Terrible AirBNB Support- Quest Canceled illegally by asking to change Credit Card day before check in

[Linda326]

I need some help as I am on hold again with AirBNB with an open case that is their fault that I keep being told is being looked after by a specialist. It has been weeks and no update. 

AirBNB contacted me the day prior to a guest arriving asking me to allow them to cancel to change credit cards. I expressed my concern this was a plot to cancel. I was assured and have it in email by AirBNB this would not happen and if it did they would take care of it. 

Guess what - they haven't .

Looking for advice or help before this pushes me over the edge to removing listing and trying a different platform. 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Linda326 

Changing credit card would normally imply that the second payment hadn't been made, there is not normally any issue with this whilst keeping the same booking, so why this should affect you is dubious?  

There should be at least 50% deposit already paid, so you want to insist in all of that now, plus the 17% Airbnb service fee - at least, because this is an Airbnb mess up. You will then expect the additional balance in due course. Airbnb should have 84% of total payment from the guest on their initial deposit, so it is only Airbnb who are holding up this amount of payment to you.

The only way you will get this to work in your favour is to persevere. You need to call, speak to a CX colleague and insist on speaking to a supervisor three times to get any action. Keep on it.

[Linda326]

Thanks! What is  CX colleague? I am on hold again... they are stating scaled back staff. Do I initiate the refund or ask them too? And yes I was so shocked I was asked by AirBNB to allow her to cancel and then more shocked they didn't pay the 50% to me which is my policy. Truly

 your guidance! 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Linda326 

No cancellation has happened. Don’t instigate one, if the guest didn’t turn up you should be due a full payment. The credit card fiasco is Airbnb’s problem to sort out for you.

colleague or operator or operative or representative... feel free to add to the list after being on hold to them for a few hours 😉

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Linda326 

Just wondering if you managed to reach a satisfactory conclusion with your calls?

Heres some things I found:

T&C's

9.3 If a Host cancels a confirmed booking, the Guest will receive a full refund of the Total Fees for such booking. In some instances, Airbnb may allow the Guest to apply the refund to a new booking, in which case Airbnb Payments will credit the amount against the Guest’s subsequent booking at the Guest’s direction. Further, Airbnb may publish an automated review on the Listing cancelled by the Host indicating that a booking was cancelled. In addition, Airbnb may (i) keep the calendar for the Listing unavailable or blocked for the dates of the cancelled booking, and/or (ii) impose a cancellation fee, unless the Host has a valid reason for cancelling the booking pursuant to Airbnb’s Extenuating Circumstances Policy or has legitimate concerns about the Guest’s behavior.

So Airbnb have it in their power to transfer the payment from the previous credit card to the new booking.... 

Then, watch out for that bit: Airbnb may publish an automated review on the Listing cancelled by the Host indicating that a booking was cancelled.

[Linda326]

So far after 7 hours of hold times over several days they offered my 50% and wanted to take their AirBNB fees after admitting it was there fault. Should I pursue to get the full amount? I assume they did ? It is really awful to spend such much time on this given my super host status for years.... sigh. And still no email from the agent as promised verifying any of this. I truly feel sorry for the team handling this- it seems they have zero power to truly do the right thing

[Linda326]

It took a LOT of patience and persistence. I was told no more then once and finally it was corrected... I received the cancelation amount per my policy. Almost 6 weeks later

[Sarah977]

@Linda326  I never call Airbnb. I can't imagine subjecting myself to 7 hours of hold time. I always message them, instead. Then I can go about my day and check to see if they've responded when it's convenient for me.

[Linda326]

@Sarah977  I tried that and got nothing back for 6 days. Is there a limit on how long you would wait? I didn't do 7 hours all at once- trust me! But that is the total it has been and still no resolution 

[Sarah977]

@Linda326  I wasn't imagining that those 7 hours were on one call. But still, it's an outrageous amount of time to be left waiting. 

I have always had pretty prompt replies from CS messages. Sometimes it takes a few days to get it resolved, but I always get at least some kind of answer within a half hour or so, even if it's just along the lines of "Okay, I'm working on it. I may not get get back to you for a couple days, because I have 2 days off starting tomorrow."

But I also haven't needed to contact them since they let 1900 employees go 🙂

I've found there is also a bit of an art to getting quick responses- you have to state your issue in as concise and simple a way as possible. Bullet point form, short sentences, in chronological order of the issue. Long paragraphs don't work. I'm sure they shuffle the easy to read messages to the top of their pile and the long, complicated ones to the bottom. Assume you are speaking to someone who is not fluent in English, which is actually often the case with Airbnb CS, and also that they have a huge workload.

[Linda326]

@Sarah977 Yes, ty for the context. Historically a day or so, but the lack of staff is truly causing huge issues  on top of COVID travel issues 

I tried to blunt- after my 5th unacknowledged email to include "I want a response or I will want to explore closing my listing" I gave up and came here and called again.

I will let you and the community know if it ever is......... 

Thanks for the tips and for allowing my venting! 

[Helen350]

@Malcolm153 - Good advice on dealing with customer services from @Sarah977  here!

[Linda326]

Sarah- it took 4 weeks and persistence as I was told no more then once but FINALLY it was escalated to someone who actually understood it was not my fault. Lesson learned- if someone asks you to do something from AirBNB support that doesn't seem right say no....huge opportunity for training here

[Linda326]

I am STILL waiting. They claim my claim was transferred and I had to sit in the line again? They did admit it was their fault and promised an email to resolve and nothing. Now if I call I get a dispatch who can't transfer me..... anyone have any ideas or do they really not care? The dispatch said its the way it is so deal with it essentially and I find this all appalling. 

[Debra300]

@Linda326,

I highly recommend not putting all of your eggs in one basket, and concurrently listing your space on multiple platforms.  To help avoid double-bookings, they all have the ability to link calendars across platforms, but there may be a few hours delay with syncing.  You may want to use a channel manager service to make sure that calendar changes are done in real-time across all calendars.