False accusation from guest accepted by Airbnb

[Nicolas2330]

Guest actions:

1. After having checked in without issues, guest requested to cancel part of the booking without any explanation. We rejected this cancellation. No other communication held between the Guest and the Host.

2. Then the Guest makes a claim to Airbnb for having hurt himself at the apartment. Accusing us that he got hurt from a water drainage issue in the shower. 

From the evidence Airbnb provided to us and the conversation with the host it is obvious that the Guest is lying:

1. Photos are not in the apartment

2. It cannot be verified that this is the guest from the photos.

3. It is impossible for someone to get hurt as the photos show by falling in an apartment.

Airbnb decided to:

1. Suspend account for 7 days

2. Refund guest fully for the stay

Questions

1. How can I contact another case manager to correct this decision?

The fairness of Airbnb is the key for success of the platform. If Airbnb takes the liars side then they are providing an incentive to promote this behavior which will end up having both Hosts and Guests leaving the platform. 

I did not provide details/photos/evidence or personal information to avoid any conflict. Please comment if I can safely do this.

Any recommendations are much welcome. Desperate for justice. 

[Zheng49]

Yes, there is currently a 'loophole' (as described) that can be exploited by guests that want to cancel, but can not get a full refund (for unused nights) due to the cancellation policy in effect.

You can try to get the guest to cancel and promise full refunds for any days that end up getting rebooked. This has worked pretty well for us on multiple occasions, especially since we are on a flexible cancellation policy.

[Nicolas2330]

For Airbnb: There is no loophole, if Airbnb takes the side of the party that is lying and provides refund to liars, they will continue doing this on the Airbnb platform and end up defeating the purpose of Airbnb. This is a very serious situation and could be treated as a criminal offence due to false accusations.  

[Jennifer1897]

@Nicolas2330  I feel your pain and frustration. I had a similar experience where a guest claimed I was "hostile" after I confronted them about smoking in the home and having numerous unauthorized guests that caused damage. Airbnb sided with their word and refunded them fully. 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it's really difficult to fight decisions made by airbnb such as refunds. Most of their customer service is now outsourced and they just follow a script of how to handle things. They best thing you could do is upload all your evidence call and request another case be opened, but there is no guarantee they will look into it again, let alone reverse the decision. 

[Nicolas2330]

Thanks Jennifer,

I will not give up, this needs to be changed immediately by Airbnb. 

I agree that their customer service team regarding this matter is very confusing and for some incomprehensible reason cannot be called. I hope there is no link between the customer service team and the people committing these crimes. Because it does seem that way at times. This is really harming the platforms reputation.