Category Archives: Airbnb Host Stories

These are real, uncensored stories from Airbnb Hosts.  We encourage our site visitors to read and share their Airbnb Host Stories to help warn others of the dangers of using Airbnb, and consider using alternative options in the sharing economy.

Hosts Beware: The Host Guarantee is a Crock

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911 to all hosts: a must read. I had a $42,000 claim due to damages to my newly renovated $400,000 home. These Airbnb guests were the first people in the home since its purchase. They carved into furniture; two large dogs were brought into the home destroying furniture, carpets doors, paint, and more. Upon discovering this, I had the guests removed. I immediately filed a claim with Airbnb and their $1,000,000 guarantee. I was told that the insurance team would be in touch within three days.

After five days with no answer, I began calling and emailing, again with no response. When I called, they told me that they had everything they needed and they don’t know why there is a delay. Still, there is no substance to their promises or guarantees. This went on for three months. I had to pay out of pocket to repair and replace everything in the entire house that I had only finished remodeling and furnishing a month before.

After three months I received an email stating I had 72 hours to respond or the offer will be withdrawn. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. I was forced to accept a disrespectful amount to cover at least some of my losses. I have since watched Airbnb Nightmares on Netflix and have learned Airbnb has a history of not paying its hosts for damages by the guests. We are business partners and I have been a Superhost for over 2 1/2 years. Why would they not compensate me for these damages? Hosts beware.

 

*****Update 10/17/2018******

Boynton homeowner takes on Airbnb over damage

SOS: Help Airbnb Understand my Birth Year isn’t 2020

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Yesterday I was sent an email from Airbnb in the evening requesting some ID details to be updated. I did this immediately including my birthdate and a verified photo of my driver’s license. You’d have thought it would be easy, but not so. Within 30 seconds 20 emails arrived in my inbox one after another, each one notifying me that a booking had been cancelled. All 20 bookings I had in total.

Some technical glitch at Airbnb had registered my birthdate as 2020. According to Airbnb I was underage (and somehow not even born yet) so without reaching out to me as a long-time Superhost Airbnb automatically cancelled every single booking and refunded every single payment to every single guest.

I called Airbnb immediately only to be put on hold for 20 minutes by one of their operators. I called back and the call was disconnected. There was no return call. I called back again each time explaining over and over the urgency of the situation. By this stage I had frantic guests texting and calling me asking why their booking had been cancelled. One guest rang Airbnb herself only to be told that the problem was at my end because I had cancelled her booking?

It is now the next day and I am still waiting for all bookings to be reinstated. I now have guests who have paid for their original booking confirming that they wish their booking to be reinstated only to be double charged. They have received no refund for the cancelled booking. One guest is out of pocket more than $7,000. I only get to talk to Airbnb at their offshore Philippines call centre, which is useless.

They Cancelled Every One of our Reservations

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I own two properties that are being listed on Airbnb in Sydney, Australia. My son manages them for me on his account. We have had a great experience with Airbnb until yesterday when the following incident occurred.

We were asked questions by Airbnb regarding verification of our identity. We were unsure whether Airbnb wanted to verify my son’s details (as the host), or my details for banking purposes. We checked with the Airbnb customer service team who advised that it was definitely myself. Once I provided this information, the Airbnb system chose to cancel every one of our reservation bookings for both properties, totaling approximately $100,000 in forward revenues. We were also locked out of my son’s account.

This occurred despite my son and I having the same last name and having ID that shows us residing at the same address. We also received no prior warning or call from Airbnb to clarify any concerns. They were just all cancelled. We have spent the past 12 hours calling the useless Airbnb help desk, their Trust and Safety team, and also compliance teams multiple times trying to find someone to reinstate the bookings and help allay the concerns of guests.

We have messaged every guest and managed to re-book only about 25% of them. We have lost approximately $75,000 in revenue. As you can imagine, this also resulted in dozens of very angry and confused guests, some of whom were on their way to our property to start their stay. We are unable to get someone from Airbnb (with any authority) to contact us to discuss assistance to fix this and get financial compensation. We have no other option than to consider legal action and to also post this terrible situation on the website Airbnb Hell.

