Does Airbnb Charge Guests a Fee for Alterations?

[David632]

New guest instant booked today for 3 nights in a room where a current guest was supposed to be vacating. Current guest asked to extend AFTER the new guest already instant booked. 

I showed the new guest an alternative listing in the same home. New guest agreed to change rooms. I submitted alteration request for the same days, adjusted to same price as original booking and ONLY changed the room for the listing. My summary page shows zero change in fees. 

New guest says he is being $14 for the change and sent me a screenshot of it. Why would the new guest have to pay any fee for changing rooms if there is no change in the listing price? If anything, the guest did me a favor (and the current guest thats extending)... so if there is any fee at all, it should be assessed to me as the host.

But more importantly, why would a guest be charged any additional fee if the length of stay didnt change, the price is the same and the ONLY item that changed is the room for the listing?

Thanks,

David

[Linda108]

@David632  Each of your rooms is a separate listing.  As such a new reservation will trigger new fees.  Assuming you have the communication with the new guest on the Air BNB system, call Air BNB and explain what occurred and could the Air BNB guest fees be credited to the guest.

[David632]

That seems kinda silly, right? The entire point of the alteration tool is to "alter" an existing reservation. If the length of stay doesnt change, the price doesnt change....then the occupancy taxes shouldnt change... and neither should the airbnb fee. Right? 

If the alteration results in in longer stay or more expensive listing, then naturally, the airbnb fee will increase commensurate with the increase in alteration. Likewise, if a reservation is shortened using the alteration tool, the guest should be refunded any reduction in costs.

All the math should be easy and transparent on this type of alteration.

[David632]

And reaching airbnb about this specific reservation has been a headache x10! When selecting the reservation through the help center, it gives me zero option for contacting Airbnb. My only choice is to post to the community. I find this extraordinarily frustrating. 

[Helen3]

No it isn't @David632

All the contact numbers and details for BNB are posted in Community Help - as a stickie on the 1st post.

If BNB won't cover the amendment fee for the guest - it sounds like you will need to cover this as you are the one who has asked him to change.

[Lisa363 · Accepted solution]

@Helen3

I try to be a bit sympathetic to folks who are looking for the number for airbnb.  I know the first time I tried it took about 3 hours and a LOT of frustration.  I noticed today that when you google airbnb contact number USA the number is no longer listed as it was.  I had to look at another site to find it.  Not everyone is familiar with how the community center works and I believe you can be looped into a post through the help section of a reservation that you have a query about and completely by-pass the page with stickies.

I believe the issue is that guests are now being charged a fee to transition from one room to another within the same property.  This would be unheard of on other booking sites.  You are allowed to modify reservations an unlimited amount of times without a fee to the property owner or the guest.  Next they will be charging to add extra guests to an existing booking...  I think that this is a bit uncalled for on top of the round about 15% they already get - soon to be more when the new cancellation policies come into effect.

I think it is about noticing the greed rather than assigning who is to pay actually.  It is about noticing that they are not offering the guest as much as other booking sites do AND are charging unreasonable fees!  Hopefully this is a mistake that will be fixed. which is why it would be nice to hear the outcome @David632.  It's easy to just slip into conforming all the time but this seems to be about policy change and not for the better!!

Appreciate reading your replies as I know that you are one of the most informed contributors and have a lot of help to offer. Come January, airbnb will be getting more in commission than booking.com or expedia and I am not sure that the guest or host are getting anywhere near the level of service that the others offer so to be adding on other non conforming fees is really over the top and unwarranted to me.

Just my perspective.  Regards, Lisa

[Lisa363]

Wow @David632

Feel for you buddy.  May not be worth the $14 on the phone but if you can reach them on the toll free number can you let us know if this is a new policy for them?  That would mean that not only are they trying to match but also outdo their competitors on FEES!

The best toll-free phone number for calling Airbnb Customer Service is 1-855-424-7262 

Another number that works well in the USA for local callers is: 1-415-800-5959 

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

Airbnb charges a percentage of the booking.  Guest service fees are typically 6-12% but can be higher or lower depending on the specifics of the reservation.  So if you changed the guest from the queen room to the king room, from $44/night to $55/night, even if you altered the price, it is likely that Airbnb would have calculated based on the higher price, even if you altered it to a lower amount. however, Airbnb policy does say that If a reservation is changed, the service fee charged to the guest adjusts with to the new subtotal.  

Since you do not have any control over Airbnb's fees, you can refund the guest the extra via the Resolution Center. Otherwise, you can contact them - as a Superhost when you call you will be given priority.  When you were awarded your Superhost status, they sent you a toll-free phone number for your convenience.   

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/104/what-are-guest-service-fees

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/165/how-do-i-refund-my-guest

[Lisa363]

@Alice-and-Jeff0

"I submitted alteration request for the same days, adjusted to same price as original booking and ONLY changed the room for the listing. My summary page shows zero change in fees." 

Quote from original post. 

