I have been an Airbnb host for at least 6 years but my current experience with Airbnb Support is completely unacceptable. My long term guest wants to end her reservation 6 weeks early to move to another location that will be more convenient for her. Per my usual cancellation policy the balance of the stay is non-refundable. I have had this similar scenario multiple times over the years and it is pretty straight-forward. I can accept the change with no penalty, refuse a refund or in some cases I have stood by the policy and offered to extend a refund through the resolution center if I am able to re-book for the lost days to be as fair and understanding as possible to changes in travel plans. Each of these times I was able to navigate fairly easily with Airbnb Support, the platform and the guest. For some reason as I have come across this issue again I cannot get a resolution and have worked with at least (5) different Support personnel in an attempt to resolve the issue. This is a new one for the books!!! Airbnb says they will grant the cancellation and that the guest does not have to pay the final payment if they vacate before the due date of the last monthly installment. There is zero repercussion for this loss and they stand by their statement and advice to the guest to vacate before the final payment is due to avoid any issues. Other support personnel say this is incorrect and they will contact the guest to provide the correct information. Back and forth, back and forth. Finally a representative says they are sorry for the lack of assistance and will stay with me to see it through resolution. Today I get a message that they will go with the guest's request to shorten their stay with no penalty to them. Although I don't agree with this outcome I contact the guest to request that she update the reservation per their final decision so that at least the dates are no longer blocked and I can hopefully get re-booked. As she goes to do that she finds that due to my monthly discount in place she is no longer able to revise the dates without penalty. Airbnb Support reaches out to me to accept her revision without penalty which I have refused (3) times. Around and around. I am advised that these calls are recorded each time and I can only hope that someone goes back to listen. The last representative was completely rude to me and said his shift was ending and that I could call back if I still needed help. I am giving up here and looking for new platforms to rent my space. I can no longer trust this one.
