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KKC,
I firmly agree with how annoying the guests can be and what position it puts hosts in when they’ve done all they can to make sure their listing is accurate in what amenities are given. I went into agent mode and simply stated almost word for word what a common response from support would be if a host proactively reached out with this issue. If this was me personally, I’d say the guest needs to make sure they can read at a 4th grade level and not complain about something that isn’t there when it wasn’t offered to begin with. I’m one of the rare case managers whom are on the host’s side of thing 99% of the time. I honestly think the review system is shady AF as we can not do very much with regards to removing posts or hiding that one-off negative review based on a guest’s opinion of their stay. I’ve had the experience one time of having to tell a host I can not remove the guest review of “there was no damn pool!” even though the listing clearly did not list a pool to begin with. This is largely due to the review content policy Airbnb has basing reviews on “one’s own truth of their experience”. Unless there is a direct threat, mentions Airbnb involvement in a case, and a few other exceptions, agents will never remove a post. Agents can also never edit a post unless it is due to a transgender person wishing to change their name.
I know it’s all frustrating sometimes, bear in mind I will give policy answers and my opinion answers when responding to posts. I will also give helpful hints and tricks to getting support to do what you want, even if it’s not public policy, in certain situations.
I fully agree with both of you. My response was mainly per policy as an agent would explain to you when calling in. Unofficially, I’m a spoiled, fat, lazy American who wants a firm bed (so yours would be perfectly fine, but I also want a nice tv to lay in bed eating cheetos watching tv in peace and privacy.
To be perfectly honest, most guests who can’t read at a 4th grade level will completely S&*! on hosts even though the host stated exactly what is in their listing. I side with the host almost 100% of the time in these situations, but officially I have to recommend things to “save the reservation”.
I completely understand the worry. Airbnb doesn’t officially recommend not accepting reservations from local guests, however it does happen and hosts call in with similar issues regularly. As plain as the advice is, IMO, just block the guest as you have stated you want to do. Guests can be blocked by host or admin for many reasons and if they call in to ask why they were blocked, csr is not allowed to disclose details other than “the listing is unavailable at this time” and a good agent will go further in also stating “it may be an internal error on our end” and will assist guest in finding a similar listing in the area therefore taking the attention off of the reason for blocking in the first place.
@TheInsider
Re taxes: State of MA passed new STR tax bill on Dec 28 and it applies to all rentals that occur on/after July 1 that were booked in 2019 for less than 31 days. It also requires that for rentals made thru an agent/service like Airbnb, that agent/service who takes the payment MUST be the one who collects the tax and NOT the host. How will this be implemented? Esp for any existing bookings? Thanks!
@KKC good question. Simple answer, a non trip agent (newbie) has a $100 limit. Case managers have a $200 direct loss (DL) limit per reservation. So… I can directly send reimbursements, refunds, or coupons adding up to $200 without additional headache of getting upper management to sign off on it. The frequency of the user calling in has no bearing on our decision to take a DL. I personally will only have a difference in opinion in how I give out that “money” if the host or guest has admin flags on their file only staff can see such as: “questionable host” “strikes: abusive/irate caller” “unresponsive host/guest” etc.
An agent telling you “we’re approving this because you haven’t had many claims and this is a low amount” etc etc is a nice way of saying “I can approve this because it will satisfy you, get the case closed, I get another easy case solve, and I don’t have to ask management to approve it”
One thing agents watch for is “agent shopping”. If a host or guest call in multiple times about one specific issue and it creates multiple tickets, they are trying to get the response they want. Personally, I’m strict on needing documentation in order to justify why I’m doing what I’m doing for the host/guest where as another agent may just want their solve rate high for the day and will give you that $10 reimbursement for a bed sheet a guest ripped without asking for a receipt or anything else. Hopefully that makes sense.
I know many city/counties are requiring occupancy tax to be collected from guest at time of reservation on the host’s behalf and Airbnb submits it to the local tax authority at the appropriate time. If this is the case with you, you’ll receive an email from Airbnb regarding it. Personally I think the new policy sucks because the host should be able to collect and hold the taxes Airbnb collects on their behalf that way the host can earn interest on the money but unfortunately, Airbnb will collect it, hold it for a period of time collecting interest then submit it on host behalf. There is no way around this rule at this time but I will post updates as I get them.
