Christopher J, wheelchair access, legals

[Julie394]

My listings are not suitable for guests who use wheelchairs as there are steps inside the apartment. This is clearly stipulated on the listing’s description. On 28 December 2018, at 8 am, I received an email from Christopher J to the effect that all my listings were suspended. I’ve searched the portal immediately and none of my listing were active.

Please see below of the actual email:

“My name is Christopher and I work here at Airbnb.

I’m writing to let you know that we’ve received a report of a statement made to your guest, which may have violated our nondiscrimination policy. The report that we received alleges that you made a statement that suggested you were unable to accommodate her group because someone traveling with her required the use of a mobility device.

We wanted to reach out because a statement like this does go against our nondiscrimination policy as Airbnb hosts may not prohibit or limit the use of mobility devices..

Airbnb exists to create a world where everyone can belong. You can read more about our nondiscrimination policy here: www.airbnb.com/help/nondiscrimination.

At this time, your account access has been limited, and you will be unable to accept any new reservations. Please confirm that you have read and understood this policy, and that you agree to our commitment to inclusion.

Let me know if I can answer any questions about the standards you’ve agreed to as an Airbnb user. I look forward to your response.

Best regards,

Christopher”

I responded to advise Christopher that:

1. There are actually laws around this (disability requirements) and as far as I know I am entirely compliant with it, due to the design of the building, something entirely beyond my control. 
2. What happened was - on the day the guests were expected to check in – check in time is after 3 pm – I received a call early in the morning from a delivery company to inform me that the wheelchair I ordered has arrived, they have it in front of the entry door to the building.
3. As I do not reside in the building and have not ordered a wheelchair, I declined the delivery, as I did not order any wheelchair.  The delivery person then made a scene with the building manager and later, the building manager advised they are considering reporting me to the body corporate for causing nuisance.  
4. After the incident, I telephoned the delivery company to enquire about this error. The advised that a person with the name of my guest ordered this on my behalf.
5. Then I telephoned the guest and asked about the issue. The guests apparently had no intention of letting me know that they broadcasted all my private information to a third party without my consent and they had the arrangement with the delivery company for the wheelchair to be delivered later in the afternoon, assuming they will answer the intercom and receive the delivery.
6. I then asked the guest that as they accepted the house rules where it is clearly stated, the listing is not suitable for wheelchairs, why didn’t they at least advise me they will stay against this condition and why they broadcasted all my private information to a third party without my consent.
7. The guest apologised about “the craziness” – this was what they said. Then we clarified the arrival time of the group.
8. At around 3 pm, I received a phone call from another female member yelling at me and being abusive about the delivery issue. While she was yelling at me, another male member of the group, obviously grabbed the phone and continued the rant advising they will cancel the reservation and stay in a hotel. I tried to reason with them, but civil conversation was not in their menu of their communication skills.

There was no further communication with the group, they did not check in and I received the payment as per the conditions of booking.

I received the email from Christopher J, 15 days after the event.

Then a second email arrived:

“

Christopher J., Dec 27, 14:19 PST:

Hi Julie,

Thank you for your response on this matter.

Please note that Airbnb hosts may not:

Decline a guest based on any actual or perceived disability.

Impose any different terms or conditions based on the fact that the guest has a disability.

Substitute their own judgment about whether a unit meets the needs of a guest with a disability for that of the prospective guest.

Prohibit or limit the use of mobility devices.

Post any listing or make any statement that discourages or indicates a preference for or against any guest on account of the fact that the guest has a disability.

Refuse to provide reasonable accommodations, including flexibility when guests with disabilities request modest changes in your house rules, such as bringing an assistance animal that is necessary because of the disability, or using an available parking space near the unit. When a guest requests such an accommodation, the host and the guest should engage in a dialogue to explore mutually agreeable ways to ensure the unit meets the guest’s needs.

Airbnb hosts may:

Provide factually accurate information about the unit’s accessibility features (or lack of them), allowing for guests with disabilities to assess for themselves whether the unit is appropriate to their individual needs.

That said, since you've confirmed that you did not allow the guest to stay because a member in her group required a mobility device, we've decided to cancel this reservation and issue a full refund.

We will still require that you respond to our request to confirm your understanding and adherence to our Nondiscrimination Policy in order to reinstate your account.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1405/airbnb-s-nondiscrimination-policy--our-commitment-to-inclus...

Regards,

Christopher
www.airbnb.com/help”

The sentence in the above email “That said, since you've confirmed that you did not allow the guest to stay because a member in her group required a mobility device,” is a complete fabrication as I did not do that.

Then   Christopher continued: “we've decided to cancel this reservation and issue a full refund.”

Again, this was done 15 days after the event, and my account was suspended, based on a fabrication by Christopher J.

