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

[Donna1157]

@Catherine-Powell please confirm that my well thought out rules listed as best I could in the 👉very short space👈 allotted owners that requires me to truncate my legal rental contract our guests are required to sign prior to my acceptance will not capriciously be superseded by the whims of policymakers at Airbnb.

[Helen744]

@Donna1157. You, re  not in Kansas now Donna ha ha good one  H

[Loretta126]

@Catherine-Powell Are you serious about the house rules needing to be that obvious?  Every host knows, even if you do not, that the vast majority of guests don't read the listing or the house rules.  They look at the price, the pictures, and maybe the reviews.  And the longer the rules, the less likely the guests are to read them.

If you are hinting to us that the house rules are really the guide for the CS agents during a refund dispute, then I'll make mine as long as "War and Peace" if that protects me.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Catherine-Powell A better example of why guests need more than 24 hours can be found on this Community Centre. Recently a guest reported they were at the start of a month long stay and had no hot water (or it might have been aircon). The host was trying to fix it so the guest didn't report it to Airbnb but, of course, if the fix proved impossible after say 48 hours it would, under the old rules, have been too late for the guest to report the issue and get refunded.

[Catherine-Powell]

@Mike-And-Jane0  yes! this is also a great example. Better than mine - though mine was also an actual example too !

[Helen744]

Mike-And-Jane0 this is a random situation and should be in the communication with the guest and host but to my way of thinking some of these things can not be said to be the hosts fault either such as electricity outages and should possibly

 be covered by a small optional extra guest insurance fee rather than assuming the host is available more or less like Daddy warbucks  to 'foot the bill " where is the limit to 'the guest is always right" Because sometimes it is obvious in this post pandemic world that 'maybe the guest is not" Airbnb is not based on 'the guest is always right' or the host on ' I live to serve' and at the end of the day , Were you treated with good manners ? Did you get what you paid for ?but increasingly hosts are saying '.Guests have poor manners and treat hosts badly  and we want something done about it because like the landlord at the pub, we will be saying ' you dont have to go home ,but you cant stay here '? We will weed guests out eventually and the market will decide. H

[Barbara--Belize-and-Colo0]

@Catherine-Powell  I think the example given about finding a leaf in a pool should be provided to *guests* about being understanding: "For example, if you are staying in a listing backyard pool, while hosts generally will make every attempt to keep the pool as clean as possible, at times leaves and debris may end up on the surface. Generally these can be easily cleaned off; just contact your host if an issue."

[Huma0]

@Catherine-Powell 

RE your statement: "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."

Since I started hosting in my own home in 2016, the biggest battle I have had (and this has been reiterated thousands of times by other hosts on the CC) is getting guests to read the house rules. The majority of guests DO NOT READ the house rules. Sorry to shout, but I do really want to emphasise this.

As far as I am aware, the house rules have always been visible to guests when they book and, in theory they have to agree to them, but that doesn't actually mean they read them. They are like the T&Cs you have to scroll through and tick a box to progress onto the next page. Most people just tick the box without reading.

I know this to be true because guests who have read and agree to my house rules would not then be telling me they are bringing kids or pets to my listing, or that there will be three people staying in the room or for early check ins, bag drops etc. They would tell me a bit about themselves and their estimated check in time.

So, I have always had to ask guests again to please read my house rules, making sure to click on the link to see them all, and confirm that they agree to them. Many, many guests will then say yes, but it's obvious they still haven't done it as they go on to immediately contradict something in them. I have had to resort to an 'Easter egg' question, which has only further proven to me that people will just lie rather than read. Very few guests answer the questions in my pre-booking message either, even though they are there in plain sight on the booking form and are supposed to be a requirement of IB.

It would help if at least Airbnb did not shove the rules right to the bottom of the listing, under everything else with all but a handful of basic rules hidden behind a link that hardly anyone clicks. It would help if the very important 'you must acknowledge' points had not been moved to behind a link under the health and safety section, which even less guests are going to click and read. These need to be more visible and actually, if it's something a guest 'must acknowledge', then it should be a form during the booking process, where they have to tick each point, e.g. must climb stairs, pets on property, etc. otherwise, what's the point in it?

Also, I have also understood early on that if a host needs to contact Airbnb about a guest violating their rules, those rules need to be listed, but are you really saying we need now to include things there such as 'you might find some leaves in the pool'? That is not a rule. Must we now add to our rules every silly little thing a guest might potentially complain about in the attempt for a free/reduced price stay? What next?

