Help! Advice Needed for Bizarre Phone Call

[Danielle476]

I just received a phone call from AirBNB customer service regarding a guest I am currently hosting for their second night.  She instant-booked, and it wasn't until after the booking that I noticed she has a 2.5 star rating - a previous host mentioned she threw a party and left the home in disarray upon checkout.  I've hosted worse, and as we know times are trying so I figured I'd take my chances.

The CS rep confirmed that the guest was still in my condo, and then said she was cancelling her reservation effective immediately due to 'an investigation that is currently ongoing'.  She wouldn't give me any details about what it was about.  I asked how the payout would work if the reservation was being cancelled, and she said she couldn't even confirm I'd get paid at all!!  I said I was concerned about my home being damaged because they were kicking her out, and she didn't really have anything to say about that.  She just said 'if I can't reach her directly after this phone call, we'll be asking you to help assist us in making sure she's left your property.'

So now I'm expected to evict this person with my own bare hands and potentially not see a dime for this reservation?!  Has anyone else dealt with anything like this?  I'm at a loss, and more than a little worried about how she's going to leave my home.  I have someone checking in tomorrow for a week.  Advice appreciated.

[Kath9]

@Danielle476 hopefully she'll just leave, but if she is still there after checkout time she is technically trespassing, which is grounds to call the police (that's what you could tell her anyway). But I can't believe people are still booking and travelling over there! We literally can't go anywhere over here. Our state alone has been divided into 9 regions whose borders we can't cross. Anyway, I guess you won't be accepting a 2.5 star guest again! I do hope you review her as honestly as the first host did. Best of luck with it - I hope she leaves without any trouble.

[Danielle476]

CS said she was being asked to check out immediately, so I *hope* I'm not waiting until tomorrow to sort this out.  We're not under lock-down here, only social distancing.  I didn't 'accept' her reservation, she instant-booked!  I was surprised to see  the negative rating because I (wrongly) assumed people couldn't instant-book with a poor rating like that.  Sigh.  Thanks for the well-wishes! 

[Kath9]

@Danielle476, under your Instant Book settings, you can set it up so that only guests with previous good reviews can instantly book. I strongly recommend you do that, like right now.

[Danielle476]

Thank you, I will!

[Helen3]

Your guest couldn't have IB'd if you didn't have your calendar open for her to do so @Danielle476 

You could have asked Airbnb to cancel once you saw her low ratings  penalty free.

According to media coverage your state introduced restrictions for Airbnb and other STRs on 4 April https://nowtoronto.com/lifestyle/real-estate/ontario-bans-airbnb-coronavirus/

[Danielle476]

@Helen3 Please see my post below about why I didn't think it would be a problem.  STRs are not banned/restricted for COVID responders, which is what I had registered for in an effort to help which I realize now was a mistake.

[Helen3]

I think it's great you have registered on Airbnb's scheme to take COVID responders.

However my earlier point stands when you saw this guests low ratings/realised they weren't COVID responders you could have asked Airbnb to cancel the booking, penalty-free,  so you were in line with your local restrictions.

Going forward do turn off IB if you only want to accept bookings from COVID responders. @Danielle476 

[Danielle476]

I didn’t know she wasn’t a responder, as I mentioned. I thought that if a booking was made, they’d been vetted already as a COVID responder as indicated on the sign-up page. I saw the low rating but figured she was there for work, not a party, so it didn’t concern me too much. (Also my home is TINY at just under 500 square feet...not exactly the Playboy Mansion, ha!)

Lesson learned, in any case. Thanks for the advice!

[Sarah977]

@Danielle476 Sorry, but I can't understand why you are hosting strs to anyone but medical and other essential workers in the midst of self-isolation orders- that is so irresponsible I'm speechless. And then on top of that, you let a reservation proceed that you saw had a 2.5* rating and a review that said she threw a party. I'm normally quite sympathetic to other hosts, but you made a bed you now get to lie in.

[Danielle476]

Cool thanks for the super helpful comment.  My home is listed as available to COVID responders.  Please keep your judgement to yourself.

[Sarah977]

@Danielle476  But this guest wasn't a COVID responder.

My daughter and family live in Toronto. Your infection and death rate is rising. Please be part of the solution,  not part of the problem just so you can make some money.

[Danielle476]

@Sarah977  Respectfully, don't paint me as an opportunistic host with nothing but greed on their mind.  

I registered for the COVID responder program and cleared my calendar as was required.  I did NOT think that anyone BUT a responder could book my home.  When I saw her review (2 years old, by the way) I was concerned but figured time + being there in a professional capacity was enough to not make me have to worry.

I have two young kids, and both my husband and I are working on the front lines.  Save your speech for someone who deserves it.

[Linda108]

@Danielle476  So what is happening now?  Is this guest gone now?  That Air BNB would not give you information about why they are taking an action is in line with their privacy policy.  That you are responsible for implementing the eviction is also in line with TOS.  

I like @Sarah977  had a negative reaction to your original post but the information you provided in subsequent posts fleshed out the picture that you are actually wanting to support first responders. Sometimes it is best to paint a more complete picture for those of us that are not here to judge you, but are here to be supportive of other hosts.  I am wondering, however, that even though you are open to responders if the primary target market is still the holiday crowd as indicated in your many reviews.

.  i am curious whether your expectation that your openimg your place to responders is really doable on this platform.  Perhaps turning off IB so you can screen potential guests would allow you more control.  Just a thought.

[Danielle476]

The guest has left, but the reservation is still showing as active which doesn't make sense to me.  They said (CS) they were going to cancel it on their end, but that hasn't happened yet.  I don't expect them to tell me why she's under investigation, but I do expect them to follow through on cancelling a reservation they insisted could not continue.  I notice all of my messages to her have been erased from my Inbox, but her profile is still active.  She took my key and key FOB with her, unfortunately.

I, like many hosts, am not 100% clear on the new COVID responder host parameters as AirBNB hasn't exactly been overly clear on a lot of their recent changes.  I (wrongly) assumed that when I was asked to clear my calendar, this meant that nobody but responders could book my home.  Now that I know this is not the case, I'll be blocking my calendar off completely because I have no desire to host non-responders at this time.

I came here asking a question about Trust & Safety kicking a guest out.  The exact details of who the guest was or how she came to book my home are inconsequential details and not pertinent to the question being asked.  The hostility and judgmental comments were unhelpful and presumptuous.

We're all doing our best.  In an effort to be helpful, I wound up putting my home at risk with zero support from AirBNB, not that I should be surprised.  (I tried reaching out to the nearest hospital directly but I never heard back from them.  Someone mentioned letting my real estate agent know so I may go that route instead.)  They've yet to reach out to clarify why the reservation is still active - normally I'd be worried about a retaliatory review, but I'll be taking my home off the platform as this just isn't worth the trouble.

All the best to you & yours.