Feeling hung out to dry by Airbnb

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I also have found the support to very inconsistent.

I have called and messaged and responded to emails and on Twitter. Still frustrating.

I just lost my Super Host status b/c of a 1 Star review from a guest who had 17 EXTRA Visitors and Three dogs! I submitted security camera pics of every extra guest and the 4 dogs. Airbnb still won’t back me up. They also won’t remove her 1 Star review that said there were missing towels and soap. Untrue. She only posted the review after I asked her to pay the extra guest fees which I very clearly disclosed AND confirmed via Airbnb messages.

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Hi PonderosaPines,

I hear you loud and clear. But now that it has happened to myself and other good hosts too, we can see how star reviews lack integrity.

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Hello @PonderosaPines

I’m so sorry to hear this happened - twice. As hosts, particularly those who host large properties remotely, as you say the risks are higher, so if you see signs of trouble, you need to be more vigilant.

So I am a little confused as to why you didn’t have your co-host go over when your first set of guests obscured the camera, as you must have known it was likely they were doing something wrong? This would have helped minimise damage to your home and any disturbance to your neighbours.

And then the second time you had guests obscuring the camera’s did this not set off alarm bells after your first experience so that you took immediate action to have your co-host go down to see what was happening.

When you say Airbnb won’t enforce the house rules, do you mean they wouldn’t work with you to cancel the bookings on both occasions so you could evict the guests then and there?

I am sorry Airbnb didn’t pay out properly - why don’t you claim on your home insurance for STRs? As well as appealing through Airbnb’s arbitration system to try and get compensated for both sets of guests damaging your place?

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Well, AirBnB is telling a lot of lies.

A lot of hosts still believe the “We got your back” lie.

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I’ll believe you :slight_smile:

But surely the opposite is true and a lot of hosts don’t believe what they are told?

As a species, we are distrustful. We don’t believe that the shampoo we see on the TV ad really is new and improved and will make our hair lustrous and shiny. We don’t believe what we’re told by salepeople, the newspapers, the news on TV, politicians … we don’t even believe our partners when they tell us they had to work late.

Despite what history tells us, there are people who don’t believe that man landed on the moon or that the Holocaust happened or that the world is round or that Elvis is dead.

Yet they believe Airbnb advertising?

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Or 2-3 cases of cheap wine, if you’re not too picky (like me)…:stuck_out_tongue:

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I feel for you.
It’s sad that AirBnB don’t seem to be very supportive of Hosts - particularly people who’ve made the effort to achieve Superhost status.
Someone else posted on this forum of sueing Air in the small claims court and I would be looking at that avenue in this situation. Air have their terms and conditions and should be expected to honour those and support Hosts where Guests have clearly been in the wrong.
Good luck.

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Thanks for all of the responses. Here are a few of my answers:

I don’t make a profit on my STR. The house was my grandparents house and I would like to live there but my family doesn’t want to move to Spokane yet. Therefore, I’m using Airbnb to pay the bills and upkeep until I can move there. I would never choose that house for a STR as it has a LOT of maintenance, 1 acre yard, pool, lots of landscaping etc. I have been able to make it nicer, I have a great relationship with my neighbors, and I’m doing the best I can.

The security camera issue–I receive a text message when the front door is locked/unlocked. I had my phone on silent (my mistake) in the middle of the night when 24 text messages came in between 1-3am. The next morning I checked the footage (saw the fights and 30+ young guests,) and kicked the guest out immediately.

My current cleaner has only recently become my co-host. It hasn’t been easy to find one in my market. Next time, I will definitely have her go over if there is an issue. And I won’t let the guests convince me that everything is fine if they obscure the cameras again. I’ll just kick them out.

I have learned that Airbnb does not enforce house rules or extra guest fees, which seems to be my biggest issue.

I plan to file a small claims suit against the first guest who had her 22nd birthday party at my house, broke a bench, stained stuff, vomit, etc. etc. etc. Airbnb paid me $927 out of a $6500 claim (most of that were extra guest fees + biohazard cleaning estimate that Airbnb refused to pay).

The second guest that had a graduation party at my house with 17 extra guests, has been really nasty and caused me to lose my superhost status. I had to pay for extra trash trash removal and a couple stained towels, but that’s about it. I wanted her to pay for the extra guest fees. I may take her to small claims court too.

I have learned–I am going to create a more legal agreement for guests to sign, increase my daily price, increase my minimum nights, and be more strict about kicking people out. I’m booked all summer already, and have time to see how this will affect my bookings. I also had purchased high end white towels for the house. I think this was a mistake. I wanted to provide a quality experience, but many of them have been stained and the replacement cost is high. Lesson learned.

