AIRBNB support

Kathy502
Level 2
Taupō, New Zealand

AIRBNB support

 Please see below an email conversation I have had with airbnb support.  I would like to know if other hosts would be dissapointed by the response I have received.  I appreciate and understand there are policies and procedures but to rely on these without response to specific questions is not a good "support" experience.  AIRBNB appear to offer a resolution service between guests and hosts but not between themselves and the "valuable" hosts.
 
Kathy11:07 AM
I have a guest who made a booking error and has cancelled the booking. As it is within my cancellation period the guest is only due a partial refund. I have the option of allowing the guest to receive a full refund, which I am happy to do, provided I don't incur any airbnb fees.

Can you please confirm that if I agree to the guest receiving a full refund I will not be charged any fees in relation to this booking.
󹀁
Thanks for your message — Airbnb Support will reply as soon as a specialist becomes available.
11:08 AM
Airbnb Support
Airbnb Support12:37 PM
Hi Kathy, this is Danah from Airbnb Customer Experience Team. I hope you are doing well. Just to confirm, this is in regards to reservation HMR4BS88MY with guest Myles, correct? First of all Kathy, we sincerely appreciate your kind gesture of providing a refund to the guest. Should you wish to provide a refund to Myles, rest assured that you will not incur any fees. To confirm, the money that you will send to the guest will be taken from this booking. I hope this clarifies the matter. Should you have further inquiries, feel free to let us know. Kind regards.
Kathy
Kathy3:33 PM
Thanks, yes it is regarding this reservation.
Airbnb Support
Airbnb Support3:45 PM
Thank you for the confirmation Kathy. As advised, you may send a refund to the guest and rest assured that you will not incur any fees as the monies will just be taken from the booking. To get started, kindly follow the link below: 
www.airbnb.com/resolutions

You can find more information in our Help Center article:
www.airbnb.com/help/article/767
www.airbnb.com/help/article/165

Hoping this information helps. Feel free to let us know if you have f...
Airbnb Support
Airbnb Support6:40 PM
Hi again Kathy, I just want to let you know that I will now be on my rest day for two days so if you have any urgent questions, please call our hot line at +1-415-800-5959 (24-hour international support number). Otherwise, I'll be back after two days to address your inquiries. All the best!

20 JANUARY 2019
Airbnb Support
Airbnb Support10:16 AM
Hi Kathy,

I just wanted to follow up and make sure you received my reply to your inquiry. I hope all is well! Please let us know whether we can still be of help; otherwise, we'll close out this issue for the time being.

Thank you for reaching out to Airbnb Customer Experience, we are here for you whenever you need us at: www.airbnb.com/help

Best regards.
Kathy
Kathy10:20 AM
The issue has been resolved, thanks.
Airbnb Support
Airbnb Support10:22 AM
That's great to hear Kathy! It is our duty here in Airbnb to help our beloved users thus I hope I was able to address your inquiries to your satisfaction. Know that we are always here to support you Kathy. All the best and take care! 🙂
Kathy
Kathy5:06 PM
Thanks, but I don't feel particularly supported! After 4 years plus as a host with consistently high ratings (and most of that time as a super host) I had to cancel a one night booking which was made in April 2018 for December 2018. For that I lost my super host status for a year!! I don't believe the guest would have been particularly disadvantaged by the cancellation given he had 8 months to make alternate arrangements for his one night stay. The punishment way exceeded the crime and is very disappointing.
Airbnb Support
Airbnb Support5:53 PM
Hi Kathy,

Thanks for reaching out to us regarding this issue. I've forwarded your inquiry to a member of my team who can better assist you. They'll be getting in touch with you soon.

In the meantime, please feel free to respond to this message with any further questions or concerns.

Best regards.
Airbnb Support
Airbnb Support6:23 PM
Hi Kathy, 

Good day! This is Rosanna a Case Manager here on Airbnb. I hope this message finds you well. We truly appreciate your patience while we do our best to provide the assistance needed by each and every member of our community, like you.

I really do apologize for the inconvenience that this has caused and this is not the experience we wanted you to have as our valuable Host here on Airbnb. 

Please allow me to review the cancellation for the reservation wherein the penalties was applied and I will keep you updated as soon as I could.

In the meantime, if you should come across any other questions, concerns or even just comments please feel free to let us know by replying to this message.
Kathy
Kathy6:34 PM
I look forward to hearing from you, although I have to add that I raised this after receiving one of you host "feedback" emails some time ago and received no response .......

21 JANUARY 2019
Airbnb Support
Airbnb Support5:34 PM
Thank you for your patience while I reviewed your case. I appreciate the time you’ve taken to share your concerns and perspective on this experience.

