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I guess this shows that guests also get blown off by AirBnB customer disservice!
And he posted it twice… once in his medium.com blog and then on TNW.
Like him, I’m puzzled why he was banned, especially given other reviews of the same host.
https://thenextweb.com/syndication/2019/02/18/how-i-got-banned-for-life-from-airbnb/
Bottom line is you don’t know why this guest was banned by Airbnb. You are believing Jackson Cunningham’s assumption that he was banned because he left negative reviews of a host on third party sites.
Why would Airbnb ban him for this? They even say in their T&Cs that it’s fine to do this.
Hosts and guests leave each other much worse reviews for each other on Airbnb all the time with no consequences.
And as for the hosts ‘negative reviews’ there are only two - the guest who blogged about being banned and another guest - complaining they didn’t have access to their accommodation when the spa was open (which even Jackson Cunningham admits is clearly stated in the listing).
I think it’s far more likely he was banned for another reason. I agree it’s frustrating for those being banned that Airbnb won’t tell them why they are banned. But were they to do so, those who had been banned would then argue against the reason.
I have read about this happening before. That if you leave negative reviews about listings and/or Airbnb on review sites that you get banned.
It reminds me of years ago when we had a travel blog with Google ads and we stupidly/naively encouraged people to click on the ads. We were also banned for life, even though we immediately removed the line and apologised. No second chance.
Yes there are a few stories doing the rounds on forums and elsewhere. Doesn’t mean they are true though 
If that was actually the case @Poppy you wouldn’t have the thousands and thousands of negative reviews left on Airbnb by both hosts and guests would you…as they would all be banned.
A major plank of the Airbnb brand is that guests and hosts can leave honest reviews of their experience. Why would Airbnb then ban a host or guest for doing so. That would be counter-intuitive.
This forum is littered with posts from hosts who have had guests leave inaccurate reviews or ones that are just plain lies which even where this can be demonstrated Airbnb refuses to edit or remove them.
There are definitely lots of unhappy Airbnb guests due to poor customer service. I’ve read multiple stories online of people who claim Airbnb only sides with the host.
It’s easy to miss because it’s just a single little sentence but he says he was banned because he left an off site review on google. He doesn’t explain anything about finding this in the TOS or anything, just sticks it in there and I almost missed it too.
I still can’t believe that leaving an offsite review was a bannable offense, but even more disturbing to me is the way AirBnB handled the situation with a one-sided, permanent, irreversible, closed book suspension.
His point of course is that it’s terribly unfair of Airbnb to ban someone and not give the reason. I agree but I think it’s possible that this isn’t even the reason he was banned. We only have one side of the story and as we know, people lie.
Hi @KKC
I agree I think it is incredibly unlikely he was banned for leaving a review on a third party site.
Airbnb have had a policy at least for the three years or so that I have been hosting that they can without notice or giving a reason, cancel anyone’s profile - guest or host. While some may see it as unfair, we sign up to this condition when we join Airbnb’s platform.
Yes but you have to admit there is something unsettling about Airbnb just ghosting you wihout explanation like you are a bad Tinder date or something. His point about the power large corporations have in our digital lives is valid even if he is just making the rest of it up.
I see what you mean @KKC but I think it’s fairly common with most membership organisations such as dating sites that they can revoke membership without reason. Would be interesting to see if other listing companies have the same policy.
We often have hosts complain here about Airbnb policies when they make decisions around the guarantee or letting guests cancel under extenuating circumstances without clarifying why.
It is the same thing, we may not like it, but it is something we sign up to.
Which is why I posted this. I wanted to point out that AirBnB’s decisions are as puzzling to guests as they are to hosts.
I really find it fascinating how important the Airbnb brand is for the blogger. He didn’t just move on, he writes as if his life has been ruined. It’s comparable to you are an online marketer and your sites been banned by Google or you’ve had your Costco membership revoked. I don’t know if it’s even a violation of Airbnb policy to leave a review on Google as the author claims. Do you know offhand?
I am sure it isn’t . I am sure I have read something about it in their T&Cs and thousands of people leave reviews on sites such as trip advisor and their own blogs.
We would definitely hear something about it on the forums if people were getting banned for third party reviews.
I truly don’t believe this is why he was banned.
And yes, it’s completely crazy the way he over-reacted - he could easily have shared his girlfriends account going forward or a friend he was travelling with if he was that wedded to using Airbnb or of course use one of the many other providers.
Well he did say that he was a major fan of the company in the beginning and told all his friends about it, ands even convinced his parents to list with them. I can understand why their actions would feel like a betrayal when you’ve given them so much business and said so many goods things about them.
Hello! @Poppy Could you possibly message me? My husband is talking about getting Google ads on our personal site and I have been reluctant, because I haven’t researched it yet. I would be interested in another user’s perspective. Thank you!