Airbnb kicking us out without a previous warning, saying no refund will be given

[Elena3464]

So three of us rented a holiday apartment for a month and since the first day we could notice that our downstairs neighbour, a grumpy man in his 60s, was unhappy with the very fact we were there. Every time we'd be outside having a drink, having a conversation, he'd be looking up at us from his terrace as if looking for reasons to complain. We're working during the week so most time we're quiet as mice. However, not going to lie - there were a roughly 2-3 nights when the chat got a bit louder. No aggression, no fights, just friends having a laugh. Immediately, the police were called. They left without doing anything, however, after about an hour came back again following another complaint. Again, left without doing anything as clearly there wasn't enough reason to issue a fight or anything. Couple of days ago we were just having a chat in the apartment- all doors closed and the apartment has a decent sound isolation. However, that didn't stop out downstairs neighbour knocking on the door. Dammit I wish I had recorded it. He was shouting at us, saying "you do this every night (not true), and "go home". We didn't even understand what was going on as we were just having a social conversation! 

The next day got a call from Airbnb saying that the accomodation was cancelled and money for remaining nights won't be refunded. 

Really not sure what to do now, doesn't seem fair to be kicked out just because of some unreasonable, unhappy persons complaints. We're in a holiday island and noise is everywhere. Got super loud neighbours on the other side of the road and sometimes can't even sleep because if the noise they make; dogs next door are barking like crazy all night - we probably could've complained about that and gotten our money back but didn't even care, just accepted this as a minor inconvenience. Yet this person is pretty much picking on our every nice and Airbnb is just going along with it. 

We spoke to Airbnb and tried to explain this neighbour is difficult to deal with but they do didn't want to listen, just said we have to move out asap. We were never given a warning or anything. Is thi even legal? Can anything be done about it?

 Apologies about the long post, just wanted to describe the situation as accurately as possible.

[Elena3464]

Forgot to mention - the property is located in Tenerife, Canary islands

[Sarah977]

@Elena3464  I would suspect that what you are characterizing as normal chatting and laughing is far louder than that and goes on after the time that most people wannt to sleep.  I realize that there can be grumpy people who simply don't like an Airbnb next door, but guests don't get kicked out because a neighbor complained about normal volume talking. You should have kept the noise level down after the first time he complained.

[Elena3464]

Thanks for your answer, Sarah, fair comment. Like said I was trying to describe the situation as accurately as possible; I'm not trying to minimize our fault. However, on a said night when our neighbour started shouting at us we definitely were not loud. 

Also, the property seems to be rented in the first time ever, the neighbour is clearly friends with the host and probably complained to them directly so they decided to cancel without any further investigation. We are not bad guests, the property is always clean, no damage whatsoever. 

For sure this inexperienced host will have to deal with way worse in the future, that's just the reality of Airbnb - I wonder will he be cancelling every time the neighbour complains which I'm sure he will?

I agree we're not perfect but from another point of view, no guests would enjoy having neighbours who police their every move. Yesterday I got stared at for having a Skype chat on the terrace at 10 pm. Was not exactly late and the conversation went at normal sound levels. 

[Lorna170]

@Elena3464    Uh....the police were called on you ...twice?  On the same night?  So neither you or your friends considered how you were behaving and took your party inside or called it a night?  Not to mention that a Skype chat on a terrace at 10:00 PM may not have sounded loud to you, but I have been in airports/restaurants/grocery stores/parking lots where I can hear someone clearly conversing on their phone from some distance.  Perhaps you too are a "loud speaker" with a voice that carries and don't know it.  Or you shriek, scream or laugh uncontrollably with every statement.

Honey, I would have kicked you to the curb as soon as I learned that my neighbors called the police.  It would not matter if it were "Mr. Grumpy" or not ... the police were called.   

As to the host keeping the money, what was the selected cancellation policy?  It sounds like it was for a month stay, so the AirBnB long term rental policy of no refund would apply.  The host probably can't rent your remaining days, so why should the host suffer because you could not follow the rules or respect the neighbors?  They called the police.  Twice.

[Anonymous]

@Elena3464   Was there any point when there were more than 3 of you in the apartment?

[Elena3464]

Hi Andrew, yes, on one night only we had two extra people who stayed for about an hour. That's all in terms of any extra people

[Anonymous]

@Elena3464  Did you have your host's explicit permission to bring the unregistered guests into the home?

[Elena3464]

We did not, no. However I'm not sure Airbnb is basing their decision in the fact there were unregistered guests. The listing also doesn't have a policy that would say anything about bringing guests in.

[Mark116]

@Elena3464  Usually guests are refunded any unused nights, even when they break the rules.  There may be an exception for 'parties' but I'm not sure.  Even if unfair, it makes sense that if police were called more than once, a host would feel they had to cancel your booking, but I'm not sure why you didn't get the money back for unused nights.

[Elena3464]

Thanks fir taking time to respond Mark, yes it makes no sense to me either. I've actually messaged them asking to clearly state the reasons why we are being forced to leave - while I understand we might have caused some issues, the host has no policies to justify forcing us out. 

This is what Airbnb's customer service team responded to my message:

'Unfortunately, it is not possible for me to provide any other details related to the cancellation of your reservation due to our Privacy Policies.

I can only say that Airbnb has been made aware that this reservation may be associated with a potential breach of our terms of service.'

Obviously this is ridiculous, if they want to keep our money they have to give a decent explanation. Now it seems they're just trying to get away without issuing a refund.

[Mark116]

@Elena3464 It's two different things.  I would not focus on why you were cancelled, you already know the answer, you were reported, rightly or wrongly, by neighbor(s) for being too loud and the police were called.  Airbnb is very sensitive to the party issue, and tries to fight the idea that Airbnbs bring problems to any neighborhood; same with the host, the host doesn't want to be the cause of upsetting the neighbors.

Why you are not getting a refund is a separate issue and here I think you have a case. The police did not give a citation, and your host has not made any claims of damages....which suggests that even if you were loud, you didn't harm the property in any way.  I would recommend you should work with CS on an answer to why you are not getting a refund for unused nights as this is very unusual.

[Elena3464]

@Mark116 I agree, trust me we're not even upset to leave the place where our every step is being monitored. The refund is another issue indeed and I think Airbnb are being very dodgy here. As you mentioned, there even wasn't enough reason for the police to issue any fines etc. The property will probably be in better shape than when we found it as it was not cleaned to the standard and one of our housemates is a total clean freak haha. All  situation is very weird indeed. 

[Sherri176]

Depending on the host refund policy, they never have to refund any money especially when it’s a 30 day stay it’s never refundable. It goes to the 30 day stay refund policy. Someone on here replied that you might have a case but honestly, it’s really a conversation between you and the host. It’s completely up to the host on whether they want to give you a refund. Example , If you’ve got 28 days left on the reservation, I would see if they would at least be willing to give you 25 days worth back. If you get frustrated with the host and say you’ll just go ahead and get your refund from Airbnb… Good luck. Refunds rarely come from Air Bnb, and almost always 99% come from the host and the host being gracious.

[Kia272]

@Elena3464  I'm not going to take sides here, but I would like to point out that the host now has your money, not AirBnB. AirBnB may be backing the host on ending the reservation, but AirBnB got their service fees, and the host has the rest of your money. Have you tried dealing with the host directly? Not to demand anything or put them on the spot, but perhaps you can work it out between the two of you? Just a thought. 

As a host, if I had problem guests, I'd pay just to get them gone. Not saying you are/were problem guests, although there were obviously issues. 

Good luck getting this resolved.