South Korea Cancellation Policy

South Korea Cancellation Policy

From other posts on this forum, it is obvious that I am not the only host who has been scammed by someone saying they are from South Korea.

 

I accepted a reservation from someone who said they were from South Korea and then it was cancelled at the last minute as the guest said they were "too busy." The guest got a refund despite my cancellation policy (no refund so close to the arrival date). I was not able to re-rent my property on such short notice (but did have to pay my cleaning lady as she had reserved the time for me). After investigating, it turns out that the guest was not from South Korea, was not South Korean by nationality (but rather, German) AND did NOT live in South Korea but in San Jose, CA. Once that was proven to Airbnb, they still did not agree to reimburse me for the full amount of the cancelled booking.   It was days, weeks, and months of back-and-forth with the Airbnb staff who were not helpful - just quoting the policy and saying there was nothing they could do.   I asked several times for a full reimbursement and Airbnb refused.

So, to be safe, I will no longer accept any reservations from South Korea unless the guest agrees to MY cancellation policy. It is a shame that Airbnb does not require updated documentation on an annual basis from guests who claim to be residents of South Korea before granting them this cancellation privilege. As a result of not monitoring this policy for compliance, Airbnb is actually forcing hosts into a position where nationality plays a factor in accepting a reservation – yes, a form of discrimination. And that just makes me very sad.

 

P.S. By the way, the guest's profile now says he is from San Jose so at least one untruth was corrected and hopefully he cannot scam another host.

13 Replies 13

@Bill-And-Helen0  When the guest sent their original inquiry or request, did Airbnb display the pop-up below? :

Andrew0_0-1611618057625.png

 

And did  you at least receive the 50% payout that the modified policy promised?

 

Airbnb has been known to overcorrect a bit when they're trying to make an aggressive push into a market with different consumer-protection laws - probably because of how they're routing the transaction. There should have been some effort on their part to convey the modified cancellation policy before you had a confirmed booking, and it seems crazy that users can just change the country in their profile to get different results. 

 

Honestly though, I don't think there's a way you can extract an agreement from a guest in your correspondence that supersedes the policy Airbnb has chosen to apply. As long as they're holding the money, the host has no real power in the payout process.

 

And it would indeed be a shame if actual South Korean guests are getting declined because of this. One of my all-time favorite visitors was from Seoul, I'll never forget the beautiful bulgogi she cooked for us.

Yes, I did get the pop-up box but the reservation was in the midst of COVID and I thought it was related to that.  Of course if someone could not complete their reservation due to COVID, I would agree to a refund.

 

My complaint is that Airbnb agreed to a policy to gain business in another country and then made no effort to monitor the policy for compliance. Nor did they establish any controls to ensure the policy was not abused.  This guest was clearly abusing this policy and yet it was the host that was penalized, not the guest.  When the guest admitted he was not from Korea, there were no consequences for the guest.  That is not fair.

 

In addition, the Airbnb staff that were communicating with me used numerous delay tactics - perhaps hoping I would forget the entire matter.

 

I will simply not be accepting reservations from South Korea until Airbnb provides assurance that they are checking for proper documentation from each guest before booking.

 

Helen

@Bill-And-Helen0 Well, it appears that there were consequences for the guest, as you say he has changed his stated residence to San Jose. So I would assume Airbnb told him to do this or get booted off the platform.

 

Unfortunately, that isn't a consequence that does you any good.

 

 This sounds like one if those issues where the rep who was handling the case made a bad decision and if you had lucked out in getting a better rep might have been paid in full.

@Bill-And-Helen0  Yeah, that's a pretty big loophole that they carelessly left open, and you're right to expose it. I think you'll find that Airbnb demand a lot of documentation when they're the ones losing money (like in a Host Guarantee claim) but not when the host absorbs the loss.

 

Also, while I can see the potential for fraud in the country settings, it's probably a hard thing to police. There are a lot of people out there with mixed nationality or transient residence - I've lived and worked in 6 countries over the last 20 years and I've created user accounts and bureaucratic entanglements in all of them. Given that Airbnb is a product designed for travel, it's not unusual that people are away from their country of origin and legal residency when they activate their accounts. Any standard that aimed to authenticate the home country a user claimed to reside in would likely do more harm than good, as it would render the site unusable for millions of people whose nationality and residence status is complicated for legitimate reasons.

 

I think you're within your right to decline a booking when Airbnb alerts you that it modifies your cancellation policy setting. Just be careful not to make any statement that sounds like you're discriminating against the nationality.

Good advice.  Thank you.  It is not my intention to discriminate.  I just want to offer guests from South Korea exactly what I offer everyone else.  Not anything more.  That is reverse discrimination and Airbnb is supporting it.

