Airbnb will screw hosts and go against their own policy just to collect their 15% cut

[Ania-and-Greg0]

DO NO TRUST that Airbnb will have your back. they will straight lie to you in case of a questionable reservation to make sure you feel comfortable and if things go not so well they will straight up try to sweep the issue under the rug by closing cases without resolving them and contrary to what they initially promised.

I had a reservation placed by some woman, reservation for one. Since the listing is in Spain supply of travel documents is required for registration (huge 18k euro fine if you don't, lesser if inaccurate, but still significant).

the day before arrival the woman finally submits the info OF A MAN. i asked politely to clarify, she stated she made the reservation "for a friend". I immediately asked for assistance from Airbnb as third party bookings are not allowed (Airbnb will not cover hosts under aircover if you accept a third party booking) and Airbnb advised that the woman add the man to the reservation. they told me that if she does I will be covered in case things happen (HUGE LIE).

it so happens the man had an Airbnb account for many years and was added. Since Airbnb assured me everything is according to policy i said ok (I GOT DUPED). in hindsight i should have said no and had Airbnb admin cancel the reservation.

About a week later i come to find out that the man had his family arrive a few days later. our apartment is equipped for 2, he brought in 3 extra guests.

keep in mind this is not a newb. this guy knows what and where to find the house rules and max occupancy. I immediately advised him that going over max comes with significant fees (as we DONT WANT more than 2 guests), he said its not a problem and told me its total of 4 guests and how long they would stay.

Well the woman who placed a reservation had a problem and cancelled the man's reservation, but only 4 days after his family moved in. Not only did Airbnb do NOTHING to help me remove the people off premises (luckily they left the next day), but they pulled a complete 180 on the assurances they made before check-in just to make sure the payment went through. 

Now airbnb wants nothing to do with the situation, and keeps pointing fingers at between the man and the woman. woman points at the man, the man is not the booker so i cant ask for the fees from the man via resolution center and Airbnb says screw you host as they cant collect from the woman. 

Airbnb suggested i should give the woman my phone number and contact the man OFF PLATFORM (highly against policy), and im out of money.

all host old or new, please note that AIRBNB is out to SCREW YOU. they don't give a turn as long as they get their cut. You will not get any help, or support, or even credibility even if they promise IN WRITING that you will in case things appear fishy with their guests.

Take it from a host of 9 years on this platform and don't believe a word they say or the promises they make (all lies), which currently is maybe a 1/100th of what it was just a few ago. 

You might have better luck with VRBO and booking, at least you'll be able to bill guests independently of Airbnb's payment processing policy. there is a reason why VRBO/booking is growing and Airbnb no longer is a top player of short term rentals. 

[Csaba54]

I'm a European host, but Airbnb is also treating its own policies in such a mean way! I also get retaliatory reviews like this from time to time. There was a recent case where a guest tried to steal electricity to charge his car. Moreover, he did it in a fire-hazardous way. I noticed this and told him to use the designated paid outlet in the parking lot and pay for the electricity. I sent him a payment request, attaching the security camera footage where the incident is visible! He refused. I contacted Airbnb customer service, and based on the evidence, they paid the requested amount. Now here's the thing. That's why the guest wrote a retaliatory review, which was nothing but lies! Lots of different lies. One of them was that there was no door to the bathroom and therefore the neighbor and everyone on the street could see when the guests were taking a shower. He also wrote that there were cameras everywhere and the guests had to live under them! Of course, this is not true, since the bathroom has a door and there is no camera anywhere, only 1 that monitors the car park! I sent photos of these to Airbnb customer service and asked for the retaliatory review to be deleted! I also wrote that this guest was caught stealing by 2 other hosts and this can be read in his profile. The fact of the retaliatory review was completely clear, and the previous hosts had already written this to him. Despite this, Airbnb customer service wrote me exactly the same answer that they wrote to you! I also asked them to apply the Airbnb policy regarding the deletion of retaliatory reviews, but they were not interested in that either. They sent all kinds of meaningless answers. The whole communication with them was completely ridiculous. They simply sent irrelevant answers, as if they hadn't even read what I wrote about their own policy. It was outrageous that they refused to apply the Airbnb policy on this, but when I asked why, it was as if they didn't even see my question, they wrote an answer about something completely different over and over again! They were completely unable to explain why the rule doesn't apply when I, a superhost, refute the guest's lies with a photo. Moreover, the lies of a proven thief guest who is also stealing from another host! The deletion request, which took at least 10-15 minutes to read and interpret due to its length and the attached documents, was rejected by Airbnb in every case after 1-3 minutes. It is perfectly clear from this that they didn't even read it, they just sent an automatic AI-generated response immediately rejecting it. This is what they do everywhere in the world! And then, if the host files a complaint, they lie and say that the team dealing with this has already rejected it and they can't override it! They lie about this so they don't have to deal with it. The whole review system is a joke right now. It gives guests the opportunity to lie in their reviews if the host is caught stealing or causing damage so they don't have to pay compensation. And it forces hosts to write negative reviews every time the guest messes up something due to their own stupidity and is expected to write a retaliatory review! Airbnb is currently digging its own grave because potential guests are afraid to book on Airbnb because of the increasing number of retaliatory reviews. And hosts are increasingly rejecting booking requests because of the many negative reviews. All this because they don't handle cancellation requests with human power, where based on the facts and evidence, a human could decide what the truth is in a few minutes. An AI or maybe not even that, just an automatic rejection message that is set to send a template rejection message x minutes after the request is submitted. I'm also thinking about moving my ad to another platform, because for some time now, it has been allowed to ruin business

