My Account was Suspended then Cancelled without Notice

Posted on July 14, 2022

My current Airbnb guest arrived and he wasn’t the person in the profile picture who booked the house. The next day another car pulled up with two extra guests bringing the total to ten people in a three-bedroom house. I complained to the guest who immediately verbally attacked me so suggested he call Airbnb to sort it out and find alternate accommodations for them.

He did ring Airbnb and told them I entered the property illegally, which was untrue. After sending all the information they asked for — including photos of the guests proving the ID was fraudulent — my account was suspended without notice. Tonight my account was cancelled after five years with over 200 five-star reviews and Superhost status. I still do not know why.

The guests are still here but my account is cancelled and Airbnb will not give me any information only that my account is cancelled and I will never be able to open another account again. I had bookings in two properties up until October, all cancelled.

Has anyone else been through this? How did they handle it?

Guest Who Didn’t Even Stay Posts Review

Posted on April 25, 2019

A woman reserved my house in Austin for the MotoGP weekend and and never actually stayed at my house. Her fiancé and guy friends trashed my house and stole bottles of liquor (had a sign up requesting payment of cost for any liquor taken). I asked for the $125 (which is actually less than the cost).

Airbnb refused to answer anything for six days and refused to actually call me after four calls being told it would be handled. The woman who booked never complained once while the guys were partying and staying at my house. I called her out for her fiancé’s group leaving bags of trash everywhere and food out and she denied everything.

I sent pictures to Airbnb and they refused to do anything to help. Just patronizing messages from someone who hides their name and refuses to actually talk. I don’t think anyone who didn’t actually step into one of my rentals should be able to post a review. I based my acceptance of her reservation request on her five stars but she never stayed at my house. Her review is probably full of more lies and I have six days to get it taken down. I realize I can respond to get bogus review but it will ruin this beautiful blew listing.

I have eight Airbnb properties and have never been treated so unprofessionally. This policy must be changed. If an instant booking is based on a person’s reviews and likability then they should be staying at the listed house. This woman from California is just lying her way through the Airbnb system. I need corporate’s involvement. I can’t get through to anyone higher up to help after so many calls.

I hate Airbnb… even though I liked the money I made

Posted on October 9, 2018

First of all, Airbnb annoyed me from the very beginning. Even though I understand that their business model requires compliance with certain processes, I just despise how they make try to get you to run your business in the way they want (having your posting be an automatic booking; too many cancellations – like three – come with penalties, potentially even a $100 penalty). They also frame everything as if it is in the best interest of the guest when really it is the way they want to make more money.

It’s not that I can pin this on Airbnb but I did have issues with a guest. I had the mother of an 18-year-old guy book a room at my place. There were multiple people staying at the place. The 18-year-old stole some car keys and took the car of one of my tenants. It was an enormous headache. After a couple days the tenant got his car back (it was a mess inside) and the 18-year-old kid was arrested and got lucky with a “joy riding” higher degree misdemeanor. His mother was kind and paid money to help with some of the costs (detailing the car, additional cleaning, etc.) but I wish I didn’t have to deal with it at all.

All that being said, the company in general just drives me nuts. I have feelings of hatred that I am trying to slowly alleviate (I’m not typically a hater). I’m going to stick with traditional landlording (if that’s a word) and avoid Airbnb as much as possible.

Airbnb Christmas Present from Father Goes Awry

Posted on June 4, 2017

I booked an Airbnb for my son as his Christmas present. I immediately messaged the host informing him it was for my son and his two friends. Over a week went by with no response except for him to confirm the reservation. He finally contacted me an hour after check in time the day of the reservation to inform me he was editing the booking. I explained I was not going to be there. I asked if that was okay. He said it was, and edited the reservation. He called me back to get me to confirm the change. I did, and was charged an extra $67. I then got a call twenty minutes later from Airbnb telling me I violated their terms of service and the host complained; they cancelled the reservation and were not going to refund my money. No one from Airbnb spoke to me before they cancelled it. I would have driven down that night to stay with my son to keep the reservation. No one held the host accountable for his actions and his verbal agreement. I was out $310 total as well as leaving my son stranded the day of travel with nowhere to stay.