Another update which will increase guest refund requests

[Mary419]

I’m very concerned to see this new update.

Giving a guest 72 hours to report problems instead of 24 hours is going to make the free stay scammers ecstatic. 24 hours was plenty. Why should a guest get to complain about cleanliness after staying for over 2 days?

After hosting thousands of guests I can give many examples including once when I went to re-clean a kitchen floor for a family who clearly had spilled their own takeout food sauces all over it and then told me the floor was dirty. I’m getting very worried about the future of this business when I see changes like this:

 

[Kathryn573]

I'm going to have to require a 4 night stay if this ridiculous policy remains in force.  I agree with many hosts who have expressed their fears that freeloaders are going to complain after they've checked out that the place isn't clean in order to get refunds.  24 hours is quite a sufficient amount of time to report problems.

[Sarah977]

@Kathryn573  How would requiring a 4 night stay help? The guest can still complain on day 3 and get a refund. Then you'd just be out more money than if they had a 2 night booking.

[Helen744]

@Sarah977 After looking at this new policy I think it says that the guest will receive a reduced refund if they do not contact the host first  and that Airbnb will attempt to contact the host, I think there is some effort going into this to prevent scammers who simply lie and go to Airbnb without contacting the host.As someone else said often these scammers are very subtle. They book an extra day and then leave 'early' while complaining to Airbnb about 'who knows what' but definitely something to do with getting a refund . I am glad the 'locality '  will be changed to, Is this place at the address stated ? instead of letting people mark it down because they could imagine somewhere else could be better,  as it absurdly is at the moment.My scammer was all over this as the only real evidence besides the cooking sauces they put up the walls and all over the stove, was my communication for which they gave me five because I now make sure all communications are on the Airbnb site. Although it was obvious their personal  communication with me was non existent . This new policy will help prevent this in my opinion. by the way they did not get their refund but left me a foul review. H . A review that lost me my Superhost as it was just before last Superhost. They took advantage of me  Used all the goodies obviously lived it up  Refused to take out bins or just failed to know or read that it was a thing. the policy that was in place at the time would have given them a place somewhere else but they had no intention of vacating. I still do not know if they left early but they later said they were going the night before checkout . When I rang them they said their work was finished. I was leaving time between when I went to the house so did not go to the house . On reflection I should have but they were rude and generally unpleasant , but who knew they were pulling a scam  H

[Michelle2137]

@Kathryn573 With the loose wording it wouldn't matter, even if they decided to break the toaster and say they hadn't used it, you have no recourse and lets face it if you have to pay for their 2 week relocation airbnb comes out way in front with the nice payment of higher fees!

They can literally get away with anything, this is the complete opposite of what a contract is, which specifys in every single way every senario and how it would be dealt with.

The fact that a host would accept this just shows we are as stupid as airbnb knows we are!

[Dorothianne0]

Please do not increase this to 72 hours.  The guest should know immediately whether things are acceptable or not.  24 hours is sufficient.

[Laura2592]

@Mary419 you are absolutely right. 

We have all had those guests who never said a word about anything bad and then after check out there is a weird review or request for compensation. This option gives them even more leeway to decide "well, I didn't like it as much as I thought I did. So maybe I should stay for free."

Glad I only have a few more bookings to go before I am done with ABB.

[İlhan0]

Ev sahiplerinin misafirler karşısında korumasız bırakıldığını düşünüyorum misafir bir rezervasyonu iptal etmek geri iade almak için her türlü basit konuyu bahane edebilir ve ev sahibini zor durumda bırakabilir.bunun önlenmesi ve ev sahiplerinin daha fazla güvence altına alınması gerekiyor .Corona covid 19  tedbirleri gereği spor salonu kapalı olduğu için misafir bunu iptal geri iade alma bahanesi yaparak ev sahibini zor durumda bırakabiliyor bunu doğru bulmuyorum bu adil değil .ayrıca misafirin ev sahibiyle paylaştıkları bilgileri kalkipta herhangi bir whatsap grubu olusturarak veya sosyal medya grubunda paylaşmaları doğru değil bu ev sahiplerinin rencide edilmesine sebep olur Aırbnb ev sahiplerinin haklarını hukuklarini bu tarz konularda güvence altına almalıdır bu benim başıma geldi ve misafir haklı bulunurak kendilerine geri para iadesi yapıldı ben zor durumda kaldım bu adil değil bence

[Daniel9183]