I am not done dealing with all of this yet, but I don’t want it to take over my life. It’ll be hard for me to recommend Airbnb hosting to anyone, as it seems not at all what they market it to be. It’s a lot of risk for hosts and they don’t stand behind us.

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Actually, my carpet cleaning was $500 alone. My towels cost more than that. I did buy a case of cheap wine last year though. :slight_smile:

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I hope you are aware that they lost that case and were looking into an appeal. The judge was sympathetic (and eviserated Airbnb’s lawyer) but basically said that hands are tied by the agreement we all agreed to when we signed up. They did sucessfully sue the guest who left the malicious review but that case was also being appealed if I remember correctly.

Despite all the blather one hears about the “sue happy” Americans, taking someone to court is expensive, time consuming and hard work. It’s not an easy solution to anything.

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I got new white sheets and towels, and dark washcloths, 50% off at the annual JC Penny white sale this spring.

Just a reminder It happens every year and it’s not literally just whites, you can get dark colors if you want.

I plan on that sale being my cue to buy replacement sets.

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It is far easier convince someone that you will take them to court and prevail than it is to take them to court and prevail.

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I would love info on where people get their STR insurance.

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I have Proper Insurance backed by Lloyd’s of London. Never made a claim. Deductible is $2500. Premium per year is $2200?

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Actually mine was $2600 something

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https://hochheim.com/home

Way lower rates (for us) than Proper quoted, my agent wrote our policy with Hochheim Prairie.

It is an innkeeper policy, so it covers things I don’t need and can’t opt out of, e.g. I pay for coverage for food spoilage. I can’t remove that component from the coverage. It’s very reasonably priced for us.

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Proper. 202020202020

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Yes, I’m aware of the situation, and that a court case is difficult. Airbnb are not going to be happy if more people use the courts to try to address some of the significant issues with their treatment of Hosts. They need to be made to feel some pain. The more negative press that can be generated of unfair behaviour the better.

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While I agree in principle, I simply don’t think it’s practical. Kudos to any host who puts themselves through pain to try to make things better for all of us.

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Correct. I am working diligently now on the appeals and videos of the court hearings. A quick update –

• The case against Airbnb as @KKC correctly notes, the judge @ Small Claims at a March hearing did indeed eviscerate Airbnb’s contract. Video link where the judge rips Airbnb apart for the best part of nine minutes! That judge ruled that my due process rights had been violated but the contract terms precluded money damages.

I took this case to appeal to Md. Circuit Court in May. That judge lavishly praised the eloquence of my arguments at numerous points (video to follow shortly). These arguments say EXACTLY what @PonderosaPines complains about – Airbnb pushes all risks, ALL risks, onto the hosts, and my argument is that heavy precedent found in all 50 states, based on Winterbottom v. Wright (1842), forces Airbnb to accept liability for varied damages given that innkeepers are a regulated public utility. While this appeals judge indeed said he found my arguments “eloquent, cogently and vigorously” presented, and “intriguing,” he said he was bound by existing Maryland law, to rule (quite reluctantly) against me. He clearly understood and agreed that this is a huge, huge case, for short-term rental hosts.

This appeals judge said he would watch any further appeal to the Md. Court of Appeals (our state’s highest court) “with interest.” And, I have indeed filed a writ of certiorari to our highest court. It only takes 20% of submitted cases; nonetheless, this is a massive and important case for all of us and hopefully the court will see this correctly.

Here is a copy of the Writ of Certiorari, Belliveau v Airbnb. It presents a history of my case and then legal arguments.

The fundamental question my attorney and I are presenting is:

QUESTION PRESENTED
Are the provisions of Airbnb’s Terms of Service that exculpate and/or limit Airbnb’s liability unenforceable as unconscionable, contrary to public policy, or otherwise?

The closing paragraph:

Reasons for Granting Review
Internet-based short-term rentals present anew, massive industry that—until recently—has been unregulated in this State. Its inner workings are controlled by adhesive contracts prepared by tech giants and unilaterally imposed on the Guests and Hosts essential to its continued operation. The European Union has enacted regulations that protect individuals’ rights within this lopsided power dynamic. As a result, Airbnb’s E.U. Terms of Service, as of September 2018, do not contain Section 17’s exculpatory language found in the U.S. version. In the absence of similar regulation protecting the rights of Maryland residents in this industry, this Court should take the opportunity to place a check on the presently unfettered authority of Airbnb to abide by their own rules at the citizen’s expense.

You can read Airbnb’s “Answer” as linked. Rather comically, the company avers that this is a minor, one-time rinky-dink case, rather than a massive case that could force the company to amend its Terms of Service to be fairer to all U.S. hosts.

Wish me/us luck.

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