Long time Superhosts here, almost 100 five star reviews, but this experience has been unreal. We listed our primary home for the first time this winter while we planned a short trip south. We turned off Instant Book, set a high nightly rate and a 10 night minimum, and were fine if it didn’t book at all.
Somehow a group of 12 was able to book anyway, even with Instant Book off. Airbnb said it was basically a glitch. We told the guests we could host them if they agreed to our clearly stated rules. One of the biggest ones is no animals, for any reason. They confirmed they were fine with everything.
We then spent thousands of dollars and countless hours prepping the house. Linens, beds, moving personal items out, the whole thing.
Almost three weeks later, right before the stay, they told us they were bringing a dog. We followed Airbnb policy exactly and asked if it was required due to a disability and what task it was trained to perform. They replied that it was an emotional support animal.
We contacted Airbnb immediately. Multiple reps told us we qualified for an allergy exemption and that Airbnb would cancel the reservation. We recorded every call. Then nothing happened. We followed up daily and got ignored.
Eventually Airbnb came back citing laws in New York and California, even though our home is in neither state. They also claimed our home is not our primary residence, which is completely false and something we told them repeatedly. They said we had to accept the guests and threatened us with penalties if we canceled.
With Christmas days away and no response from Airbnb, we were forced to cancel ourselves. The moment we did, Airbnb replied instantly to suspend our account and demand thousands of dollars, again citing the same incorrect regulations.
Now we’re out the booking income, the cost of our travel, and several thousand dollars we spent preparing the house. Airbnb support has been contradictory, inaccurate, and honestly feels designed to wear hosts down until they give up.
If anyone knows how to escalate this to someone competent, or has dealt with something similar, I’d really appreciate hearing how it turned out.
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