Poor Host activity

[David9190]

Wondering If I am the only one who has spent weeks being thrown from agent to agent in Air BNB....  I received the most disgusting behaviour from a host who lied about air BNB costings , then publically put a review up about me and said she had the backing of air bnb to do so......  

I simply made a mistake with the dates and didn't receive the correct discount .  When I enquired she instantly blamed air bnb for their " cheeky cleaning cost " which they do from time to time.... I investigated and found i had only entered the date wrong by 1 day . When i brought this to her attention, she refused to cancel , so i could re enter the correct dates and book for the actual duration needed... She wanted me to use that purchase as a credit for another time and buy the whole accommodation again...  I called her out on the lies and then she just cancelled our whole holiday without telling me.....  We had to re book somewhere else as we drove there......  I am 3 weeks in now of constant ridiculous messages from air bnb all asking similar questions and giving no real answers....  This used to be such a great service , until you have an issue and see immediately that air bnb just doesn't want to know......  

[Gillian166]

@David9190  some curious elements to this story. 

Airbnb doesn't set the cleaning costs, we hosts do that.  

You haven't mentioned what the cancellation policy was. 

She can't hold your payment as 'credit for another time', we hosts don't get any money until after you stay, So if she said that she is clueless, but i'm surprised a host would say something like that as it's just not possible.

"cancelled without telling you" um, airbnb will absolutely tell you that the booking is cancelled. you'll have received a notification about that in the app (online or on your phone) and probably an email and a text message too. 

If you didn't stay, how did she write a review about you? 

and the final 🚩 I don't see a review on your profile from her. your latest review is from someone in Tassie in June. 

actually there's another 🚩 .... the reviews in your profile list different names as the guest. 

[David9190]

Thanks for the reply.   I think you hit it on the head with clueless.....  She was just firing messages at me one after the next.   She just told me, I couldn't cancel it but i could use the " credit " another time....  Yep, she cancelled it , and then i got a message from air bnb . At that stage she refused to reply...... It was really childish behaviour.   I left a review on her page, to which she replied... Air bnb told me i could do that and she would be unable to reply ..... Yet she did..... Nothing anyone has said holds up .   

[Huma0]

@David9190 

It sounds like you have been given a lot of misinformation.

@Gillian166 Is correct that the cleaning costs are set by the hosts. Some have cleaning fees, some don't and those that do decide the amount. Airbnb sets the guest fee, i.e. their commission. These costs should have been broken down on your booking, so they are easy to see.

I can understand why the host refused to cancel for your mistake. There are penalties, financial and otherwise, for hosts who cancel stays, so no host should do this lightly. 

However, if the dates you actually wanted were available, which I assume they were as the host told you to rebook, there was no need to cancel anything. The host (or you) could have put in an alternation request to change the booking by one day. The Airbnb system would then automatically update the cost of the stay (and it should apply a discount if one is applicable, although it can sometimes be glitchy with that) and the other party just has to accept. It's a really simple process. 

It sounds like the host didn't really have much experience of these things. But, when you 'called her out on her lies', I imagine that's what offended her and made her cancel your stay. Perhaps she was lying (no idea what she meant by Airbnb's cleaning fees or why she was trying to get you to accept a credit) but it might also just have been that she didn't know what she was talking about.

Likewise, the Airbnb rep misinformed you. All users, hosts and guests, have the opportunity to leave a response to a review. I would not worry too much about it though, because that response appears on her profile, not yours and, seeing as she didn't leave a review for you, no one looking at your profile will even know it's there.

@Gillian166 it sounds like the host cancelled on the day of the stay. I think in that case, it is possible to leave a review.

[David9190]

Agreed , it was such a simple fix. But she just refused any kind of assistance whatsoever..   Yep, it did offend her, but owning up to our mistakes is something not many people want to do.....  It could have been a nice learning curve for us both and ended very admirably....   I had tried to rebook and adjust the dates, but the system wouldn't allow it ...  Must be that glitch you mentioned.....    It certainly is a very complex system for what looks very simple..... 

