Beware...Extenuating Circumstances Applied for "No SHOW" Without cancellation...

[Zappa0]

Hey guys- 

Just wanted to share the latest extenuating circumstance drama. I'll skip the nitty gritty details of this and cut to the chase: Airbnb violated their own terms and service.

A guest never cancelled their reservation and did not stay. They then called Airbnb a few days later  (after their reservation ended) to cancel based on extenuating circumstances, and Airbnb messaged me telling me they would be refunding them (when a payout for this was already sent to my account). 

I argued this under the following. Per Airbnb's own terms and service, a reservation is not cancelled until the guest officially presses the cancellation button.  

This then allows the host to have a shot at rebooking by clearing the calendar. The Airbnb representative kept telling me that the extenuating circumstance policy applied because they showed documentation. I kept arguing that per the extenuating circumstance to apply in airbnb's own T&C the guest has to actually cancel the reservation. Back and forth with this. I kept telling them they were violating their own T&C and that this was not a cancellation but a "No Show."

One Month Later and constant messages, I finally was reissued the payment for the nightly rate of the reservation, but they told me that the cleaning fee could only come in the form of a credit. Tried of fighting this, I finally agreed to the cleaning fee as a travel credit. 

This entire issue should raise some concerns for hosts for many reasons.

1. My reservation was for one night. But what if it was a week? Two? This is a huge amount of money that Airbnb can now try and take because of a "No Show." 

2. What is the time limit on this? Can guests call two months after their "no show" and claim that they had an extenuating circumstance? 

I can only hope that this was an isolated incident but I have a feeling that other representatives will try to pull the same thing. Beware hosts!!

This is really bad business for Airbnb. 

In other news, yesterday I had a guest who didn't want to come because it might rain (it didn't..) and try and pitch airbnb for a full refund. Airbnb messaged me a negative statement saying " I know this is an isolated case and it does not define who you are as a Host," and asked me to give them a full refund. As if sticking to my cancellation policy makes me a bad host. Good grief...this is getting to me ridiculous. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Zappa0 

I just wonder if they treat hotels the same way ? I doubt.

[Zappa0]

Valid point....

[Flavia195]

@Zappa0 Good to know. Thanks for sharing.

[Kira32]

Hi@Zappa0 

Thanks for sharing. I've too been in situations like this like I'm the bad guy because airbnb and the guest try to convince to cancel a reservation. (Meanwhile Airbnb still holds on to their own agency fee).  Guess I'm the loser.....

[Kelly149]

yep, EC can be applied at any time, for any amount, for any reason... one of the reasons why ABB is not my top platform choice

[Helen-And-Mario0]

Kelly, could you share what other platform you are using? and pros and cons? Much appreciate. 

[Shauna28]

@Zappa0 Just curious if you made attempts to contact guest when they didn't show?

[Rich-and-Yan0]

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing. I think that if you had a paper trail of notes on the Airbnb platform, your case for not granting a reimbursement would be a lot stronger. 

[Zappa0]

I always try and contact the guest if I don't hear from them. 

[Alice595]

@Zappa0  You wrote:

In other news, yesterday I had a guest who didn't want to come because it might rain (it didn't..) and try and pitch airbnb for a full refund. Airbnb messaged me a negative statement saying " I know this is an isolated case and it does not define who you are as a Host," and asked me to give them a full refund. As if sticking to my cancellation policy makes me a bad host. Good grief...this is getting to me ridiculous. 

I had a very bad experience with a guest who called Airbnb in one hour and canceled in two hours after checkin because he claimed that house temperature was too high. At the time he claimed, the temperature was 71 F. Below is the thread I posted.

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Guest-wanted-to-cancel-due-to-temperature-and-got-full-r...

In this case, Airbnb called me and told me that the guest wanted to cancel and asked me if I would give a full refund. I have a strict cancellation policy. If I insisted on the policy, the guest would not have gotten any refund. He booked for two nights. But I told Airbnb to provide the second night refund. 

But the guest was furious and sent me abusive messages because Airbnb told him that I only refund him the second night instead of both nights. If Airbnb sticked with my cancellation policy and took the responsibility, the guest would have not put blame on me. I started thinking why I refunded the unused night to an unreasonable guest like him. 

Later Airbnb kicked the guest out by deactivating the guest account even though Airbnb refunded him full amount. Airbnb still paid me the first night fee and cleaning fee which I deserve.

[Rich-and-Yan0]

Thanks for sharing. In general, a pretty good ending (i.e. the guest being kicked off the site) to a crappy situation. 

[Lawrene0]

Same, @Zappa0 ! Dealing with a combo of yours right now. Guest who does not cancel, does not show, thought it might rain (but it did not rain), wants extenuating circumstances, sends x-ray to me (why? why not CS?) that I reverse-image and find to be a stock image, but, okay, just cancel already! Argh! 

Well done on your fight, and thanks for posting. It is encouraging.

[Zappa0]

@Lawrene0 a stock image??? Wow. We shouldn't have to fight for sticking to a cancellation policy. Airbnb created them for hosts for a reason. 

This is my last season with airbnb. Closing down and trying something new with hipcamp

[Thomas1033]

Yvonna (cohost) here.  Had a minor issue with a guest this past week.  Let their little kids run above our place until 145am. Gave us 4 stars because he said he had to keep his kids quiet and follow house rules after I messaged him next evening on 2.5 hours of sleep and I was extremely nice about it too.  Gave them an honest review however. Airbnb would have given them a full refund if we had run across the roof over their head.  Only noise issues have been with foreign born guests with small children who must not have North American Bed times.  Our answer is to no longer host children under 12.  This also solves them problem of guests booking over max occupancy with “free”. Infants (some of which look to be 3 yrs old).   Bye bye baby and child amenities and hello new level of comfort not having to wonder what level of extra cleaning I’ll get with the tots.  Note the most recent guests with tots were clean just extremely noisy with even the parents stomping on the floors. Ahh Airbnb I like you but I do not love you.  I feel our relationship is on a downward slide.