Guests admit breaking my House Rules but won't leave. Airbnb are faffing and not enforcing them

[Yan49]

I've been hosting for several years on different platforms and have a couple of hundred reviews under my belt on ABB alone. My top listing is a premium property in the heart of London and because of the nature of the home, strict regulations and neighbour considerations I have set very clear House Rules which every guest needs to confirm they have read and understood in order to have their booking confirmed, by way of mentioning a "hidden" keyword I place at the very end of my House Rules section. One such rule is that should my home be overoccupied or used for a party, the guests will immediately be ejected without a right to a refund for the unspent nights.

I've not had any major problems so far, but although confirming they were on board with them, my (unfortunately, still current) guests broke that rule and another saying kids must be cleared by me first. They admitted by airbnb message to having 7 occupants vs the 6 max allowed, 3 of whom children, who are neither quiet nor well behaved. I immediately called Airbnb to notify them of this and they've been faffing for the last 24h. They did confirm the guests had broken my House Rules and I was within my right to cancel and keep the entire payout, but at the same time asked if I would make an exception and offer them a partial efund, which both me and my co-host declined to do.

Before going to bed, I once again emailed the case manager with a 2-point summary: 

1) terminate reservation immediately and remove guests

2) no refund of any kind

This morning I received a message from the lead guest stating some of the members had left and checked into a hotel and thay could provide me proof of booking, and if I would allow them to stay on. This was followed shortly after by an email from the case manager, stating the same and asking if in the view of the change of circumstances, I would allow the rest of them to stay.

It seems Airbnb are set of "fixing" this, whereas as far as I'm concerned, my House Rules are clear: break them are you're out.

Case gets passed on.

Second case manager - Randolph: "Right now, xxxx is not eligible for any refund, but I am reaching out to see if you would be willing to refund any amount to your guest. You do not have to, as this payout does belong to you, but any help would be greatly appreciated". I declined and expressed my will to have them removed with no refund.

Case Manager #3 - Megan: "I understand that you do not wish to have xxxx in your listing any longer due to the violation of the house rules. Generally, when a guest breaks a house rule, we do like to allow them a second chance to follow the house rules and save the reservation. The same respect as if a guest reports a travel issue, we ask that the host is given a chance to resolve this problem for them. Or if we can in situations like this, we attempt to alter the reservation for an early check-out and a refund for nights not spent in the listing. However, with your denial of any refund this is not an option. 

It seems like they're not getting the memo...

Case Manager #4 - Rose (seriously, I've never been able to get a new case manager assigned to a case before even when there was a claim for damages and the assigned case manager was off sick for 2 weeks they wouldn't re-assign it and it took 6 weeks): "It seems as though they have checked in the 4 guests into a hotel room and will be continuing the reservation as is. The guest has mentioned tha they will send in documenation showing the other guests checking in to the hotel for the remainder of the reservation". 

Holy crap, they really aren't getting the memo.

"and will be continuing the reservation as is."??  No they bloody well won't cause I'm calling the cops. The payout has already been issued and I'm booked out solid for nearly the next 2 months. I genuinely  hope they won't change their mind on their initial decision as they're notorious for doing and corner me into cancelling all future reservations and re-routing them directly through my website and completely switch to HA, Expedia and Booking. This is quite a large reservation and mine and others' experience is that they're more willing to "bend the rules" when large sums are involved. 

Airbnb, you don't own any property stock. Don't bite the hand that feeds you.

I'll be updating this in real-time as more info comes in.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Yan49hm... we were on Booking.com a year ago and we got our payment the next month after our guests checked out. So if their stay ended 1st of July we were payed at the begining of August, 1 month later.

So my question is - did they changed it?

Second thing I hated at booking.com was that we had 90% of our bookings cancelled in the last minute. So guests were obviously fishing arround and then decided which unit to book just shortly before their trip. They also didn't have to pay immediately when they booked.

For those reasons we unlisted our units from booking.com last year.

[Yan49]

@Branka-and-Silvia0

Of course some guests will do that if given the opportunity. Sounds like you need to tweak your cancellation and payout settings to a stricter Cancellation Policy - the flexible one is for large hotels and does not work for private homes.

