WANT TO THANK YOU ALL HERE IN THE FORUMS

[Dee9]

I have learned numerous things from these forums that I would otherwise not have known (and perhaps would have fell victim too).

The things I have learned from you folks via this forum:

Never to cancel a booking

A list of penalties for cancelling

If a guest sends me a cancellation request - to say NO!

Things regarding Instant Book

A handful of Airbnb customer service numbers

Some good policy links to read

And a few good hosting tips for around the house!

THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO CONTRIBUTE USEFUL INFORMATION!

[Robin4]

@Annette33 Howdy Annette....thanks, you filled in the blanks in my screed wonderfully, and your last three sentences every host should be made aware of.

Airbnb don't want to be seen as the bad guys here when a guest wishes to cancel....they want the host to take the guests wrath when they find out they are not going to get all their money back!!

I did have a regular AIrbnb guest two months ago, and we talked at length about cancellations, me from a host point of view and he from a guests!

He told me that owing to a major issue with a previous experience with Airbnb he needed to cancel a booking he had made. He rang Airbnb and, without any prompting on his part the Airbnb representative ran through the methods of cancellation and what each involved in the way of penalties. The service 'person' specifically told this guest that the only way he could get all his money back was to ensure the host cancelled the booking.

If guests don't already know this then Airbnb go out of their way to tell them!!!

So much for supporting your 'bread and butter', so this is why I shout it from the rooftops.....LOOK AFTER YOURSELF...AIRBNB WON'T.

Thanks again Annette...cheers.....Rob

[Ange2]

@Renata50  Even if you get an email from Airbnb asking if you want to cancel don't do it, unless of course it is you that wants to cancel.

 If you cancel - you will be penalized, sometimes fined from $50 - $100, the dates will be blocked so you can't rent them to anyone else, you will have a "host cancelled " on your review page, you will go down in the search rankings and all their fees to you will be refunded to them whatever your cancellation policy.

If a guest wants to cancel make them do it.

Many try to get the host to cancel so they don't lose their Airbnb fee and sometimes more depending on the cancellation policy.

[David704]

So why do you say that I should not allow clients to cancel if they ask? I am new to this.

[Annette33]

@David704 , it's all in the details: if a customer cancels all on their own ( which means he/she wont get the Airbnb fees refunded from their end), no problem.

But if you as the host cancels, major penalties from Airbnb are coming down on you,  see above. The tricky middle ground is where you may get a notice from Airbnb, something to the effect, "guest would like you to cancel", you think no big deal, I just agree and all is taken care of : not so - in that case it gets turned around on you by Airbnb as if you had canceled, and the penalties will kick in. So in that case, you must refuse if you want to avoid the penalties - guest can still cancel on their own! Guest may opt for this scenario because that would refund them also their service fees paid to Airbnb. Just pay  attention to the details.

[Helen165]

Thanks very much

i am new to Airbnb and my 4th reservation which was accepted as 4 guest for 6nights has just emailed saying Airbnb got it wrong there is6 adults and 5 kids and 7 nights she only paid for 6 and I only have beds for 7 guests I would like to cancel her reservation ! What should I do? 

helen needs help

[Annette33]

@Helen165 , have the guest cancel from their end, not you! they are changing the terms and you cannot accomodate them. please read above what had been explained about the different scenarios about cancellations.

[Lori0]

this inquiry is for Helen who posted here about having a reservation issue - I am curious how this was resolved? did they make a new reservation or did the guest change the reservation to who was actually staying and for the right amount of time?

I've read through all the other posts and I am in agreement with the original posting _ I am appreciate of all information shared.

I love hosting and grateful for this platform to do so.

[Jean119]

Thanks for the info.

Regards

Jean

[Lars23]

i wish i had been in this forum long ago. but i have no memory of being invited.

anyhow, i have learned how hard it is to get help from airbnb and how difficult it is to be nice to my potential guest.

i have accepted the penalties to be kind to my guests who has made mistakes when they booked. but what do i get from airbnb?? nasty emails telling me i am at risk and disgraceful postings on my listing, saying i have canceled a booking with no chance for me to share my view or explain.

i would not be here if i had an option to advertize my very affordable, beautiful, comfortable home for slow travelers somewhere else.

but i guess i will have to wait till facebook or google take up the competion. maybe then airbnb will understand they made something wrong when host are switching agent.

i have been travelling for over 50 years. i was so happy when airbnb started but now i am ashamed to be part of this nasty and greedy company hiding behind "nice words" like community and inclusiveness. if i was black i would not like to stay with someone becuase they want my money and accept my precence due to that, same if i was gay or disabled in any form.

instead of forcing people to accept the policy they should care to educate people and respect that people have different values and right to a choice.

i am so much against oppression what ever form it takes. and here i am exploited and used in a very oppressive way.

my heart goes out to all the people who do a great job offering great or unique accomodation to people who is looking for that around the world, with so little appreciation in return.

warm greetings from the marvelous and diverse melaka, malaysia

[Robin4]

@Lars23....How very eloquently spoken Lars....and I am sure there are many (if not most) hosts who would agree entirely with the sentiments you have expressed regarding Airbnb.

