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

[Jeremy208]

While I appreciate the changes and the extension of the Air Cover timeline, extending the timeline is only as good as the people processing our claims. I have been denied coverage on item damaged by guest and actually only reimbursed for damage to one cushion on a custom sofa that did not have cushions. Your problem is not the coverage but the application of the rules. 9/10 out of ten I don’t have issues with guests but when I do it is not even worth engaging with your team. Guest throw a party, I can’t get ahold of you. Guest damage property, you are not their to help. You need to focus on customer service. It really all

comes down to how pleasant it is to

contact you, whether your customer support can or will actually help or the likelihood the call is even worth the time. 

[Deirdre2]

For me, as the operator of a very small business, the potential financial exposure of  Airbnb relocating guests and billing me for the cost is a grave concern.   One of my listings is a 6 bedroom, 5 bath home of over 4500 square feet that sleeps 16.  Our typical rent is about $800 a night.   At the last minute, it is highly unlikely that another home of that size would be available in my market.  So, if Airbnb reaccommodates into 6 hotel rooms at $300- $500 a night per room, our exposure could easily  be $9000 for a 3 night stay.   

As written, Airbnb's new policy does not even require CS to reach out to me as a host to verify  or even INFORM me that this will occur.  I fear I could simply wake up to find that in the middle of the night, my after expense income for the next month was simply taken  by an Airbnb agent and used to relocate  guests.   

My experience with  Airbnb's CS agents over the years has been uneven, at best.  Although they have always been pleasant and quick to thank me for being a superhost,  they often have little understanding of Airbnb's  policies and frequently seem unable (perhaps due to language barriers) to comprehend my issue.     The knowledge that these agents could take thousands of dollars from me is chilling.   

I have a total of 8 properties and I list them on multiple platforms.  Booking.com has a similar policy of charging hosts for relocations and for that reason, I only list my smaller properties on Booking.com and I do so at a 15% higher rate. 

To be clear, I have never had to pay for a guest relocation through Booking.com  (or any other listing site) and I have never had a guest leave one of my listing mid-stay because of issues at the home.  But the fear that this could happen and leave me in the position of losing thousands of dollars that my family relies upon for mortgage, food, tuition, etc. will change my business practices going forward.  

If this policy stands, I anticipate limiting availability on Airbnb of my larger properties.  Currently, my calendar is open equally far into the future on all 4 major platforms that I use.   I will probably cut availability on Airbnb to  6-8 weeks and  use them only for last minute bookings of our 4-6 bedroom homes.   Currently,  about 35% of our bookings are on Airbnb and our average lead time for a weekend booking is over 15 weeks with popular times booking 26-52 weeks ahead.  I imagine this will reduce the Airbnb percentage of my booking to 10% or so.   

I hate doing that as I really like having a strong presence on multiple platforms.    But, this little business is the sole support of my family  and I don't want to be worried constantly that a poorly trained, under paid, outsourced  CS agent is going to charge me thousands of dollars without my knowledge or consent.

[Jenny]

Thanks for providing us with such detailed feedback, @Deirdre2.

[Aimee181]

@Catherine-Powell Are you at AirBnb out of your mind? I've JUST listed my house after 4 months of work and I want to jump to VRBO. We, hosts, are the ones that make AirBnb happen ~ don't burn us. We'll leave. 

[Steve66]

I just now received notice that I earned Superhost again, 5 years in row now I think. Feels almost useless and a joke at this point as Airbnb's value for me will greatly dimmish with this new policy. When others ask what I do I can no longer proudly say that I own/manage "Airbnb's", moving forward I will us other OTA names and/or will simply stay vacation rentals. I will breathe and even louder sigh of relief every time I receive a reservation from a different OTA, my anxiety with Airbnb reservations has increased over the years and now this takes it over the top. This is just crazy. @Catherine-Powell

[Crystal438]

@Catherine-Powell 

I wonder how you manage to keep hosts?  Over the past 5 years, I've maintained Superhost status and had only 5 star reviews, less the one by a weirdo.  You've decided to remove my Superhost status based on the previous 3 month cancellation rate without asking me why or what is happening?  You honestly don't care about the hosts that represent your company, only that your metric shows the income stream is not flowing effectively.  Shame on you.

