Urgent Help! Guest’s Unauthorized Pet in the House Posing Health and Life Threatening Risks

Elaine979
Level 2
Truganina, Australia

Urgent Help! Guest’s Unauthorized Pet in the House Posing Health and Life Threatening Risks

A guest booked my property without disclosing that she had a pet despite my listing does not allow pet. I later heard a cat noise and discovered that she had brought one onto the premises. As per Airbnb’s policy, host is allowed to cancel bookings without consequences in such cases. However, despite reporting this issue nearly more than half a day ago, Airbnb has yet to provide a resolution.

 

I suffer from severe allergies and asthma, which have been exacerbated by the cat’s presence, leaving me struggling to breathe and requiring medical attention. Despite this, Airbnb has still not canceled the booking. They insist on contacting the guest to amend the booking, but the guest remains uncooperative—even after I lent her my phone to call Airbnb to address the situation. She didn’t cancel at all . 

 

I have contacted Airbnb multiple times, speaking with different representatives each time to repeat the same thing again only to be reassured that the issue will be resolved, yet nothing has been done. I have lost confidence with that team. Is there any escalation contact I can reach out to? This ongoing delay has made the situation increasingly frustrating and stressful.

3 Replies 3
Elaine979
Level 2
Truganina, Australia

Dealing with Airbnb team has been an extremely stressful experience. Over the past two days, I’ve made 19 calls  to be precise about the above urgent matter to only see some light but fyi the guest is still in the house and likely will not go tomorrow if a booking is not secured!

 

The Customer Support team seems to exist solely to pass notes to the Ambassador team. They can’t check anything , don’t have the authority to perform anything . Every time I called, I have to explain my situation again, only to hear fake assurances. I even felt that some CS agents were fooling me to hang up the line by giving the excuse that another team will call now  which did not happen. The “urgent” team has been of no help, some even told me that they’re not trained to handle the issue. I wondered what is an urgent safety issue that falls under their umbrella?  I can’t even get hold of any the escalation team . Felt so helpless and nearly drive me to my wits end.

 

From this incident , I’ve lost all my confidence in Airbnb’s ability to resolve issue for the host. It feels like Airbnb just want to  take the profit share while offering minimal /no support to hosts. The cancellation policy on their website is misrepresent information ; as a host I can’t request to cancel a booking, even when the guest clearly violates the policy.

On Thursday, I only received my first callback from the team at 8.01 PM and it was to ask how much I was willing to refund the guest as a gesture of goodwill. 

(why would the cancellation policy even exist) and their first Airbnb message came at 5:45 p.m (12 hours later)after their last response at 5:45 am which containing no content at all, is there a point?  Out of everyone I’ve spoken to, only one person Mikella provided a deadline . The rest has been empty promises and zero action. 

 

To make matters worse, I’ve been dealing with a guest who I reckoned is mentally unstable—texting nonsensical messages to me, knocking on my room door late at night (11 p.m. or even 12 30 a.m.) for trivial matters, making paranoid claims about being chased by a notorious gang which had been repeated to me and my mom more than a handful of time although we told her we don’t want to listen anymore and even accused me of being a gang of them and asked me to swear on my family’s name that I’m not in contact with them. This is especially worrying as I live in a household of women. The lack of empathy or urgency from Airbnb while I’m dealing with harassment/ my allergy with the cat (which I have to see the doctor for )has been utterly draining and extremely disappointing.

 

Is it worth it for such a small revenue? Absolutely not. For less than AUD 40 per night, I’m risking my safety and peace of mind. I’m seriously will explore other platforms and removing my Airbnb listing. Their so-called “Superhost” status means nothing if this is the level of support they provide.

@Elaine979 

Do you have proof the guest brought a cat to your no pet listing (photos/video date/time stamped)? Exterior camera only of course.

 

I would contact the safety team since this directly affects your health and safety. 

 

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Thanks Jo for replying. Yes I have provided the message that guest admitted she brought in a cat twice. I tried the safety team which I’m referring to “urgent” team , typo sorry . They hand-balled my call to the other team  without immediate solutions. Some even told me that they’re not trained to handle the issue. I even sent messages the guest sent me to them to prove that I’m not exaggerating or making up the above. Thank god , everything is now resolved ! Huge relieve now. The process and the entire team really need a thorough review. It feels like each team operates as a separate unit, with no one taking ownership or responsibility. No care factor . Simply saying “I understand/I assured you” without offering a solution or even the courtesy of a follow-up when asked to is meaningless . From my perspective, I see Airbnb as a single entity, not a collection of disconnected departments. I just need my issue settled and able to be contacted to the relevant party for update as I am not well and don’t feel safe. It’s really a stressful one