 

Helen

@Bill-And-Helen0  Similar to the reverse discrimination inherent in their Service Animal policy. Can't refuse a disabled guest with their service dog, even if it entails hours of animal hair removal and could result in having the following guest cancel because they have severe allergies, or you want to offer an allergy-free listing, which many guests are looking for.

@Sarah977  .... you can't refuse service or so-called emotional support dog..... and you can't charge a dog fee to them..... and ABB doesn't cover the damage caused by the dog.

Don't you just LOVE Airbnb?

 

@Branka-and-Silvia0  And the cover photo for Pet Friendly cetegory is a dog in bed on the white duvet. Just in case a dog owning guest felt it would be disrespectful to let the dog on the white bedding, Airbnb wants to assure them that that is exactly where the dog should hang out.

@Sarah977  haha oh yes, I remember this photo, how could I forget it=? 😄

Ana1693
Level 3
Miami, FL

Today, I found out I want to be !!!South Korean!!! while travelling with Airbnb. Because I will get a special VIP treatment just simply based on my country of origin. I will get a 30 day cancellation grace period, instead of 48h like everyone else in the world.  How is even possible that Airbnb owners are accepting this?.  I am truly concerned about this discriminatory approach towards non-South Korean guests, so  I am going to keep investigating to find out if Airbnb's legal team is at least sensing that this is a nonsense with huge potential to become a democratic disaster within the Airbnb community. This Airbnb decision is in essence discriminatory in two ways. How do you think I feel about being non-South Korean, and having a different treatment when it comes to respect hosts cancellation policies? Secondly, how do you think I will feel about accepting reservations from South Koreans moving forward?

 

I am a US citizen, originally born in Spain. I am  a Miami-based host since  the beginning of Airbnb's existence. The majority of the time, I feel very lucky to have a business partner like Airbnb. But today I feel cheated, abused by the power of the giant, and discriminated for being non-South Korean. Today, it was the first time that a South Korean guest of me cancels, and gets a full refund (despite the fact I have a strict cancellation policy).

I did not receive any "warning" or pop-up message informing me that this South Korean guest has a VIP 30 day cancellation policy, that overrides my " strict cancellation" policy. I did not accept anything electronically, except for the reservation itself. If I had received that 30 day pop-up notice, I would have declined it in a heartbeat.  Why would I accept a 30 day cancellation policy guest when my cancellation is strict? It does not make sense. 

I contacted Airbnb customer service to request the 50% refund I was entitled. And for the first time I heard about the South Korean special treatment. Wait a minute!  I live in Miami. The reservation is for a US stay. How do you apply a South Korean policy here in the land of freedom and equality? The Airbnb ambassadors keep repeating the same song (They are super sweet, though). But the problem is that I did not receive any pop-up message, I did not accept this special policy for this South Korean VIP guest,  I did not click on any link, and did not authorize the full refund.

So.... I am requesting electronic proof that I truly received this pop-up message, and that I electronically click on the ACCEPT bottom.  If Airbnb ambassadors can provide this proof, my mistake! I will drop my claim. But if they don't, I am going to keep asking them to honor my cancellation policy. 

Last thing they told me is that they can not do that. They claimed they do not have the means to send me any digital proof besides the reservation acceptance itself, of course.

Can someone out there (inside or outside Airbnb, hosts who experienced similar cases, IT geniuses of the world, virtual investigators, anyone... ) send me some insight if my request of receiving digital proof of my "electronical acceptance" (of this VIP South Korean 30 day cancellation policy) is feasible? Is it reasonable?

Thanks so much in advance. 

Ana "from Spain, US citizen, unfortunately not South-Korean while traveling with Airbnb"

Branka-and-Silvia0
Level 10
Zagreb, Croatia

@Anonymous 

This is the first time I've heard about S. Korean cancellation policy... but wasn't something with Chinese cancellations as well? Even before Covid drama*?

@Branka-and-Silvia0 

 

The SK cancellation policy has been active for some years, and it tends to make one think twice before accepting.

 

I don't recall a Chinese equivalent because I never had to think twice! 

@Ana1693 

 

Dear Ana -

 

Please let me know if you have any success in getting a refund from Airbnb on this issue.  I tried for months and was not successful, even though the guest in my situation was from San Jose, CA and NOT South Korea.  

 

Evidently, you can live anywhere but register as being from "South Korea" so you can take advantage of the "free" cancellation policy.

 

All Airbnb hosts need to be made aware of this so they know the situation before they accept a booking from South Korea.  

 

If enough hosts decline bookings for this reason, it might result in change.

 

Helen