House rules mean nothing - airbnb service / support is the worst

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My rant is pretty simple, I had guest check out at 4pm rather than noon and I was told to create a “resolution” which I have done many of in the past. The comedy with the airbnb support person Darren F. begin:

Darren states: In reference to your resolution center claim #xyz for your reservation for your guest X. Inasmuch as there has been no supporting documentation submitted regarding the tape on the wall nor the late checkout, your claim is hereby denied.

My response: Darren, there’s nowhere to upload them… so I have attached it.

3 days later, Darren states: Thanks for getting back to me. We won’t be able to support your claim based on the documentation that you have submitted

…this is where it all gets ugly.

My response: Darren, you’re light on details and quick to make judgements. What are you basing you decision on and what documents do YOU need to substantiate the claim. I’ve been hosting for a while now and you don’t seem to behave like everybody else. Perhaps you can hand off the case to somebody else

Darren states: Thanks for getting back to me. My apologies for the confusion. I do realize that you have been hosting for awhile and that is appreciated for sure. Also understand that these situations must be mediated objectively with both parties in mind as you are both our customers. I would counter that rather than being light on details, being attentive to the details is what I must do in order to make fair decisions when deciding these mediations. Regarding the tape on the wall issue, the guest denies this and you have submitted no documentation, photos or anything else. I’m not sure what you were expecting from that.

I am well versed and very well experienced in mediating resolution center cases and with all due respect, the document that you have submitted could have been created in a few minutes after receiving the denial notice. The guest also firmly denies being in the listing when you said that he was. Furthermore you are claiming $225.00 for a late checkout? That is $55 less then the nightly rate of the listing. With all due respect that is absurd. I do realize that you manage a lot of listings at the MGM and other place in Las Vegas however I also have an obligation to our guests to provide them with fair resolutions. Once a guest has a marginal claim enforced upon them without sufficient documentation then the chances are that they will never travel with Airbnb again. When that happens, everyone loses including you.

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I cannot believe this person just accused me of fraud…

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My response: As I mentioned in my prior email - your system did not allow me to attach any documentation, thus I was waiting for someone at airbnb to pick up the ticket so I could forward it appropriately.

Second, you state below that […could have been created in a few minutes…]. Airbnb is committed to trust and safety. It is insulting and rather irresponsible for you to have stated below that I made up that document after receiving a denial notice.

The rules that we have put in place are for a very good reason; it may not be apparent to you, but we may have to make another guest wait to check-in, reschedule our cleaners or reschedule our maintenance crew. All of which costs us time and money. Did it ever occur to you that checking out as late as this did, doesn’t allow us to have another guest book and stay in the suite on that same day, so it’s a total loss of 1-day revenue for us? I guess not.

Darren, let me bring to your attention that I did $741,258 in sales on airbnb last year, this year alone, $410,267. I have no desire to squabble about $225, nor is it life changing for me, the fee simply covers our costs when guests are inconsiderate and don’t follow the rules. While you’re very concerned about your guest - you seem to leave out the concern for the landlord that is also involved and rather loose a landlord. I hope you’re decision was a wise one. We have delisted all 20 suites that we had on airbnb and when asked, I will attribute it to your lack of understand and ability to resolve correctly this issue. Make no mistake, this is the straw that broke the camels back.

Had you have called the phone number on the letter to verify - or what I call, DOING YOUR JOB to get the facts straight. You may have found that the hotel staff did indeed generate and send this letter.

…Yes these were the real numbers.

The best part of the whole thing is that he CLOSED THE CASE and never responded.

Would not rent on airbnb again.

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Honestly, I didn’t read the entire long post. But my question is, why did you allow your guest to check out at 4pm when your checkout time is noon?

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I have no way of removing people if they don’t open the door (these are suites at the MGM Signature which is a hotel/condo building). I knocked on the door a few times, they said “we’re leaving soon” and this went on until 4pm.

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Are you new to hosting?

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So you’ve generated over a million in sales on Airbnb and this is the first time you didn’t get your way with a complaint? And now you’re taking your toys and going home? Hmm. I agree with Darren, you really haven’t provided enough documentation to make you case that “airbnb service/support is the worst.”

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We had the hotel provide a letter on letter head with their check out time, there’s nothing more required after that… That’s pretty damning. Also, as a host with the volume that I had, there were numerous “rulings” on house rules, etc. that they decided not to enforce to be nice to the guests. So yes, I’m taking my listings off of their site, without significant improvement in the way that they treat hosts with the volume that I have, it’s simply not worth the hassle.

…definitely not the first time for a complaint.

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I’m sure you were being facetious in saying the “best part” was the case being closed because that was the final slap in the face. Air does lean heavily toward not offending the customer even when the guest was in the wrong. The late check out messed everything up and you lost revenue. Someone should pay.

