Hey, listen up @Airbnb , for I have a story to tell. While it's not a beautiful "Made Possible by Hosts" video story, accompanied by soulful music with a happy ending, it is, nevertheless, a story you need to hear.
Once upon a time in the magical month of December of the year 2020, I had a guest who booked my guest suite at the last minute,--so much so that she begged to be allowed to check-in within hours of booking. However, due to the fact that I had guests who had just departed hours before and COVID cleaning protocols, I had to insist that she check-in the next day. Within an hour or so of this conversation, my guest messaged me to say that she was so very unhappy to see that my guest suite did not have a full kitchen. While I was puzzled as to how she was under the impression that it did, (my description and photos clearly depict a kitchenette only), I told her I certainly did not want her to be unhappy. Due to the last minute booking and my cancellation policy, she was not entitled to a refund, however, out of the goodness of my heart, I told her I would refund her.
As I had never had a back-to-back booking and cancellation, I was unfamiliar as to how the refund process worked, so I, with no small amount of trepidation, picked up the telephone and called, what I had come to know as the "Airbnb Customer Routing System." I was told the amount of the refund would be debited from the bank account associated with my Airbnb account even though I had not yet been paid for the stay. This made me slightly nervous as during the summer, I had had many battles over delayed payments, and in one case, a payout that completely disappeared.
After a day or so went by, I noticed that no debit had been made to my bank account, so I called the infamous ABnB Customer Routing System again. This time I was told the amount of the refund would be deducted from subsequent payouts until the refund amount had been satisfied, and then I would begin receiving payouts again. Okay,--that made logical sense, however, I continued to feel uneasy.
The month of December flew by in a happy/busy rush. On the 22nd of December, I called to make sure that my payout which was scheduled to be released on the 23rd, would indeed, be released and there would not be any "hiccups" or problems. I was assured that all was well. (Cue "anticipatory" music here.....)
December 23rd dawned, I had return guests who were staying with me for their 3rd time, my daughter was coming down from Austin to stay with me over Christmas Eve and life was good. At some point on the 23rd of December, I checked my email, and sure enough, I had received an email with a payout ID. Great.
But then.....I noticed nothing had changed in my app. The payout was still listed under "upcoming" and not completed. My heart sank. I knew it hadn't been released. I knew if Airbnb didn't release it until the 24th, (Christmas Eve), they wouldn't actually be paying out the money until the 28th due to the holidays and weekend. Of course, I called the now very infamous Airbnb Customer Routing System on the 24th. I was livid. I was told that they had no control over when my bank would show the deposit. I had to argue and argue and argue that this was NOT the point,--the point was they had promised a payout on the 23rd, yet they had NOT released the payout on the 23rd as promised (verbally), and as confirmed in the email. I finally was able to get someone who confirmed that my payout was not released until the 24th of December,--just as I had suspected. They finally sent a (very blurry!) screenshot to me:
Although at this point I had asked that only a supervisor contact me, I was tormented Christmas Day by one "Support Ambassador" after another until I asked them why they continued to harass me as I had only requested a supervisor.
I was so very angry. I asked that the refund amount that I had given back to my guest, be refunded back to me to cover fees I incurred in the account connected to Airbnb due to their withholding the payout. Airbnb kept blaming my bank. I kept explaining, (and of course, Airbnb knows this!), that my bank cannot claim funds that were never released. And, the funds were NOT released on the 23rd as stated.
Although I fought the good fight, I was informed by Marvin, a Supervisor, (or so I was told), on March 23rd, 2021 that nothing could be done and I was mistaken. My screen shots that I provided were continually "lost" and I was the liar. I told Marvin, I expected nothing more (or less), from Airbnb, as I bitterly watched the "Made Possible by Hosts" commercials playing in the background.
I promised myself that no matter what, I would NEVER refund anyone again. Airbnb can if they wish to do so, but I will not. What I HAVE done, is offer my guests who have had unfortunate circumstances the opportunity to book a different time/date. That way no money has to be refunded.
Today, I was contacted by a guest who had to cancel her reservation. She had taken advantage of my non-refundable rate, which means if they cancel for any reason, they cannot get a refund. As much as I would like to refund her the full amount, I will not. Estuardo, from @Airbnb, I don't know if you are a Support Ambassador, or a Supervisor, but I see that you have made it clear that if I so much as hit "reply" to the emails (I see you have sent 3 within the span of 3 hours! Wow! If only you responded as quickly and prolifically when we needed help!!), you have sent me today, I will be agreeing to refund my guest in full. I'm not responding to your messages for a reason. You don't have my permission to refund my guest anything.
I AM encouraged to believe what my mom always used to say, the truth always comes out in the wash,--even if it's a mighty dirty wash.
When will you learn @Airbnb that we, as hosts, are the face and backbone of your company? Without us, you are nothing. Yeah, a few commercials seeking to portray that to the world are meaningless when you treat (most of) us like you do behind the scenes.
P.S. @Airbnb FYI, just a little bit of goodwill shown and NOT taking 3 months to tell me you weren't going to do anything, (not making me feel like a liar and constantly "losing" my screenshots), might have resulted in a HAPPY host, one who would have, in a heartbeat, agreed to refund my guest in full today.
Update as of Monday, April 5, 2021. (You can't make this stuff up!) 😂
