Airbnb shirking its responsibilities again...

[Donald28]

A family of four showed up in my driveway for a 2.5 hour experience at my home. It turns out that airbnb had cancelled their reservation for whatever reason but didn't communicate that properly with the guest. 

I let the family of 4 enjoy the experience in my arcade and told them we'd figure out payment later. The kids sad eyes wouldn't allow me to turn them away. 

I didn't get paid by the guest so I complain to airbnb and ask for the guests info so I can attempt to get paid on my own. They FINALLY give it to me and I text and email the guest BUT I get no response. 

I ask airbnb to pay me. Josh a supervisor at airbnb tells me... 

It is your responsibility as the host to ensure you have a confirmed booking before hosting any guest.

While I agree with this premise... isn't it airbnb's responsibility to get a PAID reservation BEFORE giving out my address?

Who is at fault here? Me or Airbnb? 

Don't give out my freaking address unless you have a PAID reservation... right? And, if you do give out my address without getting a paid reservation AND you cancel the reservation AND the guest doesn't pay me directly... then YOU AIRBNB SHOULD PAY ME. Right? 

[David-Erik0]

While I agree with this premise... isn't it airbnb's responsibility to get a PAID reservation BEFORE giving out my address?

AirBnB like other platforms, will block the amount and will release it ideally 24h later as payout to the host, if the reservation was cancelled, the payment was released back to the buyer. 

Who is at fault here? Me or Airbnb? 

You, however remains clear why the reservation was cancelled as I doubt it was cancelled by AirBnB, unless:
- the guest didn't provide a method of payment within 24h from the bkg
- the payment was partial due lack of funds and the guest didn't provide to pay the rest.

in both cases you are notified via email and it shows up in the UI

Don't give out my freaking address unless you have a PAID reservation... right?

AirBnB block the amount and place itself as trusted guarantor between guest and host, such position cease when AirBnB process the payout the day after the checkin, as consequence the address need to be disclosed to the guest, otherwise how could reach you.

I would say that first you should find who cancelled, and if AirBnB why, this would be something. 
However nothing can remove the fact that you knew the contract was cancelled and so guest didn't have anymore a legal obligation in your regards according to the AirBnB T&C.

[Donald28]

Airbnb cancelled the experience reservation at 10:09am... 51 minutes before the experience was supposed to start ...at 11am! The 4 guests were already on their way to my home (an hour drive from their home) when airbnb cancelled their reservation via email. They obviously had no idea. I rec'd the cancel email at 10:09am as I expect the guest did too. 

It was cancelled because the 1st time guest couldn't get through the lengthy difficult verification process. If you search this problem you will see many many threads about people having the same issues of not being able to be verified with their id. 

Airbnb blindsided me and then claimed it was all my fault. 

[Sarah977]

@Donald28  If this was just about them not being able to get through the verification process, then why did the guests not just pay you directly, since you said you had allowed them to use the arcade so as not to disappoint the kids, telling them you'd work out the payment later. If they were appreciative, honest people, rather than scammers, why don't you just call them and make some personal payment arrangement or why didn't they just pay you before they left?

I'm not excusing Airbnb's abyssmal behavior here, just wondering why you didn't work it out privately with these folks rather than go the frustrating route of dealing with Airbnb?

[Donald28]

The guest did try to send me the money via paypal when he was here BUT he screwed up my email address when making the payment so I never rec'd the funds. And since airbnb cancelled his reservation, I had absolutely no info about the guest other than his first name and he had mentioned what town he lived in. I don't check id's. They were long gone by the time I realized the paypal payment didn't go through. I had no way of contacting him to ask about confirming the paypal payment. 

When I contacted airbnb asking for his info, I explained the situation to the low level CSR and he said NO WAY and insinuated that I got what I deserved by trying to accept payment outside of airbnb.  I requested a supervisor call back and he understood the situation better and did finally give me the guests info (after asking the guest if it was ok).

Josh the supervisor, did still tell me... "It is your responsibility as the host to ensure you have a confirmed booking before hosting any guest."

I suggested it was THEIR fault for cancelling a reservation 51 minutes before the experience was scheduled to start. In doing that they dumped an unpaid family of 4 in my driveway and leaving me to deal with that awkward situation.

Airbnb should NOT be giving out a hosts address until the reservation is confirmed & payment is 100% secured. 

[Alison416]

Because we trust Airbnb. Maybe we shouldn’t. You have not had a problem so far, but wait until you do and you expect Airbnb to have you back. I have been with them for 12 years and was shocked when I had my first problem 3 years ago.

[Mark116]

@Donald28   You should have gotten payment at the time of the experience, since you already knew that airbnb had cancelled them and airbnb pretty much only cancels anyone or anything because of failure to get $$.  You could have gotten cash or made sure you had received a paypal payment.  So, I think this is your fault, it would have been a nice gesture for airbnb to compensate you, but you should not have provided the services w/out any payment, that was asking for trouble.

[Donald28]

Mark you're missing the fact that I THOUGHT I HAD REC'D PAYMENT at the time they were here BUT... the guest entered my paypal email address incorrectly SO... the payment didn't go through. Then they left. Only after they left did I realize I got no paypal payment. Of course then I had no info about the guests so I could not contact them. 

Anyway... it has been worked out. The guest misspelled my email address in the paypal payment, realized his error AFTER i was finally able to contact him AND he resent the payment to the correct address. I am whole (I rec'd $144) but airbnb lost their 20% and a customer due to the ridiculously difficult signup and verification process. 

[Donald28]

Do you hosts not agree that airbnb should only give out our addresses AFTER they have a confirmed booking and have been paid? Even though I screwed up 3 or 4 times on this, my 1st airbnb experience... I still feel like it is 100% airbnbs fault for giving out my address before getting a confirmed booking and payment. 

[Sarah977 · Accepted solution]

@Donald28  Yes, I definitely agree that it's the height of irresponsibility to give out a host's address until the reservation has been paid. Airbnb loves to withhold information claiming it's a trust, safety or privacy issue, yet they give out your address to some stranger whose payment has failed? I guesss it's only guest's privacy that's important.

BTW, I always write down a guest's phone number as soon as the booking is confirmed, in case Airbnb disappears it, as happened to you.

Glad to hear the guests were honest people and you actually got paid.

[Donald28]

It was odd but the booking was never confirmed. I didn't even get an email saying those 4 people were coming. I got an email saying 6 people were coming... with first names only of each guest. I knew about the 2 guests. They had prepaid and done it all right. It was the 4 guests that I did not get notified about until the cancellation email ...51 mins before the start of the experience.

I wish there was a way to opt out of instant book for experiences like we can for our regular airbnb. I'd like to have a chance to get some info about guests expectations, message them and make sure payment has been made BEFORE they just show up at my home. But airbnb says nope. It's all instant book in the experience part of the site. 

[Donald28]

It just says 6 guests are coming but not who they are or any phone numbers. 

Airbnb	Fri, Sep 13, 12:15 PM (13 days ago)
to me           Your experience is in 1 dayHere’s a list of everyone coming to Your Own Retro ARCADE for 2.5 Hours! on September 14 at 11:00 AM.Since you’ve set your preferences so that guests can book up to 1 hour before the experience starts, you may get more bookings.Say hi to your guests and make sure they’re ready for your experience.Your Own Retro ARCADE for 2.5 Hours!September 14Total guests6 Guests

[Donald28]

	Sat, Sep 14, 10:09 AM (12 days ago)
to me           Hi Donald,Unfortunately, we had to cancel Scott’s reservation for Your Own Retro ARCADE for 2.5 Hours! on Sep 14, 2019.Scott didn’t complete the verification process within 3 days of booking. We do this so that everyone in the Airbnb community can travel and host with more confidence.No payout will be issued for this reservation. If it’s still within the timeframe you’ve allowed guests to book, we opened up those spots to other guests.

[Alison416]

It seems so many are blaming you for this situation. I have been with Airbnb as a host for 12 years. Three years ago I have my first problem. I always believed Airbnb had my back. I was sadly mistaken.

I am sorry you had this happen and even more sorry at how the Airbnb community is not supporting you. 

I guess until they need airbnb to back them they will not understand they do not.

Its a shock to learn. I totally trusted them to have my back. I have $5000 in damages, with photos and receipts and airbnb did nothing and I received a bad review loosing my super host rating on that listing, I have 6.