New format of Guest Wants Full Refund message coincides with crazy wave of guest wanting refunds

[Mary419]

I am a medium-volume professional host. I have just seen a weird jump in guests wanting refunds for absurd things since the new year 2022. Yes more than last year. Today I see Airbnb has a whole new format for the guest requesting a refund... I assume this is their way of cutting costs for agents speaking to guests

Here are a few highlights 

1. About ten days ago I had a guest see a SINGLE palmetto bug and send a photo of this one bug to Airbnb... Airbnb agent did not even call or message me before turning my payout to zero. They then allowed the guest to write a review bragging about how they got a full refund and then Airbnb "put them up in a hotel" to boot. 

I complained bitterly about this and got my payout reinstated (this could be due to it being a tiny payout and my high volume status). The agent who reinstated it kept pretending to misunderstand my question about the risk of this happening in the future. I asked about 12x over a week's time. All I really know is they will not remove the guest review... despite the fact it uses the word "infestation" which is not accurate for seeing one endemic bug... and they want to leave it published even though he advertises the refund and the free hotel stay Airbnb gave him. 

2. The next guest was about 5 days ago. He was wanting a full refund because he found some of the unit owner's mothers art to be somehow offensive because she had a couple of little "devils" showing in some childlike paintings she painted of her grandkids in their halloween costumes. This unit has been a "bed and breakfast" apartment for 30 years with the same art. No guest has ever complained. This relative is also an artist who has been featured in museums! In this case the guest hit a brick wall with Airbnb.. who told him the owner's religion was not part of the refund policy (LOL) so then this guest tried to throw a curveball and complain the back door was not securely locked. The door angle ALMOST worked but I really stood up for myself and  the agent saw it was just a last ditch attempt for money. I will likely only have a bad review and not have to fight for money to be returned. 

3.  Currently I have a guest who chose to book a tiny cottage that was for railroad workers to live in during 1850. It is a historic relic. It is preserved and adorable and cheaply priced so constantly booked. It has a 4.93 average with over 100 reviews. This guest told me his special breathing problems are making it impossible to stay there because he thinks it has mold or mildew. Which it does not.  His photo evidence is pathetic including discoloration of 150 year old floors which has been the same for the 7 years I have owned it. 

This is where I saw the new format. Everything is new... the title of the message, the label on the app inbox and the wording on the resolution center. I guess Airbnb knows this volume is increasing but I wonder why they don't just copy the successful competition and step out of the middle??!! Why do they want to be the dorm mother forever and handle every single absurd complaint directly like this? 

[Sarah977]

@Mary419  Disgusting. I couldn't help but notice that "Refund contravenes my cancellation policy" is not on that list.

[Mary419]

 this is how it looks in the app inbox.  “Helping with an issue” really just a refund. You refuse to refund = decline to “resolve issue”

[Emilie]

HI @Mary419 and @Sarah977, 

Thanks both for your feedback on this process! I'd love to pass on your thoughts to the team, but I'd like to understand your suggestions a bit better first. If I read correctly, you think the wording and options on that page could be improved? If so what/what else do you think should be on it? Thanks in advance for your responses, it'll help me relay your comments back more accurately. 

Emilie

[Mary419]

Hey Emilie,

Seems Airbnb powers that be have added many prompts for guests "do you feel safe?" etc prodding them to think of a reason to be unhappy and tipping them off that asking for money might be a good move. This new refund request form is just another huge step in that wrong direction. The agents are being told to rule in the guest's favor if the host has the guts to say no.... and this new punitive system of immediately canceling on behalf of the host AND charging them the $100 host cancelation penalty on top of taking their rent payout away... is surreal and unacceptable.

When agents cancel on our behalf like this, our calendars remain blocked! And writing a review for the guest is not always possible. So this is a perfectly sealed system of helplessness and loss for the host. 

[Emilie]

@Mary419 I appreciate you providing so much context to your point here! I've passed this on to the team, as well as your feedback on the refund form and process. Thanks again, and thanks to you @Sarah977, @Laura2592 and @Kelly149 too! 

[Bart254]

100% .  I have owned a property in VT for 25 years, and while progressives have done their best to destroy it, it is still a safe city all things considered.  My location is VERY safe.  I am right next to a new college dorm with alot of CoEds walking to and fro and security.  The neighborhood is up and coming, alot has been fixed up but I've never had a complaint in 25 years.  40+ AirBnB guests and not one complaint.  Conversely all the reviews talk about it being a great area and a perfect location.  This latest person booked a month and a half term on my month minimum room.  It screwed me because of timing I lost a month prior and ended up turning ALOT of people away from a different platform looking to rent.  She shows up on a Sunday and everything is fine.  She messages me how great it is and then by that night she erroneously states several nearby buildings are section 8 or halfway houses and she doesn't feel safe and is leaving.  She cancels the reservation, gets about 30% of her money back but wants it all ,( this is a farse) I also have it rented ahead of time to someone for 3 weeks after she was supposed to leave.  If AirBnB gives her a full refund I am out almost 3 months of rent for doing nothing wrong... I'm pulling this listing from here and only using other platforms.  I am in the process of moving ally rentals away.  There must be something illegal about this... You cannot enter into what amounts to a lease but walk away with full refunds whenever you want for bogus reasons and leave the host holding the bag... But AirBnB has done nothing but screw me over so far.

[Mary419]

@Bart254 
the long term (30 day) rentals are so high risk for losses on Airbnb, I too had to remove mine last year. I used to have about 6 on here now I have none at all.

I’m not sure if I would have had the gumption to remove the final “long term” listing but Airbnb pushed me over the edge by blocking my calendar for over a

month for a cancelation their agent made… after already turning my payout to zero. I had a very similar experience to yours where I lost several other much more appropriate renters because this one woman insisted on booking the bargain apartment even though I told her I didn’t think I she would like it. This was so frustrating because of the other ideal renters I was fielding including one on Airbnb… I could prove to Airbnb with their own inbox they I had a guy about to book it for work would work out great for that unit he was just getting approval from his boss to pay… but instead this woman wanted to bring her elderly mother to a place I call “Fish Camp” which I knew was too rugged based on her messages and questions. I flat out told her she would not like it and begged her not to book it and explained I had another renter about to take it.

I said “if you book this and don’t like it I can’t refund you” but she booked it anyway and sure enough when she arrived it was not good enough for her so she just used Airbnb to override me.  She called and told them it had mildew and they refunded her and scolded me. 

She wanted the cheap price so despite my honest warnings she took the time and stopped others from renting… but then she realized I was right she should get something appropriate for her needs.

I tried complaining to my contacts at Airbnb on that case but was stone walled by them on that one. No matter what I said they kept me with my zero payout ... I removed that listing permanently from Airbnb after that.

Long stays are a totally different situation legally. Protections are in place at least in the USA for both the landlord (financially) and the tenant (in terms of things like lead based paint and fair housing laws). Airbnb doesn’t seem to know that or treat them as such. 

[Kelly149]

this sounds alot like that "how accommodating was your host" button in the review flow. Silly.

I want a button for "this guest was way more difficult than they should have been, please send compensation"

[Sarah977]

@Emilie  No, it is not that the wording and options should be changed, it's that hosts should not have to explain why they are refusing to refund. There should be no form like that at all.

If a host feels there was a legitimate issue that the host was responsible for, a decent host will offer a refund- it won't even need to be requested. 

Otherwise, a guest is bound by the terms of the host's cancellation policy, which should be respected and upheld.

[Laura2592]

@Mary419 I think a lot of this has to do with social media. Rarely a day goes by where I don't get something in my news feed about someone on TikTok making videos of their ABB and talking up how they got a refund. Recently I saw a guest in Spain complain that there were limitation boxes on the air conditioning where guests who consumed over the normal amount had to pay for more. The guest posted "When your ABB host charges you for air...literally" and went on to excoriate the host. Meanwhile Spain is having a bit of an energy crisis with utility costs being sky high. That little box asking for a few Euro to blast the AC  is part of a much bigger issue than some guest not being in an American-style refrigerated interior. I didn't read the whole thing but from what I can tell, everyone was screaming REFUND and the guest probably walked away with a free stay.

It seems like in the past few years there is a larger contingent of guests who  have gotten wise to how to work the system for freebies. ABB customer service being the crap shoot it is, I am not surprised this is happening, but I am very sorry. Its super frustrating.

[Neeraj20]

I usually get more upset after calling airbnb than I am usually is after any bad situtation because of a guest. Airbnb support is like punching the wall in frustration, Bad & Blood.

[Mary419]

Totally agree. After a decade of using Airbnb I just had TWICE in basically a week's time a reservation marked as canceled by host even though I did no such thing, I got my payout turned to zero before my eyes and also then CHARGED the $100 penalty and scolded and told there is now a note on my account. This is the same thing that happened last week which I did get reversed after hours of complaining. 

Today when the agent emailed that he had canceled on my behalf and charged me $100 penalty on top of removing my payout... I asked him exactly which "evidence" caused this decision. One minute later he replied with a totally canned answer saying thanks for my concern and after looking further into it they are sticking with the original decision goodbye. Not answering my question at all about what exactly they based this on. 

Ironically I sent Airbnb a medley of social media posts last year when I did look at it- showing tons of similar posts about scamming for refunds or generally screwing over the host with making a mess on purpose or secretly breaking appliances-- nobody at the company took me seriously at all. 

[Mary419]

if productive feedback is actually being collected I would like to add something. Is the host and/or listing record not considered at all when the agents tasked with reviewing these refund requests are making decisions?

The agents tasked with mediating are seeing the situation when a host says NO refund my place is fine.... why is the default set to overrule the host even if the host has a huge history of happy guests and the listing does too, how can the agent just side with the guest right away and declare a hosting violation? 

if productive feedback is actually being collected I would like to add something. Is the host and/or listing record not considered at all when the agents tasked with reviewing these refund requests are making decisions?

The agents tasked with mediating are seeing the situation when a host says NO refund my place is fine.... why is the default set to overrule the host even if the host has a huge history of happy guests and the listing does too, how can the agent just side with the guest right away and declare a hosting violation? 

Please note the agent replied to my question about WHAT evidence caused his "decision" immediately with a form/template reply the same as I have received before. These are being fired off without actual consideration for the listing or host. My listing happens to have 155 reviews with a 4.93 overall rating and a 5.0 cleaning rating which I can hardly believe myself but this is the listing https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/5423138?preview_for_ml=true&source_impression_id=p3_1644937395_R%2BAtTg...

[Katrina314]

Wow @Mary419 - so on the basis of an easily verifiable bogus complaint about a highly rated listing, you lost the full payout for the booking, had your dates blocked AND were stung for a $100 "host cancellation fee" on top of that..? Exactly the same thing happening to you twice in the space of a single week would strongly indicate that this is yet another outrageous new company policy, rather than rogue decisions or errors of judgement by the customer support agents.

What a handy little money-spinner for Airbnb, if so! Clever, too - rather than having guests running to the media complaining about Airbnb withholding service fees on refunds, they'll now likely claim that hosts are being fined as a means of "improving hosting standards"