Update of my 'Anatomy of the Airbnb Guest Hustle'

[Fred13]

This is really an update to my recent "Anatomy of the Airbnb Guest Hustle" post concerning how scammers & hustlers are gaming Airbnb's well-intentioned refund & review system.  I am also bringing this to Airbnb's attention direct, maybe it will prove helpful and make them aware how careful they must always be with guest claims.

Last month, for the first time in 7 years, we had a guest file a claim for a refund (50%).

1. The guest (who made the reservation) stayed the whole time, all smiles. The other 5 companions appearing to having a great time.

2. The leader didn't utter a word about any issues. Upon pick up the leader was quiet, the others laughing and even tipped the boat captain handsomely.

3. The leader within 1 hour files for a 50% refund (of course citing the classics: mold & cockroaches), and received silently a 20% refund at the end. In essence she stayed for free.

The guest however followed those tricky moves with a scathing 1* star review for good measure, which was taken down after 5 days after I took up the issue with Airbnb. My point with was Airbnb -  what is the likelihood that a guest (with a mere recent 3 reviews)  making the most absurd claims are remotely true against a place run by a host in his 7th year and after hosting 700 Airbnb groups all leaving smashing reviews? Mathematically that is 1/700 or .001, logically that is zero (0). It was taken down based on irrelevancy.

Now for the real kicker: The other companions just became aware of the leader's clandestine refund moves and are writing to us wanting to see her review.  They all have e-mailed us that none of the leader's moves makes any sense and that under no circumstances any of them are part of these moves and that they had indeed a fabulous stay.

In the scheme of things this barely hurts us, but I can well imagine how these guest scams are so damaging to others. Airbnb needs to remind whomever they use for their CS department to be absolutely fair towards hosts and to not encourage fraud of their well-intentioned system by being too flippant with refunds, otherwise they are encouraging an abuse of it.

[Leif42]

This response is to all the other hosts. I have had a few random bad eggs that then effect me for months, leaving a ridiculous review and giving a terrible review after I was super to them. Airbnb as a platform is in a bad place and if they keep making the hosts unhappy, the good guests will suffer as well.

[Helen3]

Your place looks simply stunning. Why on earth would you offer a 20 per cent discount if your listings was as advertised @Fred13 ? I wouldn't have given her a penny. And would have called her out in my review.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Helen3  he didn't offer, CS decided to refund her

[Helen3]

Ah thanks @Branka-and-Silvia0  i misread . Airbnb are just getting worse and worse in terms of doling out refunds to guests without requiring proof.

@Fred13  definitely follow up with Airbnb - what was their reason for refunding her?

[Fred13]

Mold which was stain (we just re-stained the new base boards), tiny cockroaches which were in the food boxes from the store (we never even allow such boxes in the boat they brought 11) and too many 'visitors' (the pump they turned off the 2nd day  &  more ice on the 6th day).  The whole thing was surreal.

[Elaine701]

We recently had the very same thing, although the guest hasn't left a review yet. This seemed initially very legit, pleasant, etc. However, there, were two persons in their party that were behaving very suspiciously from the start. I suspect they were the ones behind this. 

In the last days of their stay, they filed a claim that they were without power and water for two days, which we were able to prove false because our smarthome power system keeps minute by minute logs of all power consumption and/or loss. They had a 36 minute outage during their stay. That's right, 36 minutes, at 3:15am, when they called and my husband immediately got in the car and turned the circuit breaker back on. It seems that for some reason they had turned on lots of appliances at 3:00am and blew the circuit. 

When that claim failed, they claimed that we had invaded their privacy by responding and fixing the problem because he entered the property without their knowledge (they called and asked for it, and knew very well that he had been to fix it). 

Airbnb took it very seriously and we spent over a week fighting this with irrefutable evidence contrary to the guest's claims. In the end, the guest was denied their refund, but it very well could have gone the other way, if all we had was our word, instead of hard evidence. 

