Hi,
I am a host and a traveller with Airbnb since 2014.
I have hosted over 25 guests and am proud to have an excellent service record.
Recently, after a long search, I booked a trip to Sicily.
The place looked great - and after our booking was accepted, I let my in-laws and friends know that my family and I would be staying there over the summer. They had started to look and make similar plans when, two weeks later, the host for the property contacted us to let us know that the property was actually not available, and asked us - rather rudely - to cancel the reservation.
When I asked the host to cancel, he refused, explaining that it would be free for us to cancel, and that otherwise our money would not be refunded.
I felt this was unfair, but after a long search I realised that Airbnb places a financial penaly on hosts for cancelling (which is logical), but does not offer guests any kind of indemnity for host cancellation. What's more, there was no way for me to contact Airbnb to inform them of poor host behaviour. Airbnb must not care how hosts behave, and even wants to protect bad hosts from having a bad reputation visible to travellers!
As a host within the community, I find this depressing.
I am proud to be an independent house owner and host, and value having guests who take attention in how they interact with hosts and their properties.
In order to secure growth of its own revenues and profits, Airbnb has included large agencies (like the one I recently had to cancel with) who behave badly, and has cut down on customer support. Over time, these bad hosts will give Airbnb a bad name, drive lower prices and attract customers who expect nothing more than cheap accomodation, and become used to poor standards.
I would like to know if other hosts/travellers have had similar experiences, and if you (anyone out there?) have noticed similar closure of channels of communication with Airbnb?
Of course, if Airbnb is reading this, I invite you to contact me and let me know what you are doing about this issue - or indeed if this clearly defined corporate strategy is going to be "reviewed" to return to the older, more transparent and well supported system.
Thanks community.