The cost of loyalty to Airbnb!

[Robin4]

This morning I received a reservation enquiry from a local business wanting to find accommodation for a couple of their employees...

I will let the message stream do the talking!

A 17 night reservation just now is, I guess to most hosts, a sought after booking, and as I do a bit of trade with this business and actually knew the two potential guests involved, I thought I would work with this company.

So I sent the following.......

I could have said to this person, 'Show me the money' but strangely enough after the rough trot we hosts have got from Airbnb, I still feel a sense of loyalty to them and wanted the business to go through Airbnb....at a considerable cost to me!

*

Well, I am left wondering what is the cost of loyalty....here was the outcome of that offer and that loyalty!

Now many of you will say what a fool am I to drop my rate like that, but I felt I was helping not just myself but, a local business and...... Airbnb!

Two and a half weeks of 50% would have been better than the 100% of the nothing my loyalty to Airbnb has ended up getting me.

If I am capable of a bit of loyalty to you Airbnb, how come it is so difficult for you to show a bit of loyalty to me!

Shame on you I say!

Not so.....Cheers......Rob

[Sarah977]

@Robin4  You should read what they just did to Huma- it's unreal. Charged the guest 50% and then sent Huma a message saying she wasn't getting paid anything because they couldn't collect from the guest, which is a blatant lie- the guest was charged. Story starts near the end of page three on this thread: https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Airbnb-are-you-embarrassed-yet/m-p/1267108#M303001

[Huma0]

@Sarah977I hope all is well with you!

Just to clarify, I still haven't gotten to the bottom of this, because I am waiting for some info from the guest, but it occurred to me after I posted about this, that the guest hasn't been charged 50%. She has potentially been charged (or they are trying to charge her) 100%.

This guest's stay is not (yet) covered by the COVID-19 policy and she is a long-term guest, so was supposed to get charged for the first month and refunded the rest. I didn't understand why she was only being charged 600 Euros + fees and neither did she.

Then I remembered that the guest pays a fair amount upfront when they book. Most likely, she already paid Airbnb for the first month + the all the fees (the latter they are now keeping as travel credits). The 600 Euros is supposed to be her refund, or rather the amount that she can no longer be charged. She told me that, when she went to cancel, the system told her she would only be refunding booking fees. But why? 

Even more baffling is the message I got, which was that, as I had been previously notified (erm, no I hadn't), they were unable to collect payment from the guest and therefore I would receive no payout. One of two things has happened here. Either they have taken the guest's money and for some reason are not paying any of it to me (so I couldn't give her any refund even if I wanted to), or, they genuinely couldn't take her payment but failed to tell me.

I find the second reason HIGHLY UNLIKELY. The guest booked months ago and, other than the confirmation email, I've had no correspondence from Airbnb about the booking. If they were unable to take a payment from her back then, why didn't they do something about it, or cancel the booking when they couldn't get payment? I can see why something like that could happen in the current chaos, but not when she booked...

So, I have asked her to check her accounts and let me know exactly what she had already been charged so I can take it up with Airbnb, but they have totally messed up all recent cancellations, so I have no faith in them to fix this, yet another, massive balls up.

[Robin4]

@Sarah977 

The distressing thing is Sarah, although they are so swamped with CX business they have had to shut their phone contact down, they still have enough personnel to scour these enquiries looking for possible 'off platform' transactions. I received another notification with the enquiry telling me 'Beware' it may have been a possible fraudulent enquiry and reminding me of my obligation to not get involved in 'fraudulent' transactions!

They don't have the manpower to straighten out their problems, but they sure have the manpower to be on the lookout for business they might lose!!!

Sarah, it is getting quite grim!

Cheers.......Rob

[Sarah977]

@Robin4  Well, I was under the impression that those messages were generated by an algorithm which detects something off about the guest's account or messages, not that there were actually staff scouring manually through every booking to find some possible fraudulent activity.

Which doesn't let them off the hook for all their other dastardly behavior.

