FYI hosts, run your own background checks- Airbnb’s ‘checks’ not accurate

[Jess78]

Hello everyone,

I’ve been through an ordeal this past week, details of which are in another thread that I won’t launch into here, but you can certainly search for it if you’re interested.

i had a guest that left and I discovered lots of illegal drug use, possible manufacturing, in my home. This was NOT just pot, which is legal here in Oregon. 

The result of a lotof grief with Airbnb about this over the past week is this: 

-I Ran my own background check and I found criminal activity in August of 2015 that was not a traffic offense 

-no contact from the Trust and Safety team, despite 3 promises that they would contact me.

-i received $50.oo in damages due to the ‘odor’ left and nothing else

-I consulted with a hazmat team and followed their instructions,  it there was no advice or contact from Airbnb concerning guest health and safety or my home’s safety. NONE!!!

- no help from Airbnb in getting the drug criminal removed from using this service— he Is probably staying in someone else’s home right now. They said they ‘flagged’ him which only internal employees can see, not potential hosts. Again, HE HAS A CRIMINAL HISTORY and is known to have injected drugs in his body in a host’s home and he is still out and about on this site. 

The local cal news has been contacted about this, even though I hate to do that. All I wanted was a little support from trust and safety and I got absolutely nothing. And now other users of this site are at risk. 

Delisting my two properties as soon as it’s possible and I would recommend the same to others.

[Scott308]

Rich, Perhaps that's because they took the same "cop- out" approach as eBay, after Chesky & co. consulted with John Donahoo (i.e. eBay inc's and Bain Capital's former CEO, in preparation for their planned 2020 IPO on Wall Street) to "outsource" CS to"Trust & Safety" (ala eBay, etc.) so there employee costs to 'liability' is less vulnerable, under the US Municipal Corporation, UCC and Maritime Admiralty law of "High Seas' commerce? (In theory, anyway...) BAD MOVE, AirBnB. Quite foolishly "short sighted," actually. GREED must then be, the "primary motivation" behind throwing the clientele, "under the bus?" (Just as eBay, did... I sold ecom under Donahoo and Whitman. BOTH, ex Wall Streeters and GARBAGE.)

[JoJo50]

Hi @Jess78 

I'm sorry this happened to you. 

We had a major police bust of an Airbnb in my neighborhood where they found GUNS and DRUGS.

I would love to talk to you in person if you would be willing.

Let me know and we can figure out how to connect.

Thank you for posting this!!

JoJo

[Florence372]

I can totally relate to everyone's experiences here.  Had 2 nightmare groups last year involving drugs and heavy all-day weed smoking + late night parties - Airbnb support was not only extremely time consuming but useless and frustrating.  Just wanted to share the house rules I started to include for all reservations - they sound like a lot but i prefer not to take the reservation if they don't agree to this:

1) PHOTO ID or PASSPORT is required to send in advance of check in for ALL guests staying in the listing. All guests must be present at check in. No outside guests are allowed to stay overnight other than the registered guests in the reservation.  

2) Security deposit in cash or venmo/zelle is required ( Airbnb doesnt really required security deposit and if something happens it's really difficult to get money to cover your expenses or repairs)

3) NON-SMOKING STRICT POLICY:  This is a NON-SMOKING APARTMENT AND BUILDING (This includes Vaping , marihuana and any other form of smoking). You are not permitted to smoke anywhere on the property including outdoor common areas, the apartment's backyard and inside the front entrance gate. You have to exit the building completely to smoke. Any evidence of smoking or vaping including any odors felt will constitute a violation of this no smoking policy. Host can request an immediate inspection of the unit if a smoking smell is felt or seen and guests must provide access to the unit. Any violation of the smoking policy will incur on a $250 fine plus additional costs of professional laundry and cleaning necessary to remove smoke odors - all these amounts will be subtracted from your deposit. Also a reminder that violation of the no-smoking policy is grounds for immediate booking termination and eviction with no refund.

[Rd4]

I'm a long time airbnb guest and have traveled all over the world using this service. I was just recently asked for a government issued id and informed the host would pull a background check (even though airbnb has had my driver's license for over a decade to verify my identity and this is a work trip).  On further examination, the host agreement says they can use any and all data for advertising, marketing, sell to a third party or sell to another company as assets for any reason.  Is it ok to just turn over my social, dob, driver's license number and all my background history to someone working off a windows machine in their home office? It seems ludicrous and incredibly risky.  Would any of the hosts here do that?