Caution about Airbnb

[Ky hills]

We’ve been doing a short term rental business through Airbnb and VRBO for a few years.
It’s been a good way to bring in some money on a house on our property without having to rent it full time like a conventional rental.
A few hiccups and aggravation along the way but that’s to be expected with anything.
Recently, we had a booking for a work crew that would have been a fairly lengthy stay.
They were to be working over night and sleeping during the day.
It person/company that booked for the crew was over several others and located out of state so we got a phone number of the foreman of crew staying here so we would have a local contact if needed.
Wife arranged with them a time for her to go over and clean while they were at work. Kitchen was a mess and she found what she believed to be hard drugs in the house.
The next morning a pizza delivery person had brought a pizza to them and couldn’t get them to come to the door.
Wife had seen 2 of them in their truck earlier and she went with the pizza delivery woman over to their truck, to get their attention. They were unresponsive and they called 911.
Police and emergency crews came and they were arrested and the other people in the house were asked to leave based on that and the other drugs.
Airbnb does not look out for its hosts at all it’s preferential to guests.
There is hardly any reason that they allow a host to cancel a booking, and therefore charge hosts for the refund. Airbnb is now saying they will withhold future earnings to compensate for the cancellation it amounts to several thousand dollars. In essence we stand to only make about 1/4 of what the time they were there amounts too, plus loose future income, plus they are also withholding the money that was to go to us for property damage which was extensive.
Basically this is indentured servitude. No property owner should be expected to incur that kind of damage and put up with illegal activity.

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

My other place in Oregon is on the Elk River up by the national forest and the fish hatchery. My cabin is up the hill in the woods. But the property across the road was bought by some people and they advertise on Airbnb it as a "vacation rental" also known as a party house. As many as 15 people can stay there. Sometimes the people are quiet but mostly its late night noisy parties, screaming kids and barking dogs. This is not why I moved to the woods so now I have to sell the place. I guess I'll sell it to some rich fisherman from out of state. Thank God for the other place on the South Coquille in the next county. Better pastures too.

 

[coachg]

Thanks for sharing, have considered using them , but not now .

 

[Ky hills]

My other place in Oregon is on the Elk River up by the national forest and the fish hatchery. My cabin is up the hill in the woods. But the property across the road was bought by some people and they advertise on Airbnb it as a "vacation rental" also known as a party house. As many as 15 people can stay there. Sometimes the people are quiet but mostly its late night noisy parties, screaming kids and barking dogs. This is not why I moved to the woods so now I have to sell the place. I guess I'll sell it to some rich fisherman from out of state. Thank God for the other place on the South Coquille in the next county. Better pastures too.

It can be a mess, our rental is literally in our front yard so we try to have as many precautions as possible. It can easily turn into a party place especially if it’s a bigger listing. People think that because our’s is a larger farm house that it’s isolated and they can sneak more people in and party, but we try to make it known that we are on property and don’t allow parties. We had a small listing that was just for a portion of the house that we ended up with several hook up scenarios that involved drugs and disregard for our house rules, so now we have a higher price on that listing.
Sorry, that it’s causing that kind of aggravation for you. We try to keep a lid on the noise. Haven’t really had but one booking where they were out around a fire playing music and drinking. We asked the nearest neighbor if they could hear it, they said no, and fortunately the guests didn’t stay at it too long after we went to bed.
We have had several bookings where they sneak in more people.
Once a reunion, turned out to be a wedding instead.
In our location most of our guests are legitimate, travelers passing through, families coming to the area to hike in the mountains, motorcyclists, families meeting at a mid point etc. It’s the fairly local folks, work crews and an occasional entitled bunch that cause the most grief.

 

[Brute 23]

I get why they don't want cancelations and thing but when the renters get arrested or some thing of that nature it should not be on yall.

My dad helps take care of a pretty decent size RV park. That is one of the owner's rules... no crews. He had tons of issues with them from things being torn up, disturbing other people, trying to sneak more people in, etc.

 

[Ky hills]

I get why they don't want cancelations and thing but when the renters get arrested or some thing of that nature it should not be on yall.

My dad helps take care of a pretty decent size RV park. That is one of the owner's rules... no crews. He had tons of issues with them from things being torn up, disturbing other people, trying to sneak more people in, etc.

We have similar house rules too, but Airbnb overrode everything.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Wife's niece has a air bnb

Absolutely no cancelation or refunds!!

It's worked out so far.


Sounds like ya had a mess. That sucks.

 

[callmefence]

We’ve been doing a short term rental business through Airbnb and VRBO for a few years.
It’s been a good way to bring in some money on a house on our property without having to rent it full time like a conventional rental.
A few hiccups and aggravation along the way but that’s to be expected with anything.
Recently, we had a booking for a work crew that would have been a fairly lengthy stay.
They were to be working over night and sleeping during the day.
It person/company that booked for the crew was over several others and located out of state so we got a phone number of the foreman of crew staying here so we would have a local contact if needed.
Wife arranged with them a time for her to go over and clean while they were at work. Kitchen was a mess and she found what she believed to be hard drugs in the house.
The next morning a pizza delivery person had brought a pizza to them and couldn’t get them to come to the door.
Wife had seen 2 of them in their truck earlier and she went with the pizza delivery woman over to their truck, to get their attention. They were unresponsive and they called 911.
Police and emergency crews came and they were arrested and the other people in the house were asked to leave based on that and the other drugs.
Airbnb does not look out for its hosts at all it’s preferential to guests.
There is hardly any reason that they allow a host to cancel a booking, and therefore charge hosts for the refund. Airbnb is now saying they will withhold future earnings to compensate for the cancellation it amounts to several thousand dollars. In essence we stand to only make about 1/4 of what the time they were there amounts too, plus loose future income, plus they are also withholding the money that was to go to us for property damage which was extensive.
Basically this is indentured servitude. No property owner should be expected to incur that kind of damage and put up with illegal activity.