[Robin4]

@Sarah977 

Sarah, of course you are right. It was a metaphoric response on my part, I know full well they are not personally scouring every reservation request.....although at the moment enquiries could be that few and far between that it may not take more than a few handfuls of eagle eyes to scan them. 

My reference is that, no matter how far, and what lengths the company goes to trying to alienate their hosting base, there is always that one extra base to be covered!

'Although we don't want anything to do with you at the moment, don't for a second consider doing anything that doesn't involve us!'

Cheers......Rob

[Russell49]

The only loyalty you should have at the moment is one for your family. AirBnB will not look after you, so look after yourself.

[Ocean50]

@Robin4 

You guys are lovely couple so it hurts me that you think cut 50% off without they ask for it is a good idea. I know your intent is 100% pure to help people but you have to listen to what each customer is saying, this customer is a business and not without any disrespect they have a very higher chance they are way richer than you, they don't need you to give 50% off.

I remember one of story you posted that you helped an elderly gentlemen in the supermarket and you guys become best friend later on, now that guy does need your help and what you did is very generous. But please don't do the same thing to a business, they would not appreciate that. You say you want to work with this company, but did this company ask you for discount or you just throw the discount to them.

Another thing, if you really want to help in this tough time of covid 19. Let find the people that really need help right now, like our healthcare workers. Do you know that the healthcare workers in Australia they have to pay for parking in the hospital $5 - $8 per day, shortage of masks, hand sanitizer and gloves for them. I am sure some of them will need a place to stay near the hospital they work.

[Robin4]

@Ocean50 

I have already done it!

We live about 1.2 Kms from our local hospital and I have approached the hospital director of nursing and given her the full details of our listing and how I am prepared to help in any way I can, and that is getting a response. 

I don't think cutting 50% out of my listing amount is a great idea at all. By doing that I am not even reaching my 'break-even' point

@Ocean50 this is a tough time for all of us, and we need to help each other. I am not looking at offering a discount as a money grab the way Airbnb do. I am looking to help those in my community in any way that I can and my offer to help one of my local businesses was not one of looking after myself. It was purely done to help the world go round at the moment.

Under normal circumstances if someone comes to be wanting a discount I suggest to them to look elsewhere and cut off further contact with them.

I don't need this hosting money, it's nice to have but I am totally financially independent and  quite ok without it.

The reason for this post is I am prepared to be generous in a time of crisis.......Airbnb are only interested in how they can protect themselves, and they will throw anyone around them to the wolves in order to do that.

Cheers.......Rob 

[Ocean50]

@Robin4 

*looking at the spread sheet* You guys gotta charge more when this is over 🙂

I've been reaching out to all of my previous customers.

The problem with this story is I just wing it, I don't really have any hand sanitizer. I have to search for them tomorrow and send it to him lol

[Helen350]

@Ocean50 "I just wing it." - *offensive comment removed* . It's a shame that the original Airbnb business model of someone letting out a spare room or space on the floor has been highjacked by businessmen like you! 

[Robin4]

@Helen350 

Helen, I wouldn't be to hard on @Ocean50, have you seen his reviews?

Although he is a newcomer with 26 reviews, his guests love him and they all say or infer that he went the extra mile for them.......even giving them vegetables out of his mom's garden.

We all had to start from somewhere, we learned by our mistakes and each day,  I, like you get just a bit better at what we do. 

Sometimes we make offers to guests we don't immediately know how we will satisfy, but as long as those offers are followed through on, I think it's a nice part of being a host.

From looking at Ocean's profile I feel he is the sort of host we need more of, he gives the platform the sort of respectability that is sadly lacking at the top! 

Cheers..........Rob

[Ocean50]

@Helen350 

Yes that's right I am a liar and greedy. I took someone else money, then when there's no obligation for me to anything for them, I actually ask them how they are doing and running around try to find what they need. 

While saint Mary like you, decorate the house, or even put down a gift basket for each guest, not because they are actually the one giving you money, but because you just want to buy some bs 5 stars review. Then as soon as they aren't giving the 5 stars review, come up to this forum and whine how the guest was such a bad guest, how am I such a victim while taking their hard earned money to the bank.  

*offensive comment removed*