Airbnb support is extremely dissapointing

[Natalie880]

My booking was canceled by the host the day before yesterday because she has decided to sell her home, so in my haste to secure the exact dates, I booked a place in the same resort (which I have stayed at every year in the past 5 years). Every booking we have had there has the same condo buildings, same layout so I assumed I was booking a condo with 2 bathrooms. A little under two hours after booking, my husband pointed out that it only has 1 bathroom, we have 2 girls, so it was going to be a little tricky to share just the one.  Because it was under the 48hr free cancellation booking window, I cancelled the booking, unbeknownst to me that I would also lose my Superhosts coupon. I have tried to explain my mistake to your team, but they are unwilling to refund my coupon.

After a devastating year of 2020, I assumed that Airbnb would extend the same courtesy of a refund that I did to all my guests who had to cancel even before we were required to by Airbnb. I have bent my cancellation policy because it was the right thing to do. I even refunded a whopping $1400 in March 2021even though my cancellation policy did not require it.

I am still waiting for someone to actually call me. Dan, the first person I spoke to about this case said a Supervisor is going to call me. That never happened. I need personal verbal communication. That’s how you should handle this instead of constantly sending me inbox messages with the same link. to the Coupon cancellation policy.That’s not hospitality or customer service. Please have him/her call me. Your policy said a Free Cancellation 48 hour window. The word FREE here is the key, yet i lost an UNUSED Superhost coupon. Again, this too strict of a policy does not work for Superhost. And just with host, every case is different and has to be dealt differently. It cannot be one size fits all. Airbnb always wants us to be flexible with our guests but how about you guys to your hosts? Please have someone call me and honor your word. Thank you for your time.

[Sarah977]

@Natalie880  First of all, this is a discussion forum for hosts and guests, not customer service. So "please have someone call me" doesn't work here. Airbnb doesn't have someone reading and responding to posts here.

It has always been the case that if you cancel a booking, any vouchers you used for the booking are lost. It's an unfair policy, for sure, but that info is available if you research the use of vouchers.

As for assuming there were 2 bathrooms, as a host yourself, I should think you'd be aware that guests should not assume anything about a listing- it's incumbent on guests to read the description thoroughly before booking.

[Nina75]

@Sarah977 Stop being mean to the lady. 

She is here for support not for you to criticize her. Ive gotten a response from AirBnb by posting on here so dont act like its not possible AirBnb managers monitors these boards as well as other social media.

[Sarah977]

@Nina75  I see you have taken to calling other posters, as well, who respond with factual information "mean".

I actually see it as kind to let a poster know they are not talking directly to Airbnb about their situation here. Why should she anticipate receiving a phone call by requesting that here, when that won't happen?

Yes, sometimes the moderators will ping something over to Airbnb if a user is being treated unfairly. But the OP here doesn't have a hope of getting her voucher back, because not refunding them is Airbnb policy. So her spending any more time on this is a waste of her time. 

[Nina75]

@Sarah977  There is always hope!!! She needs to be persistent. I have had Airbnb handle situations after I have had them posted on here. They have people following these boards.

[Sarah977]

@Nina75  I know that hosts and guests have sometimes had eventual good outcomes by being persistent. But it's a matter of what's at stake as to whether it's worth pursuing. 

If there are thousands of dollars at stake, or trying to get Airbnb to take a suspension they put on your listing removed, that's worth spending time on. But spending hours of frustration trying to get a $100 voucher reinstated doesn't seem like a productive use of one's time to me.

[Nina75]

@Sarah977 yes, the Original poster has to make that determination. I don't know how much the voucher was worth.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Nina75  Airbnb superhost coupon is $100. And @Sarah977  is right, it's a waste of time, she will not get it back

[Natalie880]

@Sarah977 "But spending hours of frustration trying to get a $100 voucher reinstated doesn't seem like a productive use of one's time to me."

Its not the amount. Its about building relationships. Thats what Airbnb is supposed to be about. You seem to be wasting a lot of your time providing uselss feedback. My frustrations are not with you, so unless you have something productive and helpful to say, I suggest you stop commenting.

[Colleen253]

@Natalie880 The feedback provided wasn’t useless. Don’t rush to label it so just because it perhaps isn’t exactly what you wanted to hear. 

[Natalie880]

You’re right. I’m sorry, but it’s the way the information is being expressed that is my issue. You don’t start a conversation by being condescending. No one will listen. 

[Natalie880]

@Nina75 THank you for being supportive Nina, I appreciate it. This is my first time ever making an error since 2014 so Im just shocked at how they handle their guests as well as Superhosts. It always seemed like they valued us but im beginning to see otherwise. This is a Host Forum where you and I as Hosts are given the oppotunity to share and that is exactly what im doing, so I fail to see why @Sarah977 has got her knickers in a twist.

[Nina75]

Lol... Yes she does, and she's not the only one. AirBnb is a female dominated business and some of these women in here dominate the forums as well. 💕

[Natalie880]

@Sarah977  I’m sorry we are all not perfect like you and make mistakes. And yes, you are being condescending. If you want to be helpful, there are nicer ways to do so.

I’m well aware of my mistake, my point is the strict stupid policy, it should be a case to case basis, not a blanket no room for error policy. It’s called the hospitality business.  Thats the point I’m making. As Superhost we get a peanuts of a $100 coupon and even then they are so strict about it? C’mon! It’s a billion dollar company. 

[Sarah977]

@Natalie880 Perfect? That's your interpretation. Shall I pretend I don't know that Airbnb doesn't refund the Superhost voucher once it's been used, even if you cancel within the refund period? I know that is true because many hosts have posted on this forum about exactly that. I was trying to save you from wasting your time on frustrating back and forths with customer service. 

Of course it's unfair to hosts to give them a voucher and then cancel it just because the host made a booking error. They do exactly the same thing to guests who use a travel credit.

There's a ton of things Airbnb does that are unfair to hosts that are far more damaging than losing $100 gift voucher, like letting an obvious 1* retaliation review stand, even if it causes the host to lose their Superhost status.

Unfortunately they don't seem to care about being perceived as unfair and non-supportive and having abyssmal customer service.