This is growing problem. Our second dubious refund attempt this year. . It was anticipated that this problem would grow as Airbnb has become even more guest-favourable in its policies. You really have to work to fight them off now. 

Hosts beware. Document everything. Have your facts ready. Even if the guest seems nice. A couple thousand bucks can inspire some pretty dubious behaviour. Especially if they've been led to believe it's easy to get. 

[Fred13]

@Elaine701How interesting, the similarities are indeed eerie.  On the second day, the guest calls and says no water is coming out of the faucets, I ask her - 'Is the emergency water-pump switch on?' - Answer: 'Yes, switch is definitely on'. I go out to island (6 miles by sea). Sure enough switch is off. All chuckles.

   Four days later, on the 6th day (it is a one-week stay), she calls that they are out of ice and can you please drop more;  I send the kid out to drop ice, leaves immediately.

   One of her complaints was the constant interruptions caused by 'visitors' ruining their privacy. This is when the CS person should have come to the obvious conclusion they were dealing with either a scammer or a lunatic.

   The fundamental problem appears to be that the Airbnb CS department either got it through their heads or were instructed that in any host<>guest confrontations, the burden of proof is automatically on the host  not the guest; in essence, they are there to 'defend' the guest against the evil hosts . 

[Elaine701]

@Fred13 

Well, there are some pretty bad hosts out there. But they don't last long, or are relegated to the bottom of the pile. Guests who book historically bad host listings generally get what they pay for. 

I'm one of those "let the market decide" types. Bad hosts get bad reviews and subsequently, receive bad guests, or are eliminated entirely. That's how it's supposed to work.

But for hosts undeniably committed to the best guest experiences they can provide, it's not fair that guests can ruin them with fictitious claims, and be rewarded for destroying perfectly good hosts. It's not a level playing field. 

There's no need to presume the host is at fault by default. They'll dig their own grave if they're bad hosts. It's the way the market is supposed to work. Let it do its job. 

Hosts beware. 

[Fred13]

Can't say it any better @Elaine701 .  On a most positive note, one of the group members that e-mailed us suggested to add paddle boards (??) to the island in their communique. I had no clue, so called all over Belize and found two, arrived last Thursday. The next guests are already having a blast with them. Go figure.

[Gillian166]

@Fred13  stand up paddle boards, SUPs. we had them when we lived in Sydney on the water, they are great and are pretty easy to use. Excellent addition to your listing! 

[Mark116]

@Fred13   Wild.  I looked for your original thread but can't find it.  It is pretty crazy that Airbnb would give this person any kind of refund w/out having contact with you, but I'm not surprised.  No one is safe.

[Clara116]

@Fred13 wow....this just shows that so much work needs to be done by Airbnb on the scammers and how all that is handled. They Airbnb needs to understand "what you permit you promote " and they are reinforcing such horrible action. 

The crazy part is your guest ripping off her friends....hahaha...bet that is going over really lovely for her. That almost makes  me smile. Sorry this happened but glad you are sharing it....it's a great example and needs to be seen by all those in power. 

Peace Fred! 

Dreaming of visiting your amazing island 💥❤️

[Fred13]

@Clara116It appears how they stumble on the short review I posted, is when they were planning yet another trip together. 

     I do believe if Airbnb management hears of actual obvious cases and how unfair they oftentimes really are straight from hosts, in time it will cause change.  Love the 'What you permit, you promote' slogan, says it all.

[Clara116]

@Fred13 yes it is a slogan that says it all!! 

So glad it's been sent to the higher ups....cause this is a beauty of an example. For Airbnb and hosts and scamming guests alike...this is a perfect teaching example. 

For you of all hosts to be scammed still blows my mind....how truly stupid of this guest. Let me guess a real narcissist? Bet ya! 

Keep us posted. 

Till the day...

[Fred13]

Update: My communique is being send to a 'specialized team'. I am sure Airbnb would be highly interested in hearing from hosts about an unfair situation and if anything it stand to reason Airbnb is not wanting to become a magnet for scammers of their well-intention policies.