Experience with guest

[Margaux33]

air bnb shaundra just ripped me off for 600$ im in canada have a great airbnb really busy ...there was a dispute after 5 days of hosting a guest ..without complaint ...the guests were two men booked without any verifacation thru a third party i wanted the door between us locked ..air bnb demanded i unlock it and give the men unlimited accsess to the kitchen ..the guest left and air bnb shaundra refused to pay me for the 5 days they stayed ...im moving over to vrbo shaundra cancelled the guests without my say so so that i cant dispute it ..horrible business

**[Title Updated]

[Momi0]

@Margaux33

Couple of things.  I tried really hard to read your message but not sure I am getting the whole picture to understand.  The way you wrote is confusing.  Also you posted it on the wrong thread.  You wrote your issue on someone's else concern. 

So need to ask you a couple of things.

1.  Did you know that you can escalate this issue from Shaundra at Airbnb by going to the resolution center and write a complete story on what happen.  But you can't write it the same way you did here.  IF you can't click on the reservation of the guest who booked, then go to "CONTACT US" and write an email.  Be detailed, but leave the emotions out of it. 

2.  Does your listing have it set up that you only accept bookings from those who have 4 verifications?  If it doesn't, you should.  My llisting requires everything incuding goverment ID uploaded no matter what.

3.  Does your ABB listing include kitchen use for your guests?  ( I am gonna go look at your listing now)

4.  I am a bit confused as to why you took a booking from a third party when that is not allowed at ABB..its actually against the ABB policy unless you are an approved business listing to accept employee/employer bookings. 

5.  This CC is not the place to get you a resolution, but check your listing to make sure that what you offer is given to your guests.  You definitely can't lock a guests away from the kitchen but what you can do is PREVENT someone from checking in that used a third party account to book it. Take the time to get to know your guests and have a conversation.  Ask each guests who is coming and get their names too.  

No matter what, I can assure you that I have alot of conversations with my potential guests to make sure that the person booking is the person coming and I get the names/AND PHOTOS of each traveling companion too.  Make sure you take control of your listing and you do that by asking the right quesitons.

Hope my reply helped you but definitely get in touch with ABB and ask to speak with another case manager.  It happened to me that I had to call back and request a different case manager which was a positive thing.  For everyone involved. 

[Roberta196]

@Momi0, how can I find the pre-set feature?

[Momi0]

@Roberta196  This is found via the mobile app.  Since so many hosts use this app to control calendar, respond to guests and accept bookings, there are many features found on the mobile app that are not necessarily found on the website account.  Make sense?  If you have not downloaded it on your phone, its a great idea.  So much easier and faster.  I love the mobile app.  And on the mobile app, I have 10 "saved" messages using the Pre-Set Feature.  Hope this helps.  

EDITED:  to add that one of my saved messages is a select list of questions that every guests must answer including those who used IB.  No matter what, everyone needs to answer it.  It helps me so much to decide if it will be the right fit for both the guest and me as the host.  This is a win -win for all those involved.  Especially those who didn't bother to read the part where we have pets.  So one of the questions I ask is...." Do you and your traveling companion both love dogs and cats?"   🙂

[Margaux33]

thank you i state kitchen access upon request and that it is subject to a schedule ...the third party was a first for me ....i asked for another case manager and was told that it was up to shaundra as too whether or not she wanted to give it up ..shaundra said i could not have another case manager ...but the most interesting part is the knowlege that air bnb refused to pay me for the five days the men stayed before they complained of limited access..i did not know that air bnb could refuse payment to a host .. for the time that guests stayed ....i will follow your advice at the resolution center ..the booking says i cancelled it ..but i didnt ..and as it was cancelled i cant ask for resolution ..i will try your suggestion ..

[Pam98]

I find calling them is much better than emailing! I've had all my issues resolved right away! 

[Alicia164]

How did you call them ? I need to talk with someone . The robot rejects my address .

[Dawn-And-Toby0]

Google Airbnb customer service United States phone number. I did that and never have a problem. 

[Ken28]

@Margaux33, I've also had difficulty getting a second case manager. One support person told me it was possible upon request, but I've never been successful in getting a new case manager assigned. If you still are having difficulties and feel that Airbnb owes you money, I encourage you to do the following:

1. Carefully read the Terms of Service at www.airbnb.com/Terms and check that you're complying with the Hospitality standards www.airbnb.com/standards

2. Once you have read the Terms, verify that you have not breached any of the contract

3. If you can prove that you have not violated any Terms or that Airbnb has violated their Terms, look into the Arbitration process.

$600 is a lot of money to lose, so I can understand and empathize with your frustration. Please PM me if you need any assistance with the Arbitration process. I'm not an Airbnb employee, but I'm happy to help you get that process started. 

