Our recent change to the guest refund policy

[Catherine-Powell]

Hi Everyone, 

Hosts are the heart and soul of Airbnb. I want you to know we value you, we’re working every day to improve your hosting experience, and we’re listening to you. Recently, we updated our rebooking and refund policy to allow guests up to 72 hours to report travel issues, rather than 24 hours. Let me take you through our thinking as a company to get to this decision. 

As a two-sided marketplace, we are always putting ourselves in the shoes of both Hosts and guests. In this case, guests have been telling us 24 hours wasn’t enough time to reach out for help if something goes wrong. For example, if a guest wasn’t able to check in due to a malfunctioning lock, they may be more focused on getting settled in an alternative location and attending the event they traveled for. We also heard from Hosts that 24 hours often wasn’t enough time to resolve a guest’s concerns. For example, if a guest notified a Host that the air conditioner stopped working, it could take more than a day to contact a repair person and fix it. The 24-hour window was causing guests to feel like they had to cancel early, when more time would have been enough for Hosts to fully address the concern and keep the reservations.

We went through a similar assessment when we considered extending the filing period for Hosts to submit reimbursements requests. As part of AirCover—which includes $1 million in Host damage protection—if guests cause damage, you have 14 days to request reimbursement after they check out, even if other guests have already checked in.

I also want to assure you that we rigorously assess claims from guests in order to help protect you from fraudulent claims. And, we take action to hold guests accountable for those types of violations of our Community Standards. If a Host disagrees with our determination about a guest report, they may contest our decision and if after reviewing evidence provided by the Host, we agree with that Host, they will receive their payout for that reservation.

Your house rules are another important tool to help ensure the guest rebooking and refund policy is used as intended. House rules set and manage expectations for guests. For example, if you have a backyard pool, you might include a note that you make every attempt to keep the pool as clean as possible, but at times leaves and debris may end up on the surface. This can help guests understand why there may be leaves in the pool. 

Because of the importance of house rules, we’ve made them visible to guests when they book, and by booking, guests are agreeing to read and abide by them. House rules are also taken into account when guest refund claims are made, if relevant. Here are some helpful tips for writing and updating your house rules for guests.

We design all of our updates to help build trust, and will continue to do so as we actively listen to your feedback and concerns. I hope this note has addressed some of the questions I have heard. I want to end by thanking you for all that you do to provide the best possible hospitality for our guests.

Warmly, 

Catherine Powell
Airbnb Global Head of Hosting

[Property2]

@Donna1157 Yes, Airbnb will ignore any additional contracts between the host and the guest. I was told that unless it's somewhere in the description of your property, it does not matter and Airbnb will not enforce it

[Donna1157]

Up front and in the first paragraph!

[Donna1157]

And failing ABB acceptance of that I'll delist. 

[Donna1157]

@Catherine-Powell And we wonder why HOAs, Cities, Counties, and States - oh heck entire countries in Europe- are also delisting and challenging  ABB in courts.

[Donna1157]

Oh btw speaking of which... because of the rules policies that need to be articulated clearly not only do we now need to worry about loss of income, we continue to need to worry  about loss of rights to actually do business. So I want to thank for ABB trying to mitigate this🤔

[JJ48]

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@Donna1157 wrote:

And failing ABB acceptance of that I'll delist. 

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What do you mean?  I'm looking at your profile and you have one review. 

[James3005]

The first time I dont receive our payment over something stupud like this will be the last time I rent my units on the platform.   

[Mark116]

@Catherine-Powell   One quick point, the issue of guests who can't access the property could be addressed as a separate item, with a longer window of notification, since it is a very different issue and is not nearly as subjective as 'clean' or 'pest'.  Either the property is accessible or it isn't, no judgement required.  So, again, the 'reasoning' here falls far short of the mark.

[Huma0]

@Mark116 

I agree about your point that access could be addressed as a separate item. That seem sensible.

However, when you say "either the property is accessible or it isn't," that's not always the case.

