Another AirBnB Host Horror Story
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Has anyone had the experience of your Host listings being turned off by AirBnB due to bringing to their attention problems with their platform and procedures?
John Cohen, NYC HostYes

AirBnB recently hid all my listings. At the same time they cancelled over 19 bookings adding up to over $7000 dollars most likely more. Here is a copy of the email sent to those inconvenienced persons.

Dear xxxx,
We were just informed by John Cohen that your accommodation starting on xxx, April xx, 2012 (reservation xxxxxxx) is no longer available. You should know that hosts are penalized for canceling reservations and removed from our site if they do so frequently.

I am no longer able to access my account to see my future payouts -- approximately $2000 dollars -- or when I will recieve $954.

At the suggestion of an experienced attorney I have backed all information that was in my account including changes that were occurring after AirBnB shut off my listings.

I cannot prove what the customer service supervisor said over the phone but I will quote "We have discussed it among ourselves", "There are simply too many customer service requests from your account", "You can apply in two months to be re-instated."

After careful review of the backups it appears to be 21 bookings not 17. As of this date several guests are living in my home. Booked through airBnB. I have no idea if I will be paid for their stay. Here is a short list of my Complaints that resulted in AirBnb hiding my listings.

1) Peer review process as implemented is being used by a few guests as a threat of a "Bad review" if I do not bend to demands for services not offered. Or if I attempt to enforce the House rules such as under age drinking or cleanig up after themselves.( Threse guests have no reviews of their own.)

2) Security Hole. Apparently airBnB does not maintain any information of the Guest of the guest.

3) CSR who answer the phones are given extraordinary power to rush to a judgement without giving the Host the benefit of the doubt.

4) Reservvation panel is a Mess if you are a busy Host. Dificult to make heads or tales from this. Even the CSR.

5) Bad reviews which are not opinion but statements of Fact. Say about the cleanliness of a Host. "Place smells like Garbage" Bathroom's are dirty" by a guest who frequently broke house rules.

6) A clear and convincing connection between Guests who them selves have no reviews making a complaint or bad review on a Host who has asked them courteously to obey House rules.

7) Repeatedly blocking out up to 10 days or more on a room until an investigation is complete. Finding the Host acted properly

8) Many of my customer service calls were about parts of the WebSite not working or learning how to nagivate it properly. I have bad eye sight and need new glasses. EG recently a part of the listings page failed to show up where
prominently it states Host has PETS. Two guests allergic to Cats appeared.

. Though my listing clearly states CATS. I had to have my House keeper Vacume 2,000 square feet. So that the guests could finish their bookings. My cats were trapped in my bedroom for two weeks.

9) Security deposit is not a security deposit. Never in my Life have I been
compelled to negotiate with a petty thief

Their is a lot more. 24/7 is not 24/7 due to the lack of enouph Human Infrastructure to handle the Volume of calls. Resulting in knee jerk reaction's
and bad decision making.

I cannot help get the feeling that AirBnb in my opinion would like low end Hosts to quietly fade and disappear in to the night.

This one will not.

The average star rating of my spare bed rooms was 4.5 Stars.

Skirting around the Franchise laws of the State of New York and the Federal Franchise Laws.

Skirting around the case law in New York State concerning Defamation and Slander.

And who knows what else. (SPIONS)

I am a fundamentaly good New Yorker. I am confident that my fellow New Yorkers will hear my cry for HELP.

I have been crippled financially by AirBnB's actions. Humiliated. Down but not out. I have nothing to loose. I am old sickly.

In my youth in basic training at the USMC. You learn the history of this Institution.

Lt. General Chesty Puller.
"You don't hurt 'em if you don't hit 'em."

Below this you can read my reviews. It was AirBnB who cancelled the bookings
and Defamed and Slandered this host. I removed most of the cancelations as the web page would have been to long.

The host canceled my reservation
11 days before arrival.

Emily
The host canceled my reservation 46
days before arrival.

Alex
The host canceled my reservation 16
days before arrival.

Katharina
The host canceled my reservation 12
days before arrival.

Djamila
The host canceled my reservation 32
days before arrival.

Amy
The host canceled my reservation 22
days before arrival.

Wai
The host canceled my reservation 5 days
before arrival.

Dora
The host canceled my reservation 15
days before arrival.

Melanie And
Claas
The host canceled my reservation 4 days
before arrival.

Trevor
The host canceled my reservation 18
days before arrival.

Liudmila
The host canceled my reservation 90
days before arrival.

Jana Fabienne
The host canceled my reservation 139
days before arrival.

Alisia
The host canceled my reservation 3 days
before arrival.

Francesca
The host canceled my reservation 14
days before arrival.