It took me 24 hours to try to reason with AirBnb that I did not do anything wrong and to convince them to restore my listings. This has caused me a significant loss, not only for the refund but for the time my listings were not available for booking. Further, the communication with the AirBnb call centre cased further distress – they told me that Christopher suspended my listing and has gone home at the end of his shift and no one else has the authority to reverse the suspension.

Has anyone else had a similar experience with Christopher J and what would be your advice please to deal with this.

Also, has anyone else had a similar experience with SJW activists.  They do all they can to harm anyone who dares to not adhere to their social demands, they often scour listings to find those which they don’t like and try to harm or “punish” those individuals.

TIA

[Juanita12]

Hi Julie, No you're not wrong. I've recently had a similar experience with AirBnB accepting a guest cancellation at short notice, against their own policy, and getting stone-walled when seeking information as to why I should foot the bill for this. HomeAway (previously Stayz) - the other platform in Australia which people use for booking whole dwellings - is equally, if not more, awful. I hope you've managed to be back up online now?

[Sarah977]

@Julie394  I pm-ed you. Check on the little envelope symbol in upper right hand side of forum pages.

[Christine615]

@Julie394

I didn't look at all the responses so this may have been covered.

1. It's true,  you can't say that the unit isn't suitable for a wheelchair because that's too overt. But you CAN say there are stairs. You can even say how many.  My listing is on the second floor of a duplex. A number of guests have asked how many stairs and I tell them three to get into the building and about 14-17 to get upstairs (the staircase winds and has three small landings. Those guests often opt not to book (knee problems, disabilities, etc.).  Here in the US a private residence is not required to install wheelchair ramps, etc. So that best we can do is let the guests know, up front, what the barriers are so THEY can decide.

2. NEVER EVER let the guest communicate a problem or dispute outside of the platform because then it's your word against their's. When this has happened to me with other disputes (airlines, etc.) I record them so there is a record. Turn on the video on your cell phone, or your computer.

3. THEY ordered something ordered to your house without notification. That seems to me to be a violation. I can get why they would want to rent something to accommodate a guest, but not informing you and putting the delivery in your name is outrageous.

I think you should escalate this up the chain. But I think, right now you were hurt by implying you couldn't accomodate a wheelchair. i'd remove that information right away and simply say - access to the unit requires (stairs, no elevator available, etc...)

Airbnb should split the difference and return at least half of the fees to you.

[Julie394]

Thanks a lot Christine - you are spot on, the issue is not only about my advice that the listing is not sutable, but the fact they orderred items on my behalf without my knowledge and the other issue is how it was handled by ABB - I am still in disbelief - we have a specific legislation in Australia regarding discrimination and ABB  has no authority to bypass the legislation in the country they operate - but they did exactly that - Cristopher J elevated himself to judge and jury having the power to dismiss the legislation operating in this country - this is what I am seeking justis about. 

[Christine615]

I just read the story about the host that did arbitration. I would escalate your complaint to a supervisor or someone above Christopher J.  Airbnb is a booking service but it can't continue to side with guests who think "renting" someone's private home gives them carte blanche to do whatever they want without getting approval from the owner.

So far I've had good experiences, but when I read the community board I'm often mystified at the customer service issues that are cropping up.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Julie394

thank you for this post, I would probably make the same mistake and just tell them my home is not wheelchair friendly as seen in my "Accessibility" amenities section. I thought it is our DUTY to warn our future guests if our home doesn't suit their needs and by not doing it we would be guilty for misinterpretation and our guests may be refunded.

But obviously I was wrong.

So I wander how should we spell "not suitable" without saying it ?

"Dear guests, you are welcome to book, just to let you know , you will have to pass xx stairs and few doors (90 and 60 cm wide). The space between the bed and the wall is just 40 cm wide and there is no place to store the wheelchair except in the common, unlocked backyard where it could be stolen. Please check our "Accessibility" amenities section and note we don't meet ANY of requirements needed to be wheelchar accessible accomodation. I hope you will enjoy your stay, looking forward to meet you!"

??? It is  maybe "correct" but it seems very ironically to me 😞

[Julie394]

Thank you for your notes Branka & Silvia - the issue is ABB takes over our properties as if they own the listing  - that being the reality, they should then publish the exact description that would be acceptable - this is absurd as it also negates the list of amenities where the wheelchair access is included or not. Still looking for a solution as to how to deal with Christopher J.

[Sarah977]

@Julie394 Yet they insist, in their TOS, that we are independent contractors in charge of our own listings, which they are non-responsible for. Independent contractors don't get admonished and have their business licenses taken away just because someone didn't like something they said or wrote, nor are they subject to the decisions of some 20 year old sitting in a call center. They want to totally control hosts, then claim not to be responsible for anything when it suits them. Pretty infuriating.

