What a joke! We have been using Airbnb for about a year. I have to admit that we have been relatively happy about this. We had two annoying events: in July our account got disabled and it took us about two weeks to restore it. We don’t really know how they did it, but they did. This time our account was disabled three weeks ago. We have sent numerous emails, spent hours in the phone, and still cannot get it restored. We receive the stupidest emails: we are working on your account, please contact us… without a phone number, an email address or a case number. People on the phone are useless and have no interest in helping at all. It is so frustrating and very costly; it feels like there is nothing we can do to take care of this. What can I do to solve this? I am going crazy.
Tag Archives: airbnb account disabled
Guest Account Disabled for No Reason
I just started using Airbnb as a guest (previously I had managed a hostel which I used to book dorm beds). I stayed four places for 1-4 nights each, all of which went well, with good reviews all around. Yesterday I tried to do another reservation request. Instead of it going through, though, I immediately received this email:
Subject: Reservation [redacted] requires additional review
Hi [redacted] We monitor all reservations and user interactions on Airbnb very closely and always have the best interests of our community in mind. In an effort to support positive experiences in our community, occasionally reservations require additional review. While we review this reservation, your account has been temporarily disabled from booking additional reservations. Any accepted reservations will not be affected. Rest assured, we are working as quickly as possible to get this resolved for you. You still have access to all other functions on your account. We truly apologize for this inconvenience, but appreciate your understanding and support in our mission of creating a safe, trusted marketplace.
Regards,
The Airbnb Team
I can still log into my Airbnb account, but nowhere can I find anything about being disabled. Also, there is no evidence of my reservation request. So, I’m dropped into a black hole. No clue what kinds of things might trigger a disabled account, or when they might complete their “required additional review” and whether I’ll receive details about what went into the review. In the meantime, I’m travelling in a city with plenty of available options. I thought it would be reasonable to not plan it all weeks ahead, like the guests I was happy to welcome as a host.
Airbnb’s Catch-22: Cut Off Without Help
Airbnb revoked an already existing booking for a two-week stay just three days before departure, and never responded to any emails to correct it. Essentially I got a notice that my credit card refused to process an Airbnb payment request for a booking. I then cancelled that booking and tried another place. The same message appeared but allowed me to resubmit payment, which I did, using another card without any block. That cleared with both me and the host being given confirmation of the booking. About half an hour later I received emails from Airbnb telling me my account was disabled and my money was being returned for my confirmed booking because the original l payment was blocked. When I checked with the credit card company, the reason my bank didn’t honor the charge for the booking is because the credit card fraud unit considered Airbnb’s charge to be suspicious and would not pay without confirming it with me.
So it’s a beautiful catch-22 completely orchestrated by operating systems. The bank’s computer refuses to pay because Airbnb’s charge sends up a red flag, something that I cannot know will happen when using a valid card with plenty of available credit for the charge. Airbnb’s computer returns the favor by immediately flagging me for not paying my bill. Their computer, without human intervention, orders my account disabled while refunding the money and cancelling the reservation I made and paid for 30 minutes. Without an accessible Airbnb account, I cannot contact my host, contact the Airbnb help center, or get information of any kind how to resolve the problem. I have sent five emails to Airbnb in the last 24 hours. I have heard nothing back from a human being. I remain blocked from my account and have to rebook a reservation in three days outside of Airbnb under considerable stress.
Airbnb has the worst customer service system I have ever seen. They cause a problem, then give you no method to contact them whatsoever, except emails that no one ever responds to. Do not use them. They will screw up your plans for reasons beyond your control.
Airbnb: You Can’t get Help if you Can’t Log in
I’ve used Airbnb around 40 times as a guest since 2013, and have never had too many bad experiences. Sometimes rooms aren’t as nice as described, and amenities are limited to the letter of what was promised (watch out for rooms that don’t come with “essentials” – I’m pretty sure you can get away with not having a shower curtain). Sometimes you make arrangements with hosts and then they don’t answer their phones when you want to pick up the keys. Some hosts think they can charge seriously premium prices based on their location, and then not do the slightest bit of upkeep. When you stay at Airbnbs as much as I do, you’re bound to have a few disappointments. Basically, it’s let the buyer beware, and for the most part hosts have been fantastic.
So overall, you could say I’ve been a very satisfied Airbnb user for almost four years. After my last Airbnb stay, I logged into my account to discover that I was locked out. Airbnb offered only a message:
“To help protect your information, we’ve temporarily disabled your account. Please email us at account.access@airbnb.com to continue.”
There was no explanation of why the account was disabled, what “temporarily” means, or how to get it unlocked. I emailed that email address a few times, but never got a response. A week later the account remained disabled. One note about Airbnb customer service: if you’re familiar with this site, you can probably see it coming. Airbnb does everything it can to push the resolution of customer service issues to its online help system. But if your account is locked out, you can’t use the online help. Even the “contact us” page says “please log in to your account to access help.”
Fortunately, Googling for Airbnb’s phone number turned up a help desk number: 1-855-424-7262. You can call that number, but the help desk staff can’t actually do anything to help you. I’ve called multiple times already, and obviously my account is still disabled. If you do call, they’ll ask you for your name, email address, phone number, and associated payment information. But all they can do is put your issue in a queue sent to a technical support group (which “doesn’t take phone calls in or out”). And as you’d by now expect, that group is completely unresponsive and ineffectual.
Some lessons from this experience:
- Your Airbnb account is the property of Airbnb, and they may take it from you at any time with essentially no recourse.
- Do you need access to message your guests/hosts, upcoming reservations, billing receipts, or even Airbnb’s online help? Without access to the Airbnb website or mobile app, you’re essentially out of luck.
- If you do get locked out of your Airbnb account, take action immediately. The “temporary” lockout will not go away on its own. Call Airbnb (1-855-424-7262) as soon as you discover your account is locked out. Tell them you are trying to make a new booking for an upcoming stay in the near future. This will flag your issue as high priority. Which may or may not help, but it can’t hurt. I’ll keep this post updated if I make any progress.