The check out time has always been a little bit of a worry for me because often times–because I’m just a small-time casual one-guest operation–the guests don’t think the 11am departure time is all that big of a deal, even though I may have another guest scheduled to arrive at 2pm. I usually try to politely ask their travel plans, flight times/bus, whatever, so I am prepared in case. Yesterday a guy said his shuttle bus would pick him up at noon. Being just an hour past my stated check-out I didn’t say anything, but had to hang around an extra hour before I could tear down the bed, do laundry and get on with my day.

Bottom line: Air owes you or someone owes you. It’s not fair at all that we are held to such high standards and the guests get off easy. I hope you got the satisfaction of leaving an appropriate review for these people.

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I find Airbnb usually sides with the guest unless threatened with social media and press exposure.

I don’t blame you one little bit.

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Great, succinct comment! You hit the proverbial nail on the head.

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There lack of support for hosts, when the guest is clearly in the wrong, concerns me a huge amount.

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Honestly, if I had generated 410,000$ in six months (through Airbnb alone ? it looks like you generate much more with other platforms if you can “afford” to quit Airbnb), I would not even bother going to the resolution center for a 4 hours late check-out (even if it involved relocating another guest checking-in the same day in one of the 20 listings you manage) to claim 225$.

I would not bother joining an online forum just to post a rant.

Just not worth the time :slight_smile:

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Hi @J_Wang,

Yes, I have had similar problems with check out time, though not a lot. Maybe a couple of times. But I haven’t been doing it long.

Maybe I don’t look official enough. Or intimidating enough. Maybe I need to grow some muscles. Or outsource the muscle business. Large men with beefy arms. That sort of thing.

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This is not a host it’s a hotel operator, be real he’s asking for sympathy from our forum? Get over it Vegas. I think he’s bragging actually lol.

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Exactly. AirBnB needs to crack down on commercial listings. A hotel should not be listing on Air. Private people, listing rooms in their homes or on private property, maybe a couple rental houses. I was looking to book an Air for an upcoming trip with my family to a local tourist area and it was all commercial condos. No thank you. I will not give commercial properties my air business.

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Naw. You don’t really need to do that. You (and I for that matter) don’t seem like the type. And because we are friendly and aren’t a big hotel/motel chain guests sometimes assume the check out rules don’t apply. My tactic is as I may have mentioned–and if I’m around the house as I am today–I make a little small talk, “Gmorning…what are your plans today? What time is your flight, bus, etc?” Something like that. If the flight is at midnight then the checkout subject has to be broached.

Do you let them leave luggage after the checkout? They want to roam around and then come back to retrieve it later. I’ve done it a couple of times because, luckily, I’ve got a garage downstairs that I keep open during the day so they can stash their stuff there. I get the house key from them–don’t give them that, but I’m always a little worried about being responsible for their property.

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Hi @J_Wang,

Well, my checkout procedure is more about getting the keys back from them, getting the suggestion form filled out, asking them about their stay, if they have any comments. That sort of thing. Depending on the circumstances, they might stay on after that. For example, if they are leaving early morning, I suggest they check out the night before and then they can just leave when they are ready to go. This has happened a few times.

However, once they’ve left, they’ve (hopefully) left. In theory, they could leave early morning (for example) and leave stuff behind and come back for it later. That hasn’t happened yet.

I’ve occasionally had people ask whether they can drop off stuff and check in later. I’ve told them I can’t take responsibility for other people’s luggage, but I don’t usually have a problem with people checking in early (within reason) as long as the room is free. After all, we’re in the customer service business here.

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OP is doing her job, and it is a matter of principle also. If all of us did our jobs as hosts properly our guests would eventually learned how to check out on time if they paid once for it.

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Lol! Very true. You sound a bit more professional in your Airbnb endeavors than me, especially with the guest survey questionnaire. Wow.

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If i were you i would not give up so easily. First off he accused you of fraud, thats not acceptable and very unprofessional. He uses word “absurd”. This is very unprofessional also. They are trained to stay neutral and sympathetic.He should be reported to Airbnb higher authorities. I wish you can call them and talk to someone else and explain the situation.
His desicion is based on his personal opinion and though it is ok as he is authorised to make his own judgement, but in this case he is simply thinking that you and prices is absurd. Thats not professional, especially after you explained to him why. He is being dismissive and disrespectful and i wish you have time to report him.

With that said, i think you were in a rush to withdraw all your listings from Airbnb because of this isolated incident.
As you said it yourself, you had quite an experience doing claims and getting paid. This Dany dude is not that important, and may be he is not even working there anymore.
The best is to put emotions behind and calculate. Good luck:)

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@sarrah_warren: I’m not a hotel operator, I just own and rent out 20 suites in a hotel/condo. The units are all privately owned. Good not to jump to quick conclusions.