Hi Jonathan,
I am also a new host and have had an exact experience that may shed light on an Airbnb 'Refund Request' scam.
Despite earning great reviews and positive ratings in the first few weeks as a new host, I encountered a challenging situation a few weeks ago with a booked guest named 'Amir' and his wife 'Suzan'.
It was revealed upon arrival that she was heavily pregnant and "due any minute now," a revelation that is another Pandora's box I will open as this story unfolds; least of all I spell out the potential medical and legal issues in respect to an impending birth in my home, but I digress...
The couple arrived three hours earlier than planned, which I accommodated, and despite my apartment being in impeccable condition, and my willingness to see to their various requests including their 4-hour early arrival, the couple almost immediately upon entry began by complaining about the fact I do not have air conditioning in the bedroom.
I note my accommodation profile explicitly correctly states, as per the only automated check box options offered by the platform, that I have "Central Airconditioning" which blasts through the house and reaches the bedrooms.
I explained this to Amir and offered to buy him a fan, yet his rude and aggressive manner made me feel extremely concerned for my welfare. Despite still reeling from the fact his wife could give birth any minute in my apartment, I stood my ground and firmly explained my home was not a hotel, it was an Airbnb, and that there were hotels and other hosts around the area that may better suit his needs, and that I understood his decision to leave if he was uncomfortable.
I immediately retreated to my bedroom and reached out to Airbnb customer support for guidance, which proved to be frustrating and pointless, other than to offer me the advice to update my listing to specify in the 'House Rules' section that there is no air conditioning in the bedroom. I then called a girlfriend who lives close by to request she come over and whilst I was on the phone, Amir called me into my loungeroom to tell me he was leaving and demanded that I cancel the booking. I replied that if he had decided to leave, he must cancel it himself. Needless to say the entire situation was stressful, and I felt enormous relief when they departed.
Regrettably, I later discovered that after leaving, and despite my chosen option for a 24-hour cancellation fee, Amir falsely reported to Airbnb that my air conditioning was "missing or broken" which was deceptive as my air conditioning unit is fully functional and is always blasting when I host guests throughout the entirety of their stay. I was shocked when Amir's false report to Airbnb consequently resulted in a warning message to me threatening to take me off the platform along with a denial of my 24-hour cancellation fee, which was for the three days booked, plus an extra night.
After expressing my concerns to Airbnb's customer service only to again receive a plethora of nonsensical responses both verbally and via email serving to confirm their responses were robotic, scripted, and automated, I threw myself into trying to comprehend the platform's regulations regarding air conditioning.
Based on the reason given for granting a refund to Amir, it appears that the justification for his refund implied I led him to believe that my room was air-conditioned when it is not simply by my checking the correct check box presented to me. I would like to again stress that the options provided by the Airbnb platform do not allow hosts to explicitly specify whether the bedroom has air conditioning or where the fans are in each room. In my subsequent investigations, I found numerous similar listings that, akin to mine, depend on Airbnb's available options for transparency in this matter. This prompted me to raise the question with Airbnb, as the precedent set in Amir's refund (literally at my expense), raises potential financial risks for countless hosts in this respect, resulting in the loss of income without any fault on their part should they encounter a perfidious guest.
To explore this issue further, I contacted several other hosts with similar listings who also did not explicitly state the absence of bedroom air conditioning and, like me, had chosen "Central Airconditioning" without specifying if the air conditioning was in the bedrooms.
As a working journalist myself, after I reached out to contact Airbnb's media centre to ask these questions - including the policy around hosting pregnant women - I finally saw action, fast receiving an apology, along with a refund. I was told Amir was not able to leave a poor review and that my rating would not be affected and I believed it was the end of the matter, yet sadly I was sorely mistaken...it got worse.
Late last night I discovered Amir had left a negative review on my listing again reiterating his lie by stating I do not have Central Air Conditioning (which I do!) and also superfluously complaining about the size of the bed, a double, clearly photographed and including in the listing. As I am financially impacted by this review, I again begrudgingly contacted the customer service team for a prompt rectification of this matter requesting an immediate deletion of Amir's review and restoration of my rating.
I further noted that Amir's review was posted almost two weeks later and that when I went to leave him a review on his page, the platform did not provide me with an opportunity for a right of reply - a circumstance I suspected was intentional on Amir's behalf, given the passage of time.
I once again contacted the media centre and then got to thinking... Upon reflection today, I became increasingly suspicious of Amir's actions, particularly the timing of his negative review, strategically posted at the eleventh hour, preventing me from reciprocating. Given that Amir had only two (positive) reviews on his profile when I initially vetted and approved his stay, I was perplexed as to how he possessed such knowledge, along with a seemingly thorough understanding of Airbnb's review and cancellation rules...
As a new host now understanding the significant impact a poor review can have on a host's ranking and income, I began questioning, given his poor attitude, whether Amir has successfully avoided unfavourable reviews by exploiting the inability of hosts to exercise their right of reply, thus leaving future hosts none the wiser - and vulnerable.
And just like that, Amir's demands and negative behaviour now make complete sense in the context of this scam.
My primary concern now is whether the Airbnb management and media team is aware of this scam, and if so, what measures are in place to protect hosts from falling victim to such manipulative tactics. During my frustrating interaction with their customer service 'Support Ambassadors' it was more than evident that Amir's claims were inconsistent with the facts, indicative of this well-known (or should be well-known) scam, yet despite my best efforts to bring this to their attention, I was dismissed out of hand not once, but twice with the latest incident, and to rub salt into the wounds, Amir's review remains on my listing.
In light of the aforementioned circumstances, I consider it imperative for Airbnb to conduct a thorough investigation into the actions of 'Amir' and his wife for potential theft... Additionally, I strongly recommend the implementation of comprehensive training for Airbnb staff to thoroughly investigate, and address the red flags associated with these sorts of scams so they can readily identify them and action accordingly to protect hosts. It would be also prudent to accompany these measures with a media release to major outlets, issuing a warning to their hosts about the potential risks posed by this specific problem.
Moreover, I am troubled by the continual lack of repercussions for 'Amir' and 'Suzan', who continue to operate on the platform, while I, as the host, faced immediate reprimand and suffered the adverse effects of his actions through no fault of my own.
Jonathan, I hope this may explain what you have just experienced. There was nothing wrong with your apartment, it's a SCAM. Although I have only had one bad guest so far amongst meeting so many wonderful people, I've discovered it's a jungle out there... I wish you the best of luck in your ongoing hosting journey.
