Sorry this is a bit verbose, but am trying to paint a complete picture for all concerned.
I am fairly new to AirBnB, but take the responsibility of hosting, and making my guests feel welcome and at home are of paramount importance to me, and we truly care for our guests like family, and we REALLY go the extra mile.
My condo was already listed on AirBnB (unbeknownst to me at the time) by the management company that I hired to rent out and see to the property, but was very unhappy with their "fees" that kept popping up, and the way in which they listed it; a woefully incomplete and poorly written "write up," the terrible photos, insufficient cleaning, etc, but they were unwilling to make any changes to "their system that has worked for 14 years," but in the meantime, I wasn't getting so much as an inquiry from them. So I advised them that March would be our final month of engagement with them (best decision I have ever made) and decided to list on AirBnB, and see what I could do on my own.
The first time that I posted my condo on AirBnB (have never used AirBnB before), it was 11 at night, and I was sort of working my way through the process for the first time. My neighbor had just called me, and asked to book the condo for the first three weeks in March, which I of course said yes to, but as I was still under engagement to the management firm, so I let him know that the rental would have to go through them, but he could most definitely have the condo for Feb 28th through March 21. Assuming that I would figure out how to work this into AirBnB myself, or hand it over to the management co in the morning, I went to bed, and (much to my surprise) woke up to 4 bookings by 7am. I was able to accommodate all but one, as it took place while my neighbors guests had the condo. I immediately let the prospective guest know that I was terribly sorry, but being brand new to AirBnB, I had a bit of a mishap, and was unable to accommodate her, and then almost immediately, I received the following automated review:
Public feedback
The host canceled this reservation 19 days before arrival. This is an automated posting.
Further, I was advised that as a penalization, I would not be able to achieve "SuperHost" status for one year. This, in my view, is WAY overly punitive, especially given the circumstances.
I immediately posted the following public response:
Public response
As I (very apologetically) wrote to Carol, the prospective renter, I am BRAND new to AirBnB, and feel terrible about this. I listed my property for the very first time at 11PM the night before, and had already taken a booking for March from my neighbor, but failed to update the calendar properly (aka learning curve), not to mention that I never expected to wake up to 4 rentals the following morning, not nine hours later. I offered compensation of food, wine, and a free night if
she had any flexibility in her dates
I am a guy that plays by the rules. For instance, once I took over management of my own condo, the gentleman that rented it for the first three weeks of March, but rented it thru the Management company, THEY, despite listing on AirBnB, and charging me fees for advertising maintenance, took the rental "on the side" and didn;t do it thru AirBnB. At the end of this gentleman's rental (it was agreed with the management co that we would amicably part ways at the end of the aforementioned three-week rental), the guest asked me if he could extend for a day. He said that he would be happy to just pay me directly, but I informed him that the condo was listed on AirBnB, so I really needed him to book the day ON AirBnB. I made him a special offer of $50 for the extension in consideration of the fact that he had rented the place for three weeks, and also for his trouble in having to JOIN AirBnB, as well as BOOK on AirBnB, all for one day. My point is simply this; I play it straight and by the rules.
Since beginning (with my OWN listing) on AirBnB, my condo has been continuously rented, have a check out tomorrow, and a check in on Monday, am booked most of April, half of May, almost all of June, and ten days in July, so between my listing quality, and AirBnB's reputation and exposure, I am really happy with the way things are going, but truly feel that suspending my ability to achieve SH status is wrong. I now have an "AirBnB Mentor," that has several properties, and early on, he had a similar situation with AirBnB, so he plead his case, but they refused to rescind the penalty, so he pulled his listings, and went to VRBO, and several other like services. He is back on AirBnB, but still lists on VRBO, and several others, so because of AirBnB's inflexible and (IMHO) overly punitive penalties, they are losing not only revenue (this gentleman tells me that approximately 40% of his bookings come thru AirBnB now, the other 60% comes collectively thru other channels.
At any rate, before I go spreading my eggs into other baskets (I certainly won't leave AirBnB, as I am pretty happy with them overall), like VRBO, and the rest, in light of the circumstances that I have outlined, do I have ANY shot at getting this penalty rescinded ? If so, might anyone have a suggestion as to how to make this happen ?
Thanks for your time, have a Blessed weekend !
Tim