[Lisa363]

@Alice-and-Jeff0

"it is likely that Airbnb would have calculated based on the higher price, even if you altered it to a lower amount."

Just noticed this.  Does this mean that if I offer a guest an upgrade to an alternate accommodation at a reduced rate of $200 / night compared to the $300 / night that is advertised on the airbnb listing - the guest pays commission on the $300 per night?   That is even worse than a nominal service fee for a booking modification!

Can you confirm that they "would have calculated based on the higher price, even if you altered it to a lower amount"  is what the policy is or are you just guessing as to what may have brought on the fee?

I have in the past offered guests a free upgrade but they never accepted the request to change the booking and so reviewed the wrong property.  I am glad they did not accept and understand now if this would have involved paying out a fee!!  Am interested to know for future reference as there will be no "free" upgrade in these cases.  It is nice to be able to at least warn the guest that there will be a fee from airbnb for our generosity.

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

It is only a speculation on my part because, like you, I am only a host.  The rules say it does not, but since this is an automated process, the calculation of fees and such, there may be a problem when a change is processed.  And since Airbnb charges a "range", see the help center, it could be that one property is being assessed at a higher percentage.  

Systematic bugs can be logged here: https://www.airbnb.ca/help/feedback

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

yes, no change in the fees to the host, the fees to the guest may be different

[Lisa363]

@Alice-and-Jeff0

Thank you for the reply.  Your deductions may be right.  Still hoping it is just a mistake that will be fixed and not something all alterations are subject to. 

[David632]

I think we've gone a little off the point here.... this should be a common sense situation:

Guest is keeping the same duration for the same fee, in the same property...and only changing rooms (listings). At the end of the day, who cares if the host initiated or the guest? The reservation is materially the same. Therefore, no one should be charged any additional fees to change the listing. 

If the reservation alteration results in a longer stay, or additional costs, then the guest must pay the difference in occupancy taxes and airbnb fees. If the reservation results in a shorter stay, regardless of reason (as long as host and guest agree), the guest should be refunded any difference in fees. 

The instant book system has created an intense world of errors, what-ifs, and crazy scenarios that I'm sure no one considered when making it a condition of appearing in default searches. 80% of my bookings are from first time users! And, in a continued effort to provide 5 star service to my guests, I continue to offer things like upgrades to a better listing while it's open at my home... and if a guest has extenuating circumstances to end a trip... or to extend a trip... there should be fairness and consideration... AND COMMON SENSE in handling those situations. And if a first time user makes a mistake... or even an experienced host... there must be a speedy option for amicable resolution and COMMON SENSE outcomes. 

And let's face it, at the end of the day, I was only making this alteration in the airbnb system to MOST accurately reflect the physical placement of my guests and their corresponding rooms... AND to accommodate a lazy re-booker that wanted to stay in the same room. I could do nothing with airbnb, explain the situation to the guest, put the guest in the alternative room and mark my calendar as unavailable on Airbnb..... but i don't want to do that. Instead, I've wasted nearly 6 hours (no joke), in communication with airbnb, the two guests, this forum and submitting support tickets and doing research. 

Folks, when common sense fails to prevail, we are going to have major issues. 

[David632]

I submitted feedback as if it was a bug. Airbnb claims they don't respond to bug reports like normal support tickets. So I suppose time will tell... or maybe somone will answer and say it's setup this way on purpose...

Copy/Paste of the Bug Report:

<quote>

The alteration tool has a glitch. During the creation of the alteration request, the website does not refresh when the user manually changes the fee. For example, if I begin an alteration request for Guest 1 to change him from listing A to listing B, the platform automatically calculates the new rate based on the pricing settings in Listing B and calculates the difference in costs for Guest 1. However, when the user manually overrides the cost (perhaps to insert a negotiated price or to match the price of a comparable listing or even to incentivize a longer stay or to change rooms because an existing guest wants to extend), the cost difference does not update visually.

Furthermore, when Guest 1 receives the request by host for alteration, the guest is informed of an additional charge. However, in one example, it appears the guest was not charged this additional fee.

For a live case study, please review the transaction between myself and Robert ******. This guest booked a room that was being vacated in my home by Bahig ****. After realizing Bahig had not vacated the room, I touched base with him and he expressed his desire to rebook for an extended stay. I explained the situation to Robert and obtained his consent to alter the reservation. I submitted the request. My version of the alteration showed $0 change in rate, even though the "difference" column still showed the difference between the published price of the listing and the original listing he booked.

When Guest (Robert) went to confirm the alteration, the airbnb platform indicated he would be charged $14. He booked anyway. I checked with him today and it appears he has not been charged.

Instant book has created some headaches and challenges. I believe a functioning Alteration tool will empower guests and hosts to resolve many issues without the need for Airbnb intervention. I'm happy to provide more specifics, screenshots, or details to assist in correcting this bug.

Many thanks! And cheers to 5 star hosting!

David **
[phone number removed]

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