Airbnb case manager refund guest without my approval.

Vincent80
Level 3
New York, NY

Airbnb case manager refund guest without my approval.

Hi all,

 

Do you know how to deal with the issue about Airbnb case manager refund guest money without my approvel. 

 

He mixed two different cases and refunded the money without my approvel to wrong person. After our conversation, even then he would not admit his mistake. 

37 Replies 37

Sounds similar to my case. 

 

Guest checked in and two of them didn't want to use the upper bunk bed and another pull out bed.  Clearly featured in photo and they queried before booking.   None of my previous guests had any issue. 

 

They (2 out of 4) slept in the shared living room. 


@Cindy116 wrote:

Hey Jackson,

 

Currently having the same problem than you!

 

A case manager named Bobby Lee applied a 100% refund without my approval. I got no notification about this. I discovered it myself when the payment for my next guest didnt get realeased. 

 

Every time I call the AirBnb support, they said that my case is currently handled by that mysterious Bobby Lee and that he will call me back within 24 hours. BS, I'm still waiting for his call.....I've been calling every day! I'm just asking for a follow up..is that too much to ask? Are you calling this Customer service?

 

At the moment, I still dont know why my guest has been 100%refunded even though they stayed 5 nights. Plus  I had a refund policy in place, so wtf!? This is shocking!!!! what are the refund policies for if AirBnb can refund a guest whenever they want. Now Im $1118 out... I cant pay the rent nor the cleaning lady

 

What is it going on AIRBNB???  <strong>WAKE UP</strong>, stop stealing or avoiding my calls

 

Im about to go on the news and social networks with my case

 

 



@Cindy116 wrote:

Hey Jackson,

 

Currently having the same problem than you!

 

A case manager named Bobby Lee applied a 100% refund without my approval. I got no notification about this. I discovered it myself when the payment for my next guest didnt get realeased. 

 

Every time I call the AirBnb support, they said that my case is currently handled by that mysterious Bobby Lee and that he will call me back within 24 hours. BS, I'm still waiting for his call.....I've been calling every day! I'm just asking for a follow up..is that too much to ask? Are you calling this Customer service?

 

At the moment, I still dont know why my guest has been 100%refunded even though they stayed 5 nights. Plus  I had a refund policy in place, so wtf!? This is shocking!!!! what are the refund policies for if AirBnb can refund a guest whenever they want. Now Im $1118 out... I cant pay the rent nor the cleaning lady

 

What is it going on AIRBNB???  <strong>WAKE UP</strong>, stop stealing or avoiding my calls

 

Im about to go on the news and social networks with my case

 

 




I have not received my payout even though the guests have completed the stay. 

 

Writing to Airbnb is useless as they refuse to reply. 

Tone0
Level 2
Fort Lauderdale, FL

 

I wanted to write here today to see if other hosts are experiencing what I am experiencing with Airnbn. I had a guest that booked a room, then he canceled by a mistake and then he asked if I could re-book him as it was a mistake and since I had strict booking policy.  I was kind enough to call Airbnb to reinstate him and to adjust the booking to entail 2 persons instead of one.  The person went ahead and canceled yet again and asked if he still had the room.  I asked this individual a few questions but he did not answer and then he started a case with Airbnb.  This person won and I am not sure what document he produced for Airbnb to override my cancellation policy.  

 

I accepted Airbnb's decision as there was nothing I could do other than saying I did not agree with them and for them to withhold the reason why they overrode my cancellation policy.   Airbnb kept sending me an answer that he had grounds to cancel.  Now to the real issue.  I just had a booking and Airbnb is withholding payment owed to me in regards due to something in regards to all this mess.

 

I have been told that funds would be released and that Airbnb would be in contact and send me an email.  This is 3 days now and nothing from Airbnb and I am getting the runaround and I no Idea why they should keep funds from me.  The other individual canceled, I never received any payments so my question to Airbnb is, why are you holding up funds that should be released to me.  Nobody will answer me on the phone, I am speaking with individuals all around the world and I find this very disturbing that Airbnb has come to this where the hosts do not seem to matter. 

 

i have bee hosting for two years and I think customer service for the hosts at Airbnb is not as it was.  I remember I could call someone with an issue and things would be handled and an email sent to me right away.  Now, I am told, someone will call me,  I will get an email and nothing is happening.  Is other hosts experience similar situations and please I would love to get some suggestions. 

