Chargeback

[Ashley26]

Hi, I have been a SH for 7 years and this is a first for me, hoping for some insight.

A guest asked to cancel a reservation 6 wks in the future and get a full refund. I said no and stuck to my cancelation policy. Airbnb then asked if I’d make an exception. Typically I would, but I’m really trying to stick to my policy (otherwise what’s the point?). Told ABB if they want to refund the guest, go for it. My place will be ready for the guest on the dates for which he reserved it and I have no reason to cancel or refund.

The guest issued a chargeback through his bank (learned this when I called Airbnb after getting email saying ABB decided guest is not legit and I won’t get payout).

Have tried email, phone and Twitter and can’t get beyond “we will get back with you in 24 hours” but it’s now been 2 weeks. Any advice? 

Guest’s original date is next week but ABB has canceled on guest’s behalf and I’m paying for it?

[Emiel1]

@Ashley26 

I fear not much can be done. If guest did not pay Airbnb (chargeback), Airbnb will not pay you.

Reservation is cancelled on guest behalf (no payment), so dates are free and hopefully you can get  another bookng from a more reliable guest.

[Ashley26]

My issue is that the guest first attempted to cancel for non covered reasons. Airbnb asked if I would refund and I declined, saying I’d like to stick to my cancelation policy. When the guest then issued a chargeback, that is on ABB, so at that point ABB decided the guest was not legitimate (only when $ was coming from ABB - guest was legit if I had agreed to refund against my policy). So this seems something that should be between ABB and the guest. Nothing I can do, as the charge back is not against me 

[Gillian166]

@Ashley26  Is 6 weeks not enough lead time for you to get the place re-booked? 

Moot point now I suppose. I tend to operate under a "do unto others/karma" philosophy, and of course you are welcome to run your business as you choose.  I hope you are able to get another booking, isn't it thanksgiving soon? surely you'll be able to fill the gap. 

[Ashley26]

My place is in Nicaragua. It’s a vacation destination, so I won’t be able to fill it, but that’s not really the issue. I refund 99.9% of cancelations, always have, but this one just rubbed me the wrong way from the start, and the bigger question I’m asking is - 1. How can I talk to someone at ABB? SH hotline and emails are all a circle of “someone will get back with you in 24 hrs” and 2. Shouldn’t this be between the guest and ABB? First person I spoke with on the phone said it looked like an error because this doesn’t fall on host, but since then I haven’t been able to get through to anyone beyond “we know this frustrating and someone will be with you in 24 hours” for weeks now. This reservation isn’t much $ but I’m concerned about what would happen in case of a big problem when there doesn’t seem to be any way at all to communicate 

[Gillian166]

@Ashley26  ah, that makes more sense! (and if we still had the ability to see a host's listing that would have been helpful info, but sadly they took that way in the last "upgrade")

And if you got a 🚩 then you need to follow your instincts, you know what you're doing! 

[Laura1476]

I love so much that Airbnb asked YOU to make an exception, when we all know they NEVER, and I mean NEV. ER. make "exceptions" for Hosts. When a guest breaks the rules of a Host, somehow it's always up to us to figure it out. When a Host simply sticks to a previously agreed-upon policy? How odd: once again, it's up to the Host to smooth things over and make the guest happy.

So at first, Airbnb wanted you to break your own rules to accommodate this guest. And when Airbnb learned they wouldn't get their payout (which they owed you) via the chargeback? Suddenly the guest is not legitimate and you won't get a payout after all!

Like many companies, Airbnb is so transparently focused on their customers (the guests), rather than their employees (the Hosts).