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On July 28 which is about two weeks ago now Airbnb disabled my account. I didn’t find out about it until we can go when I was not getting any new reservations. I have been told that the safety department is looking into a complaint for my guest. But that is all I know. The elusive safety department I guess is allowed to shut down my business without saying a word to me about what this is about. There is no way to reach this department. I would’ve thought within two weeks that they would have at least bothered to tell me something but they have not.
What do you guys think about this? I think two weeks is way too long. It’s one thing if my Account was online but I rely on this income and they are basically throwing away my paycheck. Does anybody know who to talk to at corporate?
Check if future bookings have been cancelled and also try using social media, Twitter, Facebook etc. The social media team seem to respond quicker than usual CS dept. Do a search on here, it’s been covered several times before.
As previous poster said, get yourself listed on Booking, Homeaway/VRBO etc. Having seen this before I am so glad we are spread across other platforms.
Mark, they haven’t shut down your business. It’s only one of many forms of advertising that you can no longer use, that’s all. (Possibly for a short while, possibly forever, who knows).
I know it’s annoying but look at it another way - if you had a daughter who was staying in Airbnb rentals, wouldn’t you be glad that there was a safety department to ensure that everything was okay? Certainly, they’ve probably done this without there being any grounds but it’s truly better to be safe than sorry.
We all agreed to these things when we signed up so just advertise elsewhere.
As others have said, it happens. The most memorable case for me was this one:
What really struck me was his conclusion after all that was the last post about trying to run a rental business without Airbnb:
We struggled so much. They represent 7 bookings for everyone we get else where. We even joke. If a Airbnb client wants to punch a hole in the wall. Give them a hammer.
I don’t advocate letting guests walk over you in that way but its a vivid description of how at least one host feels about the value of listing on other platforms. Airbnb is the market leader for more STR’s and they make life so much easier for most of us.
It’s a horrible situation to be in but not a surprising one. There are many threats to Airbnb, that’s one reason why some banks don’t count Airbnb income (@Josiah and I were just discussing this) and insurance companies don’t make it easy.
Only if you do IB Joan, if you don’t do IB then the iCal synch works fine and is free. When you get a booking, you just manually synch the calendars. Ok, a bit time consuming, but if you’re not getting bookings every day its an OK solution.
@Mark_Mark said his Airbnb account was disabled. How can you find out about reservations if your account is disabled, do they still send you cancellation e-mails even though you can’t log in. Or does “disabled” actually mean “de-listed” or something else?
I just rent three rooms in my house. It looks like the other online places are renting the whole house, not just rooms. Are there any online that do just the rooms?
Yes, I’ve always had IB on from the start but interesting to know this. Mr J did all the techie setting up for me, so I confess ignorance.
I’m not seeking bookings everyday, and really don’t want to. If I had more, I’d be hitting the 40% tax cop, with my other earnings taken into account.
The wedding flowers take up a lot of my time at the moment as well. I lost Sweet Peas in a ghastly gale last Saturday, with guests stuck out on a ferry in the Channel for five hours!
Not the best summer anymore; it’s chucking it down right now!
Do a search on Google for rooms to rent in your area @Mark_Mark. Then you can see which international national and local platforms are available. Look at how your local tourist board promotes accommodation and advertise there (if you haven’t done so already set up a FB page or website.)
As it’s a shared space you must have some idea about what the guest complained about?
This is definitely a problem with the other platforms. No one is even close to competing with Airbnb in this space. Having your own website and pounding the pavement and doing your own advertising might get you some business but it’s foolish to think that can replicate the results you get from Airbnb.
Perhaps it’s something simple like a missing smoke detector. How are they investigating if they have not made arrangements for a walk through or even questioned you about the matter. Call and demand to speak to a supervisor.
@Mark_Mark Not sure what is in your area but if there are universities, they usually have somewhere to list rooms for rent as well. It is a good time of year for that - students and visiting professors and such looking for something for the semester.
I am in the process of listing on booking.com and then VRBO.com. I am close to the University so will make sure to see if there is a listing there too.
I just got an email from the safety department, FIFTEEN days after the unlisted me. The said sorry the person that was handling this was on vacation. They asked me to send them a statement that I have read the security section of the rules. So I did.
I am guessing this is because there is a burglar alarm motion sensor that flashes red every time there is motion. One time a couple years ago safety called about that and they said it was ok.
I just now yanked the motion sensor off the wall, assuming this is the problem.
Hoping to get the other online webs going today and then I dont have to worry about someone going on vacation!