 

Thank you

 

Tone

It really depends what new person comes in and how what side of the bed they wake up on. Sometimes you have reps who have a natural train of thought and are good with people. Other times you have insane reps should never be in their position. I have been having an unbelievable time with airbnb customer service more and more over the years. I've been with them for 8 years as a host. I remember when Nate(the owner) used to answer the phone and things were taken care of with trust and respect of their agreement with hosts and policy in mind. They couldn't care less about their hosts now. They've taken over the market and have gotten too big to care about hosts. They only care about the agreements and policy when it suits their purpose. I have been in Entire Home category for 8 years. 6 years ago airbnb made a final decision, which they have upheld all this time repeatedly. If anyone didn't read the description and tried to get a refund, airbnb didn't even bother to contact me. There was no refund. Airbnb decided that the most fitting category for me is Entire Home. They recommended a free photographer to take strategic pictures to show the layout. Photographers were new at that time. Airbnb helped me word my description, recommended how to describe the picture captions so everything is very obvious and upfront. Every once in awhile, I'll have people who just won't read ANYTHING. Even the house manual that has to be agreed to before booking. Airbnb notated my account this decision based on their policy. My rental is a wing off of my home. Guests have their own living room, bedroom, bathroom, kitchenette, and back door. The bathroom is in the hall, outside their living room door, which sectors the main house from their rental.  I am very upfront in my description about that so there are no misunderstandings. They can come in the front door, through the main house entry and down the hall to their rental or they can enter directly through their back door. Airbnb promotes that since their listings are unique, it is policy for guests to read the entire description before booking a rental. This policy is upheld to the point that this is the basis of why they do not reimburse service fees. Guests are clearly not getting a private room. So, I had a guest stay for one night. He booked at 1am that day, I replied right back and asked when he would be in the area. He didn't reply until 12:45pm that he will be there at 1:45pm. I asked him to come at 4 because I needed time to get back from work and prepare it. I delayed a work appoinment, rushed home to prepare it. He showed up anyway. He gave my daughter an attitude and said his preference was at 1:30/2pm. After all of that, he didn't come back till about 8pm. He emailed me in the meantime that he put a preference of 1:30 (my check ins are 2pm and after btw and have to be arranged obviously). He told me he needs to add two people. I said he could and just give my daughter the additional $20. Airbnb rep Ashley pointed out that again I violated policy... Ok. In the end, he stole items from the snack bar, damaged sheets and mattress without saying a word. I called airbnb, because I wanted to be fair and didn't know how to handle the mattress issue. I followed their recommendations and just bought a mattress cover to hide the damage. I bought new sheets and put a resolution request in for the cost of the snack bar items, sheets, and mattress cover.  I submitted pictures and receipts. The guest got the request, called airbnb, spoke to someone other than I did (Ashley) and said there were descrepancies. He decides there are descrepancies after he gets billed and Ashley decides it isn't airbnb policy to read everything all of a sudden. She didn't call me, she emailed and said the guest called with discrepancies and to give her a phone # to call me??? Ok what are they? I've been hosting for 8 years, they have my number. Instead of telling me what the "discrepancies" are, she made a decision that everyone before her was wrong and that I was in violation. She admitted and saw the notations on my account that it was decided I should be in entire home, but decided that as per their policy "today", I should be in private room category. She said she spoke to all the people who came to that decision in the past and they are now aware that I am in violation. ??? Really? Since I am now considered "in violation", she has made the decision to not pay me for items taken or damages from the security deposit. So, apparently I deserve for people to steal from me and for my property to be damaged. I have around 350 reviews. I have had thousands of people stay in my home. My accuracy ratings are almost 5 stars. Yet everyone who stayed in my home is wrong. Even if the policy is "different" than it has been for all these years, what does her decision for my category today have to do with guests being able to steal and damage items regardless of a security deposit? This makes no sense. And how is it that guests have a living room, bedroom, bathroom, kitchenette, and back door, yet private room is the most fitting category? It's amazing how much power they give reps there. There is no loyalty. New reps decifer the policy inconsistently. They change their outlook on the policy at will, then don't honor any agreements with you for punishment. So, airbnb doesn't have unique listings? It isn't policy to read descriptions? So now guests can get reimbursed for the service fees when not reading descriptions? Which is it?

