Hosts unsupported by platform

I just had a real pita of a guest with a 2 night booking. My check in cut off time is 10pm. They were meant to have an hour and a quarter to get to my listing from the city’s coach station (only 2 miles away), but their coach was late, leaving them with three quarters of an hour. Instead of getting an Uber they chanced the bus on a Sunday. That would have been ok, but they had failed to read my address on the reservation, didn’t follow my directions, didn’t use maps or their phone and didn’t ask anyone (they had good English). As a result they were still messing around at 10.30pm and went to the backpackers.
Airbnb cancelled their reservation this morning and they were given a full refund. The trouble is even though they did not pay or stay Airbnb allows them to review. The guest was rude and threatened a bad review and posting screenshots. This is such an unjust situation for a host to be in. Wasted time, hassle, no money and now the prospect of a revenge review which will block superhost for months. This is not a sustainable model, on top of the race to the bottom.

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Not sustainable for you but not a problem for Airbnb. They haven’t been supporting hosts for years but continue to grow. Don’t expect anything from Airbnb and you won’t be disappointed.

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Most likely deliberate.

There is likely an intentional campaign to:

  • get rid of in-home hosts
  • get rid of hosts who started in the golden era (pick your years – maybe 2010-2014) who loved the platform and now see it as a hot mess, and provide vocal opposition and a threat to AirBNB’s Big Plans for Whatever
  • Whatever is probably to switch to a model of 100% corporate hosts with Plus-type Ikea bland listings who make enough money to absorb AirBNB’s complete dereliction of responsibility to ANY losses by host and guest.
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Harsh but fair as Karen Brady says. I could have sucked up all the crap but allowing the guest to review on top of it all is a step too far. I feel treated like a dog. Well a lot worse than my pamper pooch anyway.

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Interesting. I am confused though because at the moment Airbnb relies on hosts not getting a return on their capital investment, because it’s ‘just a spare room’. If hosts run it like a business it will have to cost a lot more. It doesn’t add up.

There are quite a few things I don’t understand here. Who cancelled the guests and why? Did they cancel their stay or did you as host ask Airbnb to cancel because of there delayed travel? Why were the guests rude? And what do the screenshots show?

This is only a thing if hosts let it be. Who is racing who to the bottom? Value for money is value for money, surely.

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Sounds like your guest had a bad trip. It also sounds like you were informed by them. You mentioned that they went to Backpackers at 10:30. Could you not have stretched your check in time 30 minutes? Maybe offer to pick them up if you have a car?

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I called Airbnb in the morning and they recommended they cancel because the guest had got off on the wrong foot. Yes they were rude, after an hour of my trying to coach the hapless guest into navigating a journey of 2 miles up a straight road with only 2 straight turns thereafter they accused me of not being helpful and it being my fault. After Airbnb cancelled she was rude and threatening re review, screenshots, telling me to ask God to ‘clean my heart’ etc.

My times are set because I am not paid anywhere near enough to lose sleep for guests who can’t even be bothered to read an address. Why should I offer a free taxi service for such an inconsiderate person? It’s their responsibility, not mine, and it was the easiest trip ever. She should have called an Uber.

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Re race to the bottom, because of Airbnb’s constant pressure on hosts to lower prices it doesn’t offer a reasonable return on costs. I would be delighted to raise my prices if I had any chance of doing so. My only option is to buy a cheaper place, but that doesn’t help in the short term. High UK property prices remember.

And she probably thinks you getting to review her is unfair as well. A big helping of Airbnb unhappiness for everyone.

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I didn’t want to review her! I would have been happy to let her learn from her mistakes in private.

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Do not let this stand, the guests blew you off it is on them to pay. Call Air back and tell them you do not consider the matter closed, the guests cancelled after check in and you expect to be paid. On every email you send them until they pay you tell them the matter is not closed.

RR

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Your call, Jess1. Personally I would be concerned about a female in a bus station at that time of night. Falls under the heading of “stuff happens”

So you called Airbnb because the guest had had travel problems and were late. You tried for an hour to navigate them through a two mile journey. I imagine they were a lot more fed up than you were - all that time on a delayed coach and then their host being unhelpful. You say that they had good English so presumably it wasn’t their native language? Honestly, I’m not intending to be rude here, but it really sounds as though you didn’t offer great hospitality. (Okay, I wasn’t there, I don’t know the full story so can only go on what’s written above).

Airbnb doesn’t pressure me to lower my prices so I still don’t understand. Your prices are set by you (taking all your expenses and contingencies into account) not by Airbnb.

Property prices here are much more. It’s up to us to charge enough to make a profit, we can’t blame Airbnb, honestly.

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Trouble is because the cancellation was after check in time, it’s counted as though they stayed. It’s a crazy loop.

Exactly why you should insist on being PAID. Keep at it, they will pay you.

RR

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I was not unhelpful! Remember they had failed to even read the address of where they were going to, let alone use a map, phone or tongue in her head!

And hosts know this. Which is why it’s worth being a little more understanding and civil (now matter how much you bite your tongue) so that guests give us a great review despite their travel problems.

I just deleted another email from Airbnb this morning trying to get prices lowered. Most hosts get them. Like I say the only way I can get a decent return on Airbnb market prices is to reduce the cost of the square footage.