Airbnb Loses Recording of Guest Threatening Me

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blank blankToday I discovered that a female Airbnb guest had sneaked a male into our home unannounced without paying for him. I discovered this by taking clean towels, toilet paper and water to the room when she left for her “photo shoot”. I was confronted with an unknown man who claimed to be a “boyfriend” although the female guest told me she lived in and had just flown in from LA. The male guest eventually slipped up and said he had just arrived from NYC.

I contacted Airbnb immediately to report the violation of the rules, false booking number of guests and to express that this was a potentially unsafe situation of a guest leaving an unknown unapproved unverified person in my home without so much as even a text message to let me know, let alone not asking permission. While I was on the phone with an Airbnb supervisor who was supposedly recording the event and confirmed she in fact heard the male guest and heard me ask him to leave (I asked the super to stay on the phone with me for safety while I asked him to leave),  the female guest returned, came into my home and started yelling at me that she was a 32-year-old woman, could do as she pleased, and I had no right to go up there or confront her “friend.”

There was no reasoning with these people; that was evident and why I asked the super to contact her and cancel and handle the reservation because I didn’t want nor did I feel it was my place to safely confront guests under these conditions. The super advised me that she was escalating this to the Trust & Safety department immediately. She said she also needed to speak with the guest. I advised her that was fine, but have someone else call and for her to stay on the phone with me for safety and documentation. She hung up.

The guest and the male “friend” started yelling in my home. The female backed me into my home office and blocked the door. I was totally out of composure and had to threaten to call the police. They spilled out into my driveway (I live in an upscale urban neighborhood) and of course the neighbors were not watching. They eventually left but not after the random male invited me to step out of my home to deal with him in my driveway and calling me a racist.

I went back inside and went back to my office to deal with clients and calls. About four hours later when I had a break I contacted Airbnb again because I had not heard from anyone. There was no ticket in my Airbnb mailbox and no return phone call from the company as had been promised. When I called back, the new customer service agent and his super said they “had no record of this event, no notes, no ticket and no recording and would need to call the guest to get her side of the story.”

I lost my grip with them. The guests last words leaving were, “you’ll get yours.” As I’ve reached out and as of the writing of this event six hours later, there has been no follow up. I had one email from a customer service agent that wrote me after the third call. I’ll attach the three replies I’ve sent in and not a one has had a response.

This is not the first issue I’ve had with Airbnb. I’ll post the others now that I know about this site. I’m all in about supporting some serious collective effort among hosts to bring change and safety to both hosts and guests. Airbnb alone does not seem to indicate they have the incentive to do so without some serious movement from those of us who have experienced this sort of stuff.

Little Consideration by Airbnb for Homeowner’s Asset

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I just had a guest who requested an early check-in on Friday and my house manager accommodated him by letting him drop off his bags at 10:00 AM. While there the guest noticed the house manager was doing some very minor touch-up on a leather couch with some leather polish. Later that day at 3:30 PM (30 minutes early), my house manager called the guest to let him know the house was ready. The guest returned with eight people vs. the five they said they’d have in their party.

On Sunday, they complained to Airbnb that we were doing some major renovation and wanted a full refund for their three-night stay. They were scheduled to depart the next morning. My house manager and I instantly recognized the guest was a rat and trying to take advantage of the situation. So, we demanded Airbnb kick them out.

After about five hours on the phone with Airbnb and threats to call the police the guest finally left. Fortunately, there wasn’t any damage. However, Airbnb refunded the guest’s third night which I think is out of line. The guest cancelled their reservation by their trying to cheat me, my house manager and Airbnb.