Best at of luck,

Ken

[Margaux33]

Thank you ken I will follow that advice 

[Jim-and-Marcia0]

 @Margaux33

I read both of your listings. Both are listed as "entire home/apt". They are very nice looking accommodations. Both show photos of a kitchen and both imply the guests will have access to the kitchen facilities. It looks like you modified one of the listings to require the guests to schedule time to use the kitchen and that the kitchen is a shared space. It appears both listings are in units attached to your primary residence. As a traveling guest, I would assume an "entire home/apt" listing would allow me unlimited access to the main features of the home, which would include the kitchen in the photo. If the guests did not feel welcome in your home because you lock them out of basic areas that you advertise as being available, then I think they had good reason to leave. However, I think you should be paid for the days the guests stayed, but not for any unused days. You may be able to resolve your payment concern with a different Airbnb support team representative.

[Margaux33]

thanks for your feedback

[Margaux33]

they were given access but not unlimited ..however once airbnb told me i must give access i agreed to an open door to my home ..

[Momi0]

@Margaux33  I am not sure if you responded to me directly, since my name was not mentioned but I can only assume that your posted reply perhaps was FOR ME since I am the one who brought up several issues for you regarding your story.  Perhaps you just forgot to type in @Momi0.  IF so, I want to address a few things based on your most recent reply.  (my only goal is to help you and anyone else reading this in the future).

1.  Have you read the ABB terms and conditions on hosting?  IF not, you definitely should.  There are a lot of things that hosts do that they shouldn't but ignorance is not a suitable excuse.  Many say, well I didn't know.  In flipping this, the guests can say the same thing. But that doesn't make it ok.  

**** HELPFUL TIP:  Confirm with every guests as to who is coming to ensure the person sending the request is the one who is actually checking in. 

A reminder of my earlier advice I gave you regarding how to avoid getting bookings from those who are using their accounts to book a listing and are not actually the ones coming.  Best thing to do, is have as much communication as possible with your potential guests before taking the booking.  Even with Instant Bookings, I require that my guests answer 5 Pre-Set questions to be answered in 24 hours or their IB is not confirmed by me, as this is my house, and I want to feel comfortable that each guests understands the expectations of my listing.  Its a way of proving if they read or not.  You might want to use this awesome feature of creating your own PRE-SET saved questions that can be sent to every guests like I do.  Fantastic feature!!!!! 

2.  I have reviewed both of your listings.  I am confused as to why you say in your public post you have it written in your listing that kitchen is available based on a request and schedule yet I couldn't find that in the "10 People can Sleep Here" listing.  Yes, kitchen is marked OFF in your amenities, but perhaps you can make it more clear in your listing that "kitchen" is off limits, or they will need to arrange the usage with you but for now, it does not say that anywhere. I read it all. 

3. I am definitely surprised that the booking was cancelled by host as you say.  That's not proper protocol and you have a legitimate claim for those 5 days.  QQ for you:  Did the guest come to you directly in person to ask about the kitchen 5 days later?  Or they came to you prior to that to ask if they could use the kitchen?  It is quite odd that they waited 5 days to complain.   Who cancelled the reservation?  Were they suppose to stay more then 5 days? Can you elaborate a bit more?   Perhaps I can help but need more information.

4. Shaundra has a boss....this I can assure you 100%.  And while I do believe the staff at ABB is Top Notch, a few have made a mistake even with my Listing, bookings and payments.  And 2 case managers decisions were overturned by their Supervisor and I received an apology for their IMPROPER way of handling a serious nature.  Her actions, decisions and determinations can be evaluated by the Supervisor of that Case Management Team for why you were not paid for the 5 nights they stayed there.  Here's where I am confused again.  Every hosts is paid 24 hours after check in.  Why were you not paid 24 hours after they checked in as per the ABB payment host policy?  Again, need more information.  Not enough details are being provided to get a clear idea on what happened and how it happened.  Did they take the money away because you denied them access to the kitchen?  

5.  Definitely put some time into your listing making it very clear to future guests about the kitchen use.  I did this at the beginning of my hosting journey 2 years ago and that's when I discovered how many people don't actually read.  Based on my experience, I now make sure that every guests understands how much access they have to my kitchen.  They don't! haha  (I don't need another microwave to blow up which cost me $150 to replace) - and yes, my guests was charged after ABB saw what she had done to it. Seems 23 year olds don't know what they can or cannot put into a microwave. Silly me, I thought they all took a science class in high school. 

Best of luck with your case.  Again, when you call or write, be sure to stay calm.  Definitely request that a supervisor look into this claim of non payment for 5 days if indeed it was clear on your listing they were not to use the kitchen.  I hope you documented this conversation wtih your guests via the ABB site only.  That's the best advice I can give you going forward. Do not communicate at all away from the ABB message site.  For any guests that comes to me with an issue, (slight or big), I always go back to the ABB message site, document that the guests spoke to me about an issue and how I quickly resolved it.  I always explain to my guests why I am doing this and they all understand.  This is how I protect myself as the host should anyone try to file complaint later on.  (No one ever has).  

All hosts should be doing this.  IMHO.  🙂

[Lizzie]

Hello @Margaux33,

Great to meet you. I am sorry it is not under happier circumstances, but it fantastic to see you have recieved such great help from your fellow community members. 

I hope you don't mind, I have moved you discussion out of the calendar thread and made it a new topic here in the Hosting board. If you would like a different title, please do let me know and I will amend.

I wish you the best with hosting your next guests.

Thanks,

Lizzie