@Sam397 @Jillian115 @Michelle53 @Debra300 @Melodie-And-John0
So here's what happened after my illegitimate booking due to Airbnb's platform failure :
Firstly the CS 'specialist' - the one after the one who initially takes your 'Traveller chat' told me my settings allowed this to happen and it was all my fault, and the guest was legitimately entitled under my settings to enquire about a booking*. Since we were actually discussing a booking being placed and paid for here, that wasn't the conversation I needed to have. That day, I hadn't crawled out from under a stone! I told them, they were wrong, and that whilst my settings would 'allow' the guest to enquire, they clearly do not allow the guest to 'book'. This was day 1.
*Learn from CS strategy here... when faced with a decision you're not sure about, type " I just need to check some details here, please bear with me" then go and affirm the details in the T&C's and don't be pressurised.
Being fully aware that I couldn't accommodate the new guest under the circumstances, out of courtesy, I needed to inform him that he needed to book elsewhere and why. So after apologising to the guest on behalf of Airbnb and sending him the Chat I had with CS, within seconds he cancelled. That, I thought was a little odd. I suspected that maybe CS had cancelled and arranged something with the guest - but no. The guest immediately cancelled as it was well within the 48 hour free cancellation window and went elsewhere. So there, I was off the hook.
5 days later, I received a notification from CS that, "we noticed the guest cancelled, all sorted, great - is there anything else we can help you with?" Of course there was... Firstly, an apology was required from Airbnb for their platform problem, (because, it wasn't the host's problem here) and secondly, the guest deserved some sort of compensation for any inconvenience and stress he had encountered. Apparently it was the CS Agents shift end (!) - so it needed to be sorted out in a couple of days time.... It was. An apology was made and a compensation payment of £19 ($25) was offered. I know this because I followed up with the guest. The guest said " We've not accepted, because we don't know how much we want yet..."
So there, @Airbnb is the problem you have caused and it is costing you money. This is what your software and platform problems do. Hopefully, any host reading this will relate to how they get treated by CS Agents and rather than accept what they say, they will challenge the judgement and work directly with the guests to help arrive at a satisfactory conclusion.
I have considered this; Unless the host was an Instant Book SuperHost and needed to cancel on a guest for any reason, the host would be facing penalties. Those penalties are as follows;
- Loss of SuperHost status.
- A penalty fee of at least $50 and up to $100.
- Calendar blocked.
- A review stating the host cancelled.
The Airbnb guidance on this is (abbreviated) as follows:
Cancellations disrupt guests' plans and impact confidence in the Airbnb community. We enforce host cancellation penalties help to prevent cancellations from occurring and further promote transparency in our marketplace.
Cancellation fee
A fee will be deducted from your first payout after a cancellation. The amount deducted will depend on when you accepted the reservation and how soon before check-in you cancelled it:
- More than 7 days before check-in, we’ll deduct $50 (£38) from your next payout
- Less than 7 days before check-in, we’ll deduct $100 (£77) from your next payout
Unavailable/blocked calendar
Your calendar will stay blocked, and you won't be able to accept another reservation for the same dates of the cancelled reservation.
Automated review
If you cancel before the day of check-in, an automated review will be posted to your listing's profile indicating that you cancelled one of your reservations. These reviews can't be removed, but you can always write a public response to clarify why you needed to cancel.
Account suspension
If you cancel 3 or more reservations within a year, we may deactivate your listing.
Unless there are extenuating circumstances, there will be no exceptions to our cancellation policy.
Exceptions for Instant Book reservations
You can cancel Instant Book reservations penalty-free under certain circumstances. Learn more.
My evaluation is this:
Airbnb, you value a guest cancellation compensation at £19 ($25). That is HALF the monetary value of what you expect a host at the minimum value should pay. I would quite happily pay that £19 to cancel a guest - without the additional imposed penalties - because those imposed penalties are beyond double the value apportioned by Airbnb to the severity of the cancellation and have further penalties added.
Why are hosts being penalised in the way that they are?