In Some Countries, Airbnb Demands you Break the Law

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Airbnb has an artistic interpretation of the law; I guess a lawyer would call it blackmail. Read this exchange for yourself:

“Your company has been warned by the Dutch DPA that it is illegal to demand BSN numbers in your authentication protocol. Your company has agreed to stop doing this, but you are not. The BSN number is in two places on a dutch ID, and you are refusing my payout because I cover up both BSN numbers. Your customer service refuses to help. I now have to send away guests that have payed a lot of money because of your company’s unwillingness to comply with local law an your own terms and conditions and blocking my payout.

It seems like blackmail to block payments from people that do not comply with your illegal demands. I am only emailing you because the customer service is not helpful at all and my bills are running up, and the guests are the victims of this.

You are breaking multiple laws; you can read up on the problem on this government website. Basically you cannot ask to leave the lower line of the passport/driver’s license visible because it contains the BSN number (which you also ask to cover up in the description) . You can also not ask to show the photo (which I did leave visible for you). You are not allowed to ask for a copy of the ID at all.

I expect a big global company to at least read the laws regarding these things. If the dutch people that already have sent this illegal content to Airbnb find out they can demand it back and demand a IT professional to check the Airbnb system if you really erased this illegal content. If you think otherwise, so did Facebook. I would like to comply with your ID process but not by breaking multiple laws in the process (and I will not make a problem of the photo).

By the way with a BSN number you can put someone in huge debt for the rest of their life, this is the reason it is illegal to demand or even ask for it in the Netherlands. Sure your multi billion company ‘didn’t know’ , but now you do. So please comply with the law and stop blocking my payments. Did I already mention it is illegal for you to ask for a copy of an ID at all?”

I’m with Airbnb Support. I’ll be helping you today. Give me a moment while I look into your case. At this time, you payout is temporarily held until you complete the verification processed that is required by our Terms of Service.

“Your terms of service break multiple laws.”

I understand your concerns, however, you have agreed to our Terms of Services and this is a requirement.

“The law says you can not ask for my BSN number, and you even acknowledge this in your process description. The BSN number is in two places on a Dutch ID, one on the lower line which you demand to stay visible. It has nothing to do with your terms if your terms say to break Dutch law. I am still not permitted by law to comply.”

That is up to you if you do not wish to upload your ID. However, Airbnb will not release any payout until you complete this process.

“I will send a copy of this conversation to the authorities (they say if I cannot work it out with you they will contact you. you are demanding things that are prohibited by law. If your terms say that I should break national and European law and you think your rules apply here I have sincere doubts about your willingness and/or competence to solve the issue. Thank you for the conversation.”

Since I am not sure if your issue is resolved, I am forwarding this ticket to a member of our team who can best assist you. You should hear back from us soon.

“Ok, I will postpone contacting the authorities until further contact (if this doesn’t take too long).”

2.4 User verification on the Internet is difficult and we do not assume any responsibility for the confirmation of any Member’s identity. Notwithstanding the above, for transparency and fraud prevention purposes, and as permitted by applicable laws, we may, but have no obligation to (i) ask Members to provide a form of government identification or other information or undertake additional checks designed to help verify the identities or backgrounds of Members, (ii) screen Members against third party databases or other sources and request reports from service providers, and (iii) where we have sufficient information to identify a Member, obtain reports from public records of criminal convictions or sex offender registrations or an equivalent version of background or registered sex offender checks in your local jurisdiction (if available).

7.2.3 You represent and warrant that any Listing you post and the booking of, or a Guest’s stay at, an Accommodation will (i) not breach any agreements you have entered into with any third parties, such as homeowners association, condominium, or other agreements, and (ii) comply with all applicable laws (such as zoning laws), Tax requirements, and other rules and regulations (including having all required permits, licenses and registrations). As a Host, you are responsible for your own acts and omissions and are also responsible for the acts and omissions of any individuals who reside at or are otherwise present at the Accommodation at your request or invitation, excluding the Guest and any individuals the Guest invites to the Accommodation.