It is a fact of life, as companies grow they do become less personal, caring and less prepared to help and stand by those who support them. We have all seen Airbnb evolve into the 'monster' that it is today, and although we still receive soothing, caring words from those who started the company, the reality is this company has grown at a far faster rate than it's ability to sustain itself. It simply does not employ enough competent personnel keep the platform upright!

We are seeing situations where prospective guests are seeing different calendar settings to those the host sees on his own listing page.

We are seeing situations where a guest will invent a complaint and have their entire outlay for a stay refunded and the host not only losing that income but being penalised in future hostings without any recourse!

We are seeing situations where a confirmed guest booking is accidentally cancelled by Airbnb and the host is then blamed for the cancellation and penalised.

Lars, hosting is a hard gig, every guest has the capacity to make us wish we had never decided to host and, in many instances we don't get the back-up from the company we deserve.

On the other side of the coin my experience with Airbnb has been wonderful! I have met and had the priviledge to host some wonderful people. Guest payments have always arrived in my account exactly when they should. My communication with guests has been seemless and comprehensive. If I have had an issue the help section have attended to my probem quickly and couteously, I cannot fault Airbnb!

But Lars, I know the rules and I keep up to date with rule changes.....I don't give problems a chance to appear and ruin the love affair I have going with Airbnb!

I gather from your post you are smarting, and have decided to write because of a host cancellation which has recently been posted on your reviews. Lars, please don't think I am being unkind or criticizing you but, if you had understood the implications of cancelling a booking you would never have done it. Sure, it is sneeky of Airbnb but the golden rule for hosts is, you never cancel or accept Airbnb's request to cancel a guest reservation. If a hosting is not possible you get Abb to relocate the guest or work with the guest to find an alternative to any cancellation.

The other thing I notice in your reviews Lars, sooner or later in hosting you are going to get that 'prickly' guest who will give you grief, but don't get into a verbal 'arm wrestle' with them in the reviews, stay aloof and thank them for their comments, explain that certain things are beyond your control but assure them their criticisms will be acted on. You will retain your dignity and in no time their tarnishing review will slip down the page and off the radar. The only thing that would still draw attention to it would be a stinging response on your part!

Lars, thank you for your post, you will have a lot of support for what you have said. Maybe this is not a platform to be totally happy with but, if you understand the way it works it is not necessarilly one to be ashamed of either.

I have involement with three different hosting sites and Lars, I can tell you, this one is the best!!

Cheers.....Rob

[Lars23]

hello rob, thanks for taking your time to comment on my posting. i do know that life is not always what we wish for. and i have no intentio to change your possitive attidude about how things works. but it does not change my perspective. my love affair with airbnb is over. at this point in time i still think airbnb is a very sneaky and pretentious company caring more about the money and less about the people. a couple of years ago the airbnb fee used to be somewere between 10-16%. you would think that a bigger volume would create an opportunity to decrease the fee. but instead it has increased to over 20%. business is business and most companies are trying their best to make more money. i also know it is hard to please every one. but it does not excuse you from being straight forward. the leason i have learned is bittersweat. i will never make a mistake trying to cover for airbnb again, because they do not deserve it. even if they are the best on the market, they still lack the ethics i wish to see in every area where people are interacting. and the bottomline is that nothing will change if we keep quiet about what is not ok.but i have had very few guests from airbnb over the last year so it might all be ok when they suspend my account. the word from my guests mouth is spreading and people might find my place trough other chanels. keep up your good work and enjoy your love affair 🙂

[Dee9]

i orginated this post to "thank you all here in the forums"

But now some of you have turned it into something else and created negativity & complaints out of my post.

Since you have gone entirely in the opposite direction of what this post was intended for, I will try and get @Kirstie to take the thread down since im unable to delete it myself.

Maybe i will make a new "thank you" post

There are plenty of other threads for those that like to whine

[Annette33]

@Dee9 , I'm watching the same thing - all sorts of posts are totally getting away from the concept the original poster had presented, it all is becoming a general chat room, not sure if I like that development. I think it has to do with the format change Airbnb rolled out a few weeks ago: under "top" , it shows all posts, "ranked " by their number of thumbs up, so people jump on top fIrst, then on the first posts there, and yours is on the first page. Perhaps take it as a compliment that so many people liked your post!

With the current format change,  it is rather ridiculous that the first and second post under  "Tops"  have gotten over 400 responses combined. Straying off topic is inevitable in that system, like I did now 🙂

Cheers,

Annette

[Lars23]

i get the feeling i am the one who brought negativity into this post

i am sorry if i offended someone by being angry and upset here.

it was my first day to visit the forum yesterday and i was really frustrated and i just wanted to let go off, some of the steam.

for weeks i have been trying to communicate with airbnb and have had no success

most of you seem to be very experienced and knowledgeable hosts except a few newbies who asked questions.

maybe i could have found a better post to share the disappointment i felt.

but for some reason this was the post who popped up infront of me and something in it triggered me.

i will be more thoughtful if i decide to share anything again

but it was interesting to be here and see how different people think and feel about most things. 

the good news for today is that airbnb finally responed with following words "I have removed the penalties from your account"

good luck to all of you

[Edward61]

These are helpful to me, thank you very much