Yes, if you let Booking.com handle your payouts they will pay you aaageees later, and also deduct from your payout for any issues because... uhm they can. Get a Stripe account ( I can't emphasise this enough) and you'll receive immediate payments straight into your account.

Be under no illusion, they are no better than Airbnb - these companies are out for themselves - but once you take certain precautions it allows for greater control and less rogue "discretionary" decisions when you're in control of your payouts. That, for me, is HUGE as this year alone I'm down nearly £3k in Airbnb's "discretionary" guest refunds related to not enforcing my House Rules.

See, Booking.com is a booking site. They want to get as much commission as possible using as few resources as possible, so you won't see a team of Case Managers running around the office like headless chickens trying to figure out how to cover up their next f*ckup like @ Airbnb. As long as certain conditions are met, if a guest calls in to complain they'll tell them to leave a bad review. Ever noticed how Booking.com's property scores are so much lower on average than Airbnb? Cause Airbnb 1) removes the ones that can be seen as damaging to them and 2) have set their draconian scoring system in a way that, pound for pound, bumps up the overall score mostly between 4.5 and 5* making their (largely overlapping) stock look better than on competitors' platforms. These are THE SAME HOMES.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Yan49thank you for your answer, I really appreciate it 🙂

What is Stripe account? Is it something like Pay pal?  Why you think it is better then bank wire transfer to my bank account ? Can you explain it to me please?

Yes, you are right , flexible cancellation policy is not good idea on booking.com because guest can book now and pay later. Here on Airbnb they have to pay when they book so here we don't have many cancellations.

[Yan49]

IMO flexible cancellation is never a good idea, regardless of the platform, but if it works for you that's great! 

Think of Stripe as a virtual credit card terminal. With it you actually HOLD A DEPOSIT, not like the joke that is the Airbnb "deposit". It actually pre-authorises the funds so  If they damage anything, you just claim the transaction. Because you also have their card on file, you can make extra charges if the damage/extra services amount to more than the deposit. When people know you have their card on file THEY BEHAVE 🙂

[GregBnb0]

@Yan49@Letti0@Zolly0@Kenneth12@Kelly149

(my apologies about Google Trad, if somebody wan't to correct it, i'll by happy ^^)

I think I understand what's going on.
Here is my analysis:

Sites like Booking monopolize a huge part of the market, it is difficult to compete on their land, despite some tests.
On the other hand, Booking has a major disadvantage: It is aimed at 95% of professionals.
People whose job it is, who do not hesitate to take legal action if your decisions are not in conformity with the contract if you jeopardize their business.

I sincerely believe that the underlying purpose of Airbnb's decisions is related to their desire to maintain a unique and rare competitive advantage they have on the market: Captive hosts, not professional for a large majority.

This is a unique and valuable advantage, because the cost of commercial gestures (reimbursement excluding Terms and Services for example), or cancellations for extinguishing circumstances is borne by the host, unprofessional, under the guise of good feelings and "values".

The majority of these guests have never read the Terms and Services and will never plead anything, except for a small raise to be reimbursed for a broken bedside table.
They will come at any time, to accommodate any number of people, to any name.
They are corvable, in their majority.

So, if I leave, it's fine for them!

A new kid will replace me and it will be much easier to have it folded for the simple cost of a phone call: "We reeeeaaaaaaaaaly would like you to make a gesture / refund for this traveler".

This is the only valid explanation I see.
It's also what I would do if I were them, by the way.

It's like having an army of trainees full of goodwill and dedication coming to the door every morning.
You get everyone in, and then leave them totally free to leave if they want to look a little closer to the contract of employment.

My "case", like others, is not an "error of judgment".
It is a company policy.

A desire to maintain a certain "category" of hosts with endless dedication that generates millions of dollars in savings in commercial gestures of all kinds.
While increasing the customer satisfaction of travelers for whom all, or almost, is allowed. As long as it does not harm the company itself.

[Nicole794]

Actually, I disagree.

If ABB stayed with only homeowners then none of that would happen. It was famous for homesharing. But now it allows professionals ( with bungalows and rooms to let) who want the homeowners out,  and totally spoil the guest who is now not looking at the home as someones hom, but a hotel room. There is no respect, not sense of honor and trust in the exchange.

