housing costs.

 

My comment stands.

I agree with @Pete69 , I've heard enough stories about people who needed a place to stay due to some disaster or the war and then they destroyed the home/hotel and the homeowner couldn't kick them out. This is not happening only on Airbnb it is everywhere.

 

G-C-R-M0
Level 7
California, United States

@Linda324  - Are you saying they are still there?  I would try to get them leave ASAP.

 

BTW, you mentioned drug, and in later posting you mentioned hash cakes.  Keep in mind marijuana is legal in CA now, so if the drug you found is hash I am afraid nothing much we can do as host. 

 

We had a similar issue this past Aug. Ironically similar to your case, the person also left AC running for who knows how long, while the door was cracked open about 10 inch (we only found out because we came after their supposed check-out time but apparently didn't leave yet), and they actually weren't there the whole night, but their stuff was still in there when we came to clean up.

 

When we came in, the place was pretty much trashed, they had marijuana in several places, juul tips or whatever it's called (our rule says no smoking or vaping!). All we could do was took pictures, took license plate picture too.  We tried to contact authorities, but they couldn't do much since marijuana, a type of drug, is already legal in CA.

@Linda324  There is no reason you can't evict the guests immediately, on the spot. Even if they aren't actually breaking any rules or laws, these are not paying customers and you have no contractual obligations to them. 

 

It's really awesome that you're willing to open your home to evacuees, but sadly Airbnb is not stepping up to provide enough vetting or support to it safe to offer your home charitably on their site.  

 

 

Be a little careful, Andrew.

 

Airbnb seems to view an Open Homes reservation the same way they do a paid booking. I've heard of at least 2 hosts who ran into major issues with cancelling poorly vetted guests in the Open Homes program.

 

One was this host:

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Airbnb-perm-deactivated-my-sprhost-account-after-kicking...

 

Another may have been on another forum (at least I'm not finding it here). When she called Airbnb they said she could cancel, but the same penalties applied (lost SH status and some sort of fine).

 

Open Homes is a good in theory, but in practice it's a threat to your Airbnb business with little reason to recommend it. Hosts would be better off volunteering their homes to organizations who have a better track record than Airbnb - Habitat for Humanity and Red Cross come to mind.

 

Either of those are also recognized charitable organizations, so your contribution is tax deductible. (Open Homes isn't; it's a nice marketing trick for Airbnb to pretend hosts' goodwill is their own)

@Allison2 Thankfully, that host you linked to had their listings re-instated, but yes, so crazy that they had to go through that situation.

 

Based on the stories that I've seen on this forum, I would never offer to host through Open Homes. It's so crazy to me that Airbnb offers your home for free, but does no checks on the people who will be staying. It seems to be ripe for abuse.

 

 

@Allison2   Thank you for linking that thread; this story makes it all the more disturbing.

 

What's not clear to me from that post is which of the host's actions was the basis of Airbnb's deactivation. I wish the host had followed up on the thread, because it sounds like something went spectacularly wrong there. Even though it's clear that Airbnb reversed its decision, the host must have suffered some income loss in the process. Even so, I will stand by one principle here: there is nothing Airbnb can do to you that justifies tolerating violations of your House Rules or any behaviors that endanger your property or well-being. Defend your home first - with police if necessary - and deal with your listing service later. 

 

@G-C-R-M0 Marijuana is legal in California, so the guests are not violating state law by possessing it. But if they don't have the right of tenancy (which generally applies to stays of 30+ days), and the host revokes their permission to be on the property for any reason, they are still in violation of California Penal Code Section 602 PC (Trespassing) if they do not depart. If money was exchanged, the host may be liable for a refund when terminating a booking, but they still retain the right to eject the guest at any time.

 

@Airbnb  if anyone out there is listening - if Open Homes is genuinely a philanthropic cause, prove to us that it's not just a cynical marketing stunt. Here's the obvious way to make it work:  instead of asking hosts to carry the risk and income loss of throwing their doors open in an emergency, why don't you use your considerable resources to vet guests in need and issue them travel credits, so that they can request an Airbnb home as a normal customer?

 

The only logical reason you wouldn't choose to do it this way is that you want to get all the public-relations glory without losing out on any profit. Shame, shame, shame.

 

 

 

G-C-R-M0
Level 7
California, United States

@Anonymous - Right. Thanks for clarifying that. That's exactly what I meant. I just wasn't sure if the "drug" mentioned earlier was "just" marijuana or it was something else that can still be considered illegal substance in CA.

Yes, that Cal PC section 602 PC is spot on.

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

It's really stupid and irresponsible of Airbnb to not be super diligent about thoroughly vetting guests who apply to the Open Homes program and not being immediately responsive to hosts who have joined it, trying to be socially responsible person. It's a slap in the face to those who are trying to be compassionate.

It's a noble program, but doomed to failure unless adminstered properly.