I have heard enough stories on the CC about guests who cannot follow instructions, e.g. for self check in, key pads, lock boxes. You would think they would then be logical enough to contact the host for assistance. Again, not necessarily always the case. I have experienced this kind of cluelessness myself.

What if the guest has ignored the check in timeframe and turned up early and that is why the keypad has not yet been activated for them? The host is not expecting them hours early and is perhaps not contactable for a short time. Can they then go off, check themselves into an expensive hotel, report it to Airbnb nearly three days later and have the host pay for the hotel bill, as well as losing the payout?

Perhaps the above sounds like an unlikely or rare occurrence, but if a guest is able to do this, then it just opens up this possibility to scammers. A three night stay in a fancier airbnb or expensive hotel for free? I'm sure plenty of people would be tempted.

Also, I don't really find @Catherine-Powell 's explanation that guests are too busy cancelling the stay and finding other accommodation to report it to Airbnb. I thought that Airbnb was supposed to help relocate guests in such circumstances. So, shouldn't Airbnb's be the first number the guest dials if they can't get hold of the host?

Even if you forget that, once the guest has found alternative accommodation and attended the event the had come for, why would it still take THREE DAYS to report it? Come on.

[Mark116]

@Huma0  I thought about that, guests who don't follow directions.  I was thinking that the host would be able to prove the guest was at fault in such circumstances, and most guests overwhelmingly would try to contact the host or Airbnb so they could get into their chosen property, rather than decamp to a hotel at the last minute.  Sadly, knowing Airbnb, who can say what would happen.  I've certainly witnessed first hand that about 5% of guests can't follow our literal step by step directions of how to put the key in the front door and open it. Mind boggling and one reason we didn't install a key pad, I figure if guests can't work an old fashioned lock, there will be many more problems with a higher tech lock.

I can't really see any reason why it should take more than 24 hours from check-in to report a problem.  Even if a guest checks in late at night, they're going to wake up the next day and have all that day to scrutizine the Airbnb for ants, spiders, dust in the corner, and should not have any problem in being able to report a 'travel issue' by that night.

What Airbnb should have done is HIGHLIGHT the 24 hour policy with a pop up.  'Dear guest' [insert Airbnb platitudes of BS], please remember to report any 'travel issue' to the host and to Airbnb within 24 hours after checking in.

I know they don't do this since I have a friend who is a frequent user of Airbnb and she had no idea until I told  her that she's supposed to report an issue such as the whole house being dusty within 24 hours and ask the host to remediate.  Thankfully she's not a scammer so in that instance they cleaned the house themselves and gave it as private feedback to the host.  LOL. 

[Huma0]

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@Mark116 wrote:

@Huma0  I thought about that, guests who don't follow directions.  I was thinking that the host would be able to prove the guest was at fault in such circumstances,

Well, yes, one would think, but let's also think about all the stories we hear on the CC where the guest reports something to Airbnb and is refunded/host is penalised, without the host even being consulted. The host is often not even aware that there was an issue. The host appeals, but CS just tell them the decision is made and the case closed. This 'decision' is often truly baffling and illogical. The host has clear evidence which his ignored or they are not even given the opportunity to provide evidence/give their side of the story.

It's just another potential headache for hosts. As @Catherine-Powell 's post makes clear, the host has to provide evidence to and then they MIGHT get their payout, but in the meantime, CS will go ahead and make a decision based on the guest's report.

Of course, in the case of not being able to get into the property, most guests would contact the host and the issue would be resolved without involvement from Airbnb. What I was saying was that if scammers get wind of it, and Airbnb CS does not do their due diligence in investigating (which we know they don't always do), then it's another way for them to get a free stay. If I had confidence in Airbnb CS for handling these 'travel issue reports' properly and fairly, then I don't think I would care if it's 24 hours or 72, but sadly, I don't trust that they always will.

[Huma0]

@Mark116 

Just one example of clueless guests, who then decide it's the host's fault:

- Guests are sent directions to the house and check in instructions a few days beforehand. They ignore the message, so I chase to make sure they saw it. They acknowledge they received it.

