Our guest rebooking and refund policy explained

[Catherine-Powell]

Hi everyone, 

We value the feedback about the rebooking and refund policy that we’ve heard from Hosts in workshops, here in the Community Center, and across Host Clubs. 

From your feedback, we understand that many Hosts aren’t familiar with the policy, and our update raised more questions than answers. We also know that you need more details about how this policy works. 

As a result of your comments, we are doing the following: 

1. We’re removing the language about Hosts being responsible for rebooking costs from the policy. 
2. We’ve also answered some of your most frequently asked questions about the policy that we’ve heard over the past week. 

You can read more about these changes here.

We hope this will help give you peace of mind, so you can focus on what you do best—providing amazing hospitality to guests from all over the world. 

Thank you for being a Host. We want you to know that we listen to your feedback. Please continue to tell us what you think so we can make sure we’re helping you meet your hosting needs. 

Best wishes,
Catherine 

[Huma0]

@Mary419 

Oh no. Please don't send them to my house. I probably have a bunch of hinges on my Victorian doors that I forgot to video in my hostage video. I am clearly screwed.

I honestly cannot believe the guests sent you this photo. And then to say the beds are really comfortable? Are they out of their *** ing minds? What is wrong with people these days?

[Kristina46]

@Huma0  Before the pandemic, I visited my son who was on study abroad in Kyoto and I stayed in a very old style and inexpensive guest inn by the main temple. I booked directly with the inn. Noticed a few dust bunnies under the dresser but so what! Did I stomp downstairs and whine, ask for a refund? NO. I just enjoyed myself in this wonderful part of the world, and what did I expect for $40 US a night? Same thing in Prague. We booked a budget hotel outside the city center for under $50 US. Wifi was spotty and you had to go to the lobby for reliable wifi. So what!? Did I stomp over to the front desk and demand a refund?  Never. I want to enjoy Prague and not focus on tiny inconveniences. I also left them both five star reviews. 

Whatever happened to the spirit of adventure in travel!??

[Huma0]

@Kristina46 

Yes, I do wonder that as well. I travelled a lot when I was young (in recent years it's mostly been for work and I don't choose the accommodation), sometimes for months at a time, and stayed mostly in cheap and cheerful (and not so cheerful) places and occasionally splashed out on an upgrade as a treat.

I'm trying to think of times I complained about the accommodation and nothing really springs to mind, even in the total dives. I remember my boyfriend freaking out one time over tarantulas in our sleeping area (we ended up sleeping in the lobby instead), but I don't remember complaining about the scorpion we found inside our mosquito net when we got back to the guest house. It's just part of travelling in the tropics. 

I've stayed in some places with really filthy bathrooms and still didn't complain. I'm not saying that accommodation doesn't need to be clean. It does and, now that I'm a bit older, I would say something, but it's beyond me why travellers (especially young) ones will make a fuss about the tiniest detail in a budget accommodation. 

Of course, people coming from less expensive countries might not find my listings cheap, or think of them as 'budget', but actually they are for London prices. It should also be clear that this is someone's home, not a show home. Still, some people come expecting perfection. One of the things I got negative comments about the most when I was still hosting short term stays was my Victorian wooden floorboards. It's an English Victorian house. What else do people expect? 

[Kristina46]

@Huma0  I would relish the creaky floorboards in your Victorian home. I would love to imagine myself a character in a Dickens novel, creaking around the house, carrying an oil lamp, looking for some tea and crumpets, a cat to curl up with and a good book. 

What's wrong with travelers? To whinge about something like your floors.... is simply... unbelievable. It's part of the charm of traveling, of experiencing the world! 

I deal with the scourge of high expectations regularly, being a host in Hawaii.  You are part of their Hawaii dream vacation and as such you better be everything and more that they expect. Their sense of high expectations, and sometimes, entitlement, are formed before they even set foot off the plane. I really work hard to lower their expectations, and try to describe honestly what this place is.... and isn't. But of course we all  know they don't read.  So... if you are expecting a Four Seasons Resort experience you booked the wrong place. Should you wish the Four Seasons, where the Brittany's and Taylors of the world stay, please note the lowest room rate is around $1900 per night. Especially after the pandemic, when hotels here faced an enormously costly 10-month closure, they have rightly raised their rates sky high and always are booked up. 

I think what's happened over the years (and it's not just ABB but the entire hospitality industry) is the customer-is-always-right-syndrome, and as such deserves a refund for any little thing. It's created a highly entitled class of guest/customer who knows that any little whine will get rewarded with something pretty nice.  Even when it is their own fault! One time, I'd booked a boutique hotel in DC, as I was helping my son get settled in his US Senate internship. Like a TOTAL dummy (and I am a host myself) I failed to remember that traveling from Hawaii incurs an overnight and I booked a too-early check in date. When we arrived at the hotel, they'd canceled us due to us being a no show. Luckily it was January so they just booked me another room at the same rate as the third party booking platform I had used. They did NOT have to do that! I was prepared to pay for my mistake. Not only that, but threw in free breakfast for the stay. And it was all MY mistake!  I was rewarded for my own mistake and felt so guilty about it!  Something was so wrong with all that, but gotta say we loved our free breakfast. :)) I will always return there if I ever go back. 

[Huma0]

@Kristina46 

I can only begin to imagine the unrealistic expectations holiday makers arrive with when they go to Hawaii. They are expecting 'paradise' after all.

I just wish people did a bit more research when they travel, rather than taking along silly notions from something they saw in a film or TV show. I remember travelling in Morocco when I was only 19. Sure, it was a bit of a culture shock when I got off the boat in Tangiers, but I was kind of expecting that. 

What really surprised me was how many people freaked out, turned around and got the next boat back to Spain! I am not sure exactly what they were expecting?