[Elaine701]

@Huma0 

I have not yet found anything enforceable about "house rules". In any case I've submitted a claim to Airbnb which include violations of published house rules, it has been rejected, usually on the basis of some other issue, such as the guest simply denying it. 

[Huma0]

@Elaine701 

There is not guarantee that just because a guest violates a clearly written house rule that Airbnb is going to back up the host if the guest denies it. Maybe they will, maybe they won't. However, if you are claiming a guest is doing something to break your rules and that something is not mentioned in your rules, you're in a much weaker position.

Early on in my hosting experience, I had two guys stay who were making a lot of noise (I mean a lot, either loud arguing or partying) at 2, 3, 4am night after night, while other guests were staying. I tried talking to them. They would apologise profusely, but continue to do it. They were doing a bunch of other things, like leaving the toilet in a truly disgusting state, but the noise was the main issue.

Eventually, I called Airbnb and asked for the guests to be relocated. The first thing the CS agent did was check my rules. She said something like, "I know most people, including me, would find noise at that hour unreasonable, but I just need to check your rules first to see if they are actually breaking them...Okay, I see you have listed quiet hours after 12pm." She called the guests and told them to follow my rules or leave without a refund. It worked. They stayed but the late night noise stopped.

Now, what if I hadn't mentioned quiet hours in my rules? Then, in theory they are not breaking a rule by making a racket at 3am. and it's not cause for eviction. 

[Elaine701]

@Huma0 

My rules are clearly written and published on my Airbnb listings. That's never been the issue. 

[Huma0]

@Elaine701 

I am sure, but you are experienced. Some newer hosts just assume that certain things are obvious and that they don't need to mention them, i.e. surely people would just be respectful and not make loads of noise in the early hours when they are staying in a quiet community? Or, there are more experienced hosts who just don't want to list too many rules and keep it basic. The difficulty here is that, if it's not listed, then it's not a rule!

What I find more problematic, which was the point I was making to @Catherine-Powell was the idea that we are now expected to list stupid things like there might sometimes be leaves in the pool in our house rules. THAT IS NOT A HOUSE RULE. The suggestion seems to be that, if we don't list every stupid little thing a guest might complain about in our house rules (not even the listing in general) then we are less likely to be able to contest it if the guest reports it as a travel issue.

What if it is in the general description, 'other things to note', 'you must acknowledge' sections? Does that count? Or, does it have to be in the house rules, thereby forcing us to copy and paste a load of extraneous things that aren't rules into the house rules section for fear of guests claiming bogus refunds, free stays and even footing their hotel bills?

I really take exception to the example provided by @Catherine-Powell about leaves in a pool. Do we now need to state the bleeding obvious and put it under 'rules' to boot? My rules are already long enough. No one is going to read them if I make them three times longer, but it seems hosts are now expected to do that as some sort of insurance policy.

[Catherine-Powell]

Hi @Huma0 thank you for all your comments here in the CC and on this detailed feedback on House Rules in particular. Your feedback is shared by many other Hosts raising the same issue as I am sure you have seen. I understand it can be extremely frustrating if a guest doesn't take the time to read and understand the rules of your listing, and therefore is not prepared on what to expect.

I will reach out to you directly to set up time for us to discuss further,

Best,

Catherine

[Steve66]

@Catherine-PowellWhen you made the note about leaves in a pool my heart sank, really?, Is that direction Airbnb is going in?? I thought to myself.  I've been in this business for 16 years and this (the way the policy currently stands) is so disheartening. I'm also a shareholder of Airbnbs stock and with this new policy I truly want to sell my shares, I do not believe this is going to age well in the long run. There are TikTok’er and YouTube’rs that literally show people how to scam Airbnb i.e. hosts for refunds and this policy will make that much easier for them. I am truly concerned. In the meantime, I would like to better understand your thoughts about how the House Rules should be updated I do believe this should be addressed on a larger scale other than one on one (BTW its amazing that you are willing to do that, thank you) But if not it would be an honor to discuss this (House Rules in particular) with you as well. Is that possible? THANK YOU!

[Catherine-Powell]

@Steve66,

Thank you for reaching out and for your willingness to provide us feedback on House Rules. I shared this with our Community team as I would love to find a way for us to connect via a workshop if we can.

As for the policy update, we definitely could have been much clearer overall, but definitely with the example you referenced! You may have seen these already, but we published a list of FAQs on our Resource Centre that will hopefully ease your concerns.

Please do continue to message me here if you think we could further clarify!

Catherine