Scratching my head. Bad representation by Customer Service.

[Paul154]

I've always been impressed with the Airbnb system. We are a club of people interested in travel.

I've always understood Airbnb to be savvy business people who always have a logical business reason for their policies.

However, I've just had a bad Airbnb CS experience.

Guest wanted to pay for another guest - a 3rd party reservation. I explained to guest that Airbnb does not accept 3rd party reservations.

I told guest to call Airbnb, believing Airbnb would try to put the reservation into the correct guest's name.

Airbnb called me to explain that Airbnb accepts 3rd party IF the guest is transparent about being a 3rd party. Huh???

What about the review system? (I can't review the non-reservation holder guest)

What about the phone number? ( I am not provided the non-reservation holder guest)

Here's the thing that really bothers me - Airbnb is asking me to house a non-Airbnb person!

This makes NO business sense.  Airbnb should be forcing people to become Airbnb members so that they can make future reservations.

I'm disappointed.

[Jennifer1421]

I ended up in "Instant Book Jail" over cancelling 3rd party requests around this time last year. In an attempt to avoid this again, in my house rules, I state the fact that 3rd party bookings violate the Terms of Service, and tell people not to book if they won't personally be staying here.

In my pre-booking message that pops up when the guest is sending a request or instant booking, I also say, "**Note: reservations made on behalf of someone else violate Airbnb's terms of service. Please do not continue if you will not personally be staying."

Got a request last night from a guy who is trying to book a place for his construction team lead.

Le sigh. Decline. Sooooooo annoying!

It maddens me that CS reps are so poorly trained, AND that the policies and terms are so obfuscating.

[Katrina79]

@Paul154 It is true that if you knew the guest was booking on behalf of another at the time of booking and you initiate a cancellation, it falls on the host and you can be subject to paying a cancellation fee and have your calendar blocked. I have been assured that the person who booked the reservation will still be held accountable if any damage occurs. While Airbnb doesn’t condone third party bookings, they also don’t stop them if the host wishes to proceed and agrees to host under the circumstances. 
In my experience the problems occur when the guest staying complains to the person who booked about things. I usually see a family member who lives in my city booking for another member of their family who lives abroad. They complain about temperature, amenities, etc. and act like they should have been put up in some grand mansion, not taking into account the cost of accommodations in our local economy. It’s easy to complain about accommodations when the dollar isn’t coming out of your own pocket book. Very good communication with the guests is needed before and during the stay. I don’t like third party bookings simply because the middle man hears all negatives and usually assumes to leave a negative review. 

[René137]

Today I contacted the CS about a 3rd part booking and I was told that if I accept it, I wouldn't be covered in case of any damages performed by the person who would actually stays as guest. The CS said they could cancel the booking without any penalization to me as it was the Booker's fault.

[Kira32]

@Paul154  Don't accept. Your house your rules!

A non believer in double standards,

Kira

[Mike207]

@Paul154 I'm going through a similar situation right now with a poorly trained case manager. A guest had at least 10 adults stay at my listing even though she only reserved for 7 adults. She admitted in the message thread that she had 10 people stay there but the case manager went ahead and altered the reservation to refund them for one night when I cancelled their reservation (per AirBNB's policy, a host can cancel a reservation if a guest has more people stay at the listing and refuses to pay the add'l amount).

Oddly, this case manager cited a "personality conflict" as a reason to override my strict cancellation policy. The guest is upset that she was caught and is now refusing to pay and calling me all sorts of names, making fun of my appearance, etc. - again all in the AirBNB message thread.

The reason I even know that the guest had more people at my house is that they had so many vehicles that they had to park in my neighbor's driveway and on his lawn. They blocked his driveway. Yes, seriously.

The issue I see is that them siding with the guest in cases like this means that behavior like this and the Orinda party house will continue - they're not showing that there are consequences for bad guest behavior.

If this continues, neighbors and municipalities would be well justified in calling for bans on short term renting. This is obviously not in AirBNB's interest...my question is: with so many smart people at the helm of this organization, how do they not see this?

[Sarah977]

@Mike207  I don't agree that they're all that smart. They're smart about raking in the bucks, but they are clueless about customer service and dealing with issues in a fair way.

[Emilia42]

@Mike207 It doesn't matter if the guest broke your house rules, lit your kitchen on fire or took your dog hostage. If you ask/tell a guest to leave before completing their entire stay, the guest will be refunded for any unused nights. That is Airbnb's policy. You have to decide between your home/safety and the money, unfortunately. 

[Mike207]

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@Emilia42 wrote:

@Mike207 It doesn't matter if the guest broke your house rules, lit your kitchen on fire or took your dog hostage. If you ask/tell a guest to leave before completing their entire stay, the guest will be refunded for any unused nights. That is Airbnb's policy. You have to decide between your home/safety and the money, unfortunately. 

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I'm not so sure about that, @Emilia42. My read of their policy as outlined here is that a host can let a guest know that the listing isn't able to accommodate the larger party (as was the case with me) and then the reservation is cancelled or adjusted according to the host's cancellation policy.

This last part is the operative bit - I have a strict cancellation policy so this would mean that the guest forfeits the fee. There's a massive hammer for hosts to cancel; ought there not be one for guests to effectively do the same?

[Emilia42]

@Mike207 

Why wasn't your case handled that way?

[Mike207]

@Emilia42 

That's a terrific question. I intend to find out! Like many folks on these boards, I'm really disappointed with how AirBNB case managers react to situations where guests break host, municipal or AirBNB rules. 

I'm sick of the dissonance between PR and practice here...AirBNB is either going to walk the talk about creating real consequences for bad guest behavior or not. If they're not going to do it, we need to hold leadership accountable to that fact and refute the puff pieces that their PR teams are getting placed in a build-up to the IPO (to wit, this WSJ piece from a few days ago).

[Emilia42]

@Mike207 

I have read many posts about guests showing up with more people than booked and it always ends the same. If CS gets involved and the guest does not stay, then the guest is refunded. 

The third asterisk on the bottom of this Airbnb article is interesting and holds to be true in my experience. 

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Airbnb-Updates/Make-the-most-of-House-Rules-host-tips-amp-how-to...