Airbnb is screwing me!

[Donald28]

A guest cancelled and should have only rec'd a 50% refund. I have a strict policy. 22 minutes on the phone with a CSR last week got me no closer to fixing the issue. This morning I rec'd this email and am not happy about it. They're giving me a completely bogus and untrue excuse. Hosts have to agree to offer the flexible cancellation policy. A guest cannot simply "pay more to choose a more flexible cancellation policy". Do they think I am stupid?  What do I do next? 

Airbnb Support9:05 AM

Hey Donald,

This is Jason, a case manager with Airbnb. I wanted to let you know that I'll be taking over this case as of today!

I took a closer look at your case, and the reservation with Donna, and what had happened was that the guest was able to pay more to choose a more flexible cancellation policy. This is a brand-new feature that hasn't been rolled out to 100% of our users just yet.

 

 

HERE IS MY RESPONSE>>>>

9:51 AM

That is NOT true. I never enabled the flexible policy and offered that to my guests. I have always had the strict policy. Also, this guest did not pay more than my nightly rate. I just checked the details of the booking and for 4 guests she paid $178 x 2 + your fees. That's my normal rate. The CSR I spoke with for 22 mins on the phone even did a "snapshot" of the original reservation made by this guest and confirmed that I did NOT have the flexible cancellation policy when she booked and I STILL DO NOT HAVE IT NOW. Airbnb made a mistake in refunding the entire amount to the guest when it should have only refunded 50%. I would appreciate this matter being resolved asap.

[Donald28]

New message & still full of bullcrap! The guest absolutely did not pay more than my  normal rate. I am owed 50% of the $366 reservation. I am so mad that airbnb is trying to screw me out of $183. I am using THEIR strict policy! They set up the criteria and the expectations for hosts and guests when there is a cancellation. I didn't. This is airbnbs mistake and they're simply blowing me off and refusing to follow their own policies! Why do they do this to hosts? I make them a boat load of money every month and they're treating me like this? Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Airbnb Support

9:58 AM

I understand, and I do see that the listing's cancellation policy was set to Strict. However, the guest was able to pay more for this particular reservation and choose the Flexible cancellation policy for this particular reservation. 

This is a new feature currently being rolled out to our guests. We understand that this may be an inconvenience to you, and we do apologize for that. As a Superhost, this definitely can be a frustrating situation to be in, but I can assure you that there wasn't a system issue that allowed this to happen.

[Donald28]

I asked that airbnb call me. I don't have time to email back and forth because I need to clean my STR and get it ready for tonights guests... so airbnb can make even more money off my property and labor. 

Jason calls and tells me the call may be recorded. I tell him that's fine because I am also recording the conversation. He stumbles and finally spits out that he's unable to continue the conversation if I am recording!!! Can you believe it! I told him if he didn't record it, I also wouldn't. He put me on hold (for too long) to find out if he could stop recording, I hung up and emailed him to feel free to call back when he's figured it out and doesn't need to put me on hold. 

He calls back and informs me that the call is recorded. Again, I tell him I too am recording and again he says I must stop recording. I say, I will, if you do. He agrees, I agree and then he continues to lie to me saying this flexible cancellation policy is just being rolled out and my guest paid more to reserve my STR with their flexible policy. I reiterated that airbnb has been trying to get me to opt into this since it started and I have never done so. A guest cannot book my STR and get a flexible cancel policy since I am using airbnb's strict policy. Again, I make him aware of airbnbs own policies but he continues on his speil of how she was able to pay more and booking with the new flexible policy.

I asked him to look at her reservation and tally up what she paid. SHE CLEARLY DID NOT PAY MORE.  And, lets say I did opt into this policy and she DID pay more to be able to cancel and get a full refund. I GOT NO MONEY! Zero dollars.  How would opting into this ridiculous flexible cancellation policy have benefitted me, the host? It would just leave me hanging out on the limb even further with less protection against cancellations!

