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@Colorado1 I’m curious: was the booking made before or after March 14?
I do as well. AirReview is a blessing. I also go back and read reviews from guests I declined or those who canceled because they found a cheaper place. I want to see if I dodged a bullet!
I’m glad you left an honest review! Shows how many hosts don’t read reviews.
When I’ve looked back at the newer review from my past difficult guests, they booked with property managers who accept IB from everyone and just left a generic C&P review for all the guests.
On the flip side: I have taken the chance on guests who have received a “thumbs down” in the past and they turned out to be great guests. The written reviews were all positive or neutral, so I figured the host either clicked “would not host again” by mistake or was too indirect to actually state why they gave the thumbs down. Could be for something arbitrary for all I know!
According to Reddit, AirBnB has also massively laid off CS agents too. I can’t imagine what the wait times are like right now.
Its the only thing you can really do right now. I know you’ll probably never see that money and I’ve been ripped off a few times too so I wouldn’t expect to see it but its technically owed to you.
Hosts certainly don’t do other hosts any favors by leaving a good or neutral review while at the same time leaving a thumbs down or a bad star rating. I 'd pretty much discount those as well. I also discount any reviews where I see the host reviews every single guest exactly the same- usually “Nice guests!” or “Great guests!”
Of course there are hosts out there who are hard to get along with, have unreasonable expectations, don’t care to fix anything or respond to legitimate guest complaints, and then turn around and slag the guest in the review. That’s why I try to look at all of it- the way the host generally reviews their guests, the reviews the guests leave for their hosts, and the reviews that a host has gotten from their past guests to see if I can detect a pattern.
There are for sure some Airbnb guests who ony have one review which isn’t good, that resulted from the guest simply not being aware of what is expected when they rent an Airbnb. They may have assumed it was like renting a hotel room, and that it was okay to leave piles of dirty dishes, wet towels crumpled up on the floor or the bed, etc, but they are open to learning and complying the next time, especially if another host politely mentions that their review raises some concerns and dialogues with the guest as to what is expected.
I have had people use the Covid excuse to cancel when really they are doing it because their concert got postponed. It is frustrating, but nothing I can do.
If a guest’s sole purpose in booking a place is to attend a concert, or other event, and it got cancelled because of a ban or caution against large gatherings due to the pandemic, to me, that is indeed a COVID cancellation.
i received something worse. The guest said I yelled at her. Although I have a witness who swears this is a lie, Airbnb took her side and further did not pay me for three nights that the quest stayed at my home. Now for her I am on Airbnb’'s black list and cannot rent out my guest room in spite of some 7 years of an excellent report with Airbnb.
Airbnb says i am slow in reporting this. I am slow because I am extremely hurt.
@lordhunt Sorry, but I really do not get it. This happened a very long time ago. Even when you were running, you only got “2 bookings a year”. You could just list with another site.
I just had the same thing happen this week. 2 June cancellations. There are tons of other things to do in the resort area where my house is, but any guest who wants to cancel for whatever reason can say “Coronavirus” and receive 100% refund from Airbnb. My complaint is that I, in good faith, kept dates reserved for these guests (not allowing others to reserve those dates) for 4-5 months, and then they can simply cancel without any penalty. And since these are June dates, I don’t think they qualify for the 25% refund to the host … is that correct?
Reservations for stays and Airbnb Experiences made on or before 14 March 2020, with a check-in date between 14 March 2020 and 15 June 2020, are covered by the policy and may be cancelled before check-in. Guests who cancel will have a variety of cancellation and refund options, and hosts can cancel without charge or impact on their Superhost status. Airbnb will either refund or issue travel credit that includes all service fees for covered cancellations. In order to cancel under the policy, you will be required to attest to the facts of and/or provide supporting documentation for your extenuating circumstance.
The above as per Airbnb, updated 1st May. If your bookings commence post 15th June, then they shouldn’t be allowed free cancellation, under a strict policy. But it’s Airbnb, they’ve been making shit up as they go along so who knows.
These reservations both commence after June 15, but Airbnb is allowing cancellations due to “extenuating circumstance”, and Covid-19 is being considered an “extenuating circumstance” … no questions asked .
Other “extenuating circumstances” require documentation (doctor’s note, death certificate, etc.), but for Covid-19, the guest just needs to say “Coronavirus”, and the guest gets 100% refund and the host gets screwed.
I know a concert cancellation due to Covid is a valid excuse, but my places are marketed as retreats where people come to relax in the forest by the brook, fish and hike the forest trails. I didn’t know they were cancelling due to a cancelled concert until they texted me at the eleventh hour. Hard to get a new booking at the last minute. I know they knew about the concert cancellations weeks before. These concerts were being held at the local casinos which have been closed since mid-March with no date yet posted about reopening. It would have been nice if they had cancelled sooner. I don’t mind hosting these people, it is just frustrating that’s all.
Yes. I have written to the Airbnb bot asking what proof the guests provided that their family member had covid. All of the chat threads have been closed with no replies.
The guest had written to me the night before asking about WiFi options. When I informed them there is no WiFi (stated on the add already) the next day (4 days before check-in) the guest said a family member has covid. Airbnb gave them a full refund as this is the policy. No protection for hosts.
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