Rude and awkward guest cancelling

[Alexandra85]

Airbnb cancelled a reservation in error that had been on my calendar for several weeks. Another guest cancelled her reservation right after booking on 11/11, but the coming up guest did not. That guest notified me yesterday that she received notice from Airbnb that her reservation was cancelled (and her money was refunded according to Airbnb on 11/11) and wanted to know why. I responded that I did not cancel her reservation and I was counting on her stay. I held her dates open for several weeks. I contacted Airbnb and guest several times and asked her to book again. She did not respond nor book. I reached out to customer support again via email and phone - I was very frustrated. I was left on hold forever, the customer service person could not offer any help other than to say another team member in their case management division would get back to me. I received an email from one person, later another from case manager. Since the message from Kevin last night and several phone frustrating calls to customer service, no one got back to me either by email or phone. Now, we are penalized if we drop a reservation but what happens when they err? I am out over $300 and opporutity to book for the days I held the listing. Terrible customer service - not one of them got it that this is costly for hosts and that we should be afforded the same courtesy they offer guests and themselves. Here are copies below of the emails sent back and forth. To this time, i have not received a response from Airbnb case manager that the reservation was reinstated and must presume they blew me off and the guest obviously booked another listing. Airbnb is not out at all, but I am - Any thoughts? I am not removing my listing, but would like to offer this terse feedback to Airbnb that they need to step up to the plate with their admin. support and courtesy to hosts. I suspect Airbnb is watching HR expenses.

Hi Alexandra,

Good Day! This is Joseph from Airbnb Customer Experience Team, and I want to give you thanks for reaching out to us.

This is just a follow up email regarding your call and also serves as a reference of your call.

I hope that we have resolve your issue, Should you have any questions please don't hesitate to send me an email.

Thank you for being a part of the Airbnb family.

All The Best,

Joseph M

Kevin D., Nov 14, 01:04 CST:

Hello Alexandra,

This is Kevin again from Airbnb. I'm so sorry to hear we canceled the incorrect reservation! I have looked into the reservation with Holly, and I do see it was canceled by mistake. I actually am going to be out of the office for the next few days, and I unfortunately won't be able to get that reservation reinstated myself. But I will be handing this case to another agent who will be able to assist you!

Thank you for your patience while we continue to work on this matter, and best regards,

Kevin D.

I have not heard from anyone regarding this reservation that was cancelled in error by Airbnb on Nov. 11. I have tried in vain to contact someone regarding this situation. I have written to guest in response to her message she did not respond to my emails. No one has returned my calls or emails. Kevin said that he was going to be gone for three days so rather than reinstating the reservation, Kevin left and transferred this situation to someone else to resolve. This is not my fault. Now, I am out $318 due to Airbnb making an error cancelling a long standing reservation. I want to know if guest is going to be reinstated or if she has booked another Airbnb. Thank you.

 Kevin said that he was going to be gone for three days so rather than reinstating the reservation, Kevin left and transferred this situation to someone else to resolve. That person has not gotten back to me at all. This should have been resolved immediately for the guest. This is not my fault. Now, I am out $318 due to Airbnb making an error cancelling a long standing reservation. I want to know if the guest is going to be reinstated or if she has booked another Airbnb. Thank you.

[Ange2]

@Alexandra85   You have their mistake in writing so whatever happens you should insist they compensate you for their error.

[Alexandra85]

How do I do that Angie? This is very hard on a host. Thank you for your response and help. Alexandra

[Alexandra85]

I might add that Airbnb will most likely point to their contract with hosts to get out of reimbursing me for their error? I have changed my cancellation policy to strict as a result and plan to be more competitive on other sites. I have found that competing sites have better customer service.

[Ange2]

@Alexandra85   Persistence!  It is their mistake and they should take responsibility.  I once called them 8 times until they finally agreed to reverse an unfair ruling, the first 7 times they said no, no, no.  Here are all the ways to contact them, Twitter is said to be best.  Contact Airbnb

[Alexandra85]

Holly wrote to me to say she booked another listing and said she would be booking with me the next time. When I went to reply, Airbnb suddenly had a 404 error and I could not login. This is after I requested a refund of Holly's reservation amount of $318. Interesting --- They may have cancelled my listing. Yes, I will keep calling and emailing. But is that their response? Alexandra

[Robin4]

@Alexandra85 Well your listing is still coming up so they haven't cancelled it Alexandra, but keep on their back. From the number of posts regarding completely inept handling of customer problems it appears Airbnb have taken incompetence to a completely new level.

This is the sort of story that should have got a run at the recent 'Gidee-up' forum. The principals need to be made to squirm over this sort of shoddy treatment. The part that made me totally crack up was when good ol Kevin on finding out the nature of the problem said he was off to Outer Mongolia for a few days....bye-bye...problem solvered!!!

Alexandra, a seriously bad experience but, I can see from your reviews that you are a wonderful caring host, and I do particularly like the way you respond to each guests reviews....I do the same myself and I do think it helps the bond, which in general helps the whole hosting platform.

All we need to do now is find a way of dealing with even half competent personnel when having to cope with a problem!

Cheers....Rob

[Alexandra85]

What a comforting response Rob! Yes, if I were Airbnb principals, I would be "pis...." at the response one of their hosts (being me) received. NONE! And who cares about my investment in their business - by the way comes to - $200K and a major destination city to boot-- sorry customer support that is nothing to blow off, which is exactly what Airbnb did. This is all becuz - Airbnb is keeping HR costs down hiring millenial (snowflakes) who have no clue about what it takes to really work for years to establish an investment in real estate. I want to be kind but get a clue --- it is lots of years, hard work, diligence, persistence and perseverence to have a guest house on your property that you own and have the ability to share with others. It is a privilege for Airbnb and guests to be able to book at such wonderful destinations. For Airbnb to not respect hosts is a disgrace. I feel disrespected by Airbnb' s customer service rep. Kevin. He totally blew me off so that he could take off to parts unknown for a few days. How much time would it have taken to correct the long standing reservation? Yet, Kevin decided to blow me off to someone else at Airbnb who never got back to me anyway! And every customer service agent did the same. What a sad state - Airbnb may be listed as the most popular hotel site worldwide, but that is soon to change if they do not do something about their customer support situation. Other guest sites are competing and with superior customer service - Airbnb needs to pay attention! All the best, Alexandra

[MicheleandLouw0]

@Alexandra85 maybe not everyone will agree with me but  I would still host the guest and request to pay me outdide the Airbnb platform after I have explained the situation. This way you still get your booking and the guest still has Accomodation. But keep fighting them about the cancellation. Just my thoughts on it. 

[Alexandra85]

thank you- the guest contacted me finally and said that she already booked another Airbnb stay - that is why no one got back to me! (Mind you I held this reservation open for three + weeks and it is a slow time of the year.) When I tried to respond, the Airbnb site at my login had a 404 error and I could not get to the site. So, I have contacted Airbnb customer support through Twitter. This time they were more helpful. airbnb supervisor said they are giving the case manager 48 hours to recitfy this situation. We will see how that works out. Thank you kindly for your suggestion --I will not book outside of Airbnb, but was disappointed that the guest did not get back to me when I contacted her right away upon learning she was cancelled by Airbnb. She wants to stay with me again - quite frankly, I am not too willing since she did not have the courtesy to respond to my request to rebook her stay. Airbnb may have created extenuating circumstances for her in that regard - I have no idea. She was inconvenienced, had a chance to rectify her inconvenience and chose not to do so -- Airbnb is getting paid. I am the only one who is out. I am requesting my $318 guest fee be paid by Airbnb to me for damages. Airbnb needs to fix and train their administrative staff.