Casablanca was the weirdest place. I met a Canadian guy in the hostel who had not set foot outside for two weeks (had to ask other guests to buy his groceries), because he thought everyone was out to con/rob/murder him. He had developed a lot of elaborate conspiracy theories. 

I asked him why he had chosen to come to Casablanca. He told me he had a multi-trip ticket and he just picked the city because it was the furthest point South out of the options. He knew nothing about the place before coming, except that he was of course familiar with the name from the movie...

Even though I was 19, and he was several years older, I decided he was one of the most clueless people I ever met.

[Kristina46]

@Mary419  You may need to add a disclaimer along the lines of what you find in the pockets when you buy a new purse:  "Any variations in shading or imperfections are characteristics of the leather and are not considered defects." 

"Any imperfections you may see in our doors such as distressed paint or chips are characteristic of the vintage, antique nature of our home and should not be considered defects." 

Really.... do we have to go this far?  Is that what it's come to?

[Gillian166]

@Mary419 

omg, that IS petty. my 3 listings are all 150year old buildings, there's plenty of chipped paint, and other quirks. It's part of the charm.... 🤪
 

[CindyandRon0]

The biggest issue I have is that 90% of the customer service agents do not understand English and it is like they are reading a script.  I AGREE 1000% that 72  hours is too long for short stays.  A guest can come stay the weekend, leave and make a report and get a refund. I have been listening and hearing the horror stories.  Go to the FB Airbnb Superhost page and read the stories.    Some guests will come in and find a hair in a sheet, which can actually still be ther after being washed and dried, and picknit up and throw it away. A different guest will want a full refund of cleaning and or rent.  There are videos on YouTube how to scam Airbnbs!  Airbnb must protect the hosts.  Airbnb can not rent homes without hosts.  Hosts can rent their homes without Airbnb and many are dumping Airbnb due to current Airbnb policies and siding with the guests more than the hosts. I have been with Airbnb almost decade and superhost most of that  and was their number 1 supporter but now I am wavering.   I do not feel.protrcted by Airbnb. 

[Kristina46]

@CindyandRon0  Once a guest left a great review but told me she had to deduct a star because she found one hair. I was so glad she didn't find five hairs! 

[Mark116]

@Catherine-Powell   I appreciate the update and I'm happy to see the crazy idea of charging hosts for relocation/rehousing removed.  Airbnb might want to review how they notify hosts of critical policy changes since it appears that almost no one knew this policy had existed since 2019.

I still believe that Airbnb needs to do more on the guest end, with the guest screens and prompts.  I know that guests are often very upset when they cancel a strict cancellation property because they don't understand the terms. Airbnb needs to make the cancellation policies more prominent and add a check box or a pop up screen.  The same goes for reminding guests to check/respond to host messages and for making sure they knew the original 24 hour timeframe.

I also do not think that 3 days 'after discovery' is fair to hosts and will definitely open the door to scammers who stay somewhere for 3 or 4 days and then make a complaint and get a full refund.

I'm sorryto say my experience with CS is not of highly trained and skilled personnel who have the experience and in some cases the intelligence to deal with complex issues.  I have many times been given wrong information by CS on very, very basic things...are third party bookings covered, can this guest getting a cancellation leave a review, etc.

CS is full of host stories of being wrongly suspended, of spending days and weeks trying to get answers from CS to no avail.  If CS had a better reputation I might be less concerned that you've opened the door to what amounts to open ended ability to complain about a variety of travel issues.

I do appreciate that you engage with this forum.

Best,

Mark & Deena

[Kristina46]

@Catherine-Powell  I also appreciate your engagement with the forum and showing that you do listen to hosts. Thank you for that. 

[Mg5]

@Catherine-Powell   The anguish and uncertainly these arbitrary changes have caused are likely to result in us withdrawing from the platform. We have just invested time and money upgrading the property, so this hurts even more. We have had our share of problem guests, and we know the 72 hr rule and loss of the security deposit is going to leave us too open to abuse. We cant always be on site at our property so we REALLY have to be able trust the guests and ABB and the SECURITY DEPOSIT gives us some peace of mind that our property will be respected. Without it we feel that guests will feel less concerned about looking after our property.  Our property is family oriented and pet friendly, amazingly good value for families and groups and unique to our area. We have already suffered TWO YEARS of loss on income due to Covid, fires and floods. This is the last straw for us.  This platform is SUPPOSED to run on Trust and Safety. Trust has been shattered by these new rules. Very sad that we will be closing our calendar and opening in other platforms.  We the Hosts are the backbone of your business. we cant understand why you would enact these insane policies. They are such a betrayal. 

[Tanja---Karl0]

Have a good day,

I would be interested to know why the cancellation rank is in the Super Hosts rating. I had already written that I think that this rating actually does not belong in there because guests do not know the hosts. And a rating on the hosts status should actually be on the rating of guests only.

If guests cancel this has yet necessarily to do with the B & B - because they were not yet guests. Returning guests are aware of the accommodation and book only if you liked it there. In addition, many people are just in and after the pandemic still arg cautious. Cancellation reasons can have several reasons, not arrive, illness, family reasons, travel difficulties, weather and more.

I find the cancellation rank too extreme at already 1% you lose the status - and everything else is true. This evaluation should be revised by your team again and I think that the evaluation point "cancellation" is not appropriate here at all.

Please pass this on to your supervisor so that they can put it on the daily schedule at the next meeting of "Hosts Criteria".

About your feedback I would be pleased

Thank you very much

Tanja

[James3008]

I'm no expert, but I've had guest cancellations and still show 0% on this rating.  I always thought it was whether the host cancelled on the guest, which AirBnB (rightly) gets very unhappy with hosts doing.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Tanja---Karl0 @James3008 is correct. This measure is only for host cancellations not guest cancellations.