Fake extenuating circumstances certificate

[Inna22]

 I have a reservation for early September from a fully grown adult guest coming according to him with his friends. Today I get a note from Airbnb that his mother passed away and his reservation is canceled under extenuating circumstances. First off, while of course needless to say I feel for him and it is a tragedy to lose a mother, how is  this connected to a reservation six months out she is not part of? Ok, maybe this is a matter of opinion – maybe his religion requires him to mourne for a year.  I don’t know. The kicker is that the certificate is fake. I checked and it is from a small clinic where he works himself, however the Dr who signed the certificate does not work there! Or even comes up as dr. in search. I contacted Airbnb and they just said they felt it was legitimate. No explanation of discussion. I understand this is so far out, I will hopefully get another reservation but that’s not the point. 

[Anonymous]

@Inna22  Just out of curiosity, did the guest attempt to work out a refund directly with you prior to making the phony EC claim?

[Inna22]

@Anonymous

He called me at 11:15 pm, hung up by the time I got up and answered the phone. By morning I had a message: “things are pretty bad here, it would really help me if you gave me a refund”. Next thing I know Airbnb tells me his mother is dead. He is coming with a sailing team to be in a competition, middle aged men. His entire team is not going because of his mom’s passing? He has held two weeks on my calendar since September for two properties! My booking season is January- February so the chances of my getting booked at full price now are not that high. The note has no date of death, date of birth or any identifiers. Just says so and so mother of so and so is dead. I normally stick to my policy. For something like this I would have offered refund based on me rebooking. I am not a fan of doing it but it is four months out after all.

[Inna22]

@Alon1 @Branka-and-Silvia0 

The reply to my request for death certificate is fascinating:

"I have discussed this with my team, and we decided to uphold our decision about the Extenuating Circumstance claim by the guest.

I do apologize that this is not the desired outcome you are expecting as we are bounded by our guidelines and policies."

If they are bounded by their guidelines and policies, why are they not asking for the document listed there?

[Alon1]

@Inna22 

To answer your question, firstly please check if Airbnb T&Cs contains a 'Sanity Clause'.

In any case, I'd advise keep pushing, escalate it, as persistence can make a difference with Airbnb.

You say you have evidence it's a fake, so you can in turn question the knowledge and competency of the CS agents you're dealing with, and ask for someone else not only to check but also verify. Legally you seem to have evidence of what may be termed 'suspect fraud'.

Death isn't easy to hide. Death Certificate and Burial Certificate are normal.

As mentioned there has to be a public record and you could insist they provide proof of it. 

[Inna22]

@Alon1 

I do feel it is a matter of principal. Regardless of whether I would have just given refund or not. He should not be able to get away with it. I do have full proof but no one has been willing to listen to me so far

[Mark116]

@Inna22   And no one will listen to you.  I think by now we all know what 'airbnb's investigations' are like, which is basically, whatever is the least work for the CS to do, whatever is most guest friendly, or fill in the blank, random reasoning. A death in the family I can't even understand why it would cause the cancellation of a booking 6 months in the future, even if it is legit, which it doesn't like it is, since it's not an obituary published anywhere or a death certificate.  Airbnb doesn't know it's own policies and so, they don't abide by them.  I can't say enough times that this is the worst run company I have ever encountered by a landslide.

[Alon1]

@Inna22 

Many say Twitter is more effective. I've never used it but lots of testimony on CC.

Media campaign is another means, though time consuming.

Most effective maybe a lawyer.

In sum, I wholly agree it's a matter of principal, as mentioned it affects the entire Airbnb Community, especially if CS agents aren't trained to spot fraudulent legal documents. The implication could be wide ranging.

[Anonymous]

@Alon1 I'd expect that involving media, Twitter, etc on this would backfire pretty badly. The complaints would basically draw more attention to how easy it is to get an EC cancellation. And it's hard to make the case that Airbnb's decision was damaging to the host, in the context of the booking being half a year away.

@Inna22  I don't doubt at all that the guest lied and forged a document to get out of the booking (though it's the first time I've ever heard of the "evidence" being sent to the host and not just to Airbnb). But I also assume that Airbnb operators are required to accept any documents they receive as if they were valid for a few reasons:

1. Their staff is not qualified to validate documents from 192 countries, in dozens of languages

2. In many countries the host cancellation policies are superceded by consumer protection laws that guests can invoke to prevent being forced to pay for goods or services not rendered.

3. Per the terms of service, the host has essentially granted Airbnb the final say in all matters concerning payments in transactions that go through its platform

Which is all to say, you are right in principle but it's not a winning battle.

