Not my fault!

[Raya9]

In March, through no fault of my own, two bookings were allowed through for my room on the same date. Bizarrely both clients had the same name so I did not realise what had happened. 

I was at hospital with my father when they both turned up at my house at the same time. The panic that ensued meant that I had to quickly contact AirBnB by phone to try to work through the chaos they had caused due to ‘app maintenance’. I used a number that was on their Internet site but did not realise it was not toll free. This resulted in my being charged for the calls the America. 

I have asked AirBnB to contribute to these costs as a gesture of goodwill as the whole situation was caused by them. They have totally refused which means that I have lost the revenue from that booking as that was how much the calls came to. 

I am deeply disappointed with this treatment as I have been a consistent host and they have earned from my bookings. They were responsible for this mess but have completely refused to accept culpability by helping me out and showing a bit of compassion. 

Thoughts????

[Ana1136]

@Raya9 I don't think that there is any reason for them to pay you nor have I heard that they have payed to anyone. That is the cost of running a business. It is your responsibility to search for the phone number in your country and you are responsible for that payment too. I am sorry that this happened but they didn't force you to call them on that number and spend all that money. I understand that you were stressed but they don't care about that. Many guests are stressed when they want to cancel on us last minute but we only care about our business and we don't give them a refund, same with Airbnb. They are not the only ones responsible, I understand that there was some glitch in the app that allowed two bookings for the same time but you also should have a closer look on your reservations. Did you have the same correspondence with both of them? At least their responses should br different, you must have found that weird. I am not saying it was all your fault but we are responsible for our actions and you should take responsibility for tge call as Airbnb took responsibility for their mistake and relocated one of the guests. 

[Raya9]

Thank you so much for your thoughts.

The two bookings were from women with the same name, both had a husband and two children and both were planning mountain walking. I was corresponding with them via the reply feature on my email rather than the inbox so had not realised they were two different people as their messages were virtually identical. It was a freakish series of coincidences. 

AirBnB took no responsibility for their mistake and left me to try to sort it out from the hospital. One of the ladies ended up going home. 

I understand what you are saying about taking responsibility as a host but there was no indication that the number that was on their website was not toll free and I had hoped that they might help out as the whole situation was out of my control. 

Perhaps it’s time for me to chalk this up to experience but I have felt let down by AirBnB. 

[Emilia42]

@Raya9 

What are the chances that two people with the exact same name booked your home for the same exact day at the same time that there was 'app maintenance?' What did Airbnb do so solve that problem?

[Raya9]

I offered to make up my own room for one of them but I had to ask AirBnB  to refund one of the  ladies once she had volunteered to go home. They were not particularly proactive about resolving the situation. 

[Sarah977]

@Raya9  I was penalized on acceptance rate because of an Airbnb glitch where they stopped sending me my text alerts. So I missed responding to a booking request within the 24 hours, and even though I did respond in 25 hours, and the guest continued on to book, and it wasn't my inattention, but due to an Airbnb tech issue, they wouldn't remove the ding on acceptance rate. So forget them reimbursing you for a phone call.

Like @Ana1136,  I don't quite understand how you wouldn't have noticed that these were two separate reservations, even though the guests had the same name. The dates for the bookings were exactly the same? You didn't have check-in or other correspondence with both of them? They didn't have different profile photos? Seems odd.

[Raya9]

Both were brand new accounts created within ten minutes of one another. Neither had a profile picture. I told you it was freaky but I do accept responsibility for not using the inbox. 

[Helen3]

Hello @Raya9 

I am sorry this happened but as a superhost you are sent the UK phone number when your superhost status is confirmed.

It is also available on this community forum and it is available under Airbnb Help centre, so there is no reason you shouldn't have this number stored in your phone.

I can't see why Airbnb should be liable for the fact you called the wrong number.

There was no reason for you to think their US number was toll free.

[Raya9 · Accepted solution]

There are two numbers that are nearly identical, one toll free, one not. 

I fully understand that it was my responsibility to check which one was which but the situation was extremely stressful as both ladies were standing in my house with their families and I was 60 miles away. 

[Raya9]

Both were brand new accounts created within ten minutes of one another. Neither had a profile picture. I told you it was freaky but I do accept responsibility for not using the inbox. 

Thank you you for your time and consideration. I can see that I overreacted as I found the situation distressing. I will endeavour to put the toll free number on my phone for future use. 

[Raya9]

I’m making a complete hash of posting on here. 

Thank you you for your time and consideration. I can see that I overreacted as I found the situation distressing. I will endeavour to put the toll free number on my phone for future use.