Cancellation Policy: Airbnb once again throws the host under the bus to fawn up to dishonest guest

[Gulay1]

Dear Community,

Yesterday I had an experience, where Airbnb customer service chose to punish the host (me) for playing by the book and rewarded the guest for lying to Airbnb and to me. While I'm used to Airbnb throwing the host under the bus in a different circumstance (https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Guest-damages-apartment-customer-service-refuses-to-grant/m...), I was shocked how readily Airbnb disregarded their own policies snug up to a deceitful guest.

A guest made a reservation over two months ago for 5 guests —let's call her Eve. As Eve was going to check in within a few days, I messeged her to see when she was planning to arrive at the location, so I can meet her. She didn't respond to my Airbnb messages and it appears she disconnected the phone number she had listed on Airbnb. Three days later, I still hadn't heard from Eve and she was about to check in within two days, so I involved Airbnb. When she saw Airbnb's message she immediately called me on a different phone number. When I asked her when would she and her friends would be at the apartment, she craftily slipped it in that all SEVEN of them would be arriving at 2:00 PM.

The building management has policies for the maximum number of guests we are allowed to have. I explained to Eve that they had made their reservation for 5 guests and I would not be able to accomodate 7 guests, even if I had agreed to it. Eve said should want to cancel, then, and hung up.

An hour later I received this threatening message from Airbnb customer support:

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Greetings Gulay,

My name is Tahji and I am a case manager from Airbnb Trip Experience. I am reaching out to you about your reservation with Cijie with the utmost of urgency. This is an urgent time sensitive case and I must hear back from you by 24 hours. As a reminder, if I do not hear back from you, I will need to take the appropriate actions by canceling the reservation and providing a full refund to this guest; host penalties will be applied in addition to this. 

Please write back or give us a call at +1-415-800-5959 to discuss this further. 

Many thanks,

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Eve had called Airbnb and told the agent that I had full knowledge that there would be 7 guests total from the beginning. She apparently said that we had a phone conversation, in which I had confirmed to her that they can bring 7 guests. Of course, I denied this baseless claim and pointed out that I wouldn't confirm their booking for 5 guests, if this was true.

It is prime time peak season where my listing is located. This booking had been active for over two months. Tahji decided to cancel Eve's booking with no fees or penalties, because she wasn't able to "Neither confirm, nor deny that [I] had spoken with [Eve] on the phone and said that they could bring 7 guests." I received no reimbursement.

Good luck, fellow hosts. I hope you never have to deal with Airbnb customer service.

TL;DR: The guest disobeyed Airbnb policies by intending to bring more guests than declared on the booking. Airbnb disregarded their own cancellation policy, based on the groundless claim of a guest, who had already lied about number of guests, that I had told them over the phone that it would be ok.

[Giedre-and-Andre0]

@Gulay1feel free to look over my list of house rules and to copy whatever you find helpful...

You want to create "house rules" specially for 2 different audiences:

1- To crazy people who think they can play around with a host, and scare them away BEFORE booking 😉

1- To CS who will read your rules after a case is opened (if they see that there is no dancing around, hosts will have a much better stand)

BTW,

reading your first case (dammage)

I already think to expand my house rules with:

"...If a guest recognizes existing damage in his/her room at, or right after check in, the guest needs to address this damage to the host by Airbnb-Messenger with description and (if possible) picture..."

[Naomi192]

UPDATE:  They waived my $100 penalty for cancelling!!  But I had contacted them as soon as the cancellation occured (9:18 am on April 17th)  and got an auto message that said, "

Thanks for your message — Airbnb Support will reply as soon as a specialist becomes available." 

and it took them until today, April18th at 3:51 pm to get back with me!!  Not the first time it took more than 24 hours for a response...double standard here.  Anyway, I did tell them that I had blocked all available dates until the issue was resolved.

[Delphine-And-Michael0]

I cant seem to tag Lizzie if these questions can be definitively answered I think many hosts will have a peace of mind if they can require guests to purchase travel insurance also the same with house rules

are the enforaceable or not?

Can we get a straight answer about requiring gurests in your house manual to purchase travel insurance?

Can we stipulate all guests must purchases travel insurance (ie insuremytrip.com or similar), and if the guest chooses not to purchase travel insurance they forfeit all of their reservation cost with the host regardless of circumstances unless Airbnb decides out of their own pocket to refund the guest.  Lloyds of London our insurance company states that they consider whatever is in the house manual is part of the rental agreement does Airbnb consider the house manual part of the rental agreement or not?

Could Airbnb confirm what wording is needed to forfeit a rental when you do not allow for visitors in your house manual.  It is very frustrating to call Airbnb multiple times when a guest violates your house rules by having guests over where some at the Airbnb help center state the guest will still be allowed to leave a review and others state you can have the guest  review blocked.  Why the inconsitency amongst Airbnb employees?

[Gulay1]

Hello @Delphine-And-Michael0,

The tag function does seem to be very finicky and it has occasionally stopped working altogether briefly in the past.

