Airbnb Resolution Center taking 2 months to respond and then say the timeframe is out

[Rachel1705]

I had an issue with a guest end of August 2020, the guest said she was struggling to book for the month of September and that no one at Airbnb was getting back to her to help. Eventually, 2 weeks later the guest (staying the whole time without booking or paying) got her mom to book on her behalf as she was still struggling. I messaged and called Airbnb every day during those two weeks keeping them informed and asking how i should handle the situation - i got no response. The guest checked-out at the end of the month BUT caused a lot of damage to the place and stole a lot of items. I went through the Resolution center to claim for damages, nights stayed but not paid for and the guests extra guests - the Resolution center has only got back to me now (2 months later) and are not assisting. They believe it is out of the time frame and that the booking was not under the correct guest and so they have closed the case and are not helping me in the least. I have had to close my Airbnb Calendar as they damages are so severe i cant have another guest stay and i cant afford to do the repairs so its a catch 20-20.

How do i escalate something higher with Airbnb? How do i get Airbnb to review the case properly and see that I was within the time frame and that they just took too long to get back to me?

[Helen3]

I’m sorry you find yourself in this situation @Rachel1705 

Unfortunately, if you let the guest stay without paying for two weeks and then accepted the booking as a third party booking Airbnb may well  be correct.

how was she able to check in and receive your details if she didn’t book for the first two weeks??

was there any issue with the guest booking directly because she didn’t have the funds to pay perhaps?

I know it’s easy to say with the benefit of hindsight but never let a guest enter your property without having a booking and payment in place. 

[Rachel1705]

Hi @Helen3, thank you for your response

The guest was already staying with me (she had been for 4 months already and intended on staying for another 2), she was booking one month at a time as she was a foreigner stuck in my country during the pandemic/lockdown as well as for financial reasons (she couldn't book and pay for 6 months all at once and so she broke it down monthly). It was at the end of her booking in August she had issues booking for September (she said it was an error on Airbnb's side - i called them and they confirmed it was but assured me they were assisting my guest and it should take 24 hours) - Airbnb repeatedly told me this, hence why i let her stay, thinking Airbnb was on to the situation and helping my guest. When 2 weeks came and gone i realised something was wrong and I told my guest something needs to get booked otherwise she needs to leave and so the guest booked under her moms profile to secure the remaining days of the month. I told Airbnb i am not comfortable with this but they assured me i could still put through any claims should anything go wrong - they even advised me to do it when i did find damage to the place. Yet they are now not willing to help - i just dont get it? and Airbnb keeps on closing my case, saying their decision is final

I am not sure if she had funds or not - Airbnb said it had something to do with her ID Verification process which was not going through (im not sure if its true or not as she never had this issue with her bookings the previous 4 months?)

how do i escalate this?

[Helen3]

If you have it in writing from Airbnb that they will consider the claim even though it was a third party booking and you put in your claim before the next guest booked in and in line with their other terms, you can pay a small amount and take it to arbitration. 

not sure how you do this but perhaps if you look on Airbnb Help they will show you what the process is.

You get the money back for the arbitration fee if your claim is successful. @Rachel1705 

I would hazard a guess that the booking didn’t go through because there wasn’t the money in her account.