Account suspended due to false "privacy violation" report

[Channing7]

Hello Airbnb Community. 

My one and only listing that I currently have has been suspended for 3 days. The last guest to stay at my home reported a "privacy violation" in order to get out of paying for the entire 60 day booking.

The guest suddenly quit communicating with me and would not reply to any messages what so ever.

She was gone from the property for 4-5 days when I get a reservation alteration request, and she wanted $633.00 back.

I agreed to give her the money back because I figured something personal might have happened and she needed to go back home to Missouri.  I then gave her a 5 star review and had nothing but good things to say on the review. 

that was until I got a notice that my account was suspended and under a privacy investigation. 

The crazy part about the "report" is the fact that the safety department would not disclose what was said in the report, who reported, what supposedly happened. 

Then the gentlemen investigating the report wanted me to give him information so I could respond with my side of the story.

I didn't have a side of the story to tell, because I don't know what the story even is.

Long story short, it has been 3 days and my account is still suspended, even after I got an email from Airbnb support saying that the suspension was lifted and that I should be able to use the platform normally. 

I am deeply offended by all of this. I worked really hard for that 5 start rating, 100% response rate, etc. 

I am 1 day away from becoming a super host as well. 

I've called, emailed, and messaged  support. Nothing seems to be getting the issue resolved.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Stephanie  can you do something about it?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Channing7 Thankfully your listing is back up. What hosts sadly have to recognise is that Airbnb operates a guilty until proven innocent approach to hosts when a guest complains. They then compound this by operating a kafkaesque approach to the investigation where, as you found out, they demand answers to issues raised by guests without actually telling the host what said issue was.

I can only hope that by sending all these issues to @Catherine-Powell she will one day try to make the situation better. I am not asking for hosts to be given free reign as I am sure there are bad hosts out there but rather to make any investigations fair and reasonable.

[Jenny]

Hi @Channing7 

That doesn't sound good.  I'm sorry for the experience you've had!

Did you get any response back yet about the situation?  

If you'd like me to escalate internally to get a response, please drop me a DM, and include information like case numbers where appropriate.

Thanks!

Jenny

[Catherine-Powell]

Hi @Channing7,

I asked our team to look into what happened and I can confirm that your account's suspension has been lifted.

We are also looking closely at how we can provide more transparency and information when an account is suspended or removed. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be when this happens, so please know we are working to make changes. This is one of my top priorities.

Kindly,
Catherine

[Kia272]

@Catherine-Powell  There are years and years of posts in this forum about this exact issue, so it's hard to believe that AirBnB is making a concerted effort to change the situation. Can you provide more detail about what's being done and a timeline for when changes might take place? 

There are also years and years of posts documenting frustration with AirBnB customer service. It would be nice to no if changes are coming to that situation too. 

Thank you

[Zachary172]

@Catherine-Powell @Jenny I am currently in the same situation it seems.  The guests staying at my property damaged my property.  I was out of town and at work.  My friend told them in person I would be coming back that Sunday to see if I could fix the bed.  Upon entering there was cig butts on the floor and was clear smoking in the room (smoking is 100% against house rules all together), "purple" drink, weed, etc all over the room.  I didn't go through any of their things.  I simply removed the bed as it would be considered a safety issue.  I called Airbnb at that point in which they told me to take pictures of the damage and breaking of house rules which I did but didn't touch anything of theirs.  They told me to report it and asked if I wanted them removed.  I told them yes, but it never happened.  The guests made the complaint yet remained for days after said complaint (I even left the house and allowed them to use my own bed).  In fact, they even sent a message to Airbnb stating there was no problem that we had resolved the misunderstanding.  I think the biggest thing is there is just zero communication.  I can't get any answers.  

I had to take days off of work to get everything done.  Today I had get a new bed, put it together, change the whole format of the room in 10 hours just so my next guest can enjoy their honeymoon.  I am doing all of this and spending money without knowing anything of what is going on and if I can even continue to host.  So now I am thousands of dollars in the hole and lost days of work, yet I can't get an answer from Airbnb.  

I take a lot of pride in my Airbnb.  You can tell by my reviews.  18 of 18 for 5*.  This whole thing was a nightmare and I just would like it to end.  

[Emilie]

@Zachary172 I'm really sorry to hear about this. My colleague Jenny isn't around today, so I've nudged the team for you on this one. I hope someone follows-up with you very soon and that the situation will be resolved shortly! 

I'll let you know if I get any news, it'd be great if you could keep us in the loop as well if there's movement on your end. 🙂

Speak soon, 

Emilie

[Emilie]

@Zachary172 Just to follow-up on this - everything seems resolved, though if you need more help please let us know!

Thanks, 

Emilie

[Zachary172]

@Emilie I apologize as I thought I had replied.  Yes, my account was taken out of suspension status.  I am now just awaiting word back on the refund of the damage property.  Today I got a message saying it was being worked on but that was the first message in almost a week. 

Hopefully I can at least get my costs back. 

Thank you,

Zac

[Emilie]

@Zachary172 No worries, thanks for the update Zac! I don't have any more info on my end but it's good to hear your account is back in working order and this case being worked on. 🙂

Thanks, 

Emilie

[Toshin2]

Am trying to make payment through Nigeria bank, please any alternative on how to book a home and make payment from Nigeria.

[Ric-and-Jen5]

We have a listing that was falsely accused of a party over the holiday weekend. We’ve cooperated with the investigation, provided our NoiseAware data, called the police department and confirmed that they were never dispatched to the property. The person I’m working with at Airbnb has still not even confirmed what the issue is for us to address. The communication is horrible. Someone please help me @Catherine-Powell

[Emilie]

Hi @Ric-and-Jen5, 

I'm sorry to hear that you've not received an answer yet - I've nudged the team for you on this sop they can follow-up with you. If I have any more information, I'll let you know here!

Thanks, 

Emilie

[Ric-and-Jen5]

@Emilie it just keeps happening. Yet again. I have a suspended listing and ZERO Communication from the "investigator"