Unhappy with cohost: refund or review possibilities?

[Danny-and-Linde0]

Good morning, 

A few weeks ago we added a cohost to our advertisement on AirBnB to make sure to keep our guests happy while we were on a holiday. 

We agreed over her tasks and fee and went on a holiday. During our holiday, we noticed that our hosts did not do the check-in herself (she asked our neighbours because the time didn't suit her!), didn't show on set times, left the keys in our home and therefor couldn't get in on time to welcome new guestst and kept bothering our neighbours  for help because she didn't have time (we gave their phone numbers in case of emergency). Also the check-out and cleaning were not done properly - or done at all. Conclusion: we are very unhappy with our cohost. Is there a way we can get a refund or at least write a review about her so other people will not be dissapointed like us? 

I hope someone can help us out. Thanks!

[Marit-Anne0]

@Danny-and-Linde0

I do not think there is an option to review a co-host - at least I cannot find a way to do so with mine and I am not aware of such possibility.  

Any refunds I believe must be discussed directly with the co-host.  

A co-host is like an enployee-employer situation and I would not be comfortable with a random co-host without asking for references or doing a general background check like if you were employing someone.  Unless it is a relative or a friend you know you can trust. airbnb only facilitates contact between host and co-host, the rest is up to the host.

[Helen3]

I think a co-host is like any other service you commission, you need to do your research before taking someone one on.  If it was through Airbnb they only allow Superhosts to be co-hosts so this is a more suprising experience. Personally I would have tested the service before I went away.

What sort of references did you take up before using her services. Did you put a back up in place so there was someone else you could use in the event of any problems?

If you do have this co-host through Airbnb I would definitely give them a call and share your experience.

It would be a good idea if there was a review system where hosts could review co-hosts and this would be available to other hosts in your area considering a co-host.

Speak to this co-host about where you feel she didn't provide the services outlined in your contract with her (presume you had something in writing outlining expectations) and what refund you would like.

I don't know how it works in Holland but in the UK we have a small claims court that can be used for disputes like this.

[Danny-and-Linde0]

We did do research and we did hire her thourgh AirBnB. She is not a superhost but does have good reviews from her own guests. 

To go to court would (at least in Holland) be way too much trouble for this bad but not traumatic experience. 

I do not have a lot of faith in working up to an agreement about a refund with the co-host. She does not respond to our feedback. Anyhow, I would love for AirBnB to come up with a review system for co-host, because even after background checks and appointments face-to-face, these things can get ugly. 

[Marit-Anne0]

@Danny-and-Linde0 @Helen3

In my area there is not the option yet to offer co-host services; I simply added my daughter and she is not even a host, let alone a Superhost.  So I suppose anyone can be added as a co-host as long as they have an airbnb account. 

It could also be a situation that a co-host and former superhost will stay in the system after superhost status is lost. 

If you know the name of your co-host and her airbnb account, there must at least be a possibility to report. Perhaps contact airbnb on twitter in the matter and see what they say.  It might be interesting for all of us to know - we might all need a co-host one day.

[Matthew285]

@Danny-and-Linde0, well there are References.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/173/what-are-references-on-airbnb

But I think they have to request a reference, and it sounds like they get to approve any References that get posted, so I'm thinking this is not a solution.

There should be a way to review Co-Hosts that only other hosts can see.

[Danny-and-Linde0]

Thanks for your reply. I did not know about the possibility of references, but I think you're right that this is not my solution. I tweeted to AirBnB. I hope they will come back to me.