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 @Emilie 

"...the odor and cleanliness issue", as if it is some fact instead of an unverified accusation.

"Thank you for being part of the Superhost!" That's not even correct English. What is "the" Superhost? 

Both of those quotes from the CS rep in the context of Mary's case are incredibly insulting. Does Airbnb really think that gushing over a host's Superhost status while simultaneously telling them that their 5*s for Cleanliness listing is unclean and therefore the guest will be refunded isn't going to be offensive?

How is it okay for Airbnb to have a non-discrimination policy when hosts are discriminated against by the company countless times a day?

[Tony-And-Una0]

We have been superhosts sice 2015.  We no longer feel this will protect us from Airbnb's arbitary suspensions or refunds.

We are gradually taking more and more bookings from other platforms.

We have to protect ourselves,

You cannot go on treating your most important assest (the hosts) like this without consequences.

[Karla533]

As a newbie host (6 months) these reports are concerning. If ABB isn't going to do a proper inquiry to get both sides of the issue, then ABB can refund the guest at its own expense, not the host's.

ABB needs both guests and hosts but it needs hosts more.

[Colleen253]

“ABB needs both guests and hosts but it needs hosts more.”

 @Karla533. Airbnb is guest centric because guests are the ones bringing in the money. There is no shortage of hosts and listings, and Airbnb continually campaigns to bring more on board. 

[Laura2592]

@Karla533 the longer you are here, the more you will realize that ABB's stance seems to be this: hosts are an inexhaustible supply, guests are precious and few. There used to be a poster here from Dublin who did a lot of analysis on the algorithms that ABB uses in search and she believed that there is about a 5 year lifespan for the average host. You start out getting a huge bump in search and a lot of bookings. ABB wants your prices artificially low. You attract all kinds of guests-- many who are not ideal. Its then that you realize the lack of service from the platform. As soon as you start interacting with customer service, the bloom is off the rose. Many hosts are incredibly frustrated with very one sided "investigations" that can be initiated against them for any reason (and those reasons are rarely disclosed.) ABB will shut down bookings while they figure it out and take money from their own pockets.

[Karla533]

I think it depends.

Some hosts are real estate professionals and in STR for the long term. They have invested deliberately in STR properties, have more than one, hire support people and use more than one booking platform. I doubt most of these people have only a 5 year investment horizon.

On the other end of the spectrum,  there are many folks who are renting out extra space because they really need the money. ABB talks about these hosts all the time in their PR materials.

I would think a lot of these hosts want out the minute they can solve their cash flow crisis, because in a way, they didn't make a deliberate choice for this job. Circumstances forced them into it.

The way ABB bills hosts and guests suggests that ABB considers the hosts to be the more valuable part of the business (although of course both parts are essential).

Consider a recent booking of mine:

GUEST PAID

Guest paid 131x6 nights =                   $786

Cleaning fee =                                            $30

Guest Service fee (ABB income) =  $115

Taxes (Lodging tax + sales tax)         $135

HOST ACCOUNTING

6 nights                                                      $786

Cleaning fee                                              $30

Host Service fee (ABB income)      -$24

I paid $24 but my guest paid $115 to ABB. My cleaning fee is higher.

What's more and very significant, ABB signed an agreement with my city to collect lodging tax and general revenue tax (our version of sales tax) from the GUEST on my behalf.

Of course hotels do this too, but it would be tricky if some ABB hosts collected taxes from the guest and some hosts didn't. This is another pro-host move.

[Mary419]

Airbnb signing agreements to be responsible for local taxes is not host-oriented. It’s usually an obligation coming out of a lawsuit with the city or other legal and political negotiations with a state. It also typically is coinciding with ALL marketplaces agreeing to do it. In Georgia the state requires marketplaces to handle all state and local taxes as of last year. This is Airbnb and the other one we cannot name that starts with V or Exp

this is the same as Amazon agreeing to collect and remit sales tax it’s because states decided they’ll get more $ that way instead of waiting for each mom and pop store to pay the taxes 

[Tony-And-Una0]

I'm sure Airbnb are only doing the  because  they are legally  obliged to.

