Formal Complaint and Potential Legal Action

[Rita3473]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am writing to formally raise a serious concern regarding a recent guest and the handling of my case, which highlights systemic issues in how host safety and accountability are treated.

The guest repeatedly violated house rules: he smoked inside, brought unauthorized visitors twice, and attempted to bring the same unauthorized guest back in the morning. I refused entry, and he checked out around 10 AM. I documented all violations with photos and submitted them to Airbnb. Despite these clear issues, including safety concerns and false accusations, Airbnb took eleven days to investigate and then closed the case without offering any support or resolution.

Following this, the guest left a one-star review containing false claims that misrepresent my listing. My property is exactly as advertised in the photos, and this review has caused reputational damage. Airbnb’s failure to act effectively enables such guest behavior and leaves hosts vulnerable.

It is important to note that, under Canadian law, it is fully within a host’s rights to prohibit smoking on their property, including cannabis. Asking a guest not to smoke or roll a joint is completely legal and enforceable under your house rules.

While I want to acknowledge that Fred handled my case professionally and made me feel heard, the broader response has been disappointing and inconsistent with Airbnb’s stated commitment to host safety and protection.

Given the defamation and reputational harm caused by the guest’s review, I am now considering engaging legal counsel to pursue this matter formally. I urge Airbnb to review this situation seriously and provide a resolution that reflects the facts and protects hosts from similar abuse.

I expect a timely and concrete response.

Regards

[Elaine701]

@Rita3473 

Good morning,

You seem to be rather new at hosting, but you have very good ratings from your guests, so you're obviously on the right track. 

But I'm going to give you a bit of direct advice from somebody who's been there, done that.

First, never, ever confront a guest or even give them any hint that you are in any way displeased with their behaviour. This will almost always result in a retaliatory reviews, complete with imaginary atrocities you committed against them. 

Airbnb's review enforcement leaves a lot to be desired, and it's nearly impossible to get a review removed even if it's absurd. 

Second, if you choose to confront the guest, you should wait until they have submitted their review, or until the 14 day review window closes. In this way, the guest has no reason to submit a "retaliatory" review, and is far more likely to write a glowing 5 star review if for no other reason than guilt. 

Third - You should collect the evidence, and submit it to your insurance company without even mentioning it to the guest. 

Fourth -  it's  extremely important to write about this experience in your review of the guest. If you had read this review when they inquired to book it, then you most likely would have declined and then your problem would be solved before it happened. This is the best possible approach. 

And trying to get through tge Airbnb customer service gauntlet will only add to the frustration. 

Fifth - this is a discussion forum, not a support channel. Threats of legal action here will go unnoticed by the administration at Airbnb.

Some may be able to offer some useful advice, but you should start by contacting your attorney and discussing the process of taking legal action. 

Look, we've all been through this. It's frustrating and often leads to even worse consequences. 

So, work around the land mines, and work to prevent it; never ever confront the guest while they can still write a review. That's just begging for more damage. 

Sorry for your experience. I hope that helps. Good luck. 

[Rita3473]

Hi Elaine, thank you so much for taking the time to write in such detail.

In this kind of scenario, what am I supposed to do,  just let him smoke? This guest arrived with no belongings, was bringing girls in for short visits, and kept roaming around the house asking about my things. It made me very uncomfortable, and he even has a review mentioning stealing.

My question is: yes, there may be ‘workarounds,’ but why is Airbnb enabling these behaviours in the first place? As hosts, is this fair to us, and why aren’t we doing anything to address it?

[Elaine701]

@Rita3473 

Airbnb customer support has been at best, poor, and at worst, absurd. And since the advent of AI, has been steadily declining. The community has been asking those questions for a long time now, and there doesn't seem to be any clear answer.

But... try another platform.. They aren't much better. Maybe not as absurd at times, and sometimes they actually help, but you'll be ignored as often on other platforms as you will be on airbnb. It's not fair. It's just the nature of the beast.

We have to deal with the way it is, rather than the way it should be, or else suffer the consequences. That's just how it is.

So, the best solution is prevention. Working to keep it from happening in the first place. And the best start to that is NEVER confront a guest while they can still write a review.

