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 

[Tanja---Karl0]

We have not cancelled any guest so far 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Tanja---Karl0 I have heard that accepting a guest's cancellation request can hit the host for some reason. Perhaps call Airbnb and ask them what is going on?

[Tanja---Karl0]

@Mike-And-Jane0 is there actually any email for such questions? 

Thank you gues 🙂

Tanja 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Tanja---Karl0 you can message them via Airbnb.com

[Tanja---Karl0]

We have not cancelled any guest so far

Tanja

[Cherie71]

If we have certain House Rules -acting as disclaimers - will Airbnb CS actually read them?

I've edited all of my listings to take out flowery, marketing descriptions to avoid some guest saying - it wasn't lovely to me; it wasn't a beautiful garden to me...Do 4 pillows on each bed constitute my description of 'oodles'?  

Guests have 3 hours after checking in to notify us if there are any issues with the unit.   

The outdoor seating is available during the spring and summer months. (Now why would we have to say this to any reasonably intelligent person?) 

But, again, if CS can make a decision without contacting us, how do we remind them?  

Perhaps Airbnb could make it a requirement the guest must notify the host first, and, that Airbnb give the Host the same amount of time to respond. 

Airbnb CS is notorious to call us in the middle of the night - with Alaska time - leave a message and then close out the case before we are even awake.

I even put in the House Rules about Alaska's famous mosquitos and they may see a moose walking in the drive to cover ourselves on the pets/insects issues.  

[Mark-and-Sharon3]

@Catherine Powell how is your clarification dated August 4, 2022? As an administrator in my daily job, I would question the validity of any reply that came dated almost 4 months in advance?

We agree that the quality of customer service needs to be overhauled! We get the same canned answers from people who have absolutely no knowledge other than reading from a canned answer off a cheat sheet and they’re not choosing the right spot to read. Then they claim their shift is ending and they will not be back for two days. We all have had those same responses and get nowhere. And then suddenly the case is closed and there’s nothing more we can do. When they never even read the interaction between the guest and the host on the platform. 

Thank you for your attention to hosts concerns!

[James3008]

8-4-2022 in most of the world outside the USA is April 8th

[Sybe]

Hey @Mark-and-Sharon3 , thank you so much for sharing your concerns/thoughts on this. I can imagine it's tough to have faith in the new policy after having had such experiences. 

As @James3008 mentions, this is in EU format as 8th of April. That's the default on the CC though you can change it under Settings -> Preferences.

[Kimberly830]

As a result of this new rebooking/ refund policy, as well as several negative interactions (including one in which an Airbnb CS agent disclosed he was recording a private conversation in my home, while in fact, he had informed me that I was "on hold"), and a guest who left feedback that clearly violated the feedback policy, "3. Reviews should be relevant...Content that refers to circumstances entirely outside of another’s control" (AKA a refrigerator relay to the compressor failed, and the guest refused to communicate with me) and said guest left feedback that was vague, but misinformed "room had issue" and Airbnb CS informed me that it wasn't a violation (excuse me?! It wasn't only false, it was a clear violation)........my listing is snoozed. 

Airbnb relies on listings for their income. I've moved to another platform entirely. 

I am disgusted by the "support" for hosts, lack of transparency, and the fact that there has never been a time for me to speak to an actual CS agent supervisor (despite my multiple requests). This has resulted in WEEKS of waiting, unresolved issues and frustration. 

I don't deserve this. I work hard to provide a beautiful and relaxing home for my guests to enjoy. 

Do better, Airbnb. You've lost me as a host. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Kimberly830 whilst customer support is by no mean perfect (ok they are very bad) I don't think a broken fridge is what is meant by 'circumstances entirely out of a hosts control'. I think this is more to do with road traffic, weather etc.

[Kristina46]

One thing I have to give Air kudos for is that they revamped the EC policy a couple of years ago. This means that  nothing is refunded to the guest due to situations like death in the family, jury duty, travel issues, hangnails, etc. I think only a positive Covid test merits a refund now. 

I once had a guest claim hubby had acquired phlebitis, just 10 days before their Christmas booking.  Couldn't fly. Took the guests much longer than the (at the time) required number of days to submit their medical documentation. Meanwhile I am waiting and waiting. I call to ask status, they say they have not heard from guest, and it is past deadline so they will release the payout. About 5 days after the reservation was to have ended, they wrote to say EC documentation arrived and they were TAKING BACK MY PAYOUT. I had to cancel Christmas and that's no lie. Returned presents and everything because some CS just randomly decided to extend the deadline for submitting documentation and I could not rebook as we are a fly-in destination. On the plus side, we enjoyed a guest-free holiday.

So credit where it is due. Airbnb rightfully fixed that ghastly EC policy. 

[Kimberly830]

Well, that was one instance of many that I mentioned.... including illegal recording. 

The bottom line for me as a host is that Airbnb "customer service" has done less than nothing for me as a host - they've created an enemy when they could have created a symbiotic relationship. 

As of right now, I have no interest in doing business on this platform anymore. Massive overhaul is needed in "customer service," as well as policies, hold times, payouts, etc. 

In other news, my business is thriving on other platforms with better support!

[Property2]

Well, it certainly looks like Ms. Powell is not interested any longer to listen to our opinions or communicate with the hosts expressing their genuine concern since she just disappeared from this thread... Nothing new or unexpected, typical Airbnb...

[Till-and-Jutta0]

I can see 6 new answers today from @Catherine-Powell just in this thread, @Property2 .