Hiya community, I have recently been asked for my national i...
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Hiya community, I have recently been asked for my national insurance number from airbnb. I asked what this is for as they are...
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The reservation was for Saturday night, but she did not contact me until today. The previous guest had disconnected the portable ac unit from the window (for reasons unknown) and the girl that cleaned early Saturday did not know how to reconnect it. I got in touch with the handyman I use and when he got off work (after 6pm) they went there together. I could see on the driveway camera that the Saturday night guest had not arrived yet, so I told them to go in & fix it. Had I seen the guest there, obviously I would have asked them if they’d like someone to come by to reconnect it for them. Of course, for the 10 minutes they were there reconnecting the ac the guest arrives. They explained to her the situation & said it should take a few more minutes and the place is yours, unless you prefer we leave now. The lady told them they’d come back. The handyman left and that was that. On Sunday, the girls that clean went and cleaned the place & all the linens/towels. She had text me and said the last people that stayed were nice they made the bed. I should have known then, but didn’t think anything of it.
Today she sends me this message saying she did not stay because random people were in the cabin & it was unsafe. She said the property was abandoned & no one lived there. I responded with my home is not abandoned. Then she said a local friend told her it was abandoned. In my listing I’m clear that I am only there 1x a month for a week or 2 at a time & if I plan to be in town during your stay I’ll let you know in advance. I told her if she wants a refund based off town gossip, I’m not sure what to say. Then she says stop trying to make this personal I demand a refund.
Sure enough, I went back and checked the cameras and she never came back that night. Problem is I paid the girls on Sunday to clean because this woman didn’t bring up her “concerns” until today. I explained to her I paid for cleaning because she did not contact me before her checkout time. I explained I can’t give her a full refund because 1/2 the money was spent on cleaning & she’s threatening me with a 1 star review and stated if she does not receive a full refund by Wednesday she’s leaving that review. Considering I only have a few reviews to even it out, it’ll hurt me. She’s claiming I misrepresented the property because I should state the main house is abandoned because no one is there & the cabin is behind the main house hidden (to her a bad thing) & that it’s not in a state park. Not sure where she got that from. But we are located within a national forest. The whole town is.
i read a lot of the posts on here and it seems that the consensus is that Airbnb sides with guests and hosts are basically on their own.
So the questions are:
do I issue the full refund?
Do I issue the refund minus cleaning fee? And if I choose this route, what is my recourse (if any) to protect myself from receiving a bad review?
As a side note, I split the 1 night bookings with the cleaning crew 50/50. Therefore the amount I paid out of her booking is $65. Meaning she would only receive a 50% refund out of what I received.
@Sudsrung0 I will be interested to see how long you get away being on Airbnb and applying 'your rules ' Good luck with that.
@Helen744 I see @Sudsrung0 's comment mentions "over the years" and then you can look at their profile and see 4+ years of reviews.
I read that bad review, and honestly she made your place sound like a dump, then i looked at the pics and just laughed. That guest comes across as crazy.
What do you mean? The only rules I can see in @Sudsrung0 's listing are:
Yep, there is no way you need people throwing parties in an upscale complex like that! But no parties is a rule that most hosts have anyway, and Airbnb have themselves banned parties.
If it's something you've had problems with, I totally understand why you would emphasise it. I make a big deal about insisting my guests read the house rules before they book. You have to protect yourself.
@Huma0 Yes I did take a look at Sudstrungs lovely listing . My comment was a throwaway line about Airs cancellation policies and Sudstrungs adament comment that her 'rule' is "no refunds".I personally am way over the lack of guests , the lack of Airbnbs answers and their crazy rules ,and am in the process of selling. .
Sorry to hear you are selling, but I can't blame you. I'm still not getting bookings... My repeat guests will keep me afloat for a few more months, but after that, who knows. I'm not going to sell my home though, so I will have to find another way to stay afloat.
You are right that it is unlikely that @Sudsrung0 will be able to maintain control over this and the no refunds. Sooner or later, she may encounter the circus that is CS and find that they override her authority over her own property. I hope not though.
Because of Airbnb's lack of protection, as hosts we have to try to find our own solutions to enforcing house rules and preventing bad behaviour and damages. It's not always easy for sure.
@Huma0 It is winter here which maybe accounts for some of the drop off in bookings but when I see it reflected back at me from other hosts it is too alarming to ignore . Interest rates are going up and a mortgage cannot pay itself especially when we are having to undercut the opposition . I have realised that most other people are barely getting reservations as well. I have another property that I live in and feel that now is the time to chance the market and make some money to renovate my own home. I see all the new hosts turning up , without the first clue. I realise that the guests are pretty clueless too . When we first started hosting it was great , now , not so much .The ' churn ' and hiding listings and lack of support for hosts ,plus extra rules and little recognition of hosts efforts and expertise is just a bit too much. I will be around for a bit but have my fingers crossed. I wish all of the good hosts all the best because if airbnb continue to make it too hard for them then Airbnb will lose. all the best H
It is disheartening to be sure. I feel like I have put years into improving and fine tuning my hosting style as well as my listings only to have been totally shafted by Airbnb. Meanwhile, costs are spiralling. The Summer Release really couldn't have come at a worst time, especially when a lot of hosts were just starting to recover financially from all the COVID related cancellations.
I don't know how it is in your neck of the woods, but here it would make sense to sell a second property as there is huge demand and prices are high, despite all the current economic difficulties . Its not an option for me, this being my primary home and one I have no intention of leaving for the foreseeable future, but I'd certainly be thinking about it if it wasn't.
Keep us posted on how it goes.
@Helen744 wrote:@Huma0 Yes I did take a look at Sudstrungs lovely listing . My comment was a throwaway line about Airs cancellation policies and Sudstrungs adament comment that her 'rule' is "no refunds".I personally am way over the lack of guests , the lack of Airbnbs answers and their crazy rules ,and am in the process of selling. .
oh i must have skimmed this earlier @Helen744 Sorry to hear you are selling, although if you are over it then it might be for the best. I wish you well on your selling process and hope you get a great price for your sweet cottage.
@Gillian166 I hope to out with a bang , the issue has never been the guests , not for me.I could do a long term rental but thats not for me really anymore . It is not an ideal time but I feel the zeitgiest and thats that . Life sometimes pushes us to make decisions and being 'a stick in the mud' was never for me.
@Helen744 wrote:is not an ideal time but I feel the zeitgiest and thats that .
yes, something is happening, or coming, that's why we are selling up here in Qld and moving back to our farm in SA. I just feel more grounded there (even though the weather is not great)
@Gillian166 I think the need to feel safe and for families to be safe is really paramount for lots of people and a type of self sufficiency . Most of my guests were families but now I think families have made another shift which I do not really understand at the moment but I think is based on safety. H
@Sudsrung0 Sorry just saw this . I dont 'mean' anything except that Airbnb have so many rules that your saying that your rule is 'no refunds ' is not likely to fly with all the new rules about cancellations and all the scammers working overtime to get a refund . Your place is gorgeous by the way .