[Joan2709]

@Csaba54 

This issue stems from Airbnb’s implementation of a poorly developed AI system to handle review disputes, introduced earlier this year. Despite numerous documented cases where the system violates Airbnb’s own written policies, the company has failed to take corrective action. The resulting harm to Hosts is significant and cannot be overstated.

The latest suggestion is to submit your review removal request only once through the automated system. Then if denied, contact Airbnb CS to escalate instead of submitting again a second time in the automated system.

I recommend that Hosts:

1. Turn off Instant Book and screen their guests thoroughly
2. List on other platforms 
3. Consider a direct booking site
4. Do NOT accept last minute bookings
5. File an Arbitration claim against Airbnb under their Terms of Service for not upholding their own written policies
6. Continue to escalate the case with Airbnb for removal

Arbitration Claim (U.S. Hosts)

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2908#22

To be fair, some negative reviews are deserved and should not be removed. However, the vast majority I am seeing posted about in the CC are clearly retaliatory reviews by guests that should be removed in accordance with existing Airbnb written policies.

[Csaba54]

Unfortunately, this recommendation you wrote is not appropriate and is not worth a cent. Until you make the second request in the automated system, every Airbnb employee will write that you should do it, because this is the protocol that must be followed! After you do it, every employee will write that the team has reviewed it twice and the decision cannot be overturned! When you prove to them that it is not possible for a person to review the request in 2 minutes, because it takes at least 5 minutes to read it, and at least 20-30 minutes to interpret and check it, even if they start dealing with it immediately. They lie to you that it is not true, because every case is processed and evaluated by a person. So Airbnb is a money-stealing corporation based on a big lie! It is completely illegal to punish a problematic guest with a fine if you ban or cancel the reservation, but it does not help at all in the event that damage occurs and the guest writes a retaliatory review for this reason! If you ask for help, they say that they only act as intermediaries between the guest and the host, so they are not authorized to act. But if they are only intermediaries, what right do they have to steal money from the hosts, under the name of cancellation penalty???? No host would cancel a reservation if they did not have a serious reason to do so. After all, everyone hosts guests for the sake of income. In reality, the situation is that there is an oversupply of hosts worldwide, and there are fewer and fewer guests due to the economic crisis. Therefore, Airbnb thinks that it is always right for the guest to lure travelers here. However, it does not care what the host thinks, because there are too many anyway! However, Airbnb does not think that by doing so, it will start a process where no one will believe the positive reviews, and guests will not dare to book because of the negative reviews! And that's why hosts also write very negative reviews for the slightest reason, because if it can be assumed that the guest will write it, he will do it too! That's why a lot of guests will have bad reviews, which is why their applications are rejected! This is a vicious circle, which could mean the end of Airbnb in a short time if the hosts go to another platform! And the guests too, for exactly the same reason! Nature and the economy always solve such bad things. And there will always be competition and another platform who will be happy about it!

[Joan2709]

@Csaba54 

Sorry you have had that experience. Other Hosts I work with have not had that experience in connection with only submitting the review removal once in the automated system. Perhaps Airbnb has changed their policies on that since the Hosts I worked with used this method?

I always suggest Hosts list on other platforms and consider a direct booking site (see my initial suggestions - 2 & 3).

I see that you have Instant Book on for one listing? Perhaps turning that off so you can vet guests more since Airbnb isn't removing retaliatory reviews like they should? (suggestion 1).

Of course, these are all just suggestions and possible ideas on how to deal with the current Airbnb policies.

[Csaba54]

What do you mean by using a direct booking site?