No support for hosts

[Mike2343]

I have been a host for 4 years now and in the early days AirBnB was responsive and would follow up on an issue.  I recently had a guest that had a major party in my house. Police were called-people jumping the fence and running away.-15 cars parked on the street.   The renter agreed to 3 paople and no more than 2 cars as the house is in a quiet neighborhood.

I called AirBnB at 2am to complain, the first thing that they asked is "do you fear for your safety".  I dont live near my rental so I said no but I said that my neighbors fear for their safety.  She said this will have to be escalated to the Safety Dept and they will contact you shortly.  Well, 2hrs later no call. 9 hrs later I called again to try to get the guest out.  After being on hold for 13 minutes new representative said that the Safety Dept has the complaint and will call me shortly.  I tried to explaining the story again but she wouldnt listen. 

Now 12 hrs later still no call so I called again and  16 minutes on hold, a new rep said the same story as the last one but said that she would tell them this was "urgent". As you can imagine I just want the guests out now.  NO call back.  I called AirBnB once again and they said that a rep from the Safety Dept tried emailing me which is bull**bleep**.  I told her I need a call back now!  She said "oh, well they dont have phones in the Safety Dept."  Well that made me mad and I told her I need a call right away as this IS a safety issue. 

A few hrs later, which is now 5pm the Safety Dept called and asked what I wanted to do.  Its a bit late to discuss last nights party but I said if the guest can act like an adult and not have a party or trash my house they can stay as they were checking out the next day at 11am.  She said that she would contact the guest to discuss this and get back to me.....no call back to me!

Now its the next day, my cleaning crew goes to the house at 11:05 (checkout is 11am)  and 5 people are still sleeping and the house is trashed! I told her to stay out of the house until I contact AirBnB.  So as expected no answered after 18 minutes on hold so I hung up and tried again in a few minutes.  After 12 minutes on hold someone answered and I told them the situation. She said "well you have an open claim and the Safety Dept is handling it"  I tried telling her it was a different issue and I wanted the guests out right away but she said there was nothing her dept could do and to expect a call back from the Safety Dept.  NO CALL BACK !

My cleaning lady went in anyway around 11:30 because new guests were coming in at 3 and she had to get this cleaned. She was not greeted well by some guests. One man was nice but one man was verbally abusive towards her. 

Most of the furniture was rearranged, all linen and towels were strewn about the house. Vomit in the bedroom on the floor.  Urine on the bathroom walls. Showers running with no one in them. Trash everywhere and 1 trash can cut in pieces.  Glitter all over the place and pot roaches and cigarette butts in just about every room in the house!  WTF!  (this is a non smoking house)  I called AirBnb and after 17 minutes on hold I was again told  that I would be contacted by the same F-ing "Safety Dept" AND no one called.  Why do they call it a "Safety Dept" because they dont care about my safety!  I am very Irate right now. 

I feel like there is no support from AirBnB for hosts!

I have 2 months of reservations booked and then I think I will switch to another vacation rental company.  

AirBnB follow-ups are ridicules or non existent.  Hosts get no respect 

[Whitney140]

 @Sarah977 I’m not really sure the point of your comment. Perhaps you aren’t aware Airbnb has different policies for long term rentals. I checked with them before accepting it to make sure there were policies in place that (supposedly and on print) protected the hosts! I know several people personally who have been tenants and hosts in these long term agreements and it has been stellar… so whatever point you may be trying to insinuate now is really irrelevant. 
I am unable to leave a review bc Airbnb has that blocked during this process. 

[Mark116]

@Whitney140  As you're. finding out, airbnb is very poor at administering long term rentals, they're also bad at short term....but there is less risk. Also, once someone stays for more than a month in most states they become a tenant and Airbnb won't help you with that either.

[Whitney140]

@Mark116  Clearly. However when one makes as much effort as humanly possible to ensure there are insurance policies in place for hosts what I am told as a host should be upheld. I am and was well aware of what my local laws and tenant rights are- this does not apply. I have had success hosting people for many months previously with never an issue. When I endeavor to make sure as a host I am covered and then the company doesn’t make good on it’s written policies and terms designed to protect hosts I fail

to see how this is a “I should have known better situation” especially when experience from the past has been so positive. I have several friends who are both guests and hosts who do long term all the time with great success. Airbnb sure is efficient at collecting their money though aren’t they!

