OUCH, it finally happened to me, BIG PARTY in my home

How could Airbnb end it?

Airbnb are an online booking platform, nowt more, nowt less.

If a host finds out his place is being used as a party venue then phoning Airbnb and expecting them to sort it all out is akin to Nero fiddling while Rome burned, allegedly.

You have a party, you deal with it. No one else will.

JF

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Yep have to chime in here. I decided to look at your profile and your house is in one of the worst covid
Infection areas in Calif!! Just what where you thinking? Its very hard to find any sympathy for you.

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Thanks for the advice.
I donā€™t really think of Airbnb as just an advertising platform, but perhaps I should. How many advertising firms offer emergency support for hosts or offer 2 million dollars of coverage but ok.

Confronting 50 drugged and drunken possible gang members is not my definition of a prudent plan. Might have worked out, but maybe not. Note that this all happened their 2nd. night after I had gone to bed. The first night was quiet.

Emergency cleaning crew is a good idea but Iā€™m having a hard time finding anyone to clean.

Not bad enough to turn into the insurance company. Iā€™m a Realtor and you donā€™t want to play that card unless itā€™s a big claim. Good chance theyā€™ll cancel you or at least raise the rates. Iā€™ve only found one insurance company here in California that will even cover an Airbnb.

If I had known that the police would show, I would have been there to meet them, but as others have noted here, they often donā€™t show at all.

So, the bottom line is, we are on our own in these situations. You canā€™t assume your guests will tell the truth but luckily 99% do in my experience. Most hosts here suggest confronting the guests, I donā€™t agree. Iā€™d feel pretty bad if I made that suggestion to another guest and they ended up hurt or worse. Some suggest viewing surveillance cameras and stopping the party before it starts. In this case pretty much everyone showed up within about 30 minutes of each other. And that was after 10PM.

So while this may never happen to other hosts, if it does I wish you the best of luck.

Oh and note that at the time this happened, Airbnb did not allow get togethers of more than 16 people.

I have allowed small baby and wedding showers, and guests allowing a few friends over. I have also turned down many guests when I tell them I sometimes allow quiet get togethers with a maximum of 10 people. Theyā€™ll typically say they want to have more people and I tell them no. All have been very understanding, thank me, and search for another place. People in general are good and honest.

When I first started, I allowed guests to stay a minimum of 1 night. That got me a lot of bookings but attracted young people that often didnā€™t respect my house. Moving to a 2 night minimum helped and hopefully moving to a 3 night minimum will help more, but I hope Iā€™ll be able to attract enough bookings.

I do appreciate all of the suggestions and constructive criticism. Best of luck everyone. Iā€™m hoping I can go another 2 years without this happening. And I hope none of you ever have to endure this hell.

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And you really think Airbnb do?

Serious question, what do you think they are?

Yes, is it a surprise that Covid is running rampant in some states.

JF

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Iā€™d truly recommend that you see it that way. I love using Airbnb and without doubt, itā€™s the industry leader. But the company isnā€™t infallible or destined to immortality.

Iā€™d encourage anyone who genuinely sees their STR business as a serious endeavour to have back-up plans in place. The pandemic has shown us all how life can turn on a dime.

Itā€™s easier for me admittedly because Iā€™ve been in this business since years before the internet was invented even, but nevertheless it makes sense to plan for the most bizarre future. Iā€™m not being pessimistic, just trying to be sensible.

Fixed thatā€™un for you.

:wink:

JF

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Hardy ha de ha. :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

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Like shooting fish in a barrelā€¦

:stuck_out_tongue:

JF

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Hi John,
I think of Airbnb as a wealth of experience with millions of hosts around the world. I think of them as a mediator between hosts and guests, I see them as a partner. I see them providing compensation when efforts to get additional funds from guests that have not paid what they should have for whatever reason. And of course I see them mainly as a billing service AND mostly a marketing firm.They have been there for me in all of these situations. Silly me for thinking that they may offer some advice on how to deal with an out of control party as itā€™s happening. They did get me in touch with their crisis associates, but they didnā€™t really have any answers or advice. They did offer their sympathy. Taking the rose color glasses off nowā€¦

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Mountain Gal
A get together, outside, with 9 people wearing masks is a risk. No doubt. But a calculated risk for the guests.
A party of 50 people is insane during a pandemic.

I want some of the shit youā€™ve been smokinā€™

Here we go, naughty step again.

:smile:

JF

How Airbnb ends it is not a concern. They made the promise.

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With all the pent up non socializing weā€™ve all had to give up in the name of respect for our fellow citizens, its really no surprise that someone decided to throw a rager.
Unfortunately it was at your property. This is one of the reasons the US is having such a tough time. Iā€™m off topic now but it makes me so angry.

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The California governor just announced a nighttime curfew between 10pm and 5 am starting this Saturday. This includes just about all counties in California.

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It isnā€™t just a matter of the guests getting to choose to take that risk. Itā€™s obvious that the calculated risks people are taking are leading to more infections and deaths.

If we facilitate that by allowing an inappropriate number of people to book or gather in our listings, or more than one household of people, we are just as guilty of being part of the problem, rather than part of the solution.

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Get this through your head now: There is no ā€œ2 million dollars of coverageā€. The AirBnB ā€œHost Guaranteeā€ is NOT insurance, and itā€™s worthless. If you donā€™t believe me, just browse the posts in this forum.

YOU have to deal with this kind of happening and the resulting cleanup, and YOU need to plan in advance for these events which WILL happen, especially if you continue to run the place by remote without an on-site cohost.

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They do not do EITHER OF THESE. As a long-standing member here, you should know this.

Air REGULARLY sides with Guests, despite photo or video proof. They even sometimes suspend hosts when a Guest tosses a party, and host has ā€œno party rulesā€.

Even when Air "agrees that a Guest needs to be cancelled the Guest can still leave 1 star and that sticks unless the host is lucky and Guest really violated review policies in writing. Still not a guarantee.

Air is very Fking Capricious. Expect nothing at all from them, and then you may be sometimes surprised when they do what they regularly should.

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This is exactly why we have a strict 5 night minimum for the whole year, and 7 night minimum for Christmas/New Year.
We would rather our rental sit vacant than to be worried about jerks destroying our property.

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Thatā€™s a good idea. I may end up doing that too. I do rely on the income so Iā€™ll have to see how it goes with a 3 night minimum. Thanks for your reply :slight_smile:

Airbnb says that they have declared war on house parties.