No Customer Care for Hosts

[Colleen169]

On August 14, 2024 I had my officially worst guest ever. Someone by the name of Ali booked for 6 people on behalf of a family of 13. Yes, 6 children and 7 adults checked in. When I asked for Ali, no one knew who I was referring to. I reached out asking him to have the guests create an account but that did not happened. Long story short, they smoked walking in and out the house with the fired up cigarette despite warnings, walked in and out the house with shoes, lost the house key, plaster feces and chewing gum on the walls, broken cabinet doors, broken a foot stool and had a henna party which left henna everywhere, especially on the newly renovated white oak floors. They also STOLE ALL MY TOWELS AND TWO SEPARATE PILLOW CASES after ruining my duvet covers.

Although I was able to get them removed on August 20, they accused me of having cameras inside the listing because I could see them walking in and out with a fired up cigarette. Fought with Airbnb and lost $3000 reimbursement to the guest including monies for smoke removal, replacements and repairs. All in all I lost over $5000 (without calculating lost revenue during the fight with Airbnb). 

After submitting an appeal and winning (at least so I thought), I realized I could not follow the steps to reinstate my account (yes they closed my listing due to the imaginary camera). I contacted customer support for technical assistance and of course what I got was an appeal to the winning appeal. I’ve spent going on TWO WEEKS explaining that I did not initiate an appeal given I won my appeal and I am being called a lie despite email traffic and messages in the forum stating “I assure you there has been no violation on your account nor your listing”. The guest was also allowed to leave a review with all the fabrications he could come up with and his third party booking which after an investigation determined his review will be removed. That too has come up to be falsified by Airbnb and his review is still present! I am winded, frustrated, angry, and have no more energy for Airbnb nor their guests. I am calling my attorney for this one. What do you ladies and gents suggest?

[Wendy1854]

I’m new as a host and your experience is terrifying. I’m so sorry. That’s awful.  Some of these reviews look so the same about people. As if they are fake

[Colleen169]

Tighten up your boot laces… airbnb is not for hosts at all. Airbnb only caters to guests. Good luck!

[Lorina14]

@Colleen169 

I am so sorry about your experience. They should have been denied once they were a third party booking and were not present during the stay. 

Is there anyway to escalate your situation to a manager as it appears sometimes you get the standard customer service responses when calling in regarding an issue (and you feel like you’re going in circles). 

When a safety issue is reported it appears the safety team takes a while to process the issue even when it appears that it was a retaliatory remark from a guest when the host was trying to enforce their house rules (and a host listing is suspended during that time).

I think there is good post somewhere here there it talked about the steps to follow when there are violations for a party, extra guests, or breaking house rules. It is your right as the home owner to enforce your house rules. I think for the guests violating house rules it was like notify the guest they are breaking rules, contact Airbnb advising them of the situation, keep all communication on the platform, if they continue you message the guest that they will need to vacate immediately within x hours, and that police will be called if this is not adhered to. Do a search on the community center and you can find some relevant posts.

@Bhumika @Elisa @Paula is there anyone or any team who can assist to clear up the situation?

[Colleen169]

Thank you. I did in fact follow these steps but there is a representative who is discriminating against me. As soon as he sees my case go in he closes it. Someone by the name of Sigurd. 

[Marie8425]

@Colleen169 

I am very sorry about your situation.

This isn't meant to be rude but if Ali booked with you and 7 adults with 6 children showed up and nobody recognized the Guest's name who you contracted with then you  gave 13 random strangers access to your property.

Ali may not know any of them.  

You have noted you were informed prior to access.  

We can not expect ABB to catch scammers with less proof then we had and we didn't catch.

[Colleen169]

Before booking Ali called to say he was booking for family. I informed him that prior to booking he will need to have one of the guests create an account. He booked a few days later through instant booking. I notified him again prior to the day of check in and two more times after check in. He made no effort. 

[Alex-And-Rhea0]

@Colleen169 Whew! What an ordeal! Noone as an  ABnb host should have to go through this.

It's never a good idea to communicate directly with an 'iffy' guest with 'iffy' requests.

Call for help from Abnb that's what they are here for. Tell them you are uncomfortable with the host's request and get Abnb to make the request on your behalf. There is no reason you should accept guests that make you uncomfortable.

From the damage you described did you take any photos as evidence? Did

you send them to ABnb. I would also have requested someone to inspect your premises from Abnb, they should have reimbursed you.

It's a good idea to note that you have a security camera at the front door. This also works to protect your guests. The camera and the position should be listed on the description of your property. No false claims from the tenants.

We have discovered by raising our prices we get a differfent 'class' of people.

We also limit the number of people to the number of beds in our premises.

We also have discovered by constantly maintaining and improving the amenities it is more profitable to raise the prices. 

We also offer discounts for longer stays as it is easier to run longer stays.

For this you must do your sums and work out a daily costing.

Once you do this and attract a better 'class' of people there will be fewer hassles.

Running an Abnb isn't always fun, because it"s a people business and people are people. Good and Bad.

Air Bnb isn't the only venue out there.

Kind regards,

A&R

[Colleen169]

@Alex-And-Rhea0 Thank you for your suggestions. I have been hosting since 2016 and have done all you’ve suggested. Raised prices, improved amenities, discounts, etc. Unfortunately in this specific case, class is not determined by money. In 2024 monies are quite easy to come by. I was reimbursed for the damages and stollen items. The issue here is the camera that has been clearly described since the day the listing was listed. Airbnb so-called customer care have no care for hosts…. at least for some of us in NY. Without investigating a representative by the name of SIGURD unlisted my listing even after it was investigated and determined that there is nothing at all wrong with my account, listing nor camera’s location. Sigurd is clearly discriminating against me. 

[Marie8425]

@Colleen169 

What is the use of having a rule of another guest be named and haw an account unless the creator of the rule honors it

[Colleen169]

I most definitely live by my own rules. Providing guidance to a guest on how to best follow your rules and Airbnb’s policies shows exactly that I practice the same principles.