Losing my mind šŸ˜– How does STRICT CANCELLATION POLICY = FULL REFUNDS, EVERY TIME? Wait, what? How do I now OWE $12K?

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I would like some feedback on the following scenario;

When:
After Hurricane Irma, construction crews and insurance adjusters are inbound by the thousands looking for housing which is in short supply. Additionally, 80% of South Florida has no power.

Space:
A safe, clean, secure space, with working plumbing, showers, toilets, and no damage. However, NO electricity because FPL hadnā€™t restored it yet.

Proposal:
Host explains to inquiring guest that the space has no power and not for rent. Inquiring guest, who own a construction company, strongly urges Host to let him rent because they need to get to work immediately signing contracts and will rarely be at the property. Further, inquiring guest offers, IN WRITING, to use their own generators until power is restored if allowed to rent space.

What should be done here? GO.

Well I rented it to him under our normal ā€œSTRICTā€ cancellation policy for a 30 day booking, which pushed all 11 of my other booking inquiries to other hosts. Day 1 the guy says they are on a job 45 min south and will instead check-in on day 2ā€¦ End of day 2 he says he found a place closer to the job site and wants a refund. I lost my other inquiries and this guy calls Airbnb Support and demands a refund BECAUSE HOUSE HAS NO POWER, AND THEY GIVE IT TO HIM!

This is the 4th occurrence over a 4 month period, for a total of almost $20,000, where Airbnb has given a full refund on bookings with STRICT cancellations and in every occurrence it was the Guest who defaulted.

In this case, I was told it is against Airbnb policy to rent any place ā€œwithout electricity and running waterā€.

Someone PLEASE tell me how a SUPERHOST who ONLY posts properties with STRICT cancellation policies can be in the hole and owe Airbnb over <$12,000.00>?!?!?!

I feel like Iā€™m in the Twilight Zone.

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The opening scenario sounds like our place here in Fort Myers. Find someplace with internet and check out the guyā€™s businessā€¦ If he seems legit, let him set up his generator. After the 12 days without electricity in Fort Myers that we had, thatā€™s what Iā€™d have done!!!

Iā€™d have given him a ā€œspecial priceā€ offer, maybe even half price, in return for that generator useā€¦

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The customer service representative who told you that was incorrect. A quick google search for Airbnb tents, yurts and/or camping will show many listings that donā€™t have electricity and/or running water.

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thatā€™s what I said and had it escalated to a supervisor. I thought I could rent a hammock if I wanted to. However, despite spelling out the entire scenario and providing documentation of the conversation and our agreement, this is what I received;

"This is Nichole, a Supervisor with Airbnbā€™s Customer Support Team. I hope this email finds you well.

I have spoken with your original case manager, Monti, regarding this experience with your reservation with Mike. We carefully discussed the information provided and I have determined that the original decision will be respectfully upheld.

Due to the evidence sent in, it does look like the power did not get restored until after the actual check-in date of the reservation. As stated before, power is considered to be a major amenity and does fall under the reason for a guest to have the right to cancel a reservation when the listing is without major amenities."

After 15 back and forth attempts to explain this, itā€™s like they didnā€™t hear a word I said! I would swear I was speaking with a bot if by text. How can I contact someone at a higher level where they understand common sense?

BTW, Power was restored within 30 hours of intended check-in.

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I feel this ā€œStrictā€ cancellation policy is a joke and not a laughable one either!!!.
I had a guest book this summer, her teenage kid broke his leg one week before the booking.
She still books with me one week after his injury. Which is a pre existing condition in my dictionary.
Then two weeks later, one week before their arrival to the minute she cancels citing her sonā€™s injury? Gets her automatic 50% back then asks for the full refund and I am sure all she had to do was tell them a story and not even have to provide documentation.
Air gives her a full refund!
Sounds like you are getting hosed by Air, such a shame you have to spend so much time and energy on the bookings.

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THIS is the problemā€¦

ā€œCancellation policies may be superseded by the Guest Refund Policy, extenuating circumstances, or cancellations by Airbnb for any other reason permitted under the Terms of Service. Please review these exceptions.ā€

There is no consistency to Airbnb policy and decisions are made by 20 year olds with NO understanding of real world business practices and the losses that accompany the careless decisions they make. All they hear is a guy paid $1000+ & now he is not stayingā€¦ they canā€™t conceive of guest (subconsciously themselves) actually having to pay consequences in the $1000ā€™s for being irresponsible at the expense of others. But THIS is what a NON-REFUNDABLE payment means.

This is a fatal flaw to the Airbnb business model and the reason Iā€™ve just shifted to HomeAway & Booking.Com. Sad day.

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Iā€™m really sorry to hear what happened to you. I think Airbnbā€™s policy has some loopholes and I donā€™t like it. But Airbnb does bring me nearly half of the booking so I have to keep using it. For the other platform I operate on, I can charge a 20% non refundable deposit (the percentage can vary from 10-50%, I chose 20%), so if a guest decides to default, I can always get some money no matter their reason for default.