8.3.1 You should carefully review the description of any Experience, Event or other Host Service you intend to book to ensure you (and any additional guests you are booking for) meet any minimum age, proficiency, fitness or other requirements which the Host has specified in their Listing. At your sole discretion you may want to inform the Host of any medical or physical conditions, or other circumstances that may impact your and any additional guest’s ability to participate in any Experience, Event or other Host Service. In addition, certain laws, like the minimum legal drinking age in the location of the Experience, Event or other Host Service, may also apply. You are responsible for identifying, understanding, and complying with all laws, rules and regulations that apply to your participation in an Experience, Event or other Host Service.

14.1 You are solely responsible for compliance with any and all laws, rules, regulations, and Tax obligations that may apply to your use of the Airbnb Platform. In connection with your use of the Airbnb Platform, you will not and will not assist or enable others to: • breach or circumvent any applicable laws or regulations, agreements with third-parties, third-party rights, or our Terms, Policies or Standards.

“If you carefully read the above parts of your own terms, you will see you are violating your own terms and conditions. If you read point 14.1, it states that if I comply with your illegal request for my BSN I am breaching your terms so I have to abide by local laws by all means (according to you) and by doing that you will not pay out anything. So please stop violating local laws, European laws, and your own terms and conditions.”

My last message to the help center was closed without a reply, so I am copying it over to this conversation.

“You (Airbnb, Inc.) are breaking term 2.4, and you are demanding I break 7.2.3, 8.3.1 and 14.1 of the Airbnb terms and conditions. If you think this is not the case a two-minute phone call to the Dutch authorities will clear this up for you. Therefore I once again politely ask you to stop blocking my payments and resolve the issue. For further details you can read my previous conversation with the help center. I already know my previous conversation is forwarded to someone who is ‘supposed to know’ what to do with it. I do not feel its my responsibility to teach you the law and that I should wait for an x amount of time before you make a two-minute phone call and then (if the stars and moon are correctly aligned) unblock my payments. I am following the Airbnb terms and conditions and I expect the same from Airbnb.

I have no decent response from your side. I have guests running up costs at the moment and you are blocking payment for their costs. Are you going to arrange other accommodations for these guests? I can not let them stay for free. I will forward our correspondence to the Dutch DPA tomorrow morning (because you are forcing me to send my BSN, which is prohibited by law). I would rather resolve the problem with Airbnb but I am a mere mortal who has bills to pay. I hope to hear from you (soon).”

Again, customer service closed the conversation without a reply.

“You (Airbnb, Inc) are breaking the terms and conditions (and the local laws) and refusing to pay me. My previous conversations about this have been forwarded to someone that apparently can help me. However, if I don’t get a reply, I am going to send away my guests tomorrow because of your total lack of cooperation. I will inform them this evening about this.”

Thanks for your message — Airbnb Support will reply as soon as a specialist becomes available.

“So Airbnb support will reply? Please don’t close this conversation without a reply like you did last time.”

Airbnb Hosts: If you want to get paid, beware

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I am a multi-host with Airbnb and operate in Palm Cove, Queensland as a fully qualified real estate agent. I recently had two bookings, one in Palm Cove and the other in Sanur, Bali. Both payouts were due very close together. When no payment was received I checked my account only to find that somebody had hacked the Airbnb page and added their details as the default payout party. Total money lost: just under $2000, of which $1500 belongs to my clients and I have to honour.

I immediately contacted Airbnb after changing my default details and password. I was told that the Airbnb computer system was secure and that they had no idea how this could have happened. I was told my case was being referred to their Trust & Safety Team to investigate, and that I would be contacted very shortly. Well over a week later, and almost daily calls by myself to Airbnb, I have yet to get a call back from anybody, despite promise after promise to do so, and “Of course, we are so sorry this has happened.”

I have asked to speak to the Trust & Safety team to see what they are doing about my money. I was told today that the Trust & Safety Team works in the back offices and they don’t have phones. Well I kid you not, I nearly wet my pants I was laughing so much.