Thanks! I personally don’t yet have any bookings in this situation because I’m not yet actively scheduling for season but know a couple of hosts via web who already have booked dates that would require taxes and they are really wondering how Airbnb will resolve this because they as host don’t want to be the bad guy asking for the new 12.45%+ tax! Nor can they based on law as we read it. Only Airbnb can collect it. Kinda of a sticky mess, i think!
Yes, plus it’ll be added automatically to the booking confirmation page the guest sees so the host wont need to add any additional money to the nightly rate or stress about anything regarding tax, at least for now.
I would be interested to learn about how and why hosts are dropped from the site. Is it arbitrary, or is the issue investigated?
Or do you have so many hosts it isn’t seen as an issue?
Hosts are removed (ghosted) for unresponsive situations multiple times, multiple strikes for abusive language/aggressive behavior, sexual accusations that become proven, multiple violations for the same reason, very low response rate, high cancel rating, and/or violating the host standards policy (www.airbnb.com/hospitality)
Statistically speaking, under 6% of hosts/guests call or write in for any issue related to Airbnb so even though it’s the agents job to handle these situations day in and day out, it’s a very low possibility that anything occurs normally.
Thank you - but looking at the member that was dropped for having a rubber pistol in her dogs toy basket that ended in court and eventual reinstatement, she wasn’t contacted at all with a history of 600 + happy guests. Nothing multiple there at all…
I understand now. That type of issue will be a trust & safety dept case due to the fake weapon. As ignorant as it is, the system is set to automatically drop any user, regardless of host or guest status and length on website, for any type of weapon (toy or not) if it is brought to the attention of Airbnb. I won’t speak in length on this because it’s not what I handle on a daily basis, but if it was a rubber pistol, that was why the user was instantly dropped. I’m not sure how it would be handled once it is confirmed other than I’m sure reinstatement would happen at some point like you stated has already happened.
Yes - reinstated after going through a court process. The guest made a complaint saying it was a weapon in open view. It wasn’t, it was a training piece. A rubber toy! The host was not contacted as it appears that what ever the guest says has a weighted truth.
The trust and safety appears to have their own unexplained agenda.
wait…what about facebook? I really can’t have this on that large of a platform unless admins and moderators never release my personal info that is used to sign up
@TheInsider I always thought that guests who cancel after check-in, but before their first night were still allowed to leave a review although they did not stay? Has this policy changed?
This question is about the “complainer” we had. We asked him to cancel because we don’t want to host unhappy guests. I thought he would still be able to leave a review, but now we see that we don’t have an option to leave him a review .
EDIT: I just received the invitation to review him. Apparently this is only after his original reservation, not after the cancelation.
We are long time hosts and are super frustrated with the unfairness of the review system. A recent guest who mentioned NO unhappiness while she was here (although fought with her hubby non stop) left a 1,000- word rant, a cruel and taunting missive on us and everything she could possibly name that made her unhappy. She decided it was a better use of her time to count mosquitoes and categorize them all rather than watch the most glorious, jaw-dropping sunsets weʻve had in decades. There was more but you get the idea. She paid our lowest rate, and complained in the review the loudest of any guest in years, no surprise there.
Even though the Guidelines stated clearly (at the time) Reviews
must be no longer than 500 words, thus violating Airʻs stated policy, the CSR would not even consider removing the review because it was her “opinion.” If a review violates stated policy and is allowed to stand, what hope is there?
We were guilty of “agent shopping,” as you call it. I took screenshots of the policy showing 500 words to be the limit and submitted it again but no one at Air seemed to think there was anything wrong. I asked several different times and I was finally “shut down.” So discouraging that someoneʻs lies and rants and abuse are allowed to stand, even though they exceeded the limit by almost double.
I wish CRs were given the option to remove more bad reviews. Itʻs made our whole lives about reviews, and one kook like this will wipe you out. Yes, I know all about responding, but sometimes that makes it worse. You have to word a response very carefully.
Thoughts? Thanks for making an appearance here and wanting to help us out!
. Thanks!
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