Post by High Priestess on Mar 10, 2019 16:53:33 GMT
This is an interesting conversation...where someone who states they are an Airbnb Case Manager, is talking to hosts on an offsite forum. They even state at one point that they must remain anonymous and are "risking their employment" by participating in this convo.
airhostsforum.com/t/airbnb-insider-here-to-help-you-all/30267/2
Some interesting parts of the convo:
Why are Customer Service agents dumb?
What about Third Party bookings?
What about asking guest to show ID?
Thanks for the question. There are a ton of Hosts who do require additional contracts at time of check-in, copies of ID, collection of occupancy or value added taxes at check-in, etc etc. It is very clearly in policy that Airbnb allows this. Simply edit your listing ad and MAKE SURE to CLEARLY let it be known in the “house rules” section that per county regulations, you will be required to take a copy of their state issue ID or passport at time of check-in. No exceptions will be made.
Stating this in your listing is the only way Airbnb allows it and quite frankly, the only way to cover your own ass. A guest can call a CSR and bitch, scream, yell all they want and Airbnb will stand behind you 100% because it was known at the time of booking that you require it. The only time Airbnb will not be on your side in this matter is if the guest shows up and then is asked to provide ID, they say no, you say fine cancel, etc etc.
Biggest takeaway, the additional requirements need to be listed in House Rule section of your listing and then Airbnb will have your back on it and it is not breaking any policy. Sidenote: if you have any upcoming guests that you need ID for but havent added it to your house rules, shoot them a message and just let them know your county just changed rules and you’d like them to accept the new rule. If they give you any push back, either continue the reso and hopefully it slides under county radar, or call a CSR and tell them you’re uncomfortable with the upcoming guest and are requesting to cancel. NOTHING MORE NOTHING LESS> This type of cancellation is a cancel by admin or CBA and doesn’t count against you up to three times a year, so use the phrase only on much needed situations.
What about service animals?
As long as your listing is a no pet listing and the animal is NOT a service animal (yes, emotional support therapy animals count in this as well) you have the option to call a CSR and they will CBG (cancel by guest) or they can cancel by admin (cba) if they want to be nice to the guest. The guest will be refunded based on your chosen cancellation policy for nights not spent and IF the CSR knows their job (or you coach them) make sure they click the little “block reviews” button we have because your worry for a retaliation review is very valid BUT it is much easier to block reviews proactively than it is to remove a already written review (common complaint but literally about 6% of all reviews are actually removed)
Note: service animals do not need to be disclosed to the host or guest (if host has one). You are NOT allowed to ask for documentation showing the animal is a registered service animal or emotional support animal. ALL either party has to say is “this is my service animal” or “this is my emotional support animal” and the CSR (if following policy) will try to mediate the situation if either party is uncomfortable but will not cancel the reservation in order to punish the host or guest. If it is cancelled, the rep should do it as a CBA but only if something like “im a host and im allergic to dogs and here’s my documentation from doctor” THEN we will cancel it.
With almost all situations, Airbnb will require documentation to do anything without a “punishment”
-TheInsider
What about guests who dont' read the listing, then complain??
Local guests and blocking guests
CS agents and approval of reimbursements for damages
a non trip agent (newbie) has a $100 limit. Case managers have a $200 direct loss (DL) limit per reservation. So… I can directly send reimbursements, refunds, or coupons adding up to $200 without additional headache of getting upper management to sign off on it. The frequency of the user calling in has no bearing on our decision to take a DL. I personally will only have a difference in opinion in how I give out that “money” if the host or guest has admin flags on their file only staff can see such as: “questionable host” “strikes: abusive/irate caller” “unresponsive host/guest” etc.