Alonso
I stayed here because I didn't want to
spend a fortune in a hotel, so I booked at John's place. My room was
pretty cozy, clean and had air conditioner (which was really helpful
on those cold nights). The living room/kitchen/dinning room was ok,
and I liked the fact that there were other guests living there as
well and I met a lot of interesting people. I would recommend your
stay here if you want to save money, socialize with other cultures
and know how to clean after yourself (important part). It is up to
you if you want a clean room. The walls are really thin and sometimes
you can hear everything from the room next to yours, but overall, it
is good place for low price.

Lauren
Don't expect luxury & do not come
here if you're allergic to cats as John has 2 (very cute) or if you
don't know how to clean up after yourself (you will get told!). This
place is secure and very affordable for those on a budget, the
beds/toilets/towels are clean and John offers coffee every morning.
All in all, if you can forego any frills and live in a hostel
environment, this is a good deal. If not, try the Waldorf Astoria.

Viola
The place is just two blocks from the
subway stop and it really takes 10 minutes to get to Manhattan so is
ideal if you don't want to waste your day travelling. I have found
quite a friendly bunch of people living in John's loft and John
himself is a very helpful person. I would suggest to guests who have
never seen NYC to ask him tips on what's worth seeing in the City.
The constant presence of coffee in the place was, also, very much
appreciate!!! My overall experience was pretty positive and I would
recommend it.

Peter
John was a very nice host. The room is
great value for money. Expect no luxury, "this isn't the
Waldorf-Astoria", as John would say. But it's a room, more or
less private, allthough you can hear everything that's going on in
the livingroom. But if you're in NYC for a few days, it's a great,
cheap spot. The room I rented had some temperture-issues, the heater
was a bit hard to control, and made some loud noises sometimes, but
John told me this in advance. He was helpful all the way.

Kyle
It was a nice private room! John was
very helpful in getting me acclimated to New York City, and he even
made me a nice BLT sandwich right when I arrived!

David
Relación calidad precio muy buena.
Barrio"aburrido" pero el piso está muy bien conectado
(parada de metro cerca). Súpermercado cerca. Lo recomiendo
positivamente para pasar ahí unas vacaciones. John personalmente me
trató muy bien. Incluso cuando tuve problemas con la habitación
S-9, la cual no recomiendo en invierno porque están dentro las
máquinas de la calefacción central (mucho ruido y calor), fue fácil
llegar a un acuerdo para que me diera otra habitación que tenía
libre. No sé que hubiese pasado si no hubiera habido alguna
habitación libre. En definitiva es un buen sitio para pasar tus
vacaciones en NY a muy buen precio.

Johannes
Best bang for the buck. Don't expect
luxury and don't be too picky, but there's everything you need and
it's a private room at a great rate. Quite uncomplicated, I could do
some short notice extension as I decided to stay one night longer,
and then even one more.

Iveta
I've recently stayed at the shared room
for 5 nights. It was a great experience, I can recommend this rental.
John is a great host, he is going out of his way to accommodate
everybody's requests. He is friendly and he is a great cook too! I am
planning to be back in New York at the end of April and I will stay
at this place again. I think that says a lot! it is a great place for
a great price.

New
John´s place is as described, a huge
and quiet loft that he built. Not luxury but it´s a good way to save
money if you´re going to expend the whole day exploring the city.
It´s close to the subway station wiht direct line to manhattan (A
and C line). John makes coffee every morning for the guests and he
cleans the bathrooms every morning as well.

Veronika
Great way to save money on a trip to
NYC. Bring your own blankets because it gets very cold at night and
there are none for you to use. The area is safe enough but it gets
very deserted at night. Coffee in the mornings was great. Don't
expect any privacy or luxury staying here but it is a cheap way to
see NYC. FYI, smoking is allowed indoors and there are two cats.
Average age of other guests is 22-25.

Camille
Another host nearby could not host me.
He sent me to John's place. As a young 18 year old french woman
traveling alone I am careful. The accommodations were incredible for
just $10. per day. $11. with the AirBnB fee. It is a medium size
room. Very bright. Sun drenched as the host John says. Though it has
4 twin beds on 2 wooden bunks and one twin it is not cluster phobic.
It is meant as a budget shared room to sleep in. The vanity was nice.
Storage that I locked with a padlock. The rest of the Loft is large.
Balcony's, gigantic rear deck and a giant private roof with nice
views including Manhattan. I had the room all by myself. But met
several interesting Europeans from Germany and Italy renting the
private rooms. The common area is large. Nice kitchen dining area.
Unusual. The large refrigerator is in the same room as the shower.
John is an artist. The shower room is large. The host was very
helpful. He showed me how to use the MTA Trip planner to efficiently
travel to my activities in Manhattan. John has to be the best Host on
AirBnB and possibly all of NYC ! Twice he made me a delicious meal !
3-4 Minute walk to Subway. A metro. 20 minutes 34 street Manhattan
off peak ! I am glad the other host cancelled. $10. nightly. safe,
clean convenient, food. #1 host and place to stay in NYC. Oh it is
$10. for thirty day stay. The price is more expensive for 3 days or a
week but still cheapest in NYC ! Thank you John. 5 stars. He deserves
10 stars !

