Since July 21, my Washington DC Airbnb unit has become invisible to prospective guests. Airbnb contacted me about updating my host information using a government-accredited ID. I hesitated to do so and was locked out of my account until I did as requested. From that date on, my unit has not shown up in any searches for DC accommodations.
My co-host and I have been in touch constantly since the problem was discovered. Airbnb first asked why I had deactivated my account (I had not). I checked my status; all was in order. The Airbnb support staff finally agreed it was a problem at their end and tech staff would provide a remedy.
No such luck. The case was called closed without a resolution. I have been pushed around to various folks using their automated system. It has been over 60 days since my place was seen by prospective guests. We had been occupied on average 20 days a month before this snafu with a good stream of income, which is necessary to help pay the mortgage.
We have some possible long-term renters in the wings but I would prefer a quicker resolution to my problem by Airbnb along with a real explanation as to how this happened, a guarantee of it not happening again, and some kind of compensation for lost revenue due to their incompetence in not swiftly and efficiently resolving this problem.
Thanks for your post and your comment Sharon. Airbnb arbitrarily suspended my listing’s visibility too. I had a. sked for a certain form from them related to double taxation of airbnb’s revenues, to comply with Portuguese regulations RFI-21. They then asked for me to fill my name and tax ID on the form and to send it back to them in duplicate–they had this info in their system. I did not immediately comply as I felt it was an arbitrary request–I need this form, not them. In the end I caved after they suspended visibility of my listing. They did not restore access though, and reading your story I am worried it might take months. So I have started looking into long-term rentals. I could not find a good alternative to airbnb, wish there was a site like the original airbnb
Make your complaint public on the Air BNB Facebook page. State the info written here. I had luck using this procedure when my guest account was deactivated. Good luck!
Compensation for lost revenue ???