An agent telling you “we’re approving this because you haven’t had many claims and this is a low amount” etc etc is a nice way of saying “I can approve this because it will satisfy you, get the case closed, I get another easy case solve, and I don’t have to ask management to approve it”
One thing agents watch for is “agent shopping”. If a host or guest call in multiple times about one specific issue and it creates multiple tickets, they are trying to get the response they want. Personally, I’m strict on needing documentation in order to justify why I’m doing what I’m doing for the host/guest where as another agent may just want their solve rate high for the day and will give you that $10 reimbursement for a bed sheet a guest ripped without asking for a receipt or anything else. Hopefully that makes sense.
airhostsforum.com/t/airbnb-insider-here-to-help-you-all/30267/2
Some interesting parts of the convo:
Why are Customer Service agents dumb?
unfortunately many CSRs are what we call non-trip (NT) or CXL agents (cancellation specialists). It takes a bit more training to handle active and on-going reservation cases, resolution center mediation, etc etc. So when they sound clueless, they are. The call center is contracted out and even though we all “work for Airbnb” we are considered external employees and the contracted company will literally higher anyone with a pulse, turn over rate is through the roof, and only a few of us who have taken all training seriously, are in upper positions and know the ins/outs of policies. This is why I’ve decided to dedicate some time to giving any Host some advice on situations that may come up. I’m here to help, I just have to be discreet.
What about Third Party bookings?
Third party bookings are a touchy subject. Yes they are prohibited but they are loosely enforced in most cases. IF you have a request to book person who sent you an inquiry and has made it known that it is a third party booking you can accept it or deny it. If you accept it knowing it was a third party booking, dont call in for help later on as Airbnb will not do anything since they can see you acknowledged the booking prior to accepting. IF you deny it you may want to call in to Airbnb and explain why you denied it so they can make sure that one reservation (reso) doesn’t count against your acceptance rating. Documentation is your best friend! When you see the potential guest verifying it is a third party booking PRIOR to accepting, snap a picture of the conversation (just in case it goes away somehow) and call a CSR. Send the picture to CSR through message thread (MT) and they SHOULD make sure it is removed from your ratings or at least not counted against you. I can’t believe some have told you to accept it from the beginning, that’s horrible! P.S. you accept a reso and a week before the check-in, the guest (G) states it’s actually her sister coming and not her. BOOM… right then and there, call in to Airbnb and get the reso cancelled. The CSR will either cancel by admin or cancel by guest if they are feeling that sort of way and want to “punish” guest when it comes to cancellation.
Let me know if you need anything else!
TheInsider
Let me know if you need anything else!
TheInsider
What about asking guest to show ID?
Thanks for the question. There are a ton of Hosts who do require additional contracts at time of check-in, copies of ID, collection of occupancy or value added taxes at check-in, etc etc. It is very clearly in policy that Airbnb allows this. Simply edit your listing ad and MAKE SURE to CLEARLY let it be known in the “house rules” section that per county regulations, you will be required to take a copy of their state issue ID or passport at time of check-in. No exceptions will be made.
Stating this in your listing is the only way Airbnb allows it and quite frankly, the only way to cover your own ass. A guest can call a CSR and bitch, scream, yell all they want and Airbnb will stand behind you 100% because it was known at the time of booking that you require it. The only time Airbnb will not be on your side in this matter is if the guest shows up and then is asked to provide ID, they say no, you say fine cancel, etc etc.
Biggest takeaway, the additional requirements need to be listed in House Rule section of your listing and then Airbnb will have your back on it and it is not breaking any policy. Sidenote: if you have any upcoming guests that you need ID for but havent added it to your house rules, shoot them a message and just let them know your county just changed rules and you’d like them to accept the new rule. If they give you any push back, either continue the reso and hopefully it slides under county radar, or call a CSR and tell them you’re uncomfortable with the upcoming guest and are requesting to cancel. NOTHING MORE NOTHING LESS> This type of cancellation is a cancel by admin or CBA and doesn’t count against you up to three times a year, so use the phrase only on much needed situations.
What about service animals?