[Yan49]

Gregory, it's so good to have you on board buddy. I'm following and supporting your review thread - never give up!  It's become an us against them affair lately, using Airbnb was so easy and so much fun, whereas I don't know who they market to these days, but the quality of guests has taken a nose dive.

[Lucy110]

@Yan49

Hi ... I follow your case, a case similar to @GregBnb0

Stay Strong guys !

[Yan49]

ANOTHER UPDATE

Following to a conversation with the EIGHTH case manager on this hot potato of a case, this is their formal position on guests breaking your House Rules:

"Please be advised that our policy is to send a written warning to guests who are breaking the house rules to make sure they understand, and if they do not comply, we will cancel on the guest's behalf. 
The first time the guest breaks house rules, the host will have the option to request the reservation be cancelled without a warning but the guests are then entitled to a refund of nights not spent. "

So basically as a guest you get a free get out of jail card if you break the house rules. If you throw a party only on the first night, if you stop smoking after you get caught, if you use the home for illegal or immoral purposes... Just don't do it twice. The worst that can happen is that you get kicked out and refunded. And you get to leave a **bleep**ty review for you host in retaliation. Pretty sweet, huh?

I don't recall having agreed to this and I've asked her to point me to where in the 16 pages of T&Cs it says that; currently awaiting a response. If any of you can confirm this is an actual T&C then it would save me a long search.

Posting Airbnb Support screenshots shortly, put the kettle on.

[Nicole794]

"I understand that you do not wish to have xxxx in your listing any longer due to the violation of the house rules. Generally, when a guest breaks a house rule, we do like to allow them a second chance to follow the house rules and save the reservation."

NO.

IT IS NOT UP TO YOU TO "ALLOW".

It is still our homes, last time I checked.

I m so fed up with the fine print ( not even fine as they are no where to be seen, such as "oh yes no penalties if you cancel but ONLY if we agree and under a certain limit")

I had a guest who did not bother to read the rules for a week.  She did not budge when I said I need her pass info. Then one day  before arrival she felt suspicious about it. I tried to explain its the Greek law, she wanted to cancel. I said ok

No, she wanted ME to cancel and get a refund.

Did airbnb took into consideration that it was after the cancellation period? No. Did they call me to see if I was ok with refunding? No. Did they even educate the client about the law? No.

They just let me hanging high, and I decided to day to leave.  We re not supported. We are servants to airbnb, in order for them to get the clients.

[Yan49]

Sorry you had to go through this, Nicole. It's appalling. The root problem is that they themselves are not familiar with, or care about, their own policies. I have challenged their decisions before quoting their own words, but I've realised this is a waste of my energy as they will not entertain reason. I have now spent enough of my time trying to get this resolved by reasoning with them, so I have begun the process of independent Arbitration. 

See, even if Airbnb insist their decisions are final and make it very hard for someone to bring a lawsuit against them by making you agree to give up your right to access to the legal system, and in the latest incarnation of that atrocity which is their 17 pages of T&C's, also made us waive our right to Class Action.

What we do have a right to, however - and they'll NEVER, EVER tell you, is independent Arbitration. This is done through the AAA in the US, however I am waiting to hear from their legal team if there is a different body which handles these issues outside of the US. The good thing is that Airbnb pick up the bill for it, which amounts to a few hundred dollars just to get the ball rolling. This morning I saw a missed call from Airbnb (they called in the middle of my night), which I suspect was to address this. I'll insist this gets addressed in writing so I can post the screenshots on the Forums and Twitter for the benefit and reference of the broader Community. 

As usual, I'll keep this thread alive and updated with the latest developments.

[Lucy110]

@GregBnb0

Suite anglo, au cas tu ne l'aurais pas vu.  Dessous, d'autres témoignages qui démontrent de plus en plus de mécontentement.

Up! encore et toujours !

Au plaisir,

Lucy

[Lucy110]

@GregBnb0

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

----- sorry, wrong thread 🙂

[Yan49]

Ladies and gentlement, here is the ugly side of Airbnb: