How to request Res 2 support “escalations”

[Jimmy225]

good afternoon, this is my first time posting so bear with me guys and any help is very much appreciated.

I have a reservation where a guest complained about a few things and went directly to Airbnb to cancel their reservation after 4 days of already being checked in and well, Airbnb failed to notify me of their decision and basically refunded 90% of the guests reservation without consulting with me. I rather just post the email

chain below as it’s too much to type but basically, what can I do to dispute Airbnb’s decision and how do I file a formal complaint against an associate? 

**[Private conversation removed in line with Community Center Guidelines]

[Huma0]

@Jimmy225 

Excellent! I am so glad to hear you got a satisfactory resolution to this case. It is certainly worth fighting your corner sometimes, even though the process with CS can be so utterly frustrating and disheartening. Good news for all of us!

[Mark116]

I was just thinking of the difference between say, airbnb and a credit card company.  

I've only disputed a hand full of charges my entire life, but never once did I feel that the credit card company was biased against me, as the cardholder, or vice versa, was biased against the business, I always had confidence that the decision would be on provable facts and it would never even occur to me that a ccc would make a decision against their own policies.

With airbnb, it has more of a casino vibe, anything can happen, reps don't know the policies or how to apply them, decisions are made, then reversed, then reversed again, evidence is ignored, sometimes a he said/she said case can't be decided, other times, it can  But there is always an overwhelming sense that airbnb wishes to decide against the host.  So odd.

[Jimmy225]

Agreed, I feel that way too. Although eventually, Airbnb gives me the benefit of the doubt and ends up working in my favor (I just have to go the extra mile and have my grounds covered). 

I will say this, I also host my house on VRBO and they are extremely biased and don't back up their hosts for NOTHING. At least with Airbnb, if you can provide concise and accurate information, eventually it works out for you. Can't say the same for VRBO...

[Mark116]

@Jimmy225  Interesting, we were going to list on VRBO after finally getting fed up w/airbnb's bizarre set up, I'd always heard that VRBO treated hosts better in general than airbnb and have never hears anything like the crazy train stories of CS madness that make up so much of this forum.  But, I'm glad you got your issue resolved.

[Debra300]

@Mark116,

I just did a quick Google search of VRBO reviews, and of course they are complaints.  What I did notice is that many reviews, especially from March to May, stated that VRBO didn't give refunds, and the reviewer glowed how Airbnb gave refunds.  It appears that Airbnb's strategy to remain competitive in the short-term rental market is to be generous with guest refunds even if its unfavorable for some hosts.

@Jimmy225,

I was signed up with Homeway for a couple of years, but never received a booking.  Would you please elaborate on why you say Vrbo never sides with the host?

[Jimmy225]

Morning @Debra300 sorry for getting back to you so late I don't have notifications set up on this lol.

So, the reason I say Home Away/VRBO does not side with their host's is because their "Property Damage Protection" is completely flawed.

First, Home Away gives hosts the option to either charge guests a security deposit or require the guests to purchase a third party insurance plan through CSA/Generali Global Assistance that apparently covers property damage up to $5,000 (depending on the level of coverage the guest purchases) it's either one or the other not both.

For my listing, I set it up so that guest's may purchase a $60 insurance policy (that insured me up to $1,500 in damages) rather than placing a $500 security hold on their account as that was the more attractive option for guests.

What I didn't know was that the insurance policy actually only covers guests and NOT the host; and so I had one booking where a guest threw a full blown house party with private security guards and all and these guests completely trashed my house and damaged my property. I had proof and supporting documentation of the incident and immediately made an insurance claim only to find out that the third party insurance company only insures the guests if they "accidentally" damaged my property. I read the insurance clause and it stated that if guests where to "intentionally" damage the property, that the policy is voided and a claim cannot be made.

If you look at Home Away, they advertise this CSA/Generali third party insurance but it is completely useless and gives hosts a false sense of security. When I contacted home away for that one incident and told them that the insurance company didn't want to support my claim home away gave me the run around and said there was nothing I can do and that next time I should just charge a deposit.

I went as far as trying to sue Home Away for false advertisement but I was diving into rabbit holes as I would have needed to file for a discovery on Home Away to disclose the actual insurance payouts that were disbursed to hosts (obviously there would be very few insurance payouts) but that was turning into a headache and I ended up biting the bullet and just changing my listing settings to charge future guests the $500 security deposit.

I will say this, coincidentally after threatening Home Away with legal action, a week later they changed their damage protection terms and now if a guest damages your property, you submit a claim directly to Home Away and they will charge the guests credit card for coverage up to $500.

I had to do this recently and was surprised at how easy the claim and process was. I was disbursed the funds for a claim I made within 3 business days.

All in all Airbnb and Home Away are direct competitors. Airbnb is more attractive to the modern and younger crowd of guests where as Home Away I find to be more attractive to older crowds and families if that makes sense. I'd like to think about 75% of my bookings come from Airbnb and 25% from Home Away.

I will say this, I have definitely had more bad experiences with Airbnb guests than Home Away guests but I guess that makes sense considering I get more Airbnb traffic. Hope this helps! 

[Debra300]

@Jimmy225,

Thank you very much for providing so much detail.  During the time that I was listed with HomeAway, I chose the damages deposit option, because in my experience it's always been a proven tool to to keep the guests' behavior in line.  Also, since insurance is optional, the guest has the ability to cancel the policy anytime before check-in.