PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE POST AND HELP!!!! THIS MAY HAPPEN TO YOU!!!- Account Suspended

[Shawn574]

PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE POST AND HELP!!!! THIS MAY HAPPEN TO YOU!!!

I need everyone to please share this and help in any way possible.  I have never experienced anything like this or have been treated like this before in my life.

We had a local guest who made a reservation on our home for a same day rental.  Our house rules clearly state no local bookings, no parties, no extra guests, no events, no smoking.  It’s also clearly stated that we reserve the right to cancel the reservation if those rules are broken.

Upon the reservation, I immediately let the guest know that we do not allow parties, events or extra guests.  I informed her that I am only stating this because she was local.  She also called for the house code which she had but over the phone I again reminded her that no parties, events or extra guests allowed.  Because we are in a residential area and I always to respect my neighbors and community. 

She informed that she was not having a party or anything.  They just wanted a place to sleep.  

Long story short, within 1 hour of her checking in, there were over 30 people in my house and they were playing loud music and people kept coming and they were smoking around my front door. This was definitely a planed party and she had broken every house rule.  We have an outdoor ring camera and sound sensor inside the home.  Both of which are clearly disclosed in my listing.  This is all happening around 11:00 pm.  I immediately started messaging the guest that the party needs to stop asap and the extra guests need to leave and the reservation will be cancelled.  She off course denied that they were having a party.  

I was on hold for 2 hours from 11:00 pm to almost 1:00am with Airbnb to get any help so they can get involved to ask the guests to leave and break up the party. I was terrified for my home as images of mass parties in homes in Airbnbs from news and tv started coming in head.  We have those strict rules to prevent a situation like this.

I finally called the police and they wanted to come to ask the guests leave.  I told them to hold one for a few minutes as I wanted Airbnb to cancel their reservation before I kick them so they were are no issues.  I also messaged the guests and told them that I am calling the police to break up the party to protect my house which is my life savings and my neighbors and for the safety of everyone.

As soon as they saw this message, about 30 people ran out of my house.  The guest then had the audacity to ask if she could stay for the night.  We said obviously asked her to leave asap.  I did not end up filling a police report and  cancelled the police call since they all ran out.

Airbnb finally picked up and I explained the situation. I had to explain a million times since there was a big language barrier with the rep.  They told me that someone from the trust and safety department would reach out.  I wanted the guests account reviewed and suspended for doing this.

I was away from my family and was outside until almost 3:00am to check the house after they left to ensure there was no issues and they did not destroy my house.

Airbnb trust and safety reached via email the next day, I explained the situation and gave them a clip of the OUTDOOR video of 30 people running out of my house.  

The next day when I logged into Airbnb to check my reservations, I noticed that my account was showing as suspended.  I immediately got real nervous and started stressing as to why.  I started calling Airbnb asap and kept getting bounced around with reps that could not understand me due to their command of the English language.

Just to back up a little, I am a proud super host with over 140 reviews and score of 4.9.  I have perfect ratings on both of my properties with zero cancellations, almost 99% five star reviews and with glowing comments and reviews.  I bend over backwards for every guest because I want everyone to have the best experience in the world. This is my life savings and I used to pursue my passion of hospitality and to provide for my family.  This Is not just about money but my passion.  We love hosting guests which is why we have put all of our savings in this venture.

So back to the issue, the trust and safety rep finally called me at 11:00 pm since they work at nights.  What he told me next is the most shocking, ridiculous, disappointing and upsetting that I have ever heard. 

He stated that my account is suspended because of my camera and it was not fully disclosed.  So basically the video that I sent to show 30 people running out of my house was used to punish me and not the guest. Again, this is an OUTDOOR camera overlooking outside of the house.

In my listing, it is clearly stated that I have a ring outdoor camera that is outside of the home. I have zero camera’s inside.  This is clearly disclosed.

He said that’s not correct and I did not disclose it properly.  He said that I did not disclose where it is even though it’s a ring camera right in front of the door in plain site.  He also said that I did not write in my listing that the camera can record video.

How stupid does that sound?  Why would someone put a camera that does not record video?  So if say I have a fridge in my house then do I need to state that it’s turned on and you can store drinks and food in it?

Also under my house rules it is clearly listed that outdoor camera is used to verify guest count.  Again this clearly shows that there is a camera and it on to verify guest count.

I also have another house rule that states that please do not unplug and or move the outdoor camera.

Again another spot where my camera is clearly listed.  99% of all Airbnb have outdoor cameras and they are listed like the way mine   They are treating me like I had hidden camera’s inside the home.

Basically I am being punished as a  super host with perfect reviews for turning in a guest who brought 30 people to my house who were smoking, partying and god knows what they would have done had I not asked them to leave. Airbnb is on a big anti-partying campaign due to issues with local municipalities, covid etc.  So I did exactly what the company wants.  I protected the company’s image, my home, my neighbors and my family and this is what I get?

It has been 3 days and my account is still suspended.  I am unable to receive guests and my current guests are not getting the proper notifications from Airbnb. 

How can a company treat their host like this?  What is my crime here?  It’s almost like being arrested as the homeowner for calling the cops to report a thief in your home.

My listings are so important to me.  I have put my life savings on this and spent months on getting the right permits and setting up my place.  I am still waiting for them to activate my account.  They keep telling me that their investigation is not completed.  What investigation?  The guest brought 30 people and there is clear proof of that.

