Airbnb 'safety team'

[Paresh3]

I have had an astonishing encounter with airbnb 'safety'. I was due to have a guest check-in yesterday for 2 weeks, and just waiting for her, then suddenly received an email from airbnb stating they had some safety concern.

They cancelled the reservation, blocked my account and asked me to get in touch.

When I called them via the 'Superhost' channel, to find out exactly what was going on, I was connected with someone who simply said they could not help as the 'specialist team' deals with this.  I then stated that if there was something that was so significant that it was a safety concern, I needed to look into it straight away and needed to speak to this 'specialist' immediately. He simply said to reply to the email I received, which I did, and that he would also contact the relevant team to get back to me. However, no one got back to me yesterday.

Having also blocked my account, I could not access my app!

I again chased up today asking for more details about EXCATLY WHAT the concern is. All I got was a ridiculous email asking me to comment on some issue with a prior reservation. I have absolutely NO KNOWLEDGE of what this issue they are referring to is, and to expect me to comment on something that I am being accused of with out any information about what it is is pathetic.

I have asked Wally who wrote me at the beginning "I’m getting in touch because we received a report of an unsafe or uncomfortable situation that took place during a recent reservation." I asked him what exactly he is referring to, and all he goes on to say "Unfortunately, due to our privacy policy, we are unable to provide any specifics. However, there has been a report about an incident that happened prior to a recent reservation. I would seek your cooperation in providing any information pertaining to that reservation; to the best of your knowledge and memory."

I am being accused of something and apparently being treated as guilty, and yet I have NO IDEA about what, and I am expected to make some comment about it???

Is there no end to how low airbnb customer 'support' can go? This kind of treatment is simply from the dark ages. I rent the whole of my apartment and rarely meet any of my guests, and have mostly 5* reviews, and am a 'Superhost'.

If the issue is so serious that needs immediate attention, I am not really being given much of an opportunity to address it urgently, only some excuse about Wally being in a different time zone to me. SURELY airbnb have a team of people who can take up the issue, and not just rely on one person.

Can ANYONE make any sense out of this and has anyone else faced a similar situation?

I am trying my best to address this 'concern' but banging my head against the eternal airbnb customer support wall.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Catherine-Powell Another week - Another Superhost ( @Paresh3 ) suspension. Has any progress been made with Airbnb being more communicative as to what the problem is?

[Paresh3]

@Mike-And-Jane0 @Catherine-Powell  After an agonising few days and exchange of emails with inaccurate and vague requests for information by the 'specialist', and despite asking to talk rationally with airbnb by telephone as soon as I was notified of their ill judged action, Wally has advised my access has been restored. However, this is not good enough as they have failed to tell me exactly what provoked their action leading to the cancellation of the guest booking. I expect to be fully paid for the cancellation by airbnb a couple of hours before the guest arrival. 

Concerns about some vague 'safety issue' or 'uncomfortable situation' have been borne out to be false. If it had been so serious, I would have expected airbnb to make immediate contact by phone rather than resort to some convoluted, vague and extended email interrogation. then to hide behind 'privacy' as a reason to not disclose what the issue was exactly is inexcusable. The manner and conduct of this investigation should be of concern to all users of the airbnb platform. Yet another 'tech giant' abusing it's power and position in my opinion.

ALL of this could have been addressed if airbnb had actually done me the courtesy of discussing any issues immediately instead of taking a knee-jerk reaction to restrict my account first and then proceed as if I was guilty of some offence. It was clearly a personal attack because the 'suspension' extended to me not even allowed to make reservations for myself, let alone accept any bookings, and access to my account severely restricted.

An organisation that thrives on ratings and reviews and  'rewards' hosts with some 'Superhost' status, obviously means NOTHING to airbnb as their actions completely ignored everything I had done to date to earn good reviews and to be a great host, and then treat me in such an offensive manner. The claim of priority access to support for superhosts is a lie. Their action has been totally unjustified and unwarranted, and unfortunately the 'customer support' is a joke. I do consider Catherine Powell to be part of the problem as so far I have not seen any improvement in this area. As a Professional Chartered Engineer with a career at Exec. level in multinational defence companies and Govt. organisations, and with over 35 years experience in letting and managing my property portfolio, it is an insult to be treated in this manner.

I also wrote an open letter to Nathan Blecharczyk by email, but disappointingly  have received no reply.  I guess I should not be too surprised and expect too much. Thankfully newer channels to market are opening up which may just lead to improvements all round and raise standards.