We live in Dominican Republic and supplement our housing costs by renting out rooms in our home on Airbnb. The listings are always very specific (maybe overly detailed -- we are sticklers for setting real expectations and then exceeding them rather than disappointing by leaving something out): we live in the space, too, and there are animals and a small child. Eg. the room is private with a locking door, but the kitchen/living room/outdoor spaces are shared; we have pets that also live in the house so if you don't like that or have allergies, it's not the right place for you; our daughter's toys are sometimes left on the living room floor for a few hours between clean ups, etc. We've been doing this for something like 4 years now, we're Superhosts, and have met a ton of really greatworld travelers.
We had an 8-night reservation show a week ago who was surprised that it wasn't a private 2BR condo for her and her boyfriend...obviously she didn't read any of the listing because it clearly says "Private Room + Shared bath" and a full description of the shared areas, but hey, it happens. She's new to Airbnb (joined December 2018 and we went against our normal policy of not accepting new Airbnbers because they really don't get the shared economy culture until after a few stays and it's usually more of a headache to deal with that) and clearly doesn't understand how Airbnb works. She arrived, we talked for ~10 minutes, showed her the space and opened up her reservation on Airbnb online on my computer so she could read the listing in more detail, offered to help her find a new place when she said she wanted to leave, use our phone/internet/electricity to help make things smoother, coffee, bathroom. She refused all offers of help and said that her mom lived in town, no big deal.
My wife called Airbnb to help with the cancellation after she left, a few days later Airbnb was able to get in touch with her and confirm she left, and we automatically refunded according to the terms of Airbnb. She ended up renting an apartment in our same building directly from the landlord. Everybody was happy or so we believed.
Well, a week later (this past Tuesday) the police showed up and arrested me for "fraud" on the word of this woman. She told the local court that she thought she rented a 2BR condo and that we had defrauded her online. She is a local while we are foreigners. She knows people in the local courthouse while we do not.
After much discussion with the local authorities, we were forced to pay for her 8 day stay at the apartment out of our own pocket, because she had been "defrauded" she had to go over her budget on accommodations blah blah blah. Well, my wife paid this reimbursement in order to get me out of jail. Now we're left with this woman not only basically robbing us, but also with the opportunity to leave a bad review because she canceled on the same day as check-in. We made Airbnb aware of the situation and the response we're getting is:
Arthur B, Feb 19, 13:58 PST:
We'd like:
- for Airbnb to help us recover the $400 that we had to pay her (Host Protection?) because our listing very clearly states what she paid for is what she received (and refused)
- to report her account as a scammer and have it closed to protect future hosts from experiencing this with her
- to remove her ability to write a review
What would you do? We've never, ever had anything like this happen with a guest before.
Hello,
Unfortunately, we are unable to assist you with that.
Arthur
www.airbnb.com/help