I know that you have been working so hard to maintain having a Superhost status on your Airbnb profile, but we have certain requirements for host which are the following:

- You’ve hosted at least 10 trips OR 100 nights and at least 3 trips
- A 90% response rate or higher
- The average rating of all reviews left by guests needs to be higher or equal to 4.8 (as long as at least half of the guests who have stayed with you leave a review)
- You haven’t cancelled any confirmed reservations, unless they were cancelled under extenuating circumstances

And with regard to your reservation HMFPMK89R8 with Luc, wherein the reason for the cancellation is "This reservation is some 8 months in advance unfortunately I had not yet gotten to updating my calendar", wherein you could've block your calendar that time and to avoid cancellation. 

You may keep track of your Hosting status by using this link as a guidance:
https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/829/how-do-i-become-a-superhost

Keep in mind that cancellations m...
www.airbnb.com/help/article/849

Thank you for your inquiry and for your valuable contributions as a h...

Kathy
Kathy6:01 PM
This is an extremely disappointing "by the book" response. I also know that it is becoming a hot issue with other hosts. Guests have a clear cancellation policy set out. Hosts are dictated to by algorithms set by airbnb. You have totally disregarded where this exchange began. I, as a reasonable host, made a full refund to a guest (outside my cancellation requirements) because he made a mistake and rectified it before it made any significant impact on my ability to attract another booking. As I mentioned previously Luc's booking was for one night 8 months prior to the booking date. You may not, but I see a reasonable comparison!! The booking in question was for Ivy Cottage. Please explain why I also lost Superhost status from another listing (Ivy Cottage (2) where there had been no cancellations and all other super host requirements met?
Airbnb Support
Airbnb Support6:31 PM
Please know that Superhost status applies per account but not, per listing. This means that if a Host is a Superhost, and if there's multiple listings under an account, the Superhost Status will reflect in each listing.

I have spoken with my team regarding this experience. We carefully discussed the information provided and have determined that the original decision will be respectfully upheld and this decision is being guided by our policies and procedures.
Kathy
Kathy6:41 PM
Thank you. As I said I am extremely disappointed in a response that simply regurgitates "your rules" and makes no comment to the guest / host experiences I have raised. I would like to know who is on "the team" you refer to and their status / position within the airbnb organisation. Please also advise how I escalate this complaint beyond the decision of "your team" ?
Airbnb Support
Airbnb Support6:59 PM
Sorry if you felt this way towards our decision. Just to let you know we always refer to our policies whenever we make decisions in these types of cases and me and my fellow Case Managers have carefully discussed this.
Kathy
Kathy7:12 PM
You have not answered my questions? Please advise the position your "fellow case managers" hold within the organisation and how I escalate my complaint beyond their decisions

25 JANUARY 2019
Airbnb Support
Airbnb Support12:35 PM
I'm sorry for the delay in my response as we are receiving high-volume of inquiries. Please know that we have policies and procedures to follow in cases like this, Kathy and as much as I would like to help you with your requested resolution, I won't be able to and I really do apologize.
2 Replies 2
Emiel1
Level 10
Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

@Kathy502,

I see a  polite and professional contact between you en Airbnb Customer Service, questions are answerred and "problem" is solved. Then you bring up another issue (about a cancellation which leads to losing Superhost status). Which i can understand is a disappointing experience for you, but CS can not change the rules or make an exception for you.

 

Maybe next time you can try contact Airbnb and ask them to do the cancellation, if there are specific reasons for it. Then there is some flexibility for CS to operate between the rules, and if lucky you are not banned then from the Superhost status for a year.

 

Best regards,

Emiel

Thanks for your comments Emiel.

 

I have absolutely no problem with there being rules that need to be followed.  My issue is AIRBNB’s refusal to enter into any dialogue around how and why the rules are mandatorily applied. 

 

I had a guest who booked my listing, realised his error soon after, then cancelled the booking.  The rules regarding the cancellation stated that he forfeited the payment for the room in full.  As this (brief) booking did not impact on my ability to attract other bookings I chose to refund his payment in full.  If I had not he could have used AIRBNB’s disputes resolution service, where individual circumstances and details would have been reviewed, discussed, explained, and reasons provided for the outcome.    

 

I had a guest book a one night stay, 8 months prior to his travel date which I was unable to accept.  In an attempt to access the same courtesy guests receive through the resolution service, that is circumstances and details would have been reviewed, discussed, explained, and reasons provided for the outcome, I was simply told the rules have been applied and no further discussion would be entered into.  This is what I find disappointing.

 

Best

Kathy