There is one thing I didnā€™t understand from your above post. How did you end up owing $12,000?

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$400 a day?
For one guest?

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There is something off on this story. Iā€™m not quite sure what it is. It reminds me of a story I read about someone who thought they won the lottery but didnā€™t and then tried to sue someone to get money they never won in the first place.

You got 11 booking requests even though your calendar showed you were booked? And they all dried up right after this contractor cancelled? Why canā€™t you get a replacement booking?

I donā€™t know why they are authorizing refunds but after that happened to me the first time, costing me apparently thousands, Iā€™d be done with them.

Youā€™re saying itā€™s costing you thousands and yet you had 11 booking requests and 4 cancellations in a few months. In short, it sounds like there is high demand for your property so why canā€™t you get replacement bookings?

You tell us.

They are just following policy. I think Airbnb canā€™t conceive of someone paying $1000s and getting absolutely nothing in return. Especially when you can apparently get a replacement booking easily because demand is so high.

For you. For them, itā€™s fine and thatā€™s what they care about. They seem to be doing very well. It should be a happy day for you as you will now be listing on different platforms that hopefully have better policies for your business.

I hope youā€™ll come back and tell us what you mean about owing Airbnb money.

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If I recall the latest iteration of the TOS, if a guest has to re-homed, then the host is responsible for the cost of their new accommodation. Could this be what they are talking about?

And I canā€™t imagine that all those inquiries would have been interested in actually booking if there was no power or water. I realize that this is just a guess; but a fairly logical one I believe.

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If thatā€™s it, then this is truly an outrage.

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If there was documentation of the generator discussion, then Iā€™m surprised this didnā€™t trump the power issue, agree there is something that doesnā€™t quite add up here.

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OOHHH The answers I have for youā€¦

1st, after they kept my last booking fees, Iā€™m down to owing them just <$10,461> as shown in picā€¦airbnb neg

Depending on number of guests and time of year, I get up to $500/night. $1,000/night for 1 person on New Years. But this was a time when every contract company was trying to get in here to be first to sign new business in Florida. Areas were not even accessible and the entire Keys were closed off.

2nd, As for the total amount, as I said, this is the 4th time in as many months this has happened. Charging me back a total of almost $20,000! None made any more sense than this one did!

I would be HAPPY to post the entire correspondence and supporting documentation here if anyone would like to see itā€¦ It is a lot as I worked hard to make sense of this. Keep in mind, Iā€™m a SuperHost so I know how to take care of my guests and I operate at a high standard. If I was out of line, Iā€™d know it and wouldnā€™t risk my status.

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No, a whole crew of out of town contractor salesman and bidding guys there to collect deposits from homeowners on work they say theyā€™ll do in the futureā€¦

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So would you believe this happened TWICE, the EXACT SAME WAY?

To break this timeline down further (again, happy to show entire correspondence and booking log), They actually initially sent me an email stating that they found him to be in default and I was paid. Then, I booked a different contract company, got the same promise in writing, I RENTED A 17,000W GENERATOR for $1,400 as part of the deal because they didnā€™t have 1 to spareā€¦ Before they arrived, power returned so the generator wasnā€™t needed but I was willing to eat it for the 30 day booking. This time, same thingā€¦ day of check-in, job site relocated and they bail stating that there was no power based on my promise to provide a generator in the emails. Airbnb refunds them based on my not having power at the time of booking!!! Not that it should matter mind you,because the agreement was to rent WITHOUT power, but I have proof that power returned prior to their arrival!

Result: Lost bookings AND OUT $1,400 for the generator!

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Tried to keep it briefā€¦ Iā€™d be thrilled to present the complete evidence to anyoneā€¦ just ask. But yeah, I feel like Iā€™m in the Twilight Zone because they just donā€™t seem to understand common sense.

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A lot of people have had luck taking their complaints to twitter.

These carpetbagging contractors are going to screw a lot of people over before they are done, they always do. They rush in after a storm, do their crappy work and canā€™t be found afterwards. They just move on to the next nature ravaged area.

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Iā€™ve had no luck with @airbnbhelp. The worst part was Airbnb telling me the reason they were refunding him was because Airbnb was making special exceptions for ā€œhurricane victims who were affected by the stormā€!!! I attempted to explain that these are NOT victims and that Airbnb was using policy intended to protect me, against me. These people chose to come to an affected area from a non-affected area, booking AFTER the storm damage was done, having full and complete knowledge of the current environment, in order to profit from the event and they absolutely DO NOT qualify for such a consideration. All on deaf ears.

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, if a guest has to re-homed,
If thatā€™s it, then this is truly an outrage.

absolutely not the case here.

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Looks like you are SOL then. Sorry this happened, hopefully some other host here can learn from your experience.

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