"I think that the hosts are left unprotected against the guests. Canceling a reservation can make all kinds of simple excuses to get a refund and leave the host in a difficult situation. This needs to be prevented and the hosts need to be more reassured. Due to Corona covid 19 measures, the gym is closed For the guest, they can put the host in a difficult situation by making it an excuse to cancel and get a refund. I do not find this right, this is not fair. Also, it is not right for the guest to share the information they share with the host by creating a WhatsApp group or sharing it in a social media group, this will cause the hosts to be offended. they should secure their rights and laws in such matters, this happened to me and the guest was right and a refund was given to them, I was in a difficult situation, I don't think it's fair"

[Donna1157]

Is there a means that we may all read and understand comments made outside of our language abilities? Is there a Google Translate button for comments?

@İlhan0 wish I could read your comments too.

[Mary419]

Agreed that the definition of a “major amenity” and also the definition of it not working are subjective and should be left to the host to determine any compensation due. If airbnb is going to name themselves judge and jury maybe hosts won’t advertise as many amenities. The more you advertise the more the guest can claim weren’t working.  By the time the host hears about it there isn’t anything left to be done except hear that you’ve had a “hosting violation” and lost your payout and probably also lost $100 host cancelation fee. I experienced that twice last month here’s my post from that issue 

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/New-format-of-Guest-Wants-Full-Refund-message-coincides-...

[John5097]

@Mary419 

Dust bunnies start forming under the bed in two days! On wood flooring its noticeable even in newly renovated, very low dust apartment.  I also think guest would be more inclined to ask Airbnb for a discount and not the host. Guest are becoming conditioned to expecting discounts. Even with mine, all five stars across all categories, some guest still complain. I only have one listing, but its obvious that a significant percentage of guest expect the listing to meet their expectations, which includes not reading it, and expecting things that were clearly and accurately described and not included. My listing started off as the usual sales pitch like everyone else, "Come stay with me! The bestest of Airbnbs in the history of Airbnbs!"  but soon became a long list of Other Things to Note. 

Honestly I don't think Airbnb cares how many host they lose. There are hundreds of thousands new ones every year. I think host have to take this into account. I have mostly awesome guest but its surprising a significant percentage simply don't read the listing. 

Thanks for posting this info. I usually check in here to see what the weekly or daily policy changes or updates. 

[Elaine701]

I just don't get it. Hosts are supposed to overlook getting their places trashed. But if a guest finds a spider or doesn't know how to work a dishwasher, it's full refund? You know, if you let them, they'll do it. It may even become the norm at some point. 

There's actually many positive things about Airbnb, but I find these policies extremely concerning. It could happen to me at any minute, without warning, and for no tangible reason. I could even be delisted, future bookings cancelled. It's not implausible at all. Just need one dubious guest to make a false claim to get a free stay. Poof! 

Oh, and I still wouldn't ever attempt to make a claim on "aircover". This too carries all kinds of risks. Even if the guest burned the house down, I'd make a claim on my STR insurance, not Airbnb. That's what I pay them for. 

I'm stepping up efforts to minimise dependency on Airbnb by listing on other platforms. Airbnb, for all the good things, is just too risky. 

[Mary419]

@Catherine-Powell 

@John5097 airbnb  just directly emailed me with this announcement of the change for 72 hours for a guest to report a complaint. It is still an upcoming update “in the coming weeks” so there is obviously no plan to pay attention to everyone’s valid concerns here and cancel this plan. Here is part of the list of reasons they can take the money back from the host if the guest reports an issue 72 hours after they “discover it”, I wonder how the guests can prove your hot tub doesn’t work. What if the guest breaks something accidentally or on purpose then calls for a refund about what they broke? How can they not see the infinite slippery slope here @CatherinePowell is there any way a host can opt out of this at all? Can hosts uncheck amenity boxes so things are off the list for refund reasons? How is airbnb planning to prevent fraud with this list of very easy things to claim for a refund? There are hundreds of CC posts about disclosing potential for bugs being a solution for people whose rentals are in regions where that is inevitable but would an “other things to note”

comment like this this really protect a host? 

[Paul1255]

@Mary419 Hope you’re doing well!

Date effective for the change is showing as April 29th 2022 when I open the link in the email that came through to me.

[Mary419]

Thanks. The exact date isn’t so much my concern as the overall effect as noted. I handle thousands of bookings so I won’t be able to just pull the plug entirely on airbnb but I keep hoping I won’t have to keep it dialed way back as it is now