You left us hanging during COVID, ridiculous fee increases, etc.  Where would you be without us?  

[Catherine-Powell]

Hi @Crystal438,

I am deeply sorry to hear you don't feel supported, especially when you needed it the most. Our Hosts are at the heart of Airbnb. I had our teams dive deeper into what happened with your Superhost status and I see that your status was reinstated.

Thank you for bringing this to my attention,

Catherine

[Catherine2511]

Frankly I have to say I’m disgusted with the Airbnb policy that you lose superhosts status unless you have less than a 1% cancellation rate. I have four listings and only one time in 63 bookings I canceled a guest with plenty of notice due to the fact that our HVC system needed a repair. So no longer we’re super house. I’m highly concerned that Airbnb is no longer thinking about the host. There needs to be some equality in the system. The hosts are the bread and butter of Airbnb so I’m very hopeful that they will re-organizing recognize our needs

[Helen744]

Catherine2511. you should have been able to cancel at least three times?  or maybe that is just on IB. I dont get it  Superhost is over one whole year moving along at three month periods. ?Not sure why if you have a perfectly good reason . Maybe try and check up on that again . Maybe someone made a mistake H

[Cherie71]

I had 59 reservations (the majority through our 3-month busy season). I had to cancel a one-night rental due to a maintenance problem. 1.37% cancelation rate!  Ridiculous.

Don't get me started on losing my Superhost status due to this and a drop in reviews by 1 star when the reviews that did it were removed by AIRBNB and, according to AIRBNB, do not count towards your stats. 

I've gone over and over with Airbnb about the reviews and not one support person takes the responsibility to answer.

[Easton3]

This is so incredibly damaging to the host. Guest are going to take advantage. As hosts we all know that oftentimes guest will find one minor issue with the unit, and attempt to obtain a free stay. Way to go Airbnb! You screwed the host during covid, and now you’re doing it again.  

[Janelle102]

Here's how this is going to play out in real life. Guest will book a 7 night stay at Christmas, taking the highest rates if the year. They will show up with an extra few people. They will bring tons of food, and leave things out on the counters, kids make spills etc. 72 hours in, suddenly they will find ants and call Airbnb and insist on a refund. Airbnb support will immediately refund the whole stay, probably without even contacting the host. Rates will be sky high but I'll be expected to pay for their stay at a bigger, fancier place than my own. I'll have to go clean up and find a mess. When I call in to airbnb to dispute, after getting the run around from agents who would not even tell me what the issue was, they will insist I need proof that there were no ants in order to even reopen the dates. I'll go in and take photos, and have to call a pest guy to come as soon as possible to certify that my place is clean, which may take a few days for scheduling etc. So now I'm out the reservation, the cost of their fancy hotel for 16 guests, the pest control fee, and my extra cleaning costs. After "investigation", Airbnb will decide I'm at fault and the decision will be final. No contact info available for appeals. And at that point my 8 Airbnb's are getting taken to other platforms. This policy is awful and is going to cause so many issues. It might have been an ok policy if Airbnb support actually did anything, but unfortunately after 5 years as a super host I know not to expect help from them. I've been denied claims for extra cleaning methamphetamine residue after police were called and arrests were made- I don't know how much more clear evidence could be that I'm not at fault. I've had Airbnb force refunds when a guest thought they smelled gas- I had the gas company out in 10 minutes and it turns out they weren't used to the smell of the neighbor"s diesel truck. I've had refunds forced by support for guests who insisted the TV was broken, and when I went over there it turned out the guest couldn't find the right button on the remote. I'm Working on a claim now where guest agreed she did the damages, she just doesn't want to pay for the replacement and I can't even get Airbnb to respond to my messages and calls. All of that was with the 24 hour policy, and it's only going to get worse. Sorry, but it's meaningless and dishonest to say that you care about hosts. 

[Till-and-Jutta0]

We should keep in mind, pests are a check-in issue, thus to be reported to Airbnb not later than 72 hours after arrival, if the host is not able to solve the issue earlier:

Accommodations are not habitable at check-in for any of the following reasons:

• They are not reasonably clean and sanitary, including bedding and towels.
• They contain safety or health hazards.
• They contain pests.

[Michelle2544]

And zero reason a guest cannot report that within 24 hours. 

[Connie168]

I so relate!