[Mark116]

@Whitney140 That's the thing. Airbnb works great when both parties are responsible. It serves hosts very poorly when something goes wrong  and as you see, the 'host guarantee' is more PR than policy ...which is why so many people have said long term stays are high risk and should be avoided.

[Sarah977]

@Whitney140 I am well aware that there is a different cancellation policy for long term rentals.

My point is that Airbnb provides none of the safeguards that landlords usually have in place for long term tenants. 

Landlords take a real security deposit (Airbnb  does not), landlords ask for refences, work history, current employment, and sign a legally binding lease with tenants.

Airbnb only guarantees the first payment of a long term booking. If they are unable to collect future payments, they just let you know that and wash their hands of it, and it's up to you to try to evict the person, who maybe intent on squatting. If the guest/tenant causes damage, you have to battle Airbnb for compensation.

So if you have a great long term renter through Airbnb, and everything goes smooth and they are honest, decent people, then wonderful. If that turns out not to be the case, though, Airbnb cannot be relied upon to come to your rescue or make things right.

[Laura2592]

@Mike2343 as someone who had guests throw a party in my space with no help from ABB, I feel your pain. But mine was not as dramatic as your situation. I would have had the police boot these guests and not wait for ABB to call me back. 

There are a few observations I have after looking at your listing. Your place will DEFINITELY appeal to the party crowd because of the pool, so I would take that pic out of the most prominent first image spot. You need to lower your guest counts or raise your prices. At $144 for 6 guests its only $24 a night. You are not going to get the best quality guests for that price.   Update your house rules to say that no parties are allowed under any circumstances, that guests agree to leave immediately if they are caught inviting unregistered guests on the premises, etc.  Put in outdoor cameras and a ring doorbell if you don't have one. 

As far as the review it should read something like: "So and so is not a guest we can recommend to any other hosts. They threw an unauthorized party in our space and clean up took a great deal of additional time. Did not follow house rules nor communicate honestly their intentions for our home. They are not guests we would have back under any circumstances."

Then below 3 under each category and would not host again. 

[Brian2036]

@Whitney140 

You CAN reopen your listing if that’s what it takes to satisfy CS.

Just honestly state the condition of the property (unsuitable for human habitation,) and set the price for $1000 per night, maximum occupancy one person.

Refuse anyone who is stupid enough to try to book because that level of stupidity “makes you feel unsafe.”

Everyone needs to have a contingency plan for dealing with parties.

I have one. Zero tolerance. I will go there with fire in my eye and a shotgun in my hands and a strong desire to use it on the first person who threatens me.

If you are unable or too timid to do that you should have a friend, off-duty cop, or someone else who is willing to assist you.

Airbnb cannot help you. They wouldn’t if they could. It’s not their house.

[Whitney140]

@Brian2036 I’m confused as to what you are referring when you say party. There was no party in my home. My home is right next to

my own residence. This guest was seemingly quiet. Trust me I have no issue walking in and physically removing people…. That’s not this. Perhaps there is confusion.

[Brian2036]

@Whitney140 

This thread was started by someone who was complaining about a massive party that “Airbnb refused to do anything about.”

Your post was not entirely relevant, but I offered a partial solution to your dilemma with CS.

[Fred13]

The OP said: "I called AirBnB at 2am to complain,..."

Took them that long to realize they needed to do something to stop the further trashing of their place?  Passing personal responsibility to someone else a thousand miles away was their first move.

Someday a CS at AIRBNB will say the obvious - 'You allowed it, Your problem'.

[Anonymous]

@Mike2343  I started using Airbnb 10 years ago, so I've experienced pretty much every phase of their customer service. It's definitely not what it used to be.

But there was never a time when Airbnb had an operation in place to stop a house party. That "Trust and Safety" stuff was never anything more than marketing - it's always been the hosts' responsibility to not lose control over their own homes. As awful as it is to be the host with nightmare guests, I also know what it's like to be the neighbor of a remotely hosted listing that turned into a party house. No idea whether the host called Airbnb at 2 AM to complain, but I had no sympathy for their customer service woes. Nobody forced them to rent their apartment to random strangers from the internet - they screwed that pooch themselves.

[Daina20]

This sounds very familiar. I am so sorry to hear you have dealt with this situation too 😞

[Nimco0]

They are happy to make money of off us but give no support.