Post by High Priestess on Oct 14, 2015 16:36:20 GMT
Sarah shared Oct 14 2015
Update on last week's 'scam??' post...
Following on from my posting last week about a guest who never finished the booking process, stayed the night without paying and ignored my chasing email after he'd left... Airbnb got onto them and there is now a fully validated profile even with a photo for that guest and his wife. Airbnb also emailed me to say they have 'resolved the payment issue and succeeded in collecting money from the guest' although this hasn't shown up on my profile or in my account yet, but hopefully it will. I rather think that without Airbnb's intervention this person would simply have disappeared into the ether and not only would I not have been paid but he would have gone on to do this to other unsuspecting hosts, I'm very appreciative and impressed by the care I've had from Airbnb and would urge other hosts with problems to trust them.Whilst this was happening I wasn't aware that any action was actually being taken and I eventually sent a 'what kind of person behaves like this to another human being in their home... shame on you' email, expecting it to be ignored as my polite chaser had been. Within minutes however the wife responded, angrily defending her husband against my accusations and saying he didn't have access to the account so didn't know they hadn't paid (so how did he message me several times regarding the booking?) She also counseled me to 'execute patience' (errr it was 6 days after he had left my house and I hadn't yet been paid!!) she accused me of being rude and jumping to conclusions and said she didn't want to pay me but because she was such an honest person she would... So my question to you good people is this - how do I now review this guest??? Do we think this was an honest mistake or was he trying to scam me??? Do I warn other hosts about him or am I mud-slinging since in the end Airbnb got the money out of them? I want to be fair about this but I'm inclined to think that had it been a genuine mistake I would have had an apology after my polite chaser and not just anger a week later... I'm interested in your views...
Rosanne
Not knowing all of the details, I would personally just let it go and continue on with your Hosting. Hopefully, a lesson learned. I'm not sure how a guest could have gotten your address without paying? I thought that as soon as they confirmed a booking, it went right onto their credit card. Its very confusing.
helga (helgaparis)
If I remember your story, you picked him up close to your house after the pre-approuved booking which never completed. I'm impressed airbnb got payment from them - I tend to believe like you that they would not have paid if airbnb had not followed behind you - maybe a tiny little menace like 'pay if it's an error, otherwise we sue for fraud' ;-)
For the review I'd mentions something like the booking process was complicated - that should be enough that hosts check their bookings with them. Otherwise I'd review them like other guests for the facts during the stay.
The wife seems defensive, so I would not expect them to run after your with your money for an error if the police was not chasing them ;-)
But let that part go, it's normal for caught thieves.
Raymond & Elaine (elaine)
xxxx was a pleasant guest and left the room clean and tidy. When payment didn't come through after a week and several mails it was finally sorted out through the resolution center of airbnb.Hotel accomodation would have best suited this guest .
Rosanne
That sounds perfect, R&E. It may not have been the guest's fault if they didnt even know their cc had not been charged.
Christina
I would be factual but you have to mention your own mistake, which was letting him stay without completing the booking. You never should have verbally given him the adddress. Yes, I would say he was a scammer. If it were an honest mistake, you wouldn't need to chase him for payment. Glad Airbnb supported you.
Deborah:
I would very strongly advise hosts to NEVER allow an AIrbnb guest to stay at your home without payment, who hasn't paid and completed their reservation through AIrbnb. This is just asking for problems. Wrong credit card or expired credit card or whatever --- payment absolutely must be completed before the guest steps in the front door, no exceptions. If you get a reservation confirmation, that should indicate that the reservation is paid for. I don't think you can get the reservation showing as "accepted" if the payment hasn't been collected. So until you see "accepted" dont' let them in. If time is running short and it is awkward and they need a place to stay the night, and payment hasn't yet been resolved, what I suggest is that you require them to pay a CASH DEPOSIT which would be the total cost of the reservation. This would only be a deposit, and it would be returned to them when their payment from Airbnb comes thru. But in case their payment from Airbnb never comes through, you have the cash payment.
Update on last week's 'scam??' post...
Following on from my posting last week about a guest who never finished the booking process, stayed the night without paying and ignored my chasing email after he'd left... Airbnb got onto them and there is now a fully validated profile even with a photo for that guest and his wife. Airbnb also emailed me to say they have 'resolved the payment issue and succeeded in collecting money from the guest' although this hasn't shown up on my profile or in my account yet, but hopefully it will. I rather think that without Airbnb's intervention this person would simply have disappeared into the ether and not only would I not have been paid but he would have gone on to do this to other unsuspecting hosts, I'm very appreciative and impressed by the care I've had from Airbnb and would urge other hosts with problems to trust them.Whilst this was happening I wasn't aware that any action was actually being taken and I eventually sent a 'what kind of person behaves like this to another human being in their home... shame on you' email, expecting it to be ignored as my polite chaser had been. Within minutes however the wife responded, angrily defending her husband against my accusations and saying he didn't have access to the account so didn't know they hadn't paid (so how did he message me several times regarding the booking?) She also counseled me to 'execute patience' (errr it was 6 days after he had left my house and I hadn't yet been paid!!) she accused me of being rude and jumping to conclusions and said she didn't want to pay me but because she was such an honest person she would... So my question to you good people is this - how do I now review this guest??? Do we think this was an honest mistake or was he trying to scam me??? Do I warn other hosts about him or am I mud-slