Airbnb massive system issue- accounts deleted and all reservations cancelled

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Current state of play. Of 17 cancelled reservations 13 have successfully rebooked with 3-4 groups that look like they have booked elsewhere. In a way I can’t blame them as they did receive a message from Airbnb saying WE CANCELLED their reservation.

On a positive note though this is the mail that Airbnb sent to us last night which seems to confirm that they will be reimbursing hosts for any lost income due to this horrific ‘glitch’… So I guess it maybe didn’t effect as many hosts as we perhaps initially thought (?!?) Naturally, until the lost money is in the account, I’d be a little sceptical…

Pura Vida Ecolodge,

Due to a technical issue, your ongoing or future reservation(s) were cancelled inadvertently.

Unfortunately, we are unable to automatically restore ongoing or upcoming reservations that were cancelled due to process restrictions. In order to help remediate this issue, our Community Support team is actively working with guests to rebook prior confirmed reservations to the greatest extent possible.

Please ensure your availability settings are up to date and your calendar remains open so that we will be able to send you any applicable rebooking requests.

If your guest(s) doesn’t rebook, and you don’t get another booking, Airbnb will make up the difference, up to the original amount you expected from reservations that were impacted by this situation.

We apologise for the inconvenience, and thank you for your patience and support as we navigate through this issue. Rest assured, we’re working diligently in the background to try to prevent issues like this from happening again.

Airbnb

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43

Have received on Monday 16/11 an email from Airbnb “discover@airbnb.com” apologizing for their system issue, bla, bla, bla, saying that they were getting guests to rebook again. At the end, it was said that if the cancelled bookings weren’t rebooked, hosts would get compensated.

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In an email from “discover@airbnb.com” on 16/11, it was said that if cancelled reservations didn’t get rebooked by the same guests nor any other guests, hosts would be compensated for their loss.

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Just wonder if you ask for a security deposit when guests book directly with you.

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tbh, despite being asked quite regularly from potential guests if they can book direct, we’ve always steered clear of booking guests direct as one large advantages of booking via Airbnb (or Trip Advisor/Holiday Lettings etc), is that one can safeguard against damages with security deposit as well as liability insurance if anything happened to guests during their stay etc… and generally happy to lose our 3% commission to not have the worry of being ‘covered’ etc. That said, after this fiasco with Airbnb, we are definitely considering having our own booking platform (any suggestions?) via our website/social media platforms as this recent ‘glitch/outage’ illustrated how dangerous it can be to have all our eggs in one basket so to speak…

peace, plants & pura vida

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Umm, there is just so much wrong with that statement I’m not sure where to start, but I’ll try.

Firstly, the Airbnb host security deposit is NOT secured, as in they do not block the amount on the guests credit card. If a guest decides that they don’t want to pay any claim made against it, there’s not much Airbnb or you can do.

To be 100% sure that it’s a real security deposit, you need to take it from the guest, either by card or cash, on arrival and only refund it once your satisfied no damage has been done.

You haven’t specifically mentioned it, but I take it you are also feeling covered by the Host Guarantee in case of damage not covered by the security deposit. Again, and this is purely anecdotal, many hosts have complained that the HG either hasn’t compensated them fully for guests damage, or that Airbnb have managed to wriggle out of paying anything at all.

As regards “liability insurance”, given how Airbnb deal with all other aspects around this issue, would you trust them if someone made a claim against you directly? The only way to properly protect yourself is to have your own STR policy with decent third party liability cover.

Remember, it’s not going to be just 3% soon. For many hosts as of first week in Dec it’ll be 15%, and I’m fairly sure they’ll roll the simplified pricing structure out to the rest not long after.

Along with the changes to the EC policy, Airbnb have indicated that they will also be punting travel insurance to guests and I’m wondering if they may also try to shift some (or all) of the liability for damage to the insurer also - says he, thinking out loud.

In a nutshell, you’re no where near as “covered” as you think. Do some searches on here, there’s been a few topic regarding lack of support from Airbnb when the shit hits the hosts fan.

Direct bookings, together with your own rental contract, deposit and insurance, are far more secure than via any OTA.

JF

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I haven’t accepted any direct bookings yet because I feel uncomfortable asking for the security deposit, though I’ve been asked quite often to do so. I won’t be able to do a detailed inventory quickly. How many guests are willing to pay the security deposit in cash on arrival? Have some of them not agreed to pay in cash on arrival? Have you refused check-in of any guests because of that？How long does it take you to do a detailed inventory on the check-out day?

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This is really quite enlightening John F, thank you! Although naturally some of my more trusting p.o.v comes due to largely positive experiences with Airbnb in terms of security deposits and the HG etc. Naturally this could change at any given time…

You make a very good point with regards to having our own additional STR policy with good 3rd party liability cover etc.

One thing that REALLY shocked us is the change from 3% to 15% Airbnb commission - I thought these new rates only applied for ‘multi-property’ owners/listings? Is this applicable to individual vacation rentals in Costa Rica and if so from when?!? Any links or further info would be really appreciated…

Really good feedback John F, many thanks

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No, also for hosts who connect by channel managers etc.

