Airbnb cancelled my reservation on my behalf without my approval or knowledge

[Albert11]

I’m a new host and was surprised to learn the issues Airbnb has with hosts lately.  But this one still came in as a shocker to me this morning.

[Albert11]

2nd case mgr, forget her name, told me to hold so she can get with Mhel, who was still on duty.  She told me she connected with Mhel and Mhel will call me in 5-7 minutes.  Sounds great.  I thanked her and started watching my phone.

[Albert11]

Guess what?  Mhel did not call.  So I sent her a message: your fellow case mgr said you’re going to call me...I’m available.  No response...fours hours now!

Again, the 2nd case mgr played the “dodge the bullet” trick in a different way.  And I fell right into it.  Wow, a lot to learn.  Thank you Airbnb!

[Albert11]

Still had some faith at the moment and believed the Airbnb system cannot be that broken, I called again.

A 3rd case mgr answered the phone, and upped the game on account verification.  Now he needed my payout account number.  Not sure why relevant but I was desperate enough to give anything he asked for at the moment, in the hope to get a resolution.

Yet again, I was disappointed.  After a 15-minute conversation, he reiterated the process and told me he’ll look into it.  I asked if he’ll just hang up and disappear like all the other ones.  He promised he would not do that and will send me a message right after our call.  He raised my Hope up for sure.

And...bang!  He was no different.  Gone for good so far.  Three hours after the call.

[Sarah977]

@Albert11  When posting on a forum, the format is not the same as sending a text message. Write out your entire issue in one post, not write one sentence and then send, then another and send, if you expect other users to read what you have to say. I'm sorry you've had this issue and yes, CS is impossible to deal with these days, but almost no one is going to be interested in reading through 2 pages of one sentence posts by the same person.

However, I did, and there is something very wrong here. You say the guest requested to cancel, and Airbnb then registered it as a host cancellation simply because you didn't respond to her immediately? I can see Airbnb going ahead and doing a cancellation if not getting a response from the host, but there's no way that should be registered as a host cancellation. 

You are just going to have to keep pursuing this and try to be patient. The CS rep who did this is totally incompetent and doesn't understand their own policies.

[Albert11]

My apologies for the piece meal.  I tried to post the entire story originally but lost all of it after pushing the submission button.  So trying a different approach this time.  Thanks for your understanding.

[Sarah977]

@Albert11  Yeah, that happens sometimes- this forum can be glitchy that way. Next time copy what you've written so you can just repaste it if it gets lost in cyberspace when hitting Reply.

[Linda108]

Sometimes dealing with this platform, whether working with customer service or posting on this forum , can be quite an exercise in frustration.  I have also had my postings disappear when I try to send due to some inexplicable error.  Now, when I remember to do so, I copy the message before sending, so if I have to repost, I just use  the copied message.

I agree with @Sarah977 that if a guest requests the cancellation it is not a host cancellation with all the various penalties.  Your profile shows you have 22 listings with over 130 reviews.  I would imagine you are quite adept at dealing with Air BNB, so wonder what is it about this situation that is puzzling to you.  You either do not have or have chosen not to provide any further information about what lead up to the cancellation so I am operating in the dark.  That CS did call, suggests to me the guest complained about something, rather than it being some extenuating circumstance.  Would it be possible to contact the guest by phone and nicely seek information about what prompted the cancellation so you might be able to remedy the situation?  Probably leaving a message is not good, but try to reach directly.  

[Albert11]

All happened during my sleep time.  CS never called me.  She messaged at 11:17 pm while I was sleeping.  Guest raised the issue around 11pm with Airbnb so I had no idea the issue raised.  So no opportunity to connect with guests or connect with CS before she quickly made a one sided decision.

Not EC issue.  A cleaning claim made by guest.  We had pre-check-in cleaning video and happy and ready to share with Airbnb but was never given to chance to do so.  Or even got our voice heard before a decision made by CS...on my behalf...without approval.

[Christine615]

Ask to speak to a manager and escalate this. We are usually given time to respond. If they needed a quicker response they should have called you on the phone.

Either way - keep escalating. Airbnb laid off as lot of employees (close to 2000 people) and I'm hearing the customer service is horrendous. Don't let this go. The company is kind of a hot mess. You might try contacting that new woman that is heading up host relations. And sometimes a social media private message will get seen and responded to.

[Albert11]

Thank you so much for your advice.  How do I escalate?  I asked to speak to a supervisor of Mhel but none of the five people I spoke with would transfer me or give me contact information or set up a call for that matter.  Many thanks.

[Albert11]

The latest:

Our local staff just found out the guest broke the cabinet door to get inside the sink area to take the pictures he sent to Airbnb CS to show the room was dirty. Our crew spent couple of hours to fix the cabinets this morning.  How could a inside the cabinet under the sink areas a critical enough cleaning issue for the CS to make a decision on my behalf to cancel and issue full refund to guest?!

This is the first time I have to work with CS for issue like this.  It is eye opening for sure.  

[Helen350]

@Albert11 Sounds like a guest scamming a free stay ... by seeking hidden nooks & crannies that NO ONE cleans more than occasionally, & certainly not between every guest...

You American hosts have my sympathy, scam the host by finding a speck of dirt is getting too common in the US....

[Sarah977]

@Albert11  Even if this is a case of a guest scamming a refund for a bogus cleanliness issue,  the most that's supposed to happen is that Airbnb believes them and issues them a refund- it's still no way a host cancellation.

[Deborah983]

What was the outcome? This is insane. Why didn't they ask the guest to cancel then negotiate a refund?

I'm new to Airbnb but not happy with the way they treat hosts regarding cancellations. How they think the Flexible cancellation policy is fair, I do not know? I have been forced into Strict and will appear less attractive, I guess, but after having guests cancel a day before, I'm fed up.

I guess Airbnb are happy because they get cash flow no matter what, even if guests cancel at the last minute, all the while they have hold of the guest's money. 

I hope you got your situation sorted out. 

[Anna9170]

@Albert11  why was the cancellation made? closing borders and not being able to come? illness?