If that weren’t bad enough, here is stage two of Airbnb at its best. I was invited to join Airbnb’s Plus Programme where they send a party to your nominated property to inspect and do a photo shoot. This, according to Airbnb, will elevate your listing to a preferred status whereby potential guests will be convinced to book your property because you are a trusted host whose property has been inspected by their professional team.

I put forward the two properties Airbnb had chosen from my portfolio. A date was set for each property, and here are Airbnb’s requirements: schedule your home visit; choose a date and time for an Airbnb partner to visit your home in person. The visit will take 1-3 hours and includes an inspection and photoshoot. You or someone who maintains your property should be there the entire time.

You know what’s coming next, don’t you? Of course Airbnb did not turn up to either property to either prearranged time and date, and I had to pay my staff for sitting on their backsides watching TV waiting for Airbnb to turn up. So once again I have to contact Airbnb to get a credit for $236 which they charged for these two non-visits. Then again, they are oh so sorry for what has happened and will arrange a credit.

Now I know you are going to ask, did they credit you? You already know the answer. Of course not. “Please go away and stop bothering us” is the impression you get when you ring and get put on hold time after time after time. For today’s call I was on hold for 14 minutes. I am sure they were just hoping I would go away. They are like insurance companies who receive a claim, and adopt the declined declined declined response, until they realize you mean business.

Today I have reached the end of my tether. I have been told that the Trust & Safety Team does not have phones and when I requested to speak to a Public Relations Officer, I was told Airbnb does not have one. I just got the round robin treatment of “Well, we cannot do anything from here as we are a call centre.” I asked to be directed to a phone number to speak to somebody who can actually act with responsibility. “I am so sorry, we cannot give out other numbers as we are only a ‘call centre.'”

Time to go public and tell the news media. I know they just love this juicy type of story to get stuck into Airbnb.

Validation Required by Airbnb – National ID Card not Accepted

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All of a sudden, in the middle of the busy tourist season, Airbnb decided to force me to validate myself, again, by asking me several personal questions, again, and submitting a form of ID. I tried to comply, by submitting high quality, high resolution color scans of my national ID card, the only form of ID I have. I do not have a passport, and I do not have a driver’s license.

However, the automated system on Airbnb does not seem to accept my government-issued, national ID card. Their automated system keeps rejecting both my scans or the Airbnb app scans of the ID they asked me to provide. Today I went to my local police station and obtained a newer version of my ID that includes all information printed in both Greek and English, as well as a brand new photo of myself. I tried again submitting my new ID this time, but the automated Airbnb system keeps rejecting that one as well.

Airbnb has suspended my payments because I have not validated myself using their automated system, and all the representatives I’ve talked to keep telling me there is nothing they can do. I have more guests coming in the next few days to stay at my properties and know I won’t receive any funds owned to me by Airbnb for these reservations. I am at my wit’s end, and don’t know what to do.

Completely Cut off from Emailing Long-Term Guest

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Imagine my delight when I had a request for a full-month’s stay at my guest cottage in November. November isn’t exactly tourist season in inland New Jersey, so a month’s stay delivers Christmas presents. I replied to the inquiry; the woman wanted to come by to see the place before booking. She sent another inquiry, saying she was surprised that I hadn’t replied because my profile says I reply within an hour.

I replied. She sent another inquiry, puzzled that I hadn’t replied. I’m doing all of this on my cell phone while at the shore. Finally, I called customer service (thank you so much for posting the number – I couldn’t find it anywhere on the site). The woman I spoke with was very nice, could see that none of my responses had gone through, and had no explanation. She said that it appeared that she could send a message for me, so I asked her to let the prospective guest know that I couldn’t communicate with her through the system, so she could call me on my cell.

I provided my cell number and waited. Nothing. Bupkis. There were three more messages from the potential guest yesterday, and one this morning saying that they were really interested. I still can’t communicate with her. Now I’m going another round with customer service to see if they can make this happen. It’s over $3,000 to me that may be making its way south.