Another update, another huge added risk for hosts at the mercy of Airbnb glitches & false claims by guests

[Mary419]

Today Airbnb emailed their new (much higher) penalties for hosts canceling on guests. Anyone who follows the host forums has seen the multiple red flags raised by hosts seeing glitches in AIRBNB's system that allow either double bookings or bookings that do not match the host's settings in some other way. Yet here we are with the new policy specifically saying "accidentally double booking" will result in this enormous new penalty. Trying to explain to Airbnb that it is their fault not yours that there was an ical synch failure allowing their system is just about as much fun as beating your head into a brick wall.  

But the next one is even worse. 

We have all seen plenty of false accusation situations regarding mold or pests. Especially people who live in tropical environments can easily have random mildew or bugs pop up. Now if you have a guest claim your house has "mold" you can not only lose your booking income will be charged additional fees when that guest cancels (tells Airbnb they are "unable to stay") just as if YOU canceled on the guest!  And how do they determine if it is "severe" mold do they send an expert before charging you the penalty? 

These new penalties are steep: 

Take note, I have had thousands of reservations and personally have never once canceled just because I could get a better booking or wanted to use it or host friends instead. I have a perfect track record regarding zero cancelations and that was with "only $100" at stake that was plenty to deter me. Plus the loss of super host (and I have been one for years).  So I am not one who wanted to be able to cancel willy nilly. But I see ALL the angles about how this new policy is going to be super dangerous for hosts and their income. And I am curious about all the angles regarding why they are doing this. 

What on earth is causing this policy change right now? Hosts are actually out there listing a 1 bedroom as a 3 bedroom? That is the example and shouldn't that listing/host just be kicked off as a fraudulent listing? Why should those of us who have been here and working hard for years to be respectable be given this new dire warning with lots of hidden risks for us too? No legitimate host with long standing usage of this site would list a place as something totally different from what it is. What does this tell us about the overall site and who is listing things right now? 

What do you all think about this? The entire thing is on the Policy Updates page or on this link https://www.airbnb.com/resources/hosting-homes/a/changing-our-policy-on-avoidable-host-cancellations...

[Gary1059]

Property2 I agree and have started removing our properties as well.  Airbnb seems to have forgotten the source of their revenue base

[Andrea-and-Glenn0]

@Gary189  your latest “customer” is a classic reason why we do not take “first timers” or guests with no reviews or a complete profile. You accepted a booking from a complete stranger who had an incomplete profile and no reviews from other hosts. 

Airbnb does not “screen” any of their guests and it’s as easy as having an email address to open an Airbnb account and start scamming unsuspecting hosts. 

In this case, you need to accept responsibility for this bad guest but I agree that the review should be erased and the poor rating deleted. 

Best of luck in the future. 

[Andrea-and-Glenn0]

Sorry that was for @Gary1059 , take my words with a grain of salt, we don’t take newbies or first-timers and that is not everyone’s policy. Sure helps us avoid what happened to you however. 

[Mary419]

I usually do not take the time to look at other poster's listings but your message to Gary really shocked me so I did check it out. First of all, if rejecting ALL new guests was an acceptable protocol then Airbnb would have a way to prevent new guests from even inquiring. As it is this is just your personal typed out rule. What do you do if they inquire anyway? If I decline 3 requests in a row I get a warning that I may get deactivated.

Do you not have that ever? I do see you have well under 100 reviews over 5 years so maybe traffic on inquires is that light for you but it still seems odd you can do that without Airbnb penalizing you as they do me for repeated declines. Yes, even if I choose uncomfortable. 

Also, it appears you have exactly one listing which is a studio which allows 2 max. Not everyone can follow your words of wisdom to never book new guests or else Airbnb would obviously not survive. Your sermon on rejecting all new customers or else taking the blame for being so stupid to take a new customer... I know your perspective is very specialized. All I can say is ridiculing a good host for accepting a newbie guest is not condoned by the system or most of other other hosts.... booking only to those with reviews is not possible for most hosts overall and is not what Airbnb wants. Or any platform. PS- guests with good reviews can also act awful, easily and often. 

[Andrea-and-Glenn0]

@Mary419  I guess I should apologize since I obviously hit a nerve. I certainly was not giving a sermon and I certainly lay never referred to anyone as stupid, so I’m not sure why you had to throw that in, but I guess it is the way you communicate with persons you disagree with. I also didn’t ridicule anyone so I. Not sure why you tossed that my way either.

I don’t think that @Gary1059 was offended or upset by my words since he actually said he respected my thoughts and appreciated my input, so again I’m confused why your words are so strong towards my comments to another host who thanked me. 

With replies like that from @Mary419 , I’ll likely not post on this message board any longer, what a shame I was just trying to help. 

Glenn

[Wende2]

@Mary419   You are so right about good reviews, those guests are not always what you read.  I recently had a girl and friend, the one who booked had 3 excellent reviews.  The friend stayed here last yr, she left the place a horrible mess, I was not happy when this other girl mentioned the friend would be with her.  My apt was such a mess my head nearly exploded.  I leave small bags of popcorn, and there was popcorn crumbles EVERYWHERE, 3 drip pans on the stove had to be replaced, they were a burnt up mess, and on and on.  My place is small and it usually takes no more than a couple hrs to get ready, I was 4 hrs busting my butt to have it ready for the next guests.  I'd really like to know why my place was so disrespected compared to the ones who left glowing reviews, all happy to have her back.

On a nicer note, I find people who stay for the first time ever anywhere, are very good guests, as they're looking to have a good review.

[Gary1059]

Andrea-and-glenn0 thanks for thoughts.  Guest was not new to Airbnb & we had several vetting communications before allowing to book.  But liars are very good at their trade and that was the case.  I am responsible for my decisions that is how I live life but taking the blame for being lied to I won’t accept.

the real issue was not the guests deception but Airbnb’s to the Hosts.

Respect your thoughts and appreciate the input.

[Andrea-and-Glenn0]

Thanks @Gary1059 , I meant no disrespect or mal intent and was just trying to rely what “works for me” to avoid problem guests like you encountered.

Glenn

[Laura2592]

@Property2 so many hosts with great reputations and oodles of stays are leaving the platform. I know several personally and see more every day here in the forum. I think this is part of Airbnbs strategy. The noose is ever tightening with rules designed to punish hosts and support poor guests. If you are experienced, you probably get to a point where you decide it's not worthwhile and there are other ways to run your business. If you are new, you don't understand that the rules will get ever more draconian and are okay with the current landscape. Its the old "boiling the frog" scenario. Eventually new hosts will leave too, and even newer ones will take their place. I think this is the business model. 

[Mark116]

@Laura2592  It's a weird business model, though.  Usually corporations recognize that turnover costs money in a lot of ways, direct and indirect.  Wouldn't the smart thing be to keep long time hosts happy?  Isn't that the way to protect the brand and prevent fly by night scammers and other bad hosts?

Based on this forum, there are basically 2 things that guests get upset about.  Number one is when they cancel and they don't get a refund.  You see this all over social media, I had to cancel because of XX, and the evil host kept my money.  Maybe this is a back door way to increase the percent of guests who can cancel and get a refund by expanding what counts as a host cancellation?  The second big category is when they are displeased with the listing itself, and then they want a refund.  Airbnb already took steps to make getting refunds easier for guests when they increased the window up to 3 days from finding the 'issue'.  

Granted the majority of Airbnb's money comes from the guests, but they've got no business without host properties, so it continues to be very strange to me that we are treated as the enemy.

[Mary419]

@Mark116 The social media outrage over the Toronto cancelations is a great example. The hosts did not cancel the guests. But they are getting the abuse from the guests because based on all the screen shots Airbnb's cancelation notice lets guests think the hosts did it.

Host assures them no they did not cancel, but guest does not believe it...

Sometimes Airbnb notice of cancelation is saying it was a trust and safety issue. It is possible this is a back door to get the guests the refunds as you mentioned. But in so many cases the guest did not want to cancel....and neither did the host.

All I know is the system cancelations are causing an uproar and one aspect of this announcement could be shifting the blame for what they are doing to the host and then creating a big PR thing saying they cracked down hard on all this host cancelation stuff? Then this Toronto etc questionable activity gets put squarely on hosts. 

Automated cancelation by the "system" has been a huge theme lately. They need a scapegoat and a good distraction.

[David8879]

Guilty until proven guilty 

[Chris16856]

The thing that REALLY worries me about this, is when AirBnB's technology screws up, and there is a double booking with another sharing platform. It doesn't happen often, but it DOES HAPPEN. Then 2 guests arrive on your doorstep, because the technology screwed up, and I don't want to have to wear the blame for that. As far as I see, when the technology does screw up in that way, it doesn't try hard enough to alert you to the calendar conflict, is just happily shows you that everything is fine.

[Wendy117]

@Mary419  

I just received an email outlining this new policy where they will charge us for a host cancellation where there are preventable reasons.  Charge us when we have not received any income from the booking!  As we all know, Airbnb will side with the guest in the majority of cases.  As a Super-host I have been able to cancel a certain number of auto-book bookings on that basis.   I don't know about the rest of you, but the type of guests I am experiencing from Airbnb has been shocking since Covid and I no longer want to run any risk without being able to interrogate potential guests before booking.

I have always had auto-book on Airbnb and the other sites have had to request a booking.  I am immediately removing auto-book from Airbnb and putting it on VRBO.  Too many possibilities of needing to cancel more than 3 guests a year when I feel uncomfortable - and Airbnb not taking my side - and then charging me!

[Helen3]

Unlike other hosts here I don't have an issue with the new policy. Unfortunately there are a small minority of hosts who abuse the system.