Promotion

[Tricia2686]

Has anyone had a booking that applied a Low Demand Promotion???

Tonight someone rented by Airbnb, for the first time since COVID hit. Not only did it list her check in time as 8 a.m. (since I have listed my place it has always been 4 p.m. check in, but charged $14 per night!!!, instead of the $70. Together with the additional cost of cleaning supplies and the cleaning company fees due to COVID I will end up needing to pay forward money to have this person stay there.

I immediately called airbnb to seek assistance and was told someone would get back to me, but they could not guarantee anyone gets back to me before the person is supposed to check in, which let's be honest is ridiculous. So Airbnb cancelled all of my reservations for March and April, gave me less than 5% of what I was supposed to make and now have some promotion that I am meant to bear the brunt of? I never agreed to this and I do not use smart pricing. I also do not want to cancel and risk losing my superhost status, but at this point I am likely to start using another booking service going forward anyway, Airbnb keeps showing they just do NOT care about hosts, which is actually their entire business since they do not own any property. 

Any help before this person checks in is very much appreciated!! 

[Debra300]

@Tricia2686,

This sounds horrible.  How was your listing included in the promotion if you didn't sign up for it?

[Tricia2686]

I did not sign up for the promotion. I never sign up for any of those and Airbnb will not get back to me! 

[Sandy111]

I don't remember applying for this "low demand Promotional"  code but when a guest cancelled way in advance Airbnb replied that a "future amount would be deducted from my next payout." I never received any monies. This morning another guest cancelled (came in contact with a Co-vid person and is self-quarantining) and Airbnb said another $616 will be deducted from our future payouts. What monies are they talking about? 

[Tricia2686]

I am talking about a reservation that was made and Airbnb gave a low demand promotions so instead of $70 per night it was $14 and it was instant book so I could not cancel it without repercussions as a Superhost. I am not sure what your issue was, but it seems like it was different from mine. I just wish Airbnb was a little more forthcoming with information! 

[Colleen253]

@Tricia2686  You can cancel an IB penalty free. https://www.airbnb.ca/help/article/2022/how-do-penaltyfree-cancellations-work-for-instant%C2%A0book-...

None of the reasons for cancelling technically apply here, but I would have just picked one and gone with it, given the circumstances.

The platform is bug infested. Regarding your changed check in time, see this post: https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Check-in-Start-Time-keeps-defaulting-to-FLEXIBLE-WHY/m-p/13...

I wouldn't be at all surprised if whatever this promotion was, was triggered the same way, or similar. I don't trust the platform and check my settings and account on a regular basis.

[Ann72]

@Tricia2686  No, I've never heard of that, and didn't think promotions could be applied unless you applied them yourself!  You know how when you go to your calendar, they have suggested promotions on the right?  And they might have a box saying "1 available promotion."  If you click through that, you'll see "Show past promotions."  You can click that and see if you ever initiated such a promotion.

[Tricia2686]

I have never selected any of those promotions, I do not even use smart pricing. What is worse is that Airbnb has still not returned my calls or messages even though they promised to "Escalate it." The tenant checked in so there is nothing I can do about it. It clearly shows how Airbnb just does not care about hosts which is ironic since they do not own any properties and solely rely on us to provide those. 

I don't even know what to do at this point. I am going to have to expend twice the amount that I made for the rental and Airbnb won't even get back to me! 

[Melodie-And-John0]

Im in there Going to get back to you cue as well @Tricia2686 , Good luck, I hope they can fix it asap for you , JR

[Daphne130]

I'm also facing the same problem of non refundable promotion discount as I did not turn it on myself and realized my guest is taking advantage by extending day by day and taking the advantage of discount that is allowable. I I'm now browsing and check with the community what to do with this promotion discount which offers the cheapest rate in town that covers electricity and water bills on top of other expenses that I would have to cover. 

[Brenda328]

Several days ago I posted about my account being cross-linked with another host's account.  When I refreshed my home page I was then cross-linked with a different host.  While I was cross-linked with the other hosts I could do things like turn Instant Booking on and off on their account.  This appears to be a very common problem.

I would not be surprised to find that some other host somewhere thought they were changing their own settings (because it isn't that obvious that you are cross-linked, my only indication was that on the left of my page it said 'Welcome <other host's name>' as opposed to 'Welcome Brenda').  Since that other host could be anywhere in the world who knows what havoc they could be unintentionally wreaking on your account.  $14 a night might be a small fortune to them!

[Lauren651]

This happened to me! Never heard of the low demand promotion but it showed up after I signed up for the covid stay/frontline program. I offered a 50% discount to frontliners but have had 2 people book regularly through airbnb at the 50% discount, paying platform fees as usual. I have had a  case open since June 5 and have not really gotten an answers. They have said "oh you must have put on a low demand promotion, nothing out of the ordinary here" when I definitely did not. But as a of 5 weeks I have not gotten a resolution from Airbnb. You might be better off asking your guest to cancel.

[Sieglinde10]

I just wanted to add to this thread that I have a current guest that had the "low demand promotion" applied a week after she booked.  She got an email AFTER booking that she would be getting a refund!  This was a special offer sent to a COVID nurse through the Open Homes.  Customer support just told me I have to negotiate with her.  That is really messed up for her and for me.  I am on the verge of calling BBB over this one.

[Tanya541]

What is a low demand promotion?