Travel insurance is a good idea. If Airbnb doesn't want to honor damage claims, they can work with an insurance company in the same way HomeAway (aka. VRBO) does. They're teamed with an insurance company that sells travel insurance for every booking. They have it set up so that the host can choose to make the security deposit and/or the insurance options available to the guest. The guest, then, chooses to purchase the insurance or choose the security deposit system.

Even so, an insurance system shouldn't be an excuse to allow this to happen: https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Guest-damages-apartment-customer-service-refuses-to-grant/m...

[Pat310]

I am new to hosting and have already had to contact support several times....and while they have always been polite, I have not found them to be informed about the information they have given me.  I have no doubt that the pay is low and the turnover great....so I really don't expect much....I will just demand to always speak with a supervisor if and when I don't get the answer that I think makes sense.  

[Gulay1]

Hello everyone,

I would like to post an update: Good news! I called Airbnb customer support again to see if I could claim the cleaning fee Tahji (the case manager who had made the initial decision) said I could seek. The case manager assigned to me this time revisited the case with his colleagues and decided to reimburse me for the entirety of the booking! He said this cancellation "should not have happened." Many thanks to Ian and his colleagues for amending this mistake.

I would also like to thank you, the community, for all of your supportive messages and bringing attention to this case.

Moving forward, I'm sure us hosts would like to see that mistakes like this become one-off flukes, rather than default initial treatment for Customer Service. Throughout the decade Airbnb has accumulated a level of control and authority over daily rentals previously unseen in the industry. I invite Airbnb and its employees to recognize that this control and authority also bears responsibility.

[Delphine-And-Michael0]

@Gulay1 

Travel insurance is for the traveler to cover the traveler on their business trip or vacation.

For example we had two guests on booking.com that could not make their trip they purchased insurance to get their air and accommodation refunded.  All we had to do is confirm with their insurance company they booked with us.  Since we were paid in full already all we had to do was give the traveler a receipt to make their claim.  So the AirBnb host needn’t worry about a cancellation if the traveler has purchased insurance.  My question to AirBnb is will they honor the requirement of travel insurance in the house manual?

yesterday we just had a guest book for thanksgiving on Airbnb , she was nervous about our strict cancelation policy we referred  her to insuremytrip where she purchased accomadation insurance I believe she paid $65 to cover a $1500 booking.  So if she can not make her trip she post a claim to the insurer instead of canceling through airbnb.

Propery damage is another issue Lloyd’s of London covers us beyond the security or Airbnb’s policy.

[Anthony209]

Always spell out the maximum number of guests that can be within the apartment, condo, house, etc in the rules section. I tell my guests that I only allow two guests to book and no more unless I grant an exception. Also, I have a rule that the person booking the condo must provide me with a list of all guests staying in the condo. That way, I have written evidence through the Airbnb messaging portal that there are only two guests to be in my condo and these are the names (provided by the guest).

The guests though they have booked my condo, are technically breaking my written rules and I have contacted Airbnb multiple times when guests refuse to provide me this list and choose to ignore my rules. But I have had great success with Airbnb guest services in getting the list of names. This is a bit excessive, but it is for my protection as I submit the name list to guest services within my condo complex for security and check-in purposes. 

If they refuse to provide me with the guest list (including themselves), then it protects my right to cancel without me being at risk or at fault. To date, I have not had problems, and YES, guests do lie. Therefore, always review the guest feedback before accepting the booking. Best wishes!

[Gulay1]

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Hi @Anthony209,

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@Anthony209 wrote:

Always spell out the maximum number of guests that can be within the apartment, condo, house, etc in the rules section.

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I have,

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@Anthony209 wrote:

That way, I have written evidence through the Airbnb messaging portal that there are only two guests to be in my condo and these are the names (provided by the guest).

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I did, but the first case manager that saw my case, Tahji, saw fit to ignore these. Thankfully, the next case manager to look at my case corrected this mistake yesterday.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Anthony209 @Gulay1 

I have a rule that the person booking the condo must provide me with a list of all guests staying in the condo. That way, I have written evidence through the Airbnb messaging portal that there are only two guests to be in my condo and these are the names (provided by the guest).

What are your methods of doing this?

I'm wanting to obtain the same by using the process where the guest "invites other guests to join the reservation" however, after a painful exchange with Airbnb CS to establish the process, the method for the guest to do this is equally as painful.

Are you doing this simply, or not?

[Anthony209]

I simply state in my rules that all guests are required to provide me a list of the names (first/last ) of all guests staying in the condo. They simply write me back in the Airbnb messaging portal with the guest list. Usually, it is a husband/wife, or boy/girlfriend or two friends. On occasion, I allow couples with small infants, but I still get the name of all guests as I submit the name list to guest services for check-in purposes and for security purposes as there are so many visitors coming and going throughout the 12-building complex in Maui. If there should be a hurricane, at least our guests on the list will be accounted for in case of emergency evacuations, etc.

