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So I’m having a dilemma. I had a guest request a 4 month stay and I clarified with her that she understood it was just a room in my home with a daybed and a blow up bed because I noticed she requested for 4 people. She stated that was fine and that two of her guests were children so I accepted. We talked on the phone some more about the room and everything was set. Well a few hrs later she decides to cancel but because her reservation was only two weeks ago she wasn’t refunded the first month per Airbnb’s long term policy. Well she became upset, harassing me, etc. and contacted AirBnb. AirBnb asked me if I wanted to refund her the money but I was on vacation and didn’t see the emails right away. Well the last email I received from them stated they gave her the money back. So I have been in contacts with them because they owe me money but all they can do is say sorry. I had another potential guest who wanted similar dates for a long term stay and because she booked first those dates were not available for my other potential guest. It’s my understanding that the long term cancellation policy was invited exactly for that reason: to protect hosts from guests who change their minds when the hosts has potentially lost money. It’s no different than a deposit on an apartment or whatever and you decide to change your mind with short notice.
She told AirBnb that they decided the room was too small for their family and that she’s knew to airbnb so they didn’t know how it worked. All this despite clear message evidence that I confirmed this with her before accepting the reservation and they still fully refunded her. So now I’m out of two reservations that would’ve generated good money for me and the money for her being basically wishy washy. What is my recourse with AirBnb? I want them to follow THEIR policy. A supervisor was supposed to call me but so far all I could get was an email back from the person who refunded her. I’m so frustrated and considering just removing all my listings.
There are quite a few threads here that discuss long term rentals and the basic consensus is that Airbnb is not a good venue for long term rentals as they afford little or no protection against squatters. So sorry you had this experience. Perhaps some other members here can suggest alternatives for long term rentals, including a standard lease with a security deposit that you collect.
I really do think that the cardinal rule of being an AirBNB host is to NEVER not notice their emails. If the guest has had their money refunded, I suspect that AirBNB will hem and haw, delay and equivocate, but will never actually pay you for that month.
Well I wasn’t ignoring Airbnb. I was on vacation with my family whom I don’t get to see often. Trying to disconnect from the internet. She was booked before I went on vacation for a check-in of Sept 1. She cancelled some hours later and the emails started coming the following day after I started my vacation. I even responded to AirBnb that I would not agree to a refund since that what all the emails were about. The need for my approval to issue a full refund of that first month. They already had my decision before the final email stating they refunded her the month. They took it upon themselves, after asking for my decision, to override that.
AirBnb should be made to follow their own policies. If they aren’t then what’s the point? They make us follow the policies as hosts. If not then there’s no benefit, or protection rather, of me doing business with them.
Unless you get really lucky, your not going to do well with customer service on this case. For this situation you should try twitter. Direct message (DM) @AirbnbHelp. Send them your name, email, the reservation code and a brief description of the problem. Be polite and don’t threaten or embellish. The twitter team is very good.
Moving forward, as mentioned, there is a risk of squatters, it’s rare, but if it happens you deal with it. The real problem with long term rentals on Airbnb is that they control your money and they can be very uncompromising!
One solution might be to tell them you will book for a week and if it all goes well take it from there. Since Airbnb’s “protections” are iffy at best, at that point you might consider giving them some sort of contract specifying the starting and ending dates, when you get paid, dealing with them directly. You control the terms and the money.
I am so sorry about this, but I doubt that they will change their minds about paying you. I didn’t understand that the correspondence had commenced, and you have given them your decision before you went on vacation. But I still hold that as AirBNB hosts, we don’t have the luxury of “unplugging.” As someone who has been self-employed since the age of 16, I am used to this tether and so don’t find it onerous.
I will definitely be adjusting my listings after this if I don’t remove them. I’ve dealt with professional squatters with a lease in my home before and it was not a fun experience.
Thank you all for the suggestions and will attempt to reach out via Twitter.
I’m thinking this should be the standard way to handle possible long term tenants with Airbnb. Start them off as short term tenants through Airbnb and then switch to direct relationship with a lease, etc. Seems like the best solution. In this particular case though I wonder if this room in her home is just better suited to short stays. That’s what we do with our room and bath in our home. I really don’t want a roommate, I even limit family and friends lol.
I think your best bet is to try to reach out to twitter or to get another rep. and hopefully you will get lucky.
Airbnb is using your lack of response as justification for breaking their own policies. The policy is that you get to keep the money, period. So if they did not get your approval to waive your cancellation policy, then they should not have refunded the guest. Unless they received a “yes” then they should not have refunded the guest.
It’s not your fault for being unplugged for a few days. You were already paid out; transaction was complete. Why didn’t they try to text, call, or message you with the app? The whole scenario is ridiculous. Sorry you are having to deal with this.
You didn’t read everything. I had already responded that I wouldn’t agree to it before they gave her back the money. But even if I hadn’t before the fact this happened in under 24hrs. I’d see if I hadn’t responded in multiple days or even 1 day because they have to respond to the guest but it was mere hrs before I responded (less than 12hrs). They decided to override my very clear no.
I work in mental health. If a client has a crisis and I have to admit them, which has taken upwards of 16hrs before, I’m not tethered to my phone checking my email. They never attempted to call me. Which they have done in the past when I’ve had an issue as a guest and an issue as a host. Why was it different this time? A phone call I wouldve answered.
People have the right to not sit by the internet checking emails every two minutes (yes even in the 21st century) whether it’s a regular day or they are on vacation. Even more so when they have no current guests and no guests checking in while they will be away. I always make sure to specifically block off dates when I won’t be in town because I pride myself in being attentive and responsive when guests need me. It doesn’t excuse them for what they did because I had already communicated with them.
I’ve had a few long term guests in FL. I have a friend who helps me out with that. I usually only do long term with corporations. We get a lot of construction workers in the area so it works out well. But yeah in FL tenant is supreme. I had a month to month lease with a tenant. They failed to pay only the second month in and got to live in my house free for an entire month before I could finally get them escorted off the property. Not to mention how badly they trashed it. I had to repair the electrical, septic tank, walls. They stole things on their way out. It was just a nightmare.
You didn’t see the emails right away. You said it right here. That’s why they made the decision for you.
I had something similar happen on a lesser scale. I was out of the country when a guest was having an issue on New Year’s Eve. Since I was in the ciity I was out of wi fi range for just an hour or so and but they were almost ready to refund that guest everything.
If I had been out any longer, I’d have been in your boat and would have lost everything because I didn’t answer right away. They also try calling your phone too, but since I was out of the country, but phone was worthless.
As stated twice now I responded BEFORE they made their final decision. They decided to override my decision. So they had hear from me. They didn’t hear from me at the first email but they did hear from me before they decided to fully refund her. But I think you’re missing the even bigger pictures which is they were not my current guest. They booked and then cancelled a few hrs later. She was not checking into Sept 1st. Totally different situation. I had no guests in my house whatsoever. No expected guest whatsoever for anyone to have a problem at the time. If I had I would’ve been on call for them.
You also missed this part in my response to you. You at least had the courtesy of a call and what seems like more time than I had but I won’t make judgements about that. I never got a phone call. Not one. Only emails. I wasn’t out of the country only out in a rural area but I still had cell service and would’ve easily got and answered the call had they actually called me.
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Anyways, I’ve taken other very helpful advice here and they seem to actually be willing to help on Twitter. I will also be taking other advice regarding long term stays for the future. Thanks
With the Airbnb app running on my iPhone, answering any and all queries even while on the move is quite easy, actually. I’ve been doing it for years and it works fine for me.
Same here. I have the app and it’s how my response rate stays at 100%. However, that’s only effective if the message sent is through AirBnb messages. They didn’t contact via app or AirBnb messages at all. They sent emails only. No calls. To my knowledge those emails don’t come through on the app. Had they tried to contact via app/AirBnb message system I would’ve gotten an email, text and an app alert. Would’ve seen the text and alert ASAP.
Perhaps that’s a suggestion I will make. It would little room for missed emails.