Guido
John is a very good host... the loft is
in a good neighborhood just short walk from a supermarket and utica
subway station... and just 20 minutes far from Manhattan with public
transprtation!!! Sure i would be back there next time i'm going to
NYC! and if you are a good traveler who really wants to discover the
real life of the place you are visiting sure you'll enjoy this place.
Very safe, good wi fi connection, clean and easy! see you next time
John!

Patrick
This accomodation is by far the best
value for a short-stay room in New York that I have seen. The cost
for my own room per night actually worked out even cheaper than a
hostel where a person would share a full dormitory of 6-8 people.
This place was great value - and I had my own room. The host was very
helpful. My first experience of his helpfulness was when I noticed
that my computer cable had broken. When I asked him if he knew where
I could get a replacement in the city, he actually went out of his
way to fix the cable for me! He saved me a number of bucks doing
this, and also saved me the time it would have taken to locate the
replacement. Big thanks to him for that. And that was just the first
day. The host has coffee on the stove every morning. It is also
likely he will cook something for you a few times during your stay.
It could be a roast, or it could be a big breakfast sandwich that
will keep you going for a number of hours. The crowd that I came
across in the place was mostly young and vibrant and interesting. It
is a good place for you to meet up with like-minded adventurers in
the city of New York. The host has a large amount of very practical
local knowledge. He has a large willingness to share very useful
knowledge with you. This was invaluable for me because, as a
soon-to-be qualified attorney, I was in town to find out the
possibilities of locating a long-term apartment lease and a job in
the city. The host went out of his way to share his valuable
knowledge with me about these things. The host is worth listening to
carefully. The quality of the place was very satisfactory. If you are
a complainer or nit-picker, or have impossibly high standards, don't
waste anybody's time and get a 150 buck a night hotel instead.
However, if you want something with great value and have realistic
expectations of what great value is, then you will really benefit
from staying in a place like this. Even though I give a 4-star rating
(which is very good), I actually give the extra 5th star in the
rating when I factor in the price and all the extras. Again, have
realistic expectations for a place in this price range, and
appreciate good value when you see it, despite being a little rough
around the edges. Furthermore, as time goes on, the host continually
makes improvements to the place and has a genuine commitment to
creating accomodation that adds value to the people who stay there. I
expect the place will only become better and better in the future.

Matthew
5 stars! I had a great stay with John
in his loft apartment. His description of the living space is very
accurate. My room was clean and spacious, the loft was quiet through
the night (had no disruptions from flatmates in other rooms), the
bathrooms were clean and John even cooked 2 meals for me during my
stay (quite the chef I might add)! For the price range and location,
this listing can't be beat!

Stephanie
John is a welcoming friendly host.
Staying at his place in a private room beats staying at a hostel
sharing with 3-11 other unknowns. Also he makes sure he only rents to
non-sketchy people, which can only be a good thing. It's close to
Manhattan, the neighbourhood doesn't look safe but is actually
really ok and I doubt you can get a better deal than this. Peace out!

J. B.
John is a gracious and welcoming host.
The property is as described, and the bed is very comfortable. The
place (as stated) is rough-hewn, but clean, quiet., and comfortable.
The A train express is just two blocks away, so this is very
convenient to Manhattan.

Stephanie
We transferred to another room because
it was cheaper. But it's not that small - still a good size AND it's
private after all. John offered us some dinner one day which was
pretty darn good. He does keep things clean around here (but a lot of
it depends on other guests here too) so he's a good host.

Bettina
John's Place is very close to the train
station and in a safe area. I never felt insecure during the whole
stay. The rooms are in a loft and have all the advantages of a loft:
the common room, that everybody can use, is big and there are several
very big patios which is great for summer. You are welcome to use the
big kitchen and because John is a great cook, you should accept his
weekly invitation for a meal. John also knows a lot about New York
and has a lot of material and information to share. He answered my
E-mails amazingly fast and helped us a lot to find the way from the
airport to his place. On the other side, you should be aware, that
the walls in the loft are very thin and you can hear everything.
During the night it sometimes became very cold in the rooms, because
the rooms are very high and the heat accumulated under the ceiling.
There is just one shared shower for all. Altogether it's a nice place
to stay. But if you want to stay in New York for several weeks, you
should first test this place for some days and then decide if this is
the right place for you. Best wishes, Bettina

Isabella
The place is really nice and clean and
super close to the subway. My room had a beautiful view and a comfy
bed. John can be a little intense, on the first night he was quite
annoyed with me for catching a cab as he said cab drivers were
"crooks" but after that he was very helpful and pleasant.
Even gave me some delicious roast he made and let me hang out past
check out time. All in all it was a good experience.

