I had a reservation for 2 weeks for 2 individuals for the 2 beds in my private room. The reservation was made less than one week before the reservation, and I have a strict cancellation policy.
Two days before they were to arrive, I got a message from them saying that I was too far from where they needed to be and they'd need to cancel. I told them they'd need to cancel through the site. They did, and asked me if I'd work with them about getting more than just the cleaning fee back. I told them I'd work with them, but 100% refund wasn't possible.
The next thing I knew (and only because I saw it on my site) was that 100% of their fee had been refunded. I immediately called Airbnb.
Naturally, the person at the first level couldn't give me any concrete answer. My case was escalated up to the Resolutions Department. I was appalled that Airbnb would refund to my guest—without consulting me. Airbnb said that the guest told them they'd been in contact with Covid—but that's NOT what they told me. They told me my location was inconvenient, which is by no means any type of extenuating circumstances. This information is in the Airbnb message platform, but Airbnb insists they're "following protocol" in refunding my guest. They've yet to talk to me or show me just where they get the authority to take money out of my pocket.
I had to call Airbnb nearly a dozen times to find out who was handling my case. Naturally, the Resolutions Department cannot be contacted by us. They PROMISED they would call me back. THEY NEVER DID (no company I've ever dealt with has ever called me back - ever!). All they ever did was text me with they're cookie-cutter answer.
They're attitude is apparently that they can take us all for granted, now that they're the largest provider of guest spaces in the world. Well, they wouldn't be anything without their hosts.
I'd be interested to hear other stories from other hosts concerning Airbnb's arrogance.