Not trying to call you out, but shouldn't the police have been notified when you found illegal drugs.?

 

[wbvs58]

Sorry to hear of your troubles KY. Did the company they worked for take any responsibility?

Ken

 

[Ky hills]

Wife's niece has a air bnb

Absolutely no cancelation or refunds!!

It's worked out so far.


Sounds like ya had a mess. That sucks.

It worked ok for us until now, problem is they do not allow hosts to cancel and we didn’t they (Airbnb) were the ones who canceled the booking but are handling it as though we did and charging us for the refund.
I hope your family member doesn’t ever encounter a situation like that, it’s just one of those crazy things that can happen, may not ever happen, and the company isn’t geared towards protecting hosts.

 

[Brute 23]

Sorry to hear of your troubles KY. Did the company they worked for take any responsibility?

Ken

That's true. If it's enough of a loss to hurt it might be worth going after the company for your losses including the AirBNB charges?

 

[Ky hills]

Not trying to call you out, but shouldn't the police have been notified when you found illegal drugs.?

Yes, but my wife didn’t realize at the time what it was. She thought it was flour or baking powder. She was cleaning and since they had made such a mess of the kitchen she at first thought it was something they using to cook with.
The police did find drugs a few hours later when they were called.
We know drugs of all kinds are all around and we see the aftermath of it in so many, but not used to seeing the actual substances or residues.
But yes, the police should have absolutely been called right then and she says if she’d have realized it she would have.

 

[Ky hills]

Sorry to hear of your troubles KY. Did the company they worked for take any responsibility?

Ken

No, it’s unlikely that they will.

 

[Travlr]

Thanks for sharing, have considered using them , but not now .

I've used Airbnb with good results as a customer. But as a host I think there are significant risks.

I had a house in the Black Hills when we owned the ranch in South Dakota, and we rented it during the motorcycle rally in Sturgis. $2500 a week for a two bedroom house. That kind of money is hard to pass up for a weeks rental. But you take your chances...

 

[SmokinM]

I don’t know, I would be checking the fine print here. We don’t have a rental but we use them a lot. There is a lot of stuff in there about property damage and especially partying. I have a real hard time believing that AB&B isnt going to stick the company for the reservation especially if your issue includes being arrested for narcotics use on the property. Sounds to me like they may be double dipping. Most certainly if they actually did the cancellation then that falls on them. If it is thousands I would be having an attorney check that out,JMO.

 

[Ky hills]

I don’t know, I would be checking the fine print here. We don’t have a rental but we use them a lot. There is a lot of stuff in there about property damage and especially partying. I have a real hard time believing that AB&B isnt going to stick the company for the reservation especially if your issue includes being arrested for narcotics use on the property. Sounds to me like they may be double dipping. Most certainly if they actually did the cancellation then that falls on them. If it is thousands I would be having an attorney check that out,JMO.

From what I understand Airbnb has suspended the company from the platform for future however they are allowing the other crews in other homes to stay for the remainder of their respective bookings.
I think the problem is with the new cancellation policy for hosts that went into effect in 2022. Literally nothing that one could foresee in the US would fall into any of their justifiable scenarios.
We did broker a payment for property damage, but Airbnb has confiscated or collected that whatever you want to call it as part of what they say we owe for the cancellation.
The original booking was quite large, but they are refunding for what has already stayed.
There is currently a class action lawsuit in New York against Airbnb cancellation policy in light of the Covid restrictions from what I understand.
We are planning to meet with an attorney.

 

[Brute 23]

From what I understand Airbnb has suspended the company from the platform for future however they are allowing the other crews in other homes to stay for the remainder of their respective bookings.
I think the problem is with the new cancellation policy for hosts that went into effect in 2022. Literally nothing that one could foresee in the US would fall into any of their justifiable scenarios.
We did broker a payment for property damage, but Airbnb has confiscated or collected that whatever you want to call it as part of what they say we owe for the cancellation.
The original booking was quite large, but they are refunding for what has already stayed.
There is currently a class action lawsuit in New York against Airbnb cancellation policy in light of the Covid restrictions from what I understand.
We are planning to meet with an attorney.

That's what I was getting at earlier. Not sure it's worth a fight but it might be worth kind of calling their bluff with an attorney and see how big of a stink they really want to make over it.

 

[Ky hills]

That's what I was getting at earlier. Not sure it's worth a fight but it might be worth kind of calling their bluff with an attorney and see how big of a stink they really want to make over it.

They are such a large company, it’s not likely to do much good, but the attorney suggested sending them a letter.

 

[ChrisB2]

I think you should try and get the state attorney general involved.

 

[greybeard]

Yes, but my wife didn’t realize at the time what it was. She thought it was flour or baking powder.

explained, in the 1st 20 seconds: