Airbnb cancelled my $9k reservation

Airbnb cancelled my $9k reservation

I had guests not follow check-in instructions and get frustrated because of it. They asked me to refund their $9,000 reservation because of it, also stating the home wasn’t as “luxurious” as it should be (I have over 1,000 5-star reviews). I declined. Apparently they appealed to Airbnb, and gave them “evidence” our smoke alarms weren’t working. Airbnb canceled their reservation and refunded them fully. I immediately sent them videos and pictures with time stamps showing our smoke detectors work just fine, and Airbnb just said too bad, the cancellation stands. And now no one will get back to me. I am infuriated and don’t know what to do. I am SO tired of feeling like Airbnb is never on my side and treats Superhosts like us who bring them hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, like garbage. 

8 Replies 8
Gillian166
Level 10
Hay Valley, Australia

@MackenzieandJonah0  I really avoid the word "luxury" because people who are enticed by that word are likely to be problematic. Under promise, Over deliver. 

that aside, yeah this sounds like the usual load of nonsense and you now will have to fight this. Don't give up, just keep fighting it. (i do hope "non working" smoke alarms isn't the latest scam the CS people will fall for)

Gwen386
Level 10
Lusby, MD

@MackenzieandJonah0 can you provide some add’l info? Something doesn’t click.  What check-in instructions didn’t they follow? When did they said smoke detectors didn’t work, did you go inspect it within the hour. I had a guest who notified me that detector was beeping and I offered to bring him a battery. Was $9K for a week, a month or what?  What specifically was guests complaints?

They were legit supposed to just go to the front door and enter the code. But they didn’t, and wandered all around the house trying to enter every other door and finally made it through the back door. It was a bad first impression (their fault). And no, when they requested from me their full refund, it was only on the basis of the home not being “luxury” enough. Which was nonsense, they were very upset from their check-in process. There was nothing about smoke detectors mentioned at all. Even when Airbnb cancelled their reservation, I had to dig and dig and dig for them to give me the answer it was on the basis of smoke detectors not working. I had the videos and pictures to them the next morning the smoke detectors were working fine. $9k was for a week.  

Jenny
Community Manager
Community Manager
Galashiels, United Kingdom

Hi @MackenzieandJonah0 

 

Sorry to hear about this.

If you could give us a little additional info about the situation (see @Gwen386's reply for guidance) then we can review things and see if we can escalate to the right team for review.

 

Thanks!

 

Jenny

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Please follow the Community Guidelines

Hi Jenny! Yes I responded to questions below their reply

Inna22
Level 10
Chicago, IL

@MackenzieandJonah0 Do you have it documented through airbnb chat with the guests that they wanted a refund based on having a hard time entering the house? When they asked you for the refund initially, what did they say?

Isnt still a rule in place that a guest has to report the problem to the host first and give the host a chance to remedy? You should read through the rules and if this one is in place, you can take it as far as arbitration to have your money returned to you

 

Correct, their refund request DID NOT consist of anything to do with smoke detectors, I have the request. It only had to do with being disappointed with the “luxury”. They never even gave me an opportunity to do anything about it. 

Their definition of 'luxury' may be unachievable, by anyone.