I do, however, think Airbnb should overhaul its entire approach to cancellations. Too many variations that have no real purpose because there are so many loopholes, exceptions, and grace periods. I'd prefer it if guests could simply opt into a cancellation-protection insurance scheme, and making a claim through the insurance rather than having Airbnb reach into the host's pockets for refunds.

[Nathalie-Nash0]

I agree with this. It just happen to me.

And why should I pay for the misfortune of other. They have insurance. My guest mention she had insurance too... Why is the host who have to support all the cost. The guest cancelled 2 days before arrival for a 3 weeks rental. It is my house so I had plan to move to a other place. That cost me money and then i couldn't leave the house empty so I had to pay someone to house sit. I all ready had the cleaning team started. I can not keep doing this business with such uncertain income. I have a team here to pay to run the property. I had refused other guest. So no income for a month and all the bills to pay. I can't ...

[Inna22]

@Anonymous  I would not want to involve media for a multitude of reasons. I also only have so much time in my life to battle something on principle but  the unfairness of this situation is extremely frustrating. This particular piece of paper is in English and these days you can hold your phone to text in any language in it will show you translation. Definitely enough technology out there to verify something as basic as a death certificate. 

 Overall, I could not agree more. They should sell insurance and forgo  everything else 

[Anonymous]

@Inna22  Yes you're right that an American operator has the tools available to verify an American certificate (after all, you did just as much yourself). I guess the question is, do they have a reason to? The policy effectively transfers the burden of loss to the host, so it seems that their only interest in demanding documentation is to create some friction in the process as a mild deterrent. Most people probably won't go to the trouble of falsifying documents - and I'd also guess that most guests with situations that are legitimately covered are either unaware of the loophole or don't wish to go through the process of pushing it.

It's standard Silicon Valley stuff - all these features appear to exist for a purpose that maps onto the analog world, but actually exist merely for behavioral modification. The Superhost thing is one of them too: hosts think of it as an honor and an achievement, and guests are told that it is a mark of quality. But its real (and, I'm almost certain, intended) effect is to use the power of status anxiety to bend hosts into submission to their guests, control aspects of their performance, and keep them locked into the brand. If it were really an "award," why would it be possible to lose it? Imagine telling Meryl Streep that if she doesn't make 27 movies a year or gets a bad score on Rotten Tomatoes they'll come and take her Oscars away.

[Robin4]

@Inna22 

Sorry you have struck this situation but,  you as much as anyone here on the CC Inna, are a realist! There are battles you fight and there are those you move on from!

Support have made it clear they are not going to be guided by facts, they are going to be guided by economics, and you can't beat your head against a brick wall....It may be that this guest has a good previous record with Airbnb and is a guest they do not want to upset, (or even worse).......heaven forbid, lose!

You know exactly what you are going to do here Inna, but, thanks for posting this thread. I am putting this aside as a topic of discussion for a workshop I propose to hold in a few months. Issues like this cannot go unchallenged because it erodes the entire basis of what we do when the company will disregard it's own rules for the sake of expediency! 

Each time this sort of thing happens it creates another precedent....and fairly soon precedents become the norm and none of us know what we can or can't expect from the company...it makes running our individual businesses impossible.

As I said, thanks again Inna, one way or another we will take this further, if there is any further documentation you would feel comfortable providing I would be greatful!

Cheers......Rob

[Inna22]

@Robin4  I am happy to provide anything that helps

[Ute42]

.

Hi @Inna22 ,

the essence of the airbnb-TOS is: „We do what we want, take it or leave it“. You can decide to continue to do business with airbnb or You can decide not to do so - that's it.

I'm only offering left over weekends with a maximum of 6 weeks out through airbnb. All my expensive peak season weeks are processed through other distribution channels. I have no choice, I cannot run the risk of loosing a $4000 booking bc of a bereavement on the day of check in or, as I've  just learned, months before check in.

[Alon1]

@Ute42 

A couple of questions.

Firstly, I must confess I'm confused by your profile.

You only have 4 Airbnb Reviews as a Host between June and October 2018.

However, you present yourself as far more experienced.

If I  recall correctly, on another thread, someone questioned your experience, and you explained that you've hosted for decades and taken thousands of bookings.

  If so, it's not clear to me  if this hosting is actually related to Airbnb? We're only allowed one profile.

Or do you have another profile, perhaps an Airbnb Business Account? .

Secondly, have you actually dealt witha legitimate cancellation due to death?

If so, on which website and how is the cancellation dealt with?.

Is there an Insurance which covers it?