Our guest rebooking and refund policy explained

[Catherine-Powell]

Hi everyone, 

We value the feedback about the rebooking and refund policy that we’ve heard from Hosts in workshops, here in the Community Center, and across Host Clubs. 

From your feedback, we understand that many Hosts aren’t familiar with the policy, and our update raised more questions than answers. We also know that you need more details about how this policy works. 

As a result of your comments, we are doing the following: 

1. We’re removing the language about Hosts being responsible for rebooking costs from the policy. 
2. We’ve also answered some of your most frequently asked questions about the policy that we’ve heard over the past week. 

You can read more about these changes here.

We hope this will help give you peace of mind, so you can focus on what you do best—providing amazing hospitality to guests from all over the world. 

Thank you for being a Host. We want you to know that we listen to your feedback. Please continue to tell us what you think so we can make sure we’re helping you meet your hosting needs. 

Best wishes,
Catherine 

[Sam324]

One of the hosts’ concerns is that (according to the policy) a listing may be considered “materially inaccurate” if a listed amenity is “not functioning”.

That’s very different than if the amenity not present at all!  Often an amenity *was* functioning just before a guest arrives, and suddenly stops functioning (either due to a previous guest’s actions, or just because nothing keeps working forever), and the host just didn’t notice the issue before a new guest does.

Airbnb should take those kinds of maintenance issues out of the category of an “inaccurate listing”.

[CindyandRon0]

My condo has a pool.  I am not in control of the pool.  what happens if they decide to do "deck maintenance" for a day or 2 and close the pool.  They may notify owners only a day or 2 I. advance if that.  Guests should not be refunded for such a situation out of control of the host. 

[Tamara682]

@CindyandRon0
Not to be contrary here but I'd have to disagree with you. Interestingly enough I just had a pool conversation with my sister who does a lot of traveling and has high standards without being unreasonable.
She looks for pools specifically when she visits because we have lots of children in the family and they love to visit her if there is a pool. Therefore, if the pool weren't working for whatever reason, it would most certainly and negatively affect her stay and she would expect a refund.
To me, what you describe is a cost of doing business. Unless you tell your guests in advance that the pool may or may not be open when they arrive - it is on you. It certainly isn't on your guest unless you've notified them at booking or before the 100% refund period that they may not get a pool.
Just my thoughts from a guest's perspective.

[Tamara682]

Deleted

[Stephanie]

Hi @Sam324 ,

Thank you very much for sharing your feedback. I wanted to follow up on your comment regarding damage to amenity caused by a previous guest. Last year, we introduced AirCover for our Host community. If a guest causes damage to your listing, you have 14 days to request reimbursement after they check out—it doesn’t even matter if new guests have already checked in.

Thanks for sharing your feedback on both of Catherine’s topics about this policy - we hear you and will continue to share it back with the appropriate people across Airbnb.

Thanks,

Stephanie

[Sam324]

Thank you for your response, Stephanie!

 It addresses a similar, but different scenario than what my concern was about.

While Air Cover is a big improvement for dealing with damages when it’s clear which guests damaged which items, the concern that I expressed about the Guest Refund Policy is more about an amenity that ceased to function that might or might not be due to the actions of a specific guest.

For example, if a guest complains “when I checked in 3 days ago, the BBQ grill wasn’t working, you advertise it as an amenity, your listing is therefore inaccurate and now I want a refund.”  The host may only know that the BBQ grill was definitely working 2 weeks ago, but doesn’t know when it stopped working, if any of the 3 guests who were at the property since then even attempted to use the grill, or who may have done something to cause it to stop functioning.

Maintenance issues happen.

Especially in homes with many amenities, it’s fairly common that 1 out of 40 things may not function at any given time.  It’s not always someone’s “fault”, nor should it constitute an “inaccurate listing”.

[Paul1255]

Is it just me, or does each update/explanation on this policy change seem to create more confusion and bring up even more questions for the hosting community? SEND HELPPPP!

[Patti-And-Marty0]

Yes certainly raise more questions.

Under How Can I Appeal an Outcome? It says “Some hosts take a time stamped video prior to every check-in to ensure they have a record of the conditions of their space immediately before the guest arrives.”

So if this is a way to supply evidence, can we have more detail about what the video should show? Walking around the space filming would show general tidiness and major furniture being present, but that’s about it. 

And what is considered “immediately before”? An hour? Day before? 

[Helen744]

@Patti-and Marty0 I have started doing this ,just general cleaned room pics on my phone after cleaning . I greet my guests so now I make sure that they see every room when I greet them . I do not actually say , check if all is okay but that is now the intangible contract my guest and I will be making every time they enter my house . They will also very certainly and "underlined", be told to ring me for 'any issue' which may arise with the house and someone will come around.My number is also on the fridge .H

[Mary419]

To time stamp it we would buy a newspaper and hold it up like a hostage??

This concept that all of us proven hosts should now spend precious time trying to protect ourselves with documentation and prepare evidence for our potential defense when we go on trial….for every single booking because you truly never know when the guest is going to say your place shouldn’t require their payment…  

This is not going to work for anyone with volume and shouldn’t be acceptable even for lower volume hosts. It’s insulting. We are using maximum time and resources keeping up with resetting the homes with clean sheets and soap and toilet paper.  And answering the millionth question the guests ask us at all hours. 

Maybe you could convince me that someone should have to make a time stamped Video on their first 3 stays ever as a new host. But to suggest this for tried and true hosts is beyond insulting 

[Paul1255]

@Mary419  The newspaper/hostage thing came straight into my mind too. It’s beyond insane.

[Kristina46]

A lot of us get our newspaper subs online. But maybe you could use FB live, which does date stamp it. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Mary419it is highly unlikely that a super host with hundreds of excellent ratings for cleanliness would suddenly receive a guest in a dirty apartment.  Previous ratings should count something.

Besides, I don't have enough space on my mobile phone for taking videos and photos of both of my apartments prior to every 2 night long stay and then keeping them stored for weeks as evidence.

[Kim572]

I know someone who does this and has a Facebook page for their listing.  As soon as they do the video, they upload it to Facebook—which is how they time stamp it.  It is ridiculous to have to protect ourselves this way though, especially if you have been with AirBnB for years and have a proven record of being a good host.

[Huma0]

@Mary419 

I agree completely. I am a low volume host but, even then, if I have a guest checking out of a room and another checking in the same day (at the beginning of my check in window, which is what many guests choose), I don't have time to do this. I am running around like a headless chicken making sure everything is ready and perfect for my incoming guest as well as probably answering their last minute questions/changes of plans while trying to also ensure my other guests are fine and actually do my day job at the same time.

Perhaps some hosts have the time to do this (with a hostage style newspaper date stamp) but I'm guessing that most don't. Think about how many things you would need to film to cover all the bases of 'travel issues' that guests might claim. Do we need to film the thermostats to show the room temperatures? That's meaningless anyway, as that could change. Do we have to to film that the door lock is functioning? Do I have to film every corner of every communal area of my four storey house as well as the guest bedroom to prove that it is clean?

Besides, so many of the 'travel issues' associated with this policy can't be disproved by a video. Plus, anything can happen during 72 hours. The heating, AC, fridge or whatever could break down (nor not). What would a time stamped video prove? There could be an empty parking space which is then later filled. I just can't see the logic behind any of this. 

The main problem that I can see here is that these policies are thought up by people WHO DO NOT HOST and therefore have no idea what is and isn't reasonable. Was the Host Advisory Board involved or not, because, from what I can see, any indication of their involvement is excluded from Airbnb's posts on this subject.