How many of you Host feel that Airbnb does not treat you like their client?

[Rafael1306]

Is very hard to work a claim with AirBnB, it feels like you are not really their client

[Gillian166]

yes, this is the funny part about many industries. the Bank also doesn't treat us much like clients, but where do they make their money?  I sell stock photography and it's quite similar to this situation: without us they are nothing, and yet they treat us as expendable/replaceable. they make ALL their money off our work but of course they somehow think it's the platform that deserves the thanks. 

But, because i'm a contrarian, i will offer the flipside. 

WE get to decide how our business works, how to decorate, how to offer it up, even when it's available. So we have a lot of control still. that is good.

once we get a few more competitors in the STR space i'm hoping the market will help even things out. in the absence of competitors you only need to look at how these modern tech oligarchys behave (oh yes, they really are no better than that).  

[Robin4]

@Gillian166 

You have to understand the difference in the way things get done in the USA and the way they get done in Russia!

The US defense dept will announce  it has been allocated a budget of 5 Billion dollars to develop a new satellite blanket defense system.....lets call it Starfire! The budget will be allocated by the Dept of Defense to various contractors and aspects of the project and although there will be a lot of wastage and unnecessary spending they end up with a new defense system!

In Russia, they don't want to be left behind so they allocate $3b to a new undetectable hypersonic weapons delivery system. 

The $3b is allocated to the oligarch who owns the factories and labs that will develop and produce this hypothetical new weapon!

Firstly, $230m of that budget is allocated to a new super-yacht for the Oligarch, then 15 million will be spent upgrading his house, then 80 million will be spent putting in a new superhighway from Stalingrad to his mountain retreat. Then $25,000 will be spent on a cellar full of Vodka and Caviar and then $50m will be transferred into one of his offshore accounts  as a reward for so judiciously spending the states funds!

Eventually $1.5b is all that remains of that budget which is nowhere near enough to achieve the desired result so, plans for the obsolete outdated US system are stolen and.......that is what Russia ends up with!

That's the way business gets done in Russia!

Cheers........Rob

[Gillian166]

haha. I thought this was going to be that classic story about NASA spending millions to invent a pen that worked in space, and the Russians just used a pencil..... 

Although given Joe Biden owns an island in the Caribbean right next to Epstein's I wonder if the USA isn't too different? 

closer to home: didn't Kevin Rudd have the flight paths altered in Brisbane, for his electorate?  

[Ann72]

And don't forget about the apartment he'll buy in New York @Robin4 that will somehow be exempt from taxes...

[Ted307]

@Rafael1306 

I am not their client, they are my booking service. I use Air BnB to find people to rent our little Bunkhouse, I block the Air calendar when I have a renter from another source. We have a goal to do more and more private rentals to returning customers, word of mouth, local referrals and our own advertising as time goes on. We have our own insurance policy for our rental business, separate from our homeowner's policy. It costs ~$650/year for this peace of mind should there ever be a problem that AirBnB would not cover in "AirCover". By the way, our insurance agent -- from State Farm, does treat us as her client!

Chris (retired insurance agent)

[Ann72]

@Ted307   My thoughts EXACTLY.  I get their marketing reach, they get me guests, I don't listen to them about how to run my place or ask them to solve my problems.  They're more like a somewhat silent partner than anything else.

[Amy180]

You are correct.  Hosts are not treated well by AirBnB as they tend to always side with the guest.  If it wasn’t for us hosts they wouldn’t have a business so you think they would realize that and treat hosts as their bread and butter but instead we are just bread crumbs.  I will be removing my listing this year and going to Evolve who I used for another listing and was really happy.

[Janine384]

Yes, I agree. AirBnB are handling my latest claim terribly.

I had a young man rent my AirBnB on automatic booking for 1 night.

He held an 18th Birthday party an invited 50 plus people. My neighbours were very unimpressed with all the noise.

Despite me notifying AirBnB immediately this was happening, they have been very slow to pay out on all the damage.

i've had to run around getting quotes for repairs and replacement items including the front door key.

They badly damaged some very expensive dining room chairs and I have only been paid out a sixth of the cost to get them repaired with no explanation.

I had to write out an invoice from my own company before they would reimburse me for cleaning my alcohol stained carpets.

Parties are against both AirBnB and my House Rules, yet I am made to feel that I am very unimportant in the resolution process.

