Another update which will increase guest refund requests

[Mary419]

I’m very concerned to see this new update.

Giving a guest 72 hours to report problems instead of 24 hours is going to make the free stay scammers ecstatic. 24 hours was plenty. Why should a guest get to complain about cleanliness after staying for over 2 days?

After hosting thousands of guests I can give many examples including once when I went to re-clean a kitchen floor for a family who clearly had spilled their own takeout food sauces all over it and then told me the floor was dirty. I’m getting very worried about the future of this business when I see changes like this:

 

[Raimi1]

Plus on top of that, we will be responsible for any extra costs of the guests new digs, depending on what airbnb can find to place them in!

[Mark116]

@Mary419  I guess you can count yourself lucky that Airbnb didn't charge you for their hotel stay.

[Suzanne302]

@Mary419  This is maddening because even EXTERMINATORS won't guarantee against Palmetto bugs (which, I think they term German cockroaches). Anyone who knows anything about bugs knows sighting one of those in your home does not mean it's dirty. If you see hundreds of them running across the floor, that's one thing, but one or two simply are a fact of life in the south. Pretty sure even an atomic bomb wouldn't take them out.

[Mary419]

Ah, the german cockroaches are the little ones which actually do require treatment. The palmetto bug giant ones are the endemic species. They indeed won’t disappear per exterminators as they are normal resident wildlife of the region. And guests still send irate messages with photos of dead ones (upside down legs in the air dead as a door nail) so they’re my biggest refund risk. 

[Victoria-And-Todd0]

Here is satirical depiction of how this will "work". https://www.tiktok.com/@melefante6/video/7081768180145802542?_r=1&_t=8RCHQGZ7FOg&social_sharing=v1

[Ansel-S-Getaway0]

72 hours for scammers to take advantage?   My home has  regular pest control visits  to keep bugs at bay.  However we are near the beach where bugs & ants happen.  Especially if guests leave out food…. Will a pest complaint be rejected if it’s due to the traveller leaving out sweet treats?  (Not that they would ever admit this especially if they know a reduced or free stay is available). 
I have a separate agreement stating no refunds written by a lawyer.  Does Airbnb new policy trump mine? 
Another reason to go to VRBO!   This is a ridiculous policy and insulting to homeowners.  

[Property2]

Frankly, I have never seen a successful business that would intentionally cut the feeding hand, and this is exactly what is going on here (literally).  Airbnb is nothing without a large group of dedicated hosts who spend time, money, and significant efforts to ensure their guests have the best experiences possible. Airbnb has no tangible assets to be able to make any kind of sustainable profit. The only reason it exists is because of the people opening their personal properties to complete strangers that we can’t even see a picture of until we agree to accept a booking.  And yet, it appears that Airbnb firmly believes that making the TOS less and less favorable to hosts is a successful path forward. They appear to feel their superiority by easily overriding host cancellation policies, suspending listings for no reason based on unproven accusations (what happened to the presumption of innocence?), allowing bogus reviews for someone who did not even stay at the property, etc.

Personally, if this new refund policy is enacted, I will snooze my listings so I don’t accept any booking requests under the new policy, honor the existing bookings, and delete my account.  Enough is enough!

The more hosts leave Airbnb, the better chance there is that someone at the top would finally look at the bottom line and realize that building a community of trust can’t be done by giving a one-sided advantage to the guests. This appears to have been Airbnb strategy lately and the latest change is just another confirmation. I am really surprised that Airbnb does not realize that trust is very fragile and something that is very difficult to build, very easy to lose, and almost impossible to regain…

[Alisa437]

Totally agree! Unfortunately, I have seen that too many hosts don't want to lose the income!  There are so many other booking sites... I'll take fewer bookings before opening myself up to so much liability.  

[Nelly0]

Wonderfully said! 

[Alisa437]

There are lots of other booking platforms! There are even FB groups for short term rentals that you can post on for free. Just create a website and cut out Airbnb completely! 

[Jesse450]

I am not in agreement with your latest revision to the refund and rebooking scheme that means that hosts will be charged in order to find guests new accommodation should they have to cancel the stay. Hosts are already penalised if they need to cancel a booking and the majority of us would cancel under only the most extreme circumstance. The risks of this process being abused by guests is too high and once again hosts businesses are not being protected.

@Catherine-Powell 

[Victoria-And-Todd0]

while at it, why doesn't Airbnb make hosts pay to provide a personal chef and chauffeur? SMH

[Michelle2137]

@Victoria-And-Todd0 

Someone has requested that and more on the app reviews

[Meehyun0]

I have not cancelled on a guest yet.  But if they are damaging your property or breaking your house rules we should be able to cancel on them.  I have done that once when one guest started to have a party and the next door guest complained.

72 hours rules for guests to notice something wrong is ridiculous.  I would say if all hosts get together and join like an union, Airbnb stock will plummet.

Food for thought.

[Mary419]

The next Aug 22 update is arguably worse. It’s making it so that if a guest arrives and declares your place is moldy their guest initiated cancelation will count as a host cancelation and the host penalty will be not only losing the payout but also paying a large penalty on top of that!