Airbnb canceled a guests stay

[Andrew1962]

I recently had a guest stay at my place and for whatever reason they were not happy with the stay. They never reached out to me but called customer support. After hearing from support, I again reached out to the guest noting that I was surprised (as I did not hear anything from them after asking if they were happy with everything).. but mentioned if they were not happy they would need to cancel in the application (which they did). They later mocked up some photos dirtying up the beds, other areas, ect and demanded a full refund. They submitted a claim to the resolution center and Airbnb authorized the claim and then canceled the stay on my behalf (even though stay was already canceled by guest). So now it appears I will most likely lose my superhost status because Airbnb (not me) canceled their stay. What can I do here???? This does not seem at all professional or correct as I literally could have done nothing to prevent this from happening, considering that the guest previously canceled the stay and the guest did absolutely nothing to work with me on resolving anything.

[Vivian860]

I hate to say it but you have to lick your wounds and get on with life. AirBnB is absolutely the worst when it comes to hosts - you will quickly find out that they are for the guest. Hopefully your bookings will increase to washout the cancellation. Make sure to remember that guest and never have them book again - another reason why I switched from book instantly to approval all bookings. It has not hurt my booking rates one bit. Hope you keep your super host status, Good Luck!

[Colleen253]

@Andrew1962  The guest is required to give the host a chance to rectify any issue first. It’s quite common for proper procedure not to be followed. CS reps are pretty clueless. The only thing you can do is try to fight this. 

https://www.airbnb.ca/help/article/2868/airbnb-guest-refund-policy

it’s a good idea to do a quick video walkthrough of the space before every check in, to prove the condition it was in before the guest took residence. It doesn’t always mean an easy rebuttal when a guest is gaming the system and Airbnb’s crappy CS is what it is, but it can be helpful. 

[Andrew1962]

@Colleen253 Thanks, I referred the CS rep to the same and it did nothing for my case. I feel the agent must have wanted to hurt me because there was absolutely no reason for them to switch the cancelation over to me as the booking was already canceled. Thanks for reaching out.

[Sarah977]

@Andrew1962  No, the agent is not actively trying to hurt you. Airbnb is guest-centric and almost always panders to the guest at the expense of the host.

A guest who contacts Airbnb with complaints, rather than first contact the host is pretty much always a scammer looking for a free stay. It isn't a matter of them being unhappy with their stay- they want to stay for free.

Of course, if the host isn't responsive to legitimate complaints or questions, then the guest's next step is to contact Airbnb.

You did nothing wrong in the way you handled this. You need to find out if this was registered as a host cancellation, and if so, fight that.

But there are "neutral" cancellations, done by Airbnb which penalize neither host nor guest, so hopefully it was registered as such. Can you see whether you have a cancellation in your stats? That would indicate that they penalized you. If you don't see that, it was a "neutral" cancellation.

[Dianna-L--Hanson0]

After our bad winter storm in January 2021, I started photoing our site after it was prepared and posted in the guest In Box, and I also disclosed what we had experienced. 

[Dale711]

Hi @Andrew1962 

You’re right.

Airbnb should listen to both sides before you are making a decision. The CS should contact you and listen to your side of the story.

You can report the guest's behavior and defending your right.

Contact Airbnb, open a new case with your statement, flag the guest profile, and leave an honest review to warn another host.

In addition, you can request Airbnb further Investigate the case to protecting your fundamental right.

I hope Airbnb look in to your case and update you the new results.✌️

[Lou-and-Keith0]

Reporting guest's behavior or review are USELESS to guest because they can open a new account easily.

One out of ten guests always a scammer looking for a free stay. It isn't a matter of them being unhappy with their stay- they want to stay for free. Airbnb does nothing to stop them so you see it is a paradise of scammers!

[M199]

@Andrew1962 

Just another thought.  I have Airbnb Hosts a couple of doors away.  We regularly communicate about bad guests.  We keep a "Do Not Host" list, which we share. It is a good thing to know what is going on in your neighbourhood, especially if a bad guest can be warded off by a decline rather than cancelling a booking after the fact.