I'm not sure what this has to do with their arbitrary  refund policy.

[Katrina314]

Slight correction, @Karla533 - Airbnb need LISTINGS, much more than they need hosts (the more hosts, the more tiresome little problems to solve - and spending money on dealing with host issues is not something Airbnb likes to do).

Which is why they now prioritise partnering with hands-off global institutional investment giants, with tens of thousands of listings each to bring to the table, while small hosts are nothing more than window dressing these days, to be used, abused and dispensed with as the company sees fit

[Mary419]

@Tony-And-Una0 you are right it is not directly related to my point about the refund policy. I was replying to Karla's post. I can relate to her trying to find some pro-host action that has been taken lately when most all of it seems anti-host.

It was tempting to appreciate that small luxury of saving 10 minutes on book keeping for the transactions that went through the Airbnb marketplace... being not the host's responsibility or problem handling the local taxes. but that is not worth worrying that your entire payout will be wiped without your consent for something you don't agree is a real problem. 

[Bart254]

AirBnB does not care about hosts, the review process is an absolute joke.  I'm handing out literature for competitors for my guests and getting off this platform where your "support" people are in a foreign country working odd hours and can barely speak English much less understand it or the American culture... I know AirBnB is worldwide but for US based hosts there are better, more supportive options... It's offensive how bad I have been treated and it's been only a few months of hell...

[Alba160]

@Mary419@Katrina314  @Karla533. @Tony-And-Una0  A few days ago i received this new format myself, and basically only missed the question: 'guest would like to be reimbursed with Bitcoin instead,  please accomodate'. This is guest 

Airbnb doesn't need hosts. They only need listings. Tons of them. But not from people like us, but from the big guys. And to complete the full picture, they do need guests. ALL of them. Happy guests. Rewarded guests. 

Today i snoozed my listings for 24 hrs. 

[Eduardo337]

I'm sorry to hear that. I found your posting because I was looking for people who tried to get the refund by any means. I have a guest that stayed 4 nights, and just before the checkout, "found" a dead bug on a room that she didn't use and sent to Airbnb. She didn't get her refund because it was just past the 72h period. The crazy woman sent threats of all kinds on my phone and on Airbnb, and even changed her personal About page to tell people to "not rent my home" and disclosed my name and address on her page. Airbnb still didn't answer. Crazy times...

[Catherine281]

@Eduardo337 That is awful and super stressful, the 72 hours window is ridiculous, there either is or isn't a problem on check-in re cleanliness or within the first 24 hours re facilities/heating, etc. The 72-hour change has meant I am going on other platforms, what multi calendar hosting partner have people found to be the best?

[Mary419]

@Catherine281 @Eduardo337 If speaking freely about the other sites is allowed now… perhaps this major uproar is making this less censored…here’s what I’ve found:

1. Vrbo (Expedia) Is doing great and offers a real security deposit you can actually charge on your own.

My bookings have gone from over 60% airbnb (vs Vrbo) to 84% Vrbo (vs airbnb) in the time between 2021 July and 2022 March. 

2. booking dot com is getting tons of bookings for vacation unit/homes but it only allows instant book which makes cross listing on other sites a bit nerve wracking. Also they allow you to collect a security deposit on your own but the do not facilitate protection automatically like Vrbo does. And customers are super weirded out if an owner calls them to say hey I need to charge a separate deposit. It’s meant to be like a hotel front desk swiping a card for incidentals but if you’re not a front desk there is no smooth way to do it so basically you have no protection. But the guest quality was high. If anything they’re high maintenance but mature/good guests if I noticed a pattern. 

I used Booking from 2020 summer until just now. I got very high value bookings from them. I decided the forced instant book and possible double booking from it wasn’t worth the stress 

3. “furnished finder” is the least bells and whistles but actually does get decent customer traffic for nurses, film crew etc. looking for monthly stays in their destination city. They charge a very minimal annual fee then send you leads with full contact information shown to you and your financial stuff is totally up to you. I use apartments dot com to handle monthly or longer stays. I’ve only tried having one or two on that site but it’s gotten me a lot of leads you just have to keep logging in to edit and keep it fresh or they phase you out.