I feel your frustration and share your pain. I’ve hosted ove 1200 trips. I have over 80% 5 star reviews. All this counts for NOTHING when dealing with CS. I had a guest try to extort me. It was clear in the messages. I had to give him something or he would trash my reputation. I report this to Airbnb. They refunded him. It took weeks to find out that the guest said my apartment was above a bar. It is above a dentist. 

I have a same issue right now. Airbnb case manager refunded half the money including cleaning fees to guest without asking me my side of the story. This guest started fabricating events and NOT sure what they told Airbnb. They were complaining about place being not true at all . My cleaning company cleans place after each checkout and she was sending me a picture of stuff that were not even true. I even send my cleaning company to take care of them including dropping of a bottle of propane tank to satisfy the guest.

 

On the other side airbnb did not even contact me to find out my side of the story or asking for any proof such as cleaning invoice or anything. When I called them Airbnb Rep. said this is a final decision and can not be changed. At that point it felt like a dictatorship. After researching my options I decided to go public media twitter and Facebook. Below is the # I created for host like us that is being dictated by Airbnb. #Airbnbdictatorship

 

Below is my tweet to Brian Chesky.. Not sure if that is going to make difference or not but if it does not then I might have to seek some legal options because THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE AT ALL...

 

https://twitter.com/ChipmunkRental/status/1378524450887458816?s=20

Tone0
Level 2
Fort Lauderdale, FL

Hi Juan, thank you for your input.. I am dealing with a similar situation and now Airbnb is withholding funds on top of this. 

wanted to write here today to see if other hosts are experiencing what I am experiencing with Airnbn.

 

I had a guest that booked a room, then he canceled by a mistake and then he asked if I could re-book him as it was a mistake and since I had strict booking policy. I was kind enough to call Airbnb to reinstate him and to adjust the booking to entail 2 persons instead of one. The person went ahead and canceled yet again and asked if he still had the room. I asked this individual a few questions but he did not answer and then he started a case with Airbnb. This person won and I am not sure what document he produced for Airbnb to override my cancellation policy. I was told he had a proper reason but according to my emails with this individual there was not a real reason. He was back and forth, booking and canceling and stated that he had made a mistake.
I accepted Airbnb's decision as there was nothing I could do other than saying I did not agree with them and for them to withhold the reason why they overrode my cancellation policy. Airbnb kept sending me an answer that he had grounds to cancel. Now to the real issue. I just had a booking and Airbnb is withholding payment owed to me in regards due to something in regards to all this mess.

I have been told that funds would be released and that Airbnb would be in contact and send me an email. This is 3 days now and nothing from Airbnb and I am getting the runaround and I no Idea why they should keep funds from me. The other individual canceled, I never received any payments so my question to Airbnb is, why are you holding up funds that should be released to me. Nobody will answer me on the phone, I am speaking with individuals all around the world and I find this very disturbing that Airbnb has come to this where the hosts do not seem to matter.

i have bee hosting for two years and I think customer service for the hosts at Airbnb is not as it was. I remember I could call someone with an issue and things would be handled and an email sent to me right away. Now, I am told, someone will call me, I will get an email and nothing is happening. Is other hosts experience similar situations and please I would love to get some suggestions.

 

What would be another platform you would suggest? 


Thank you

Thank you

George105
Level 1
Bucharest, Romania

Dear Vincent i have a same problem

The airbnb resolution center its down.....

I have one quest who try to negociated with me at the price, and after a few send ed offers and he dont accept, in the finall i send him one offer with the normall price. After that the quest accept , he stay the entire dates, and after 2 days, the airbnb resolution center Mr Kevin decide to refund his money, because the quest want . In the last 6 days i call to airbnb to resolv this issue, and they wnat to decide mi prices. I dont know if i stay in the future here on airbnb , because AIRBNB dont have mi permision to decide mi prices.