I suspect its something they’ll eventually move everyone over to, makes for simpler housekeeping, so to speak.

JF

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After lots of helpful advice from this and other platforms (combined with a continuing lack of faith in platform like Airbnb), we are seriously considering starting to take booking direct from our own website. With no experience in this field to date, I’d love to know what booking engine software other vacation rentals out there use for their direct bookings… Currently looking at Lodgify and Simply Book but any recommendations for something we can easily incorporate into our squarespace website would be much appreciated…

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Because I can’t always respond quickly, and I don’t trust platform managers to avoid double bookings, my web site just points folks to my Air listings.

You might want to look at youcanbook.me. It uses Google Calendar, and is quite customizable. I use it for booking my tours. It costs $10 per month for each calendar, and you can multiple listings on the calendar. A trial is free. So my Squarespace tour website has the calendar page call embedded — when they click on the “Book Now” button it goes to youcanbook.me, collects the booking info, and emails the booking info to me and a tentative booking letter to the client.

When I get the email, I use my Square Dashboard on my PC to create an invoice that is emailed to the client to collect the 50% tour deposit. When they click on the link in the invoice, it takes them to Square to enter their card info. I can take the final payment at the end of the tour on my iPhone with my Square bluetooth card reader, and if that’s not working, my spare Square card swiper that plugs into the headphone jack.

Squarespace has some very nice themes, and it’s easy to add content and drag screens around to create a menu system automagically. My tour web site has a lot photos, of course, and Squarespace is very graphics oriented.

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Hello, can someone please give answer about this message… Scammers booked my place obviously and I receive this message on my mail:

"Hi Marko,
After a full review of your account activity, we have decided to remove you from the Airbnb community. This means you can no longer access your account and cannot create a new one.
You were removed because we determined that the payments for reservations HMH2…, HM3H… may be fraudulent.
We previously warned you about fraudulent payments on 2020-12-24.
This is a violation of the Security section of the Airbnb Community Standards, which you agreed to in the Terms of Service.
Any upcoming reservations have been canceled and guests have been notified and fully refunded.
We consider this decision final.
You can read more about removal from the Airbnb community at: "

So guests have been in my place… I receive payment and I didn’t receive any mail on 2020-12-24…I am not using any credit cards, paypall nothing only bank account… So can anybody give me answer what is happening here? Can I return back my account 100+ reviews was there… Also what about money need to give money back? I will give it, it is not small amount but to get my account back… Also, could they take money from my bank account? They took payment not me from scam credit card… What to do now? Can you please give me some advice? Or phone number of person which I can call?

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You can try calling Airbnb 1 (844) 234-2500 if you are in the US. If not, try searching the internet for the number in your country.

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Not with the limited (and identical) information you have provided (on 3 different Topics)

It would be best for you to get answers from AirBNB Customer support. Then come back here with a more complete description of what transpired.

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Or go and complain loudly on their social media, as they loathe poor publicity from their guests and hosts - you may find an in there. The trust and safety dept do not have a contact phone, it is all via email. I wish you luck!

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You could try Facebook and Twitter: “Airbnb told me that bad guys booked with scam payments and shut down my listing forever. Why am I being punished for the actions of guests over which I have no control? Airbnb is the payment manager. I can refund Airbnb for any scam payouts, but wasn’t given the chance.”
What’s the story behind the previous warning? Did they ask you to do something? Though it isn’t immediately obvious to me what a host can do if Airbnb has been suckered. Presumably the payment initially cleared or the booking wouldn’t have proceeded.

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@Vrd1ca You don’t give any information here about the circumstances surrounding these scam bookings as far as why you were previously warned and Airbnb apparently thinks you are somehow responsible for accepting them.
Which would be useful info when seeking advice here.

While Airbnb can be quite unfair in suspending hosts’ listings pending investigation if a guest makes a complaint, I’ve never heard of them delisting a host because the guest’s payment method was fraudulent.

There’s more to this that you aren’t disclosing.

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The Airbnb Community Forum poster below had the same experience as OP and was able to be reinstated, so be persistent and at the same time list on other platforms if you have not already done so.

Note to other hosts, this seems to be associated with stolen credit cards and same day bookings. The scammers use a stolen card, then may proceed to ask for a partial refund outside the platform for “cancelling.”

It appears that transactions that involve the same guests or cards or methodology may trigger Airbnb’s suspension algorithm even if part 2, where the host may be enticed to collude and split the proceeds (full payout/partial refund) doesn’t proceed.

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60

Hopefully you recorded all your booking data off-line. If so, reach out to all those hosts and re-book direct. In parallel fight the Air bs - and good luck.

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I have more then 150 reservations on airbnb and this never happened to me… The problem is that guests have been in my place… Account which booked my place was from USA and guests who arrived was from Ukraine… I received payment after, they didn’t make last minute reservation… They made 5 days before arrival reservation… I tried to reach airbnb but they said could not help me… What to do now? Never use airbnb again…