Not to mention it is to protect you when there are more than the required number of guests allowed in the unit. I have caught several people lying to me and when I mention who is suppose to be in the unit, they have very little to say once I have it in writing. It's hard to go up against the owner when you have everything in writing. And I pursue the guests that book in advance and feel they don't need to provide me with the list. I send them a friendly message reminder that "per the conditions of booking my condo,..." of which they fail to read in advance prior to booking. If they still don't send me the list after 24-48 hours, then I get Airbnb Customer Services involved and it never fails that when they get involved, I always get the guest list from the person who booked the condo.

People don't want you to know who they are bringing along and they think it's a hotel room. I always remind my guests in my welcome letter and condo guest guide that they are a "guest in my home away from home" as my condos are an extension of my home. And, I also remind them that if my housekeeping staff gives me a poor report on their departure, then they are put on my "do not rent list" and I get housekeeping to send me photos of any damages or stolen items. And this usually keeps 97% of the guests honest when they see that in my condo guest guide.

Knock on wood, there is always one guest that ruins it for the future guests. This is what happened to me and now I only rent my condo units to two people because somebody who rented my condos lied to me and when I read back their Emails to them, they could not deny that they subleased the unit to someone else which is against my rental policy. Being an owner can be a lot of work; just be diligent, persistent, consistent, and fair. Those are good qualities of a good host in my opinion. Best wishes. 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

Great reply @Anthony209 @Gulay1 , Thanks!

[Gulay1]

I have to ask everyone's IDs in the guests group to send to the apartment management. I learn everyone (in theory) who will be coming. I see no reason why you couldn't ask for IDs of all guests as well. I always say that I only need the names, pictures, and birth years to be visible on the pictures of IDs, so the guests feel more comfortable sending them.

It seems guests often find ways to sneak extra friends of theirs past security, however. I usually don't make this an issue, unless there is malicious intent or excessive damages to the apartment.

[Zoe154]

I would appreciate any feedback regarding my handling of the situation.  I have not yet been contacted by Airbnb.

Here is my most recent cancellation story:

Reservation request:

In Berkeley visiting a friend. She lives a few blocks away. I’ll be there for sleeping, cleaning up and changing. I plan to be gone most of the time
Thanks so much!

I’ll be arriving sometime between 3pm and 6pm Saturday. Leaving Monday morning by 10 am

He did not show up, did not email or call me, has the front gate code and door code.  I stayed up waiting for him. The next afternoon I received the following email from him:

Hi Zoe, Your home sounds amazing in its incredible functionality for eco awareness and communication. I want a refund for the following reasons: 1. Integratng successfully into complicated group home systems was a requirement for staying in this location. 2. These requirements were unclear to me prior to booking. 3. Had I know your requirements for short term guests, I would not have booked your location. Thank you very much for your understanding. I learned that you have an amazing place, but it would I not have worked well for either of us. Thank you again for understanding this wasn’t a fit for either of us. Please provide me with a full refund for services unrendered.

There is nothing complicated about staying 2 nights here.  Just common sense consideration about keeping communal areas clean and using the alarm system which I explain in detail, both in writing and in person.

Here is my message back to him:

Your message

I have no idea what you are talking about. You asked me no questions about anything before or after you booked. You just didn't show up and I stayed up late waiting for you. It was your responsibility to carefully read my posting and decide before booking if you want to stay, although I have no idea what it is about my house that would have been such a poor fit for you. I said no to another potential guest who inquired right after you did, but because you were first, I chose you. So I feel no obligation to give you a refund because you caused me to lose another guest who would have actually shown up.

What I sent to Airbnb after declining to give him a refund.  I have a strict cancellation policy.

Private message to Airbnb

This is the second time in a few weeks that a guest has reserved the night before and then demanded a refund. The first one was Bob (name changed) who stayed one night and left the next morning without a word to me. I didn't even know he had gone until Airbnb notified me. He claimed "construction", which amounted to exterior house painting only and only during the hours he would have been away from the house. Now Bill (name changed), giving some crazy reason about short term guests and how it would not have been a good fit for either of us? He was only staying two nights and said he would only be here to shower and sleep. I seriously believe he thinks he has found a way to scam guests and Airbnb. I wouldn't be surprised if he wants Airbnb to give him free nights, as Bob has already done. Airbnb should keep track of this guy and what he does in the future. I am now concerned that he has both my gate and door codes to enter my house. I will need to change them, notify current and future guests of the change, and update all my listings with Air and the other sites that I use. So I feel no obligation to refund him a penny.

[Linda108]

I can see that this is SO frustrating.  The only response needed from you about cancellation is, contact Air BNB.  If you have strict cancellation policy and the guest contacts you after check in, Air BNB will determine if there is a reason to refund.  If you feel the guest is scamming, report the profile.  I do not understand the scam aspect unless you are thinking he wanted to cancel and realized he would not get a refund.  I suggest you call Air BNB and give them a heads up about the situation.  Just be factual so the rep can enter a note about your perspective.  Try to be neutral...:D  good luck and keep us informed.