Extending Reservations and Theft

[Patrick2003]

Hi everyone! 

What a year. I wanted to ask if anyone else has had issues with host support in general and then specifically getting information for the police department. I rent a single room/bathroom in my house and had a couple book for about 10 days. On the the day they decided they needed another 5 but it was too late to add to the existing reservation (idk why) so I suggested just doing a new reservation. My first big issue is that airbnb is now giving them 24 hours to confirm payment but since they’re extending they’re already in my home. Well, bc it’s 2020 so of course, they stayed, payment wasn’t confirmed and then I had to physically remove them from my house at 930pm. I then find out the next day, they’ve stolen my credit and debit cards and spent over a $1000. Obviously that’s a headache in itself, but we’re now over 12 days since that happened and I still haven’t gotten any sort of help from airbnb. I used the resolution center, then I was told to cancel and redo it by someone on the phone. The police department has been waiting for information about the guest because they can’t get anyone from airbnb. Airbnb hasn’t given me the information either. That’s the short version of the story, but anyone else have any advice or had issues with lack of support/communication? I feel stuck  in a strange predicament as I can’t get any host help but I also can’t get any police department help without a little more information from airbnb. Also the whole 24hr payment confirmation thing isn’t great for people already in the house.

[Anna9170]

@Patrick2003  What a terrible event! how could they steal your Bank cards?

[Patrick2003]

My guess is he took it while I was out walking the dog. It’s the only time I didn’t have my wallet. and as frustrating as that is...Airbnb has been just as frustrating. Basically telling me “someone from the claims dept will handle it but the claims dept doesn’t have a phone so just wait” and I just found out they closed the ticket without updating or contacting me. Just closed. I’m at a loss of what to do next.

[Linda108]

@Patrick2003   So sorry this happened to you, especially trying to get Air BNB to cooperate with a police investigation. Are you also trying to get paid for the additional days the guest stayed and that is the basis of your claim?

I also have a private room listing and I know you can be trusting of people staying in your home, but I always locked my room whenever I left the house.  While I might not think a guest will steal, I think a guest might be curious if just left on their own, so the door is locked.

 Of course you have reported the credit card and are not responsible for the charges, but still it is a pain to deal with this.  

[Patrick2003]

yeah having a shared space i try to always lock everything when i’m not there...bedroom and office included. My bedroom was locked so I’m not quite sure how he got the card but he booked a greyhound bus ticket in his own name so that was easily traceable to who stole it. Now i just need airbnb to stop passing me off to other departments and employees.

[Kelly149]

@Patrick2003 so sorry this happened! All Hosts must realize that they themselves must know and verify who is in their home by actually looking at a govt ID. A profile can say anything it wants... complete fabrications are not out of the question and ABB WILL NOT share a guest's info with a Host, they MIGHT with a police department but as you've seen that isn't quick or foolproof.

Good luck getting it resolved.

[Patrick2003]

@Kelly149 i will check id now but airbnb takes a percentage and verifies guest an host information for a reason. I, wrongly so, assumed they had done some due diligence before allowing a criminal to set up a profile and book a spot in people’s homes. I won’t make that assumption  again. And i don’t want them to share a guests info with me...not even in this case as i understand how compromising that would be....but I do think a police department should be able to get it if it’s part of an open investigation. Either way I miss the old super host phone number for support and hate that I potentially have to file a claim against a company just to get my own money back/house fixed when they’ve always preached about being host friendly. 

[Colleen253]

Wow, @Patrick2003  and weren't @Catherine-Powell  and @Tara-Bunch  just talking about how the Superhost direct support line was 'back on'? Wonder what happened there. I can speak personally to how 'verified ID' means nothing. Yes, known-to-police criminals can book your Airbnb listing with verified ID 😄. Watch your back always, trust no one but yourself. 

[Kelly149]

@Patrick2003 yes, they "verify" and yes, they have a reason. You quite likely presumed that reason had something to do with helping you and I'm sorry you've now found out that's not really the case. I do hope they come around and provide some help. please do let us know

[Patrick2003]

For an update to this if anyone is still following. It is now November 10th and still no resolution from @Airbnb . I did finally get an “support” specialist to create a case but she only responds every 10 days or so with hi are you still interested in pursuing this? So good luck to everyone with your issues, it may be a while, if you ever get any resolution.

[David192]

I'm not clear on what it is that you are actually asking AirBNB to do. They're not going to reimburse you for the spending on your card and they are not going to proactively contact the police on your behalf. It seems to me the police are letting you down also. Why are they not contacting AirBNB as part of their 'investigation'? I put investigation in quotation marks because I know from personal experience how lazy police are when dealing with this sort of low-level crime.

[Jamie206]

Airbnb is just a money funnel. They don't care what happens to hosts, that has been clear for months and months. Zero customer service and deny all claims has been their policy for months. You have to come to terms with the fact that you are on your own if, literally anything happens.