It took nearly 4 weeks to get a response from the person assigned to my case and even then her emails came unsigned, like they were from a robot.

I am still waiting for them to acknowledge I should receive payment for all the extra people that stayed the night, or why they have only paid me out a portion of the repair bill for the Italian Style Lois Dining chairs.

Very very frustrating and stressful

Janine

[Larry467]

It's all about the traveler, same with VRBO.  Hopefully someone will come along and recognize who their customer is again.

[Gerri-Elise0]

I had to put in a complaint today about smoke damage in a non-smoking place and bath linen theft.  The site does not allow me to put the date I found the damage and theft, and just takes me through a strange loop where I have to enter the complaint again. 

Is there a place where I can actually speak to a real person? 

I am new to this and am disabled. Ameliorating smoke from carpet, drapes, walls and ceilings is very expensive. If I do it myself to save money, I may have to cancel reservations. Then I’m on the hook for canceling. 

Since I am on a shoestring budget, I can’t really afford to purchase new linens or hire the work out. I really need to speak to someone at AirBnB but have searched in vain for an email address or telephone number. 

Can anyone steer me in the right direction? (AirBnB does not make it easy for hosts) 

~Gemma

[Robin4]

@Janine384 @Caroline2071

Janine this is where Airbnb are possibly treading on thin ice. They state in their terms of service they are going to offer protection for what they classify as banned or non sanctioned activity.....and they currently have a party ban which, on the surface tend to give hosts some form of protection.

Here is what they are telling us.

Keep in mind these are screenshots from stated Airbnb policy......

"Guests will be reminded of of our updated Parties and Events policy before they leave for their trip"

So, if the guest holds a party he/she has contravened Airbnb's party policy!

"Airbnb will take action against guests who violate our policies"

And what is that policy when it comes to parties?

Looks like we are pretty well covered, doesn't it!

But, words are cheap and where it starts to unravel,  if the host gets an inkling a party is going to happen, he can cancel without penalty but, that cancellation will be regarded as one of his 3 penalty free cancellations for the year. If it falls outside the 3 free per year the host has to plead through 'extenuating circumstances' in order to cancel penalty free!!!!!

Cu'mon Airbnb, either you have a party ban policy or you don't......which is it!

For trying to prevent his property from being turned upside down the host is being penalised and forced to justify his reason for not accepting this booking he suspects will be a "Party" reservation!

Airbnb should justify why this guest is not a risk......not the other way around, after all Airbnb wants the reservation to proceed and they are the ones introducing the risk!

Moving on.......So, the host is unaware that a party is to take place in his property until it is too late! He tries to get support but, is simply told to sort it out with his neighbours (yeah, that's what the guidelines say) who are at this point annoyed that Airbnb have allowed this to happen! All the hapless host can do is pick up the pieces when the partygoers leave.....cannot even get support to charge up to those extra 15 guests who invaded the hosts space that Airbnb allows under the 'no party' policy.

Then comes the claim process, God how much of this have we seen over the years.

Here is what the host is protected for......once again, Airbnb's words, not mine! 

Does any of this sound like the treatment and support you have received @Janine384 ?

My issue with this whole party ban/compensation thing is, it is so full of holes, exclusions, exceptions it is totally meaningless. All it is doing is deceiving hosts!

Airbnb have to either man up and protect hosts from guests they are so desperate to place for their service fee that they will penalise hosts for not accepting, or they need to get rid of all this 'protection' stuff they claim to offer but, since 2015 have found a way of walking away from!

This is from Jan 2016.........

But what has changed? this could just as easily been from yesterday, as it was in your post @Caroline2071! It's only matter of time before some legal eagle takes Airbnb to task for what they say they are offering and what they do actually offer!

Good luck Janine, I hope through your persistence you can get some form of reasonable compensation. 

Cheers.........Rob

[Janine384]

Thank you Rob,

you have understood my situation completely.

I have billed AIRBnB $25 for the extra guests and sent them a video of how the house was left with the lounge set up as a sleeping quarters ( for those who there was no bed for)

aAll I’m asking for is NZ $25 which is the extra charge for a fifth person ( They only paid for a 3) the maximum number of guests my property is set up for.

when the reality is there were more than 50 people using the amenities of my Air BnB for the party ( that is illegal)