[Helen3]

In terms of owning up to mistakes why didn't you simply send a request to amend the booking date when you realised you made a mistake @David9190 

if the host cancelled surely you got a full refund ? 

I'm sorry you got a host that doesn't appear to know what they are doing but a little confused as to what resolution you are looking for. 

[Huma0]

@David9190 

It should be a really simple process.

- Go to Trips

- Select the trip in question

- Click on 'change reservation'

- Enter the new dates

- Hit 'submit request'

The host then just has to accept and it's all done. You can also do this to alter the number of guests on the reservation.

The glitch I mentioned (and this is something that I think was fixed a while ago, but worth keep an eye on just in case) is that sometimes, when the dates or number of guests are altered on a long reservation, the long term discount disappears from the equation. You just have to double check that the new price, which you will be able to see before submitting the request. That was a glitch I encountered a few years ago and, as I mentioned, I think it has been fixed now anyway. Even if it hasn't been, that should not have prevented you from submitting the alteration request.

[Helen744]

 @David9190 Book with me I am in Ballarat. H

[Helen744]

@David9190 there have been a few guests lately complaining about putting in wrong dates and not being able to change them . Hosts have generally one property , which is the one that you book through Airbnb , if your dates are different to what they have available then they simply cannot accomodate you .In this case they may use their cancellation policy if you cancel ,but if not then they could offer you a credit to use at a different time.I dont do either of those but if I had another guest on the day before your booking or immediately after your booking then I would not be able to accept your reservation . You could of course take a day off or add a day on depending which it  was. but I know that in this case sometimes a glitch can occur leaving the host out of pocket and no proof that that is the case.This is a fairly infrequent method of taking money from a host through refunding monies which have not been actually paid , so maybe your host had been bitten before. Shortening the stay would involve the host in refunding part of your stay , if you then cancelled the whole trip within the hosts cancellation policy , you would have recieved back both your original money and the hosts refund of an extra day . then it would be up to you if you then sent that money back to the host . i have had it happen to me and am wary of people wanting to change bookings by adding days or taking days off or wanting to book two days for two people and three days for three in the same booking . I say no generally and suggest the guest try somewhere else.H

[Helen744]

also David the amount that you see per week is not the amount of your stay .sometimes in fact generally weekends are a different price to weekdays so a whole weeks price cannot be divided by 7 as it were. Also Airbnbs costs plus cleaning fees are also added later but appear before you book. if your host had a flexible cancellation policy and you cancelled on the day that you should have arrived , and i think this is what you have done , then you would lose one days charge , as the host could not then rebook that day . If you shortened your stay from seven days to six then you would then lose the weekly discount .These can often be a large amount and would put you out of pocket even more as the six days would re bound to pay per day including different day rates.. all the best ,but read and communicate . If you were supposed to stay the first day and did not arrive then the host can still review you because the reservation had already commence. H

[John5097]

@David9190 

Can you better explain what discount you expected? You mentioned cleaning, were you expecting a discount for the cleaning fee? Each host sets their own discounts to be applied but guest would need to meet the requirements when they are making the reservation and is applied.  There is an option for a cleaning fee discount for shorter stays. There is also option for discount for week stays or month stays. Host don't apply discounts after the reservation is made. 

Host also can't cancel guest without a penalty. In some circumstances host can cancel but guest who book the wrong dates would need to cancel on their end or contact customer service. Guest booking wrong dates is not something host should be expected to cancel. Its Airbnb policy. 

Moving forward its best to assume that many host may not be knowledgable about the cancellation policies or how to submit a change reservation. It seems like it would have been best to contact customer service sooner. 

 

[David9190]

Thanks everyone for your replies......   It seems there information is very similar but not quite the same, which is exactly how the Air BNB service centre have also replied.... It appears in my experience to be a slightly problematic and plagued system.....  Having had so many very wordy but  empty in content messages from them.   What was I expecting from my complaint ?  I was hoping she get reprimanded from her actions or an apology at the least. For her to not have the ability to slander my name on her profile and suggest she was backed by AIr BNB ....    Basically what one would expect from any organisation when they receive seriously poor customer service ....