[Julie394]

Absolutely agree with your view, Sarah. Further, when Christopher played God and suspended my ABB account, I had guests in my other property. What was I supposed to do – evict them? Also, what was the status of my insurance cover with ABB providing my account was suspended and all my listings were removed? If we have status of contracting service providers ABB would be required to have answers to these questions – right now they don’t. Looking at a legal point I would say a business is as good as their worst employee re Christopher J and the concept of unconscionable conduct is very much relevant here.

[Susan17]

@Sarah977 

The issue of  "independent contractor" misclassification has been coming under strong scrutiny in both the EU and the US in recent times, and Airbnb should be paying close attention to current ongoing cases, as the implications for their future operations could be very, very serious indeed. Interesting times. 

Just one example (of many) is the California AB5 bill, from May 29th of this year, which follows on from last year's Supreme Court Dynamex case. The ruling states that businesses must use the "ABC Test" to determine whether or not a worker must be classed as an employee.

To classify their "workforce" as independent contractors, businesses must prove that the worker (a) is free from the company’s control, (b) is doing work that isn’t central to the company’s business, and (c) has an independent business in that industry. If they don’t meet all three of those conditions, then they have to be classified as employees. 

Difficult to imagine how Airbnb could truthfully claim in a court of law, that its hosts are "free from the company's control"

 https://www.thebalancesmb.com/what-is-the-abc-test-for-independent-contractors-4586615

https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/policy-and-politics/2019/5/30/18642535/california-ab5-misclassify-e...

[Susan17]

Official definition of the California ABC Test (most states have similar, though wording may vary slightly)

1. The worker is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, both under the contract for the performance of the work and in fact.
2. The worker performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity's business.
3. The worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business of the same nature as the work performed.

[Sarah977]

@Susan17  Did you see in the news today- Uber is claiming their drivers aren't a core part of their business, because they are being taken to task (via that new California bill you mention) for claiming the drivers are independent contractors instead of employees. I imagine Airbnb will follow suit- hosts aren't a core part of our business. 

[Susan17]

Lol! Yeah, it's farcical @Sarah977 ! Just like Airbnb claiming that they're nothing more than an "internet services" provider, and have nothing whatsoever to do with property management, therefore should be exempt from all the laws, disclosures and regulations that every other property-related firm must abide by and adhere to (all while buying their own property management companies, partnering with building owners to offer specisl "Airbnb leases", building their own "Airbnb-ready" high-rise developments, and funding certain "hosts" on their own platform to the tune of tens of millions)

Slowly, slowly, the chickens are coming home to roost for all these oppressive, exploitative corporate tech giants though. In the meantime, I guess we'll all just have to continue putting up with Airbnb swiping every last cent they can out of hosts' pockets, to help fund their colossal  legal fees as they fight their many, many legal battles worldwide. 

[Cathie19]

Hi @Julie394. I feel your pain and cannot add any new advice. However, I thank you for sharing your story and will send positive vibes your way for a speedy resolution. 

I needed to provide information for a guest in the past, but did this via the messages.

However,  your story has made me delete my accessibility wide entry access, as others are narrow. 

I have also just added this detailed information to my listing in “description” > “other things to note” 

————————————

 “General accessibility information for guests that may assist you in choosing the homestay space.

1. The Airbnb guest driveway is concrete and generally flat. 

2. At the front entry access point, there is a small raised entry step of approximately 50mm. 

3. This is also the same height rise/fall to the undercover entertainment space facing the pool. 

4. A few flat walking steps walk to the "sleeping /bathroom" space. There is one step that would be about 70mm rise into this space.

5. If accessing the entertainment tiled area alongside the shared pool space, (back door access) both entry areas on to this space have a one step rise/fall, each a 100mm standard rise. 

6. Laundry room entry has a higher raised access of 170mm.

7. Shower facility: There is a higher tiled barrier/ step into the shower recess. [not overly visible in shower image. This rise would be c. 290mm (11.5 inches.)

8. There are no guard or hand support rails alongside the toilet or for shower entry. However, the toilet is near the wall and hand basin.

9. The shower head can be fixed in situ or hand held.”

 ——————————

It is mundane information, but factual & more than hotels/motels generally offer.

[Julie394]

It is clear to me that if AirBnb is asking the hosts to describe their property as they see fit, we have the ownership to decide what would be appropriate to include. Given that in my case an ABB employee was given the power to play God, then ABB should set up a vetting framework for our listing before they are published and advise if the listing’s description does not fit their agenda, why that is and how to go about this. Why don't they do that - because it is illegal to administer reverse discrimination - this is what happened in my case   REVERSE discrimination.