The second part is to count your blessings. This nasty guest smoked and made your life more difficult. That's not fair, but he didn't burn the house down. Avoiding his wrath by not confronting him about it would have saved you the added grief of suffering the retaliatory review, which, frankly, is probably more damaging than any damage he caused. And by writing it in your review of the guest, he will suffer damage for it. He'll have a hard time getting hosts to accept any booking.

Just be sure to keep it to the facts, and avoid personal remarks in your review. As you're writing it, think about someone wanting to book your place, and the review you are writing is one of theirs. Make it credible, don't sound angry. Just the fact. And keep it short. That will be enough to warn future hosts. And if other hosts do the same, it will warn you, too.

Oh, and you can be sure that Airbnb has a top grade well paid and well resourced legal team who have craftfully written all T&C's, and are ready to put the lights out on any host or group of hosts that dare to file a lawsuit or a class-action lawsuit. That's why it rarely goes anywhere.

Sorry, but we need to stop getting clobbered by undesirable guests. Prevention is the best cure.

[Rita3473]

@Elaine701 holy Molly listen to this. This guy showed up at my house 5 mins ago asking for $150 to remove review. I have it on my home security camera.

 

**[Image blurred in line with the Community Center Guidelines - Please note that is not allowed to post an image that contains identifiable information due to privacy concerns]

[Elaine701]

@Rita3473 

Oh my god.

Do you have a legal advisor (lawyer)? Ask if it's wise to call the police and file a complaint, or what advice can they offer. 

You need to be careful with people like this. Get somebody who knows the law. 

Good luck. 

[Rita3473]

@Elaine701  am looking into it. This is ****** scary. See when I say Airbnb is enabling these activities but not going by facts 

[Helen3]

Which review is he referring to @Rita3473 - - what did Airbnb when you shared the video of the former guest doing this? 

[Rita3473]

@Helen3 this one! I sent to Airbnb and waiting to hear from them 

 

 

[Rita3473]

@Elaine0 

Hi Elaine, thank you so much for taking the time to write in such detail.

In this kind of scenario, what am I supposed to do,  just let him smoke? This guest arrived with no belongings, was bringing girls in for short visits, and kept roaming around the house asking about my things. It made me very uncomfortable, and he even has a review mentioning stealing.

My question is: yes, there may be ‘workarounds,’ but why is Airbnb enabling these behaviours in the first place? As hosts, is this fair to us, and why aren’t we doing anything to address it?

[Helen3]

Why did you accept a booking from a guest where they had a review saying they had stolen? @Rita3473 

If you are using IB you could remove it so you can vet guests before accepting their booking. 

[Rita3473]

@Helen3

I literally made a mistake. I usually read the reviews carefully, so I don’t know how I missed this one. Oh, right, I think he mentioned he wanted to check in immediately. I asked my partner and forgot to check his profile before accepting. Definitely a hard lesson learned!

[Elaine701]

@Rita3473 

You're obviously a very good host, as your reviews attest to. 

But this is your mistake. Had you not made that mistake, this would not have happened. 

Live and learn. You'll soon be a very wise host too 🙂

[Rita3473]

@Helen3 whats IB?

[Selome0]

Hi @Rita3473,

I’m really sorry you’ve had to go through this  it’s incredibly stressful when a guest repeatedly violates rules and the support process doesn’t match the seriousness of the situation. You documented everything clearly and enforced your policies appropriately, especially regarding smoking, unauthorized visitors, and safety concerns.

It’s understandable that you’re frustrated by the inconsistent handling of your case and the impact of an inaccurate review. Reviews that contain false statements or are linked to rule-breaking behavior should be looked at carefully under Airbnb’s policies, and it’s disappointing that your concerns weren’t addressed more thoroughly.

At this point, I would recommend asking Airbnb to escalate your case to a specialized reviews team or a senior support ambassador, referencing:

the documented rule violations,

the guest’s false statements,

the safety concerns, and

the need for a policy-based review of the rating.

You can also request a review of the timeline, since delays sometimes affect whether evidence is assessed properly.

*

**[Content removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines]