This forum is dedicated to connecting hosts with other hosts. Sign up to get the latest updates and news just for AirBnb hosts! Note that we are not affiliated with Airbnb - we are just passionate hosts!
Airbnb canceled a reservation, 2 days after the guest check in, blocked my calendar, paid me $0. The guest claimed the listing was inaccurate because the address listed was inaccurate. The address was different to prevent harassment by my HOA. Airbnb was aware of the address changed. This is airbnb note to me.
"Greetings David, My name is S and I’m a member of the Trip Experience Team here at Airbnb. I’m contacting you today regarding your reservation with Maureen. It has been brought to our attention that the address of your listing in incorrect and not in accordance with our Hosting Standards on Accuracy.** More about our Hosting Standards https://www.airbnb.com/help/topic/206 M*** has contacted us to note the address difference which is stated in the Airbnb message thread. Because this is a violation of our hosting standards and to fully support Maureen, we’ve cancelled this reservation on your behalf to assist them with finding other accommodations.**
You’re hosting in violation of both your HOA rules and ABB rules? What is your complaint? And you say Air was aware of the address change? How so? That doesn’t make sense if doing that is a violation of their terms.
I’m interested to understand more about this - just because I’m curious. I can’t help feeling that, if I were a guest, and I was given a different address to the one I thought I’d booked it would make me suspicious. It does look a bit dodgy. I feel like I’m missing something…
Do I have this correct? - You told the guest (after booking) to ignore the address on their confirmation, and you provided the correct address. They say “no problem.”
Guest checks in, and sometime within 48 hrs. calls Airbnb and uses “inaccurate address” as their reason to claim “property was not as advertised.” But they had no issue with the “address” situation prior to arrival??
Don’t lie about your location.
I’m guessing you put up a different address which was a better location (closer to transport or to center of town etc). When the guest followed your directions and found out it was a worse location, or somewhere they specifically wanted to avoid, they were naturally disappointed.
Is there a manned security gate at the entrance to your condo? If so, all guests have to have a pass to get through it and your guest would more than likely have spilled the beans as they say when she was coming and going.
I’ve heard other hosts telling me the same type of story. They call Airbnb to let them know that the address is not correct because they are avoiding X, Y and Z, and airbnb says “no problem as long as the guest knows, and accepts correct address”. This is the first that I’ve heard of airbnb supporting this subterfuge, then turning around and cancelling a reservation.
If Airbnb operated with only 100% legal listings, it would go out of business. They turn a blind eye until they can no longer turn the blind eye. Once they go public and have to answer to a board of directors instead of to three hip, cool bosses, it will be every more about the almighty dollar. Suits me just fine, to me this is a business. One that I really enjoy and am good at, but a business none the less.
I simply, as a guest, would not stay at a place that had an actual different address than what was on the listing, and in fact, if I was a first time ABB guest, that probably would have been enough to turn me off the site and never use it! However, maybe this is an experienced guest who realized she could get a free stay. Either way, it’s bad all around. Wrong of ABB to accept such a listing, wrong of you to deceive your guests, wrong of you to go against HOA policy, wrong of the guest if she was scamming on purpose.
I have to say that right now my sympathy is with your guest, and based on the information in your post I can understand why they cancelled, I’m just surprised they didn’t do it earlier.
It sounds like you are operating a short term rental without the approval of your home owners association. It order to do that, you’ve given a false address for your listing, meaning that when potential guests book your listing, they think they are booking somewhere else. Then after they have booked, you say “Oh, by the way, the listing is actually at THIS address.”
If I were a guest and you did that to me. I’d be furious. I’d be on the phone to AirBnB faster than you could say “false advertising”.
I’m hoping there’s more to this than your original post seems to indicate.
But either way, that’s what your doing. You’re giving the guest false information by not providing them with the correct address of your listing until AFTER they have booked. That’s not acceptable.
The other issue here is, why do you think your HOA is going to harass you?
HOA equals Home Owners Association. Some properties are governed by a collection of rules, stated in the Deed, that are above and beyond the requirements of a government agency. Some of them have lots of rules; some do not.