Without hosts, there is no Airbnb.  We provide them the company to make money.

Please spread the word. I need to talk to someone in their U.S office, I want this escalate to their senior leadership.  No one should be treated like this.  I don’t want this to happen to anyone.  No one deserves to be treated like this.

[Emiel1]

@Shawn574 

Your listings are temporary not in the search system (suspended) , but they are not deactivated.

You can learn from similar posts after investigation and after correcting the listings,  the listings will be useally reinstated wihtin 10 days.

[Brian2036]

There is a whole lot of this sort of thing going on.

Hosts may have to unite and demand fair treatment. There is no excuse for penalizing a host “pending investigation” unless criminal charges have been filed by local authorities.

[Colleen253]

@Shawn574 It's unclear why you allowed a local booking, as you say, "Our house rules clearly state no local bookings". They tend to be big red flags, as you know - as do last minute bookings. Hosting on Airbnb is all about prevention. Don't ever ignore those red flags. 

Having said that, how this was handled by Airbnb is heinous. This business of automatically suspending hosts who have properly disclosed security cameras and have used them to detect and help stop an unauthorized party has got to go.

@Catherine-Powell @Tara-Bunch  - when are you finally going to get your customer service people up to speed?

[Nick]

Hi @Shawn574. I'm very sorry to read about your recent experience. I want to give you a heads-up, I sent the details of your case to the team, and they told me they would be in touch ASAP (if they haven't already). I hope this helps.

Thank you
Nick

[Shawn574]

Thank you so much Nick!   Our account was no longer suspended and became active last night which is great news.  But no response from Airbnb when it became active again.  I am just happy that my listings are active again.  I just hope this provides a great learning experience for the company to improve their customer experience for their hosts and their communication.  As I have stated before sure Airbnb provides the platform but we put our homes and everything on the line to make it happen. There is no Airbnb without hosts and that's a fact.  

We deserve better customer service and most  importantly better support and fair treatment.  This was such a stressful few days for me and my family.  Because the bills do not stop, everyone knows it's cost a lot of money to pay mortgages, utilities, etc  to keep your listing active and when you are suspended it does not pay your bills stop. We went through a lot of headache and stress not knowing when we were going to be active again or what was going to happen next.  We also lost open days because our listing was suspended. 

This was such a negative experience and now we are just worried about this experience moving forward that it does not happen again.  Where without warning or fault, you are just punished.  Our case is so clear, there is no grey area, they punished us for doing the right thing. For enforcing our house rules, for preventing a big party,  for protecting our home, for protecting our neighbors and most importantly protecting airbnb's image.  We got a slap in the face for doing the right thing.  

All that said, we are ready to move past this experience.  I am just happy that our account is active again.  I appreciate everyone's feedback and support.  I hope this lead to something better for everyone  moving forward. 

Thank you kindly everyone!  

[Matt4175]

Your first and biggest mistake was to not call the police first and show up at the place and start kicking everyone out. Not sure why you waited so long to call the police 

[Shawn574]

Hey Matt,  i did  not show up to the property directly.  I was in the neighborhood and was messaging the guests via Airbnb app so it would be all documented properly  and plus I would not not have felt safe showing up to the house without police.

I did not call the police right away because I was not aware of the rules in terms of does Airbnb needs to cancel the reservation first before you can call the police and kick people out.  That’s why I was waiting on hold for 2 hours desperately waiting for guidance from Airbnb on what to do.  I also did not want additional drama and just wanted them  to leave without issues. I have never been in that situation before.  But it’s a great learning experience. 

I am just glad this is behind me and I can move on and hopefully not have this happen again. 

[Colleen253]

@Shawn574 Add to your house rules that violating the occupancy limits is cause for booking being terminated without refund. This will give you leverage to move quickly to evict people the minute you need to. It can also help discourage those sketchy guests from booking.

[Shawn574]

Thank you Colleen!  I appreciate the help and guidance.  

[Matt4175]

I’m not sure why my last comment didn’t get sent but my question would be what would you expect Airbnb to do? If someone is holding a party at your home with a bunch of uninvited people according to your rules then the first thing you should had done is call the police and tell them whatever you have to to get them there ASAP. It’s your house!! It’s not Airbnb’s house!! I understand you wanted to be safe and not show up but definitely call the police and again tell them whatever you have to to get them there quickly. 

[Tina36]

Not all owners live locally and can not show up.

[Nicksixer0]

Forget getting support from Airbnb.  I’m done with them.. time to find another platform. 

[Ann72]

I'm 100% with @Matt4175, @Shawn574.  Why would you call Airbnb and not the police?  The way I read it, you called Airbnb and didn't call the police because you wanted to be sure you got the booking cancelled and got your money back?

Spend some time here and get some tips from people who've come back from difficult situations and learned from their mistakes.  Don't allow one-night bookings and when you say you don't accept bookings from locals, enforce it.

Airbnb is a booking platform, not the police, not a property manager, not a nanny, not your best friend.  It doesn't own your house - you do.  Don't give your power away.  In the meantime, I'm sorry you've been suspended, but you'll be reinstated soon.  Don't stress.

[Shawn574]

Thank you all again for all the help and guidance.  It is greatly appreciated.  This issue has been resolved and my account is no longer suspended.   Thank you again and please disregard my original posting since my account is no longer suspended.  Definitely happy to glad that  this experience is  behind me.