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Guest booked a stay and then a few days before check-in cancelled it. She raised a ticket with Airbnb that she wants a full refund because “an immediate family member passed away”.
Airbnb fell for it and started sending me messages to refund her. I asked Airbnb if they have any proof of death of the family member. Airbnb says they haven’t received it. I start thinking then why are you wasting my time with this request? I asked them to provide documentation.
A few days later, guest sends a link to an obituary to Airbnb support. The obituary is from a person living 1500 miles (2500 km) away. The last name does not match. And the death occurred before guest made the reservation. Guest does not bother to provide any proof of relationship.
I did not fall for it, declined refund, and haven’t heard from the guest since. Hope others don’t fall for it as well.
That sounds like just an individual coming up with a bogus reason to get refunded, as opposed to “the latest scam”, that usually starts from the inquiry level, but always good to warn other hosts about such things.
I read of another host getting something similar a few years ago. The guest provided Airbnb with a doctor’s letter claiming the guest had some medical emergency, the Airbnb rep let the host see the letter (they probably weren’t supposed to), the host did some research and was able to determine that the letter was fake.
Good for you for not falling for this but since death is not an ‘extenuating circumstance’ isn’t the claim of death irrelevant?
I understand the ‘pressure’ that Airbnb might exert and a Host’s desire to be a nice person, but death is simply not an extenuating circumstance that compels a refund upon cancellation under Airbnb policies.
Personally, I wouldn’t want to get into a debate with Airbnb or a guest on whether they are related. It could be difficult to prove even if true. Or, if true, might have been foreseeable (e.g., the relative known to be at death’s door yet the guest goes on a trip – and does so without travel insurance. Or not a blood relative but a partner of a dear friend. Where does it end?).
It seems to me that once you go down the road with Airbnb of asking the guest to prove the relationship that if the guest does indeed prove that that you or Airbnb might feel your’e obligated to make the refund. Otherwise, why ask the question and put the guest to the trouble of assembling proof?
As usual, you are right. Not exactly a scam on part of the guest.
But I think it’s a scam from Airbnb: they use deceptive language to manipulative a host into providing a refund. Nowhere in their communication they wrote clearly that I don’t need to provide a refund. It was carefully worded in a way that many hosts would not understand.
I had no intention whatsoever of providing any refund. I was just doing it for my own research to see what does Airbnb actually verify in case of such claims. The answer is they verify nothing. It’s a very well planned strategy.
As far as the guest is concerned: instead of grieving for their immediate relative, this person was more concerned about extracting a refund from me. It tells me a lot about the character of the person.
I don’t consider it to be trouble for the guest. Just like it is my job to respond to frivolous refund requests and deceptive messages from Airbnb, it is the job of the guest to gather documentation if they want to have a crack at the refund. I respond to plenty of messages that I should not have to respond to.
Oh, I do see it as a scam on the part of the guest if it was an obituary from before the date the guest booked. I just meant it wasn’t one of those well-known scams that seem to be perpetrated by some international ring of scammers, like the stolen credit card “My company’s paying, but I can stay at my cousin’s house, so how about we split the payment. Just send me half the booking payment and you can keep the other half”.
I think the bigger scammer here is Airbnb rather than the guest. They intentionally try to screw the host by using manipulative language to provide a refund when it is not warranted.
I’m not sure I’d call that a scam, more like ridiculous guest-pandering. I’ve read of hosts getting phone calls from a CS rep trying to make a host feel guilty for not agreeing to refund a guest, saying things like, “Well, the guest is a student and can’t afford to lose so much money.” As if a guest’s finances are a host’s business, or that the CS rep knows any of that as a fact, just because it’s the sob story the guest gave them.
My response to the poor student comment would be - Airbnb has deep pockets, feel free to refund from your own funds if you are feeling sorry for the non refundable payment from the guests!
I have sent a response like this a couple of times and the rep thought I was offering a refund. So now I only write two words that are hard to misinterpret: No Refund.
These are poorly paid people in the Philippines. I did some research on their salaries and many of them are only paid 30000 PHP per month which is like $500 USD per month for full time work done on night shift.
That’s why I feel that the biggest scammer is Airbnb. They are intentionally fooling the guest that the host denied the refund. I believe they think it’s better that way. The guest thinks the problem is not Airbnb but a particular host and they might have better luck the next time with a more “hospitable host”.
This happened to me as well. I was compassionate, sympathetic in conversation, but suggested that next time they purchase travel insurance and then recommended one that had good reviews. I did believe this host just was dishonest.
Usually to settle claims where death is involved, a death certificate is what is required. An obituary won’t do it. I was traveling once and had to change my flight due to the death of my grandmother. I happened to have travel insurance. I had to provide a death certificate for my claim. Another time, the primary host (and owner) of one of the properties I co-host for had to cancel on a guest because her husband passed away while she was staying at the house. She had planned to vacate the house by a certain date but had to stay longer. She had to cancel an upcoming guest. Airbnb required a death certificate for this as well so as not to hold the cancellation against her.
Seeker I love this approach, going to add to our rules. Just started with Airbnb and am obsessed with hosting. This content is invaluable and supportive. Thank everyone for their experience and wisdom!
