I had a guest who was suppposed to check in Jan 15. At 9pm on Jan 15th, the guest sent a message saying she would not need the home and wanted a refund. I explained my Strict cancellation policy, and told her I would not be able to provide a refund other than her cleaning fee.
She never responded but gave her brother-in-law my phone number, and he began calling and texting me about this. I opened a case with Airbnb and had to call after 24 hours to get it assigned. They told the guest on Friday, Jan 17th, she had 24 hours to provide documentation of an extenuating circumstance. It is now Sunday night, Jan 19th, and I’m on my 4th case manager.
She informed me that the airbnb policy stating guest cannot get a refund unless they cancel and notify the host and airbnb BEFORE the date of check-in is not an actual policy, and that the 5 extenuating circumstances listed on the airbnb web site are not an exhaustive list, and the case manager has the discretion to award a FULL refund even if the guest cannot meet one of the extenuating circumstance reasons.
As a host, I take great pride in hosting my home, and I follow all rules. To find out that airbnb policies are “suggestions” rather than policy makes me really wary that airbnb is doing the right thing by hosts. If I canceled the reservation, would I get the same treatment?
Note: We’re 4 days into the no-show reservation, and my calendar is still booked.
Has anyone else had an experience like this with airbnb case managers? I’m at my wit’s end and considering taking all 3 of my properties that are exclusively on airbnb to VRBO or another platform.