Stephanie
Really nice spacious room which I
shared with my cousin and we had ample space for all our stuff. The
location is pretty near to the station, about five minutes walk away.
John is a really helpful host and made sure we had a place to stay on
New Year's night when he found out that we didn't have anywhere to go
for that night. And honestly I don't think you'll find a better deal
for the price you pay, especially if you're travelling alone in NYC
:)

Yoojin
I couldn't agree more with Nacio's
exact review. Close distance from subway station and warm rooms are
good. However, if you are sensitive to cigarette smoke, I don't
recommend this place. He smokes inside the house and rooms for guests
have a big glassless hole facing kitchen where he usually smoke.
Considering the cheap price of room, you may bear some shortcomings..
but I don't think it's comfortable to live for a long time in this
house.

Ling Sum
Great stay, great location! John is a
perfect host. The room is big enough. The neighborhood is safe!

Adam
Hey travelers! I stayed at john's space
in crown heights, Brooklyn for 10 days & would recommend it to
any of you out there on a budget who don't need many frills. It feels
like a cross between a hostel & a friend's place - there were
long term & short term guests here - everyone was respectful &
quiet. Excellent value for money & steps away from 24 hour
transit anywhere in NYC. The shower needs improvement but it's a
great place to hang yer hat. Would/will stay here again. Thanks John,
Merry holiday everyone!!! Adam

Cristina
I wouldn't choose Jonn's in matter of
the size of the room. But it was comfortable and the practical
facilities all right. Besides the room there is a ' shared space'
where it is possible to spend time/ do activities if the space of the
room isn´t 'satisfying' which works fine. The bed was fine.
Transport to Manhattan is easy.

Carmen
If you are considering a hostel, this
would be a much better choice. The rooms are private; there is a
fridge, basic cooking facilities and John makes coffee every morning.
John gives fair warning about the neighborhood and I certainly
wouldn't walk around late at night, but it is very near the train,
the grocery store and laundromat are walking distance and the
neighborhood folk are generally friendly. It is definitely worth the
price.

Giorgio
Nice room, close to subway station and
to everything, few minutes to Manhattan. Mattresses, sheetes and
pillows where new when we arrived. John is funny and very helpful, he
gave us a lot of advices.

Nirmal
Good place overall. Pros: own room with
lock and key, on A express line, cheap Cons: My clothes smelled like
smoke, cats kept me up 3 nights, the fridge is in the bathroom for
some reason. the area is a little ghetto but overall safe since very
close to the main road. John and everyone in the house is friendly
and keep the place clean, though i bought my own cleaning wipes and
cleaned the toilets few times. I expected that since the place has 9
rooms and just 2 toilets and 1 bathroom. john was very gracious and
offered dinner on more than 2 occasions. for $29 a night it was a
bargain.

Isabell
It's a good place to stay for a few
weeks if you need an affordable homebase while you're exploring the
city The subway is just a short walk away, it takes about 20 minutes
to get to the west side of downtown Manhattan, which for New York is
very okay. John is a helpful host, often offering his guests food and
good advice or tips on where to go and how to get there. There is a
large common area with a kitchen that holds everything you need; the
bathrooms and shower are also shared by all. Rooms have loft beds,
drawers, chairs, tables, lamps - in short, everything you need. If
anything's missing, just ask; John is quite good at providing
anything extra (for example the extension cord and socket adapter I
needed to get comfortable in bed with my laptop). If you have any
more questions, just ask, I'll be happy to help you out.

Adam
I stayed at Johns place for just over a
week. The location of the place is great, only a short walk to the
train station and ~10 min to lower Manhattan. There was also on the
street parking easily available. John was a great host, provided me
information on how to get around and also recommended some places to
check out. Its great value for money, would stay here again if I'm in
NYC. Room was sun drenched and clean. He offered coffee every
morning. The complimentary BLT he made for me was delicious. If
anyone has any questions just send me an email.

Elena
Yo y mi amigo nos hospedamos en una
habitación preciosa bañada por el sol. La casa situada en un barrio
seguro y autentico newyorkino estaba a pocos minutos del metro. John
es muy simpático y habla español nos ayudo mucho ofreciendo su
ayuda para organizar nuestro viaje mejor. Gracias John!

Rhona
Very helpful when we had a last minute
emergency, my daughter was in New York without internet and I was in
Scotland and I had to find her somewhere quickly. He replied
immediately and made up the room for her. She says it was great to
have a private room and room to open a case and hang up clothes. Easy
to come and go as you get your own key and it's close to everything
you need especially the subway. She says she felt safe in the house
and the neighbourhood, even as a solo female. Complimentary coffee
was also nice as was the BLT he made one day.
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