- Despite confirming a check in time and asking them to let me know if they are running late, the guests do not show up and do not respond to any messages, including texts. I wait hours for them.

- Eventually, I need to quickly pop to the shop which is a one minute walk from my house. I message them to let them know and I also leave a note on the front door. I am back in less than five minutes.

- I find the guests on the street, stopping strangers asking them for help. The are standing right outside my house. The have the street number (which is by my door), a photo of the exterior and the instructions to look out for the green house with the pink door - the only one on my street. They have a print out of the directions in their hand.

- If I hadn't gone to the shop and seen them in the street, it would have been worse, as they had made no attempt to contact me. They had turned their US phones off because they didn't want to pay high charges and had never considered messaging me rather than leaving me waiting for hours. They hadn't activated their UK phone because they were expecting me (as part of my host duties) to set it up for them.

- They were very angry and the stay immediately got off to a bad start. They left me very low ratings for communication and check in and even wrote in the review that, although I had sent directions, I had only sent them on the day of check in so they didn't have a chance to see them. They had acknowledged the directions days before and had them printed out!!!

So, to bring this back to the topic of this thread. What happens with these types of guests (who, by the way, had loads of 5* reviews, but turned out to be a nightmare for their entire stay)? If they still hadn't found the house, still didn't bother to call me and gone to stay elsewhere, and reported it to Airbnb three days later, would Airbnb have refunded them and expected me to cough up for the cost of their hotel stay?

Sure, I would have evidence that they were given directions and that I tried to contact them to ask if they were having problems, but I also don't do self check in and I left the house right before they arrived. Even though it was hours after the agreed check in time, it was still within my check in window. Does that mean that I am to blame, as I wasn't there when they arrived for check in? After all, for those three or four minutes, they did not have access to the property...

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

OFFTOPIC

@Mark116  you said: 5% of guests can't follow our literal step by step directions of how to put the key in the front door and open it. Mind boggling and one reason we didn't install a key pad, I figure if guests can't work an old fashioned lock, there will be many more problems with a higher tech lock....

I thought the same but we were wrong, All non-EU guests struggled with old school locks and keys.

In the end, I installed Yale's digital lock, all the guest has to do is to lean the plastic digital key or a digital card to the lock and voila! The door unlocks. It locks itself automatically when the door closes. Everyone gets it immediately.

[Jennifer3307]

Your example of needing to explain there could be a leaf in a pool that is outside and uncovered.  The expectation you are painting is that there can’t be anything wrong.  A leaf in a pool is not wrong, it’s nature! 
My properties are surrounded by nature, ponds, woods. With that comes animals and insects that frequent their home which surrounds my home.  I can clean cog webs from a deck overlooking the pond the day a guest arrives.  Overnight, if lights are on bugs will come out.  Then spiders build cobwebs to catch those insects.  By day 2 of a stay, there is inevitably cobwebs outside somewhere on the deck.  Does that mean my house isn’t clean? No, it means my house is surrounded by nature.  I try hard to warn guests and most book my property for that very reason.  However, there are guests who simply want to complain in order to get a free or reduced stay, even if they thoroughly enjoyed every minute of their stay.  Why do they do this? Because they can.  Because your policies make it easy for them and hard for the host.  We are only asking for reasonable understanding.  The fact that a leaf is in a pool, that there is a cobweb outside is ridiculous.  I had a NYC guest wife in their review that they were unable to enjoy the hot tub outside because there were too many bugs.  Again, my property is surrounded by national forest which is an attraction for many.  Should I be dinged because someone didn’t expect bugs to be outside? 

[John1459]

Exactly, guest has a great 3 day weekend with 10 friends, on checkout day goes around looking for bugs under the porch, cobwebs in the basement, a hair under the refrigerator, a leaf in the hot tub, or a wasp nest in the barn. Take some pics, and get your money, get a bad review as a guests? Oh no, that means you need a totally new email address next time you book, how inconvenient.