Host - issues with AirBnB

[Pedro736]

Dear all, 

I am very frustrated. 

I have been hosting for a bit over 1 year in AirBnB and things have been working very well as long as something doesn't go wrong which in other words means that if you need AirBnB support then good luck with that... 

I want to share a couple real-life examples: 

1) A guest and partner arrive and I welcome them in, all is very well. Later on that night I woke up to noise coming from their room where I understand there's now a 3rd person (rule is clear and forbiddens more than 2). It gets worst, they were making a loud noise until 4 am so I couldn't sleep and got neighbours complaints the next day (I know, I should have walked to their room and put them out - I didn't). The day after I asked them to leave and I cancelled the reservation (they were supposed to stay for 3 days and I cut it short to 1). I raised an escalation to make sure the guests would have some sort of consequences as they left the place in a bad shape and I wanted the 3rd person to pay for having slept the night there. Here's the curious thing: Airbnb asked for proof that a 3rd person was in there with a video for example. I found this ridiculous and gave them nothing. O got zero compensation from AirBnB even though they charged the 1 night commission. 

2) More recently I welcomed guest and partner at about 3pm and all was well. Later that evening I got home to find they smoked inside the house which is clearly against the rules. I called AirBnb and asked them to cancel the reservation without penalties to the guests otherwise they wouldn't go anywhere and deciding to let them stay wasn't an option for me. After all this was done I escalated the case to find that no compensation would be provided by AirBnB even though these guests used the room and WC which means I paid my clearning lady to prepare the room and was paid nothing by the guests. AirBnB refused to pay and required photo proof that the room was used and a receipt for the cleaning service but to make matters worst they responded with a link to provide feedback and another on how to delete my account.

I don't find it surprising that so many hosts have hidden cameras, it's AirBnB promoting this by not knowing what the implications of their actions are.

Zero care for hosts, zero soft skills from the support staff and, above all, case managers just don't care about you. 

Thoughts? Should I walk to booking.com instead and say goodbye to this **bleep**ty and toxic environment? Thank you all!

[Laylee0]

@Pedro736 Oh dear. I’ve been hosting less than a year and have just had to evict one guest but ABB didn’t ask for any of this? That’s so strange! Also sad to hear you’ve had such disrespectful guests.

I do agree that ABB CS is really bad and when I have phoned I’m always left with the impression they really don’t care much and can’t be bothered, and case managers never follow through on anything even when chased. 

Can you advertise on booking.com at the same time? I know it makes it slightly harder because you’d have to keep both calendars up to date, but you could do both and see which one you prefer before switching completely. 

[Laylee0]

P.S. you’ve said it’s gone really well for you so far and that’s great so maybe don’t give up on ABB just yet. I read that they’re struggling to keep up with their own success and so I think their customer service will get better in time. But maybe more experienced hosts can chime in here. 

[Pedro736]

I have started working with Booking. Seems like their customer service is actually decent. Let's see what happens when an issue comes up. 

[Jeanne249]

I think a lot of users are unhappy with the platform.  We need more options.  I hope someone can come up with something better.  It can't continue this way for much longer.  Anyone who can, is opting out.  This is so not worth the BS.  But we are living in desperate times, dominated by greed by those who have the power and are in control.

[Pedro736]

I definitely agree, was feeling powerless and it's not a good feeling. I have started working with Booking.com as I feel I will get a better deal. Hopefully they'll be smarter at triaging the troublemakers and I guess I will figure out as soon as I have some issues coming my way.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Pedro736  Sorry to hear about your problems but even moreso about the lack of support from ABB. 

When will ABB learn that allowing guests to take dvantage like they have without them being ruled against only perpetuates the problem making it larger?

ABB need to up their game and support their assets - their hosts..

[Pedro736]

You're absolutely correct. They do not care though, at all!

[Vacation7]

Airbnb has a outstanding balance of more than $39,000, to our company, Vacation Apartments. This money owned for retention's made by Airbnb over several listing from November 2018 to the present day.

Therefore, the amounts retained by Airbnb allegedly under IRS statutes do not apply to our company since we do not  file federal income tax for income produced in Puerto Rico. Furthermore, the company has done  business with Airbnb since August of 2016, and it has never before made these retentions of (28%) on all payments due to IRS statutes. The company has contacted Airbnb on several occasions pertaining this issue and so far, Airbnb has not resolve this matter. Moreover, it has continued making the illegal retentions, not authorized by us. We are trying to avoid any litigation on this matter, so I urge you to pay in full the amount owed within the next five (5) days. We presently have in excess of forty (40) units in listings committed with  you in the next two months, which we will be forced to cancel if you do not respond. If we have no choice but to sue, we will seek the amount due, plus interest, court filling fees, attorney fees and other costs of collection.

[Susan17]

@Vacation7 

You're not alone. This has even happened to European hosts (!). Just a few examples... 

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/AirBnB-withholding-tax-for-non-US-listings-and-non-US-re...

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/IRS-WRONG-TAXES-RETAINED-OUTSIDE-USA/td-p/903456

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/US-taxes-with-held/td-p/912294

[Leplubo0]

@Vacation7  you can sue them and you should. For sure you'll recover your attorney fees plus punitive damages. You are supposed to go to arbitration by the terms, so file for arbitration too, but because tax matters are urgent, you have a good reason to sue them directly while arbitration process is pending.

[Vacation7]

Thanks for contact me and let me know about everything. Now we need to increase all the rentals to 28% to 30%. We have more than 40 reservations coming I will start to cancel all my reservations

[Leplubo0]

@Pedro736 welcome to the club. (and no it's neither a fan club nor a fun club).

We all need to speak out, not just here (because I am sure they'll end up closing our accounts with no reason as they did for many unhappy hosts: https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Suspended-account/m-p/1022759# )

So be prepared to take your business elsewhere. VRBO is very resepctful to the hosts. They may not have a sexy app, but they understand you are the homeowner and the sole to make decisions. Also the security deposit is in your hands. They ask no question if you take it. The burden of the proof is on the guest not on the host.

As for your experience, unfortunately you are not alone, and worse is yet to come if you stay with them:

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Abuse-of-dominance-Airbnb-bullies-hosts/m-p/1020925#