Airbnb's first message to us regarding this was sent at approximately 6:30 p.m., some time after the guests had paid and checked in. We were actively online on the Airbnb app, following the progress of the transaction and everything seemed to be working well. We had not heard from the guests that they had actually checked in, but we knew they were nearby and could contact us if there had been any problems, so we were assuming they had checked in successfully. As it turns out Airbnb tried contacting us by phone (when has Airbnb EVER called before? oh um NEVER) on an unknown number looking like any other scam bot, so that call went ignored. They did leave a voicemail, but coming from an unknown number, it was left for later to probably be deleted without opening it. Airbnb also sent an email, but it went unnoticed because everything Airbnb has ever done with us before has given us a notice on the app. We were checking the app frequently, not checking email frequently.
It was later that night, around 10:00 p.m., we were going through messages and emails before ending the day, when we noticed the email from Airbnb, sent around 6:30 p.m. This is where they informed us that they had decided not to "support the reservation." Upon reading this, our first thought was that this was some kind of phishing scam. Upon further review of the email we noticed that it had all the classic signs of phishing, i.e. an apparently American name ("Bruce") with several typos and poor grammar. The email DID have the guests name and reservation number. Hmm these hackers are GOOD! Do we respond? How can we tell if this is real?
We immediately checked the Airbnb app. NOTHING appeared amiss. Payment received by Airbnb but not yet sent to us, O.K., that's normal. No messages from Airbnb. Everything appeared normal. We then began the task of going through the "HELP" process.
Somewhere in here, the voicemail was discovered, "Bruce" from Airbnb ... O.K. but if they hacked through Airbnb then they certainly would have that phone number.
We were actually impressed how quickly we got through to a live person. This person was very polite and pleasant to talk to and seemed to be trying to help us out. It took some doing on her part, but she was finally able to confirm that the call and the email were indeed from Airbnb, whew, O.K. so now what do we do? She wanted us to verify that they had checked in. Ummm its 11:00 p.m. I had no intention of calling them at 11:00 to basically say "Hi! Are you checked in?", "O.K. thanks, bye." "Oh, umm, I'm not sure yet but I might be calling you back to tell you to leave. Oh, well, umm , I don't know why. K, thank you buh bye." I did send messages via Airbnb app and the phone number the guests had provided. The messages were to the effect of Were you able to get checked in O.K.? Is everything satisfactory? At some point we were told we may have to go over there and "ask them to leave the property." I made it clear that this was NOT going to happen! It would be midnight before I could get over there and if it were me over there as were a well intentioned guest, I would NOT be answering the door at midnight!
Well our very nice service tech soon hit her head on the ceiling of what she was authorized to do. She gave a very well practiced speech that she could not promise that we would be paid nor that Airbnb would offer any support. She denied that she knew why this action was being taken. She WAS, however, authorized to promise us that someone with the necessary authorization would be calling us back. in a few minutes? Tomorrow morning? Do I go to bed? Umm, can't promise....
At around 6:00 a.m. the guests responded that they had indeed checked in successfully, everything is wonderful, thank you so much....
Having nothing to offer yet, not knowing where this was going, it was decided to hold off on a response to the guest until something was known.
A little after 4:00 p.m. the guests are calling saying that they received a very disturbing call from Airbnb. It was in my next call to Airbnb where another very kind service tech let slip that it was her opinion that the only reason Airbnb would do something like this would be for some sort of "safety issue."
Yes, that raised an eyebrow.
I was forced by Airbnb to make a decision on my own. Their representative was not authorized to offer advice. I was still waiting for promised advice well after checkout time the following day. I had made promises to a paying customer based on promises that had been made to me by Airbnb.
They were clearly dumping their problem on me. They made a mistake, realized it after the fact, and hoped I would roll over and take onto myself, all the risks that their mistake had brought on them. Risks related to evicting an angry customer or the risk of damage to my property or the risk of some fraudulent method of payment, whatever.
Yeah, they raised a flag then walked away without looking out to make sure the flag was seen and understood. Now we are left standing here waving their flag yelling out to sea that we got their message and they are standing at the rails of ship, backs to us, occasionally looking over their shoulders to see if we are still back there.
As this situation has worked out, we did get paid, there was no damage to the property, the guests left on time as per their original reservation, and the house was left in excellent condition. It also seems to me that Airbnb has backpedaled a little bit by sending that email from "Frankie". Although not fully satisfying, it gives me some hope that someone at Airbnb saw that something was not being handled as well as it could be.