As long as your listing is a no pet listing and the animal is NOT a service animal (yes, emotional support therapy animals count in this as well) you have the option to call a CSR and they will CBG (cancel by guest) or they can cancel by admin (cba) if they want to be nice to the guest. The guest will be refunded based on your chosen cancellation policy for nights not spent and IF the CSR knows their job (or you coach them) make sure they click the little “block reviews” button we have because your worry for a retaliation review is very valid BUT it is much easier to block reviews proactively than it is to remove a already written review (common complaint but literally about 6% of all reviews are actually removed)
Note: service animals do not need to be disclosed to the host or guest (if host has one). You are NOT allowed to ask for documentation showing the animal is a registered service animal or emotional support animal. ALL either party has to say is “this is my service animal” or “this is my emotional support animal” and the CSR (if following policy) will try to mediate the situation if either party is uncomfortable but will not cancel the reservation in order to punish the host or guest. If it is cancelled, the rep should do it as a CBA but only if something like “im a host and im allergic to dogs and here’s my documentation from doctor” THEN we will cancel it.
With almost all situations, Airbnb will require documentation to do anything without a “punishment”
-TheInsider
What about guests who dont' read the listing, then complain??
I firmly agree with how annoying the guests can be and what position it puts hosts in when they’ve done all they can to make sure their listing is accurate in what amenities are given. I went into agent mode and simply stated almost word for word what a common response from support would be if a host proactively reached out with this issue. If this was me personally, I’d say the guest needs to make sure they can read at a 4th grade level and not complain about something that isn’t there when it wasn’t offered to begin with. I’m one of the rare case managers whom are on the host’s side of thing 99% of the time. I honestly think the review system is shady AF as we can not do very much with regards to removing posts or hiding that one-off negative review based on a guest’s opinion of their stay. I’ve had the experience one time of having to tell a host I can not remove the guest review of “there was no damn pool!” even though the listing clearly did not list a pool to begin with. This is largely due to the review content policy Airbnb has basing reviews on “one’s own truth of their experience”. Unless there is a direct threat, mentions Airbnb involvement in a case, and a few other exceptions, agents will never remove a post. Agents can also never edit a post unless it is due to a transgender person wishing to change their name.
I know it’s all frustrating sometimes, bear in mind I will give policy answers and my opinion answers when responding to posts. I will also give helpful hints and tricks to getting support to do what you want, even if it’s not public policy, in certain situations.
I know it’s all frustrating sometimes, bear in mind I will give policy answers and my opinion answers when responding to posts. I will also give helpful hints and tricks to getting support to do what you want, even if it’s not public policy, in certain situations.
Local guests and blocking guests
I completely understand the worry. Airbnb doesn’t officially recommend not accepting reservations from local guests, however it does happen and hosts call in with similar issues regularly. As plain as the advice is, IMO, just block the guest as you have stated you want to do. Guests can be blocked by host or admin for many reasons and if they call in to ask why they were blocked, csr is not allowed to disclose details other than “the listing is unavailable at this time” and a good agent will go further in also stating “it may be an internal error on our end” and will assist guest in finding a similar listing in the area therefore taking the attention off of the reason for blocking in the first place.
CS agents and approval of reimbursements for damages
a non trip agent (newbie) has a $100 limit. Case managers have a $200 direct loss (DL) limit per reservation. So… I can directly send reimbursements, refunds, or coupons adding up to $200 without additional headache of getting upper management to sign off on it. The frequency of the user calling in has no bearing on our decision to take a DL. I personally will only have a difference in opinion in how I give out that “money” if the host or guest has admin flags on their file only staff can see such as: “questionable host” “strikes: abusive/irate caller” “unresponsive host/guest” etc.
An agent telling you “we’re approving this because you haven’t had many claims and this is a low amount” etc etc is a nice way of saying “I can approve this because it will satisfy you, get the case closed, I get another easy case solve, and I don’t have to ask management to approve it”
One thing agents watch for is “agent shopping”. If a host or guest call in multiple times about one specific issue and it creates multiple tickets, they are trying to get the response they want. Personally, I’m strict on needing documentation in order to justify why I’m doing what I’m doing for the host/guest where as another agent may just want their solve rate high for the day and will give you that $10 reimbursement for a bed sheet a guest ripped without asking for a receipt or anything else. Hopefully that makes sense.