I'm furious that airbnb is trying to screw me out of $183 measley dollars. Furious. I am so close to listing on all the other STR sites right now. I've been sticking mainly with airbnb because up until this issue, they have been really good to deal with.  @Lizzie  can you help>?

[Donald28]

So, now a supervisor is supposed to call me back within 48 hours. I'm not going to hold my breath. 

[Mark116]

@Donald28  Haha, that is so airbnb!  To totally run a train over the host's settings and policies, offer something to the guest, never have any mechanism to inform the host and then screw the host over this alleged option that they don't even have any evidence the guest ever checked.  

I would keep asking them if they are saying that they overrode your cancellation policy without telling you, this ought to box them in.  How can a guest choose something that is in conflict with the host policy without the host being informed?  Doesn't that mean that 100% of host policies could unknowingly be eliminated by airnb from the guest side?

[Donald28]

Doesn't that mean that 100% of host policies could unknowingly be eliminated by airnb from the guest side?   

EXACTLY MY THOUGHTS! Airbnb can just override any and all of their policies to suit the guests.

"Screw the HOST... We have 800k hosts! We need to keep our guests happy!" 

And the way they're just telling me a made up story about why and how it happened and I'm just supposed to say ...OK nevermind, I  guess I don't deserve that $183 afterall?!

I wonder how many hosts they've screwed like this. I will not accept anything less than what's right and that's the $183 their strict policy says I should have rec'd. 

[Christine615]

Escalate to a manager and keep pushing. If that doesn't work - put the story on social media and tag them. They're headed to an IPO soon and that might get their attention.  Chances are some underling made a mistake and you'll need a supervisor to fix it. If the system "slammed you into a flexible" option - they should pay you.

I was given the option to offer "flexible" for an increased price when I set my listing to strict. I asked "what sense does that make when I'm trying to eliminate the refund for people who tied up my place for months then cancelled at the last minute."

They claim they are getting rid of that test because of host complaints (I think it's host common sense).

Either way, I just switched back to moderate. Got tired of the games Airbnb played. Guests have the option of booking a non-refundable rate for a 10% discount.

[Donald28]

So, my accountant husband just said something about this that I hadn't thought about. If guests are able to "pay more to choose a flexible cancellation policy" isn't that just another way of saying "travel insurance"? 

If the guests DON'T CANCEL, airbnb keeps all this extra money the guests paid IN CASE they had to cancel. Hosts don't get any of it.

That means airbnb is offering travel insurance and is amassing a huge pot of money from this new "flexible cancellation policy". 

Shouldn't airbnb then EAT the costs IF the guests does actually end up cancelling?! Shouldn't airbnb just give us hosts the monies we agreed to when choosing one of their cancellation policies? 

Why should airbnb get to charge a guest more for "insurance", keep all those extra fees AND MAKE ME (the host) SUFFER FINACIALLY WHEN THE GUEST DOES CANCEL?!

That's airbnb having it's cake and eating it too! 

[Donald28]

UPDATE: it took a lot of persistence but I finally got a call from someone (a supervisor maybe?) who said they will indeed be refunding me 50% of the $366 reservation due to their mistake. This if after 3 different airbnb CSR's said NO. They knew I was right but they continued to say NO. I persisted and they realized I wasnt going away and knew their polices well enough to know they were in the wrong. 

They never did actually admit to blatantly trying to rip me off but paying me is close enough I guess. They blamed it on "a new program that isn't rolled out to everyone yet blah blah blah". 

[Donald28]

duplicate post

[Donald28]

EDIT: so far no payout has hit my transaction history or my paypal. The supervisor said I would be getting the 50% but they never sent it. This is just another way to hope I go away without getting paid?!

[Alice595]

@Donald28Stand firm and don't give up!

[Donald28]

EDIT:I called again 2 days ago and talked to some kid (Batfish) in india I presume. After numerous holds, he told me the payout would be coming on 7/4. And it did! I actually LOVE it when a guest cancels because I get a chunk of money and then am usually able to re-rent those days.