Hofdahus0
Level 2
Hafnarfjordur, Iceland

I am furious.  Airbnb refunded guest without my approval.  The guest arrived and went to wrong Cottage, did not contact me on mobile.  They had all information about the Cottage they was going to stay in.  How do I contact live person at airbnb?

you can try to reach airbnb serivce center

Alex73
Level 2
Hidden Valley Lake, CA

Same thing happend to me but they also decided to charge $100 canceletion fee on top of the refund)) I been hosting for 2 years and this is first time I had a problem. Also have future reservations. I blocked my listing and will delete my account if they wont change their mind. Some manadger issuing refunds with my money and peneizing me for it:)) What a joke. I dont think there is future for this company with such managers. If they go public its safe to short them in the long run))

Cheng7
Level 1
Cumming, GA

Same thing happned to me. My case manager was rude. He also said he wanted to educate me. Email and call to superviosr not working at all. SoI filled a bbb complaint, Airbnb did not response.

When i tried to book a Villa, i had so much difficulties to understand the payment system. Give the credit card number and also the 3 digit at the back. The send 2 small charges thru the email which normally by the bank to the hand cell. It did not come thru and timing is expired. Boom... the booking is gone. And there my money is also gone. Want to contact them. No phone number. Help centre are like hell. You have to select question but no place to write.

Two small amount are vanish. What if we have problem with major amount ?

To me this is too dangerous. Better booking.com

 

Same thing happened to me last night!

I emailed several times

Called many times

Messaged thru Airbnb several times

Facebook 

and now

Twitter.

 

I have been met with no respons. What to do??

Vacation-Beach0
Level 3
Charlotte, NC

Same thing happened to me too... I was home that week and went to the house the day the cleaners came. I made sure everything looked good, left snacks and a whole basket of goodies for their stay in LA. The guest called to complain that there was a horrible smell of cigarette smoke in the house. She called customer service at 3am, and they said that they would refund her the whole week if they did not hear from me by 10am.  Well, i called at 4 am when i got the message. But seriously... 10am?  If i just didnt see the message till 10:05 then they make a unilateral decision?

I have superhost status, the guest before her gave me 5 stars and the guest after her gave me 5*, and every guest since then too. There was no smoke or any other smell. Yet, airbnb CM's decide to uphold the decision to refund her entirely. Case of the squeaky wheel gets the grease! How does airbnb not look at former reviews and say, there has never been any complaint of smoke or smell? How do they not look at my solid 5* reviews?

So to base this decision, they told me, she sent in photos... as they all do, they took photos of anything and everything to try to get out of it. She took photos of discolorations on the linoleum floor that have been there since 1962. Yes, the carpet is old, but steam cleaned. Discolorations in the carpet dont signify uncleanliness. Its a rental, and one that i allow pets in. I'm certainly not putting in new carpet and flooring. Their final ruling was full refund including cleaning costs, even though she tore it up and spent a day in there. This was based on thier "cleanliness" policy she said, and the fact that there were "severe stains " in the floor and carpet". 

REally? bc i the original complaint was a smell isssue.... that didnt exist. Now its a stain issue?

I'm following up on twitter and facebook. They are replying to me fairly quickly. I want to **bleep** this in the bud. This can not happen again. We all depend on our bookings for rent and income. 

Truely i think this all revolves around thier "strict cancelation" policy. What they need to do, is have the guests check a box, saying that they acknowledge that this is a SC policy and other leagalease to ensure that the guests are informed and consent, and we are covered.

 

Oh and PS... out of curiosity, i looked her up on FB... guess what, she was now 3 hour away in Ohai spending the week. Imagine that. How convenient was it that her trip to Ohai came up, just when she had to cancel her reservation..... 

Kiele0
Level 1
Fair Oaks, CA

The same thing happened with me the other week! I’ve been trying to contact the resolution center, I reported the guest twice and I haven’t heard a thing. The guest, among other things, accused my boyfriend of being inappropriate with our two year old son (my boys had the audacity to have their to enjoy some California sunshine without shirts). This all happened after the guest got into a fight with my father in law, allowed her huge and aggressive dogs to break a bunch of stuff in our front yard, decided she wasn’t going to stay with us but never canceled the reservation so we were out guests for the two days she was supposed to be there, and she came back over while I was at work and told my boyfriend that I said it was okay for her to leave said dogs with us for hours. And i haven’t  heard a single thing from support. It’s ridiculous.