Should HOSTS give up on AIRBNB Already, READ ON ?

[Rituraj2]

Hang on, this is going to be long.

So we had this guest who had booked us 10 days in advance for some event they were supposed to travel for. Booking starts at 3 PM and guest reaches out to me at 11:59 AM stating that they missed flight and if they can check in tomorrow ?

EXACT CONVERSATION:

Hi Rituraj,

I'm really sorry we missed our flight due to an accident. Is it possible for us to check in tomorrow and check out at Friday. It would be really helpful, this situation was really unexpected. Hope you understand. Pleaseeeeeee.

Inline with our policy we said refund wont be possible unless she cancels and we get rebooked. Fare enough, surprisingly next moment she takes up case with AIRBNB for Extenuating Circumstance Policy  and i get a message from AIRBNB STATING they are considering it:

They reach out to me fat 14:28 asking for reschedule and i ask them to get the booking Cancelled (even asked guest) so that our calender is opened up and then we can look at other options:

Airbnb Support14:21

Hi Ritujah, this is Bernadette one of the Resolution Specialist from Airbnb. I am reaching out to you about your reservation with Shruthi.

The guest called in to change the dates of the reservation, the guest would like to move the dates to Jul 26-28, 2019 for the same price.

We'd like to confirm this request with you before making any changes in the reservation. Thank you.

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Rituraj14:55

Sorry I won't be approving the change as it's last minute . They were supposed to check in today and at the end they have decided alteration. Inline with my policy which is strict, I am not approving alteration .

If they want they can make fresh booking

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Airbnb Support16:28

Hi Riturah, thank for responding. I understand that you do not approve the alteration request, her friend that is included in the trip, will not be able to travel due to an accident, and we're just hoping that instead of canceling the reservation, the guest is actually asking just move the dates.

This situation of the guest falls under our Extenuating Circumstances. Depending on the case, a refund may be authorized outside of the reservation's cancellation policy, as explained in our extenuating circumstances policy: 

We are currently awaiting documentation from your guest to determine if they are eligible for a full...

 

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Rituraj20:24

As much i understand guest wanted to checkin tomorrow from her message received earlier and suddenly she wants refund. Also i hope you understand that I won't be able to help with refund unless they cancel which will give me at least a chance to get rebooked. I did told the guest but they haven't cancelled either.

 

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Airbnb Support10:13

Hi Rituraj, we received the documents submitted by the guest, and we're currently reviewing it. Unfortunately, we can no longer share these photos to you, but I already asked Shruthi to send you the said documents through your message thread in the platform.

Rituraj10:16

Hello there
As mentioned they should have cancelled the booking if they were going ahead with claim which they did not do which sadly kept our calenders blocked ( inspite of informing them ). It's highly unfare on host side in that case. Emergencies can happen and we have given that benefit in past but it's confusing that why guests or Airbnb didn't cancelled the booking giving us chance to get rebooked.

As we chat, booking is still on. Sorry I won't comfortable giving refund to such guests

If they were pretty serious, they would have cancelled when they were asked or Airbnb should have cancelled before starting this claim

Airbnb Support10:21

Hi Ritujah, I can see that the documents provided by the guest is valid, and we will proceed with canceling the reservation.

As per our Extenuating Circumstances policy, the guest is eligible to receive a full refund. This cancellation will not be taken against your SuperHost status, and dates will be made available in the calendar.

Rituraj10:22

Dates will be made available, is that a joke. The date is already passed , they were booked for yesterday

And btw she is yet to share that documents with me. So please at least ask her to share the documentation

Airbnb Support10:54

Per our previous communication with you, Shruthi was able to provide sufficient documentation of an extenuating circumstance, we have cleared your calendar for these dates, and refunded your guest in full. As such, we will not be able to provide you a payout for this reservation.

If you'd like, you can review our extenuating circumstances policy here:

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, and appreciate your understanding of these circumstanc...

Rituraj10:58

I know what is this policy and I hope you or the guest had read the same, please find snapshot from the same policy which says, guest should cancel first and then raise a claim which didn't happened here and that is what I have been insisting, please arrange a call back as this is not fare when either guest or Airbnb has goofed up in implementing their own policy. I have been insisting on cancellation from moment go and its very much mentioned in your policy itself that cancellation is mandatory before they open a case for refund not the other way around

 

 

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POINT TO NOTE (Refer to policy screenshot).

 

What to do next

If you’ve confirmed your circumstance meets the requirements above, first cancel your reservation and then contact us to file a claim. We’ll walk you through the next steps, which will include submitting any...

 

 

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[Rituraj2]

So AIRBNB breaks their own rule of not getting the booking cancelled and taking up Extenuating Circumstance Policy which otherwise says that Booking should be cancelled before making a Claim and let the HOST loose revenue (inspite on insisting on canclleation).

To top it up they have stopped responding to my message on thread.

I have learned my learning, that there is no use of giving them undue commission from both end and I should be using AIRBNB just as a portal to get business which ultimately should be taken offline as that gives me more control.

Only benefit I see was having a better control with unruly guest, but from past experience, there also they have failed me (and I am a Superhost from 2 yrs) so i dont see a reason to give them any commission, I will just rather use/misuse their policy and give them 10 bookings every year to keep visibility as Superhost and move most of my business offline.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Fast-Deal0 

Those links are NOT Airbnb listings they are on the domain 4922.pw. Any booking or communication WILL NOT be with Airbnb.

[Ana1136]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 he just opened another thread with this, he doesn't even have a listing on his own, I don't know what is the point of this question. And what is the matter with insisting to click on the links 🙂 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Ana1136 

Mr. "Fast Deal" as a name doesn't instill confidence. He seems to be posting as a guest wanting to book but I would not recommend clicking on any of those links ! 

Quite possibly theres a website cloaking Airbnb to intercept payments, so the less publicity the better.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Rituraj2 

I fully agree. Airbnb should adhere to their TOS/Terms/House Rules as agreed by and between hosts and guests. Not adhering to these is basically illegal and a breach of contract.

You are in command of your own actions.

[Paul154]

Rituraj2 

It does bother me that both guest and Airbnb were not working in good faith with you. 

Guest did not cancel timely, preventing you from rebooking. 

At a minimum, you should collect one days rent from these guests.

But we all know guests  are unfair and Airbnb can be arbitrary.

Next time, cut out Airbnb and try to negotiate something semi-ok.

In this case,

"I can shorten your stay to Friday, no problem. However, I must charge something for today's unused room. If you agree to pay for this day, I will rebate $x (Maybe 50%?)."

IF that doesn't work then try

"It's best if you cancel. If you cancel timely, I'll return $x (something over your strict policy)