Account locked due to fraudulent payment of customer

Just looked at the CC posting from the OP. There are no replies from any of the moderators.
What Air has done to the OP seems criminal. Block/remove listing now and ask questions later.

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They don’t even ask any questions @zillacop, I am not even getting any response anymore from Airbnb. :frowning:

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@slamme
For what it’s worth, I just saw a reply from a moderator on the CC forum. First time I’ve seen that they can’t do anything. The usually say they will pass it along to the “team”.

“Thank you so much for elaborating your concerns with all details and sharing them with us.”

“As we Community Managers are not a part of Customer Support, I cannot promise much here as to what support you can get about it. But I will share your feedback with the concerned team. I hope someone may be able to help and reach out to you further.”

Sounds lamer than lame.

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Well this seems to be their MO now. Usually it’s a suspension, not a total deletion, but sometimes those suspensions last for weeks.

It’s truly inexcusable, and quite puzzling to me to treat hosts as if they are guilty until proven innocent, especially since most of the suspensions result from revenge and refund-seeking guests lying to Airbnb about hidden cameras, privacy violations, bedbugs, etc. And that guest can be a total newbie and the host have 500 great reviews, it doesn’t matter at all.

It’s hard for me to believe that the percentage of these deletions and suspensions that turn out to be warranted, like actually having hidden or undisclosed cameras, outweigh the percentage that turn out to be bullshit. But Airbnb acts like guests are angels, always to be believed, without bothering to even show the most basic respect to hosts by communicating with them about the complaint before acting on it in any way.

Then, to add insult to injury, Airbnb usually refuses to tell the host why they have been suspended. It’s like being arrested and thrown in a cell without being told what you are charged with, something that only happens in dictatorships.

The only explanation for this is that Airbnb considers hosts to be wholly expendable, even long time 5* Superhosts.

And to blame a host for guests’ fraudulent payments is truly bizarre. What could be possibly be the scam on the host’s part? What would they gain? A fraudulent payment results in a booking being cancelled and Airbnb not paying the host. So what would be the host’s motive? It makes zero sense.

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This is really great advice.

There certainly is a story here about an exemplary Airbnb Host who is suddenly – and without any opportunity to rebut or appeal a nebulous accusation of a fraudulent charge.

If @slamme could get that story out – and there are people here who could help edit his main points (if desired) and point him to various sources – I could imagine it being a story that Airbnb would want to address. Part of the story could also be that the alternative of arbitration is costly and can often result in a settlement of pennies on the dollar plus no reinstatement of a business built up for years.

Even franchises typically have more legal rights (not sure about that but it could be worth exploring for an ambitious reporter). Part of the bigger picture for a reporter could be that the Airbnb business model is able to use the legal system to launch more listings than many hotel chains, but without the quality control and accountability (hurting the public) – and at the same time boot out Hosts without any kind of due process.

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@zillacop fingers crossed. I have now sent them through so many different channels who all forwarded it to the Trust team so I hope at least that gives them some sense to do more investigation regarding this. Thank you for following up!

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@muddy Exactly this is what keeps me lying awake at night. What is the purpose of this suspension, if I have nothing to gain as a host, even if I would have something to do with it. Pure madness…

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It was indeed great advice of @Spark , @HostAirbnbVRBO , it surely is a story that Airbnb would not like to see. And reaching out to major media outlets would be my last step before taking legal actions.

I have sent an email yesterday to a huge amount of email addresses from newspapers, big blogs, etc, hoping that one of them will bite.

Though I don’t have any experience reaching out to media outlets, so any tips are highly appreciated. If someone here has any connection to any media outlet, it would be amazing if you could help me getting in touch. (Unfortunately I don’t know any)

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You’re in Thailand?

My advice is seek the business reporter at a serious English-language newsroom (if there is one), and then forward THAT story to some of the outlets you’ve listed above. Might also try BBC World Service. and CNBC.

If you are a British National that adds “news value” in a UK newsroom, or American in a U.S. newsroom etc… also seek out Bangkok bureau or correspondents from your home country of you are not Thai

Reporters the world over love doing stories about "little guy gets screwed by huge bumbling, tone-deaf, unresponsive bureaucracy – and your situation is a classic.

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@Spark Thanks for your advice! I tried to reach out to many possible media outlets, but I am not getting any response. I am kind of desperate here, how should I get their attention somehow?

From Airbnb I keep on getting the same response to the many complaint cases I have opened against them, that this payment was marked as fraudulent, and they cannot reopen my account. Neither am I getting more information and it drives me nuts.

Google news stories from high-audience news sources that discuss Airbnb controversies, and target the writers

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I’d consider contacting this guy:

Here’s some background (gifted article from Washington Post).

Good luck!

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Have you tried tagging them on a tweet?

Can a host set up a new account using the same listing if they are removed from airbnb?

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Thank you! I found this article myself as well but he does not do any services for hosts, only for consumers. :frowning:

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I tried numerous times, but no response from anybody. Also a new account would not make it any better, as they would lock it any moment I am afraid. :frowning:

Is he aware that hosts pay a service fee to Airbnb to use their service? That makes hosts consumers, too.

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The attached link does not have a happy ending,

I attach it just to say you ar not alone.

But you knew that.

Any progress?

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Hi @slamme did you try this? I’m so sorry to hear about your situation. It’s shocking and terrifying to read as we all depend on Airbnb for our incomes. We have not been paid for the last 2 months and 6 reservations, so I’m looking at what action we can take next so thank you for sharing your situation. It’s great to see everyone’s advice and help. I wish you lots of luck! Keep us posted.

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I know right… He still did not want to help me unfortunately.

Wow, that story looks scarily similar to mine, and I feel so sorry for her too. Airbnb indeed is doing messed up things to their hosts, and I feel the same as her in that article. Helpless, don’t know what to do anymore…

For now I am keeping on opening claims, and every single time I get the EXACT same response from their team, just a different person sending it.

First response on the claim is this:

Me being furious by responding to them and requesting them for any more information or even the smallest proof of what they have, they reply the following:

Absolutely disgusting. There is so much anger combined with confusion and helplessness, and I just want to be able to move on, but I just cannot close this chapter. I would like to get justice for this criminal behaviour of Airbnb.

Contacted many media outlets, but no response from literally anyone. I don’t really have anyone within my contacts who would be able to help me to publish a story.

A lawyer will be way too expensive in the end, and I am not sure if it will work…