Airbnb Reimbursement

[Lisa1015]

CLSF-00982147

I have a house for extended stay guests. Each guest has a private suite and community areas are shared. One of my house rules states that "If any guest at the home reports that they feel the community areas are not clean, the host will have the community areas cleaned at a reasonable cost to be shared by the guests". Long story short:

A guest reports the condition of the house as not clean, we clean and one guest tells me if I charge her she will leave me a bad review. She then complains to airbnb because she doesn't want to pay. Airbnb determines the guest has to pay but the guest does not pay. The customer service rep opens a airbnb reimbursement request on my behalf and tells me to follow up if/when the guest leaves a bad review. 

I responded back 4 times to the agent(s) assigned the reimbursement case, each time providing proof that the cleaning was performed. All of the other guests in the house messaged me about the cleaning, how great everything was... I referred the agent(s) to these messages but he would not read them. He just kept sending me generic messages back requesting photos. My request for airbnb to cover this cleaning fee was denied due to not having photos even though airbnb had already deemed that the fee was justified and there was no dispute on the part of ANY of the guests that the cleaning was done. 

As promised, this guest, who was very happy until she didn't want to pay the cleaning fee, left me a 4 star review. Airbnb refused to remove the rating even though she had made direct threats because they stated 4 stars, "isn't that bad".

I don't know how airbnb justifies their refusal to cover the fee and their refusal to follow their own policy with regard to reviews. I am including  @Catherine-Powell as she has promised to assist in situations where airbnb rank and file appear to have not applied their rules properly. I hope her office will assist me. I will post a follow-up and let you all know if I get assistance.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Lisa1015 I find your cleaning rule very strange. Surely it is the responsibility of the host to clean the shared areas on a regular basis.

[Lisa1015]

Thank you for the feedback-much appreciated.

The reason for denying my airbnb reimbursement claim was not because it was an extra fee. It was because I did not have photos that showed before and after the cleaning. My understanding is that airbnb will cover any amounts charged legitimately and not paid by the guest.

Yes, airbnb will tell you they can't force the guest to pay but that doesn't have to be the case. Other hosting sites, private websites, and hotels all inform guests at the time of booking that the guest's credit card may be used for fees, to cover damages etc. Airbnb's policy is simply another example of their guestcentric practices and they are being disingenuous when they state that they cannot make the guest pay.

The description states that we do not provide regular cleanings because we don't provide that for the PRIVATE areas as part of the rate, unless specifically requested and paid for by the guest. It doesn't make sense to send a cleaner over to clean one room or one room and a bathroom. This is often how extended housing listings operate.

Since this incident, we have begun cleaning every 30 days and we automatically charge a cleaning fee per 30 days of every booking to cover this. I agree that 30 days is not often enough and will likely increase it to every 2 weeks. I got some push back from my Hospitality Manager and from current guests about cleaning more often than that, so we were trying out 30 days.

I assumed that extra fees that are explicitly set up in the listing to charge the guest automatically, (extra guest fees, cleaning fees), would be part of the listing the guest sees. I now realize that these fees are NOT visible to the guest unless and until they are applied when the booking is made.

We recently charged an extra guest fee to a guest who moved her boyfriend in, and she stated she could not find any mention of the fee in the listing seen by guests. This even though we had an extra guest fee set up in the listing. This gives the guest incomplete information so I will add additional detail to the description so guests are aware.

Thank you again.

[Huma0]

@Lisa1015 

I am sorry that Airbnb CS told you one thing and then back tracked. However, it doesn't sound like the initial information you were given was correct. As far as I am concerned, Airbnb does not enforce additional charges such as these. They can determine the guest should pay, if it was something agreed, but they cannot force the guest to pay (at least this is what they have told me) if the guest continues to refuse. I am not aware that they reimburse additional charges from their own coffers either. 

I agree with @Mike-And-Jane0 that your set up is not ideal. I had a look at one of your listings (one of the private rooms in the shared house) and the cleaning thing was vague. In the description, it says that cleaning is not included. In the house rules, it says you require cleaning every 30 days, but what does this mean? I couldn't see any specific mention that guests would be required to pay for cleaning. Even though you might find that most guests agree, I doubt this will be the first guest to be unhappy about the charge.

I think in a shared situation like this where you have different guests renting different rooms, of course you can ask the guests to clean up after themselves in communal areas (I do), but to keep things to a high standard and keep the tidier guests happy, you need to just offer regular cleaning of communal spaces and I don't think once a month is enough. Either factor this into your nightly rate, or charge a cleaning fee as part of the booking. 

[Catherine-Powell]

Hi @Lisa1015,

Thanks for addressing this issue, and I'm so sorry to hear you have been affected by this. I've asked my team take a second look into this and they'll be in touch with you as soon as they can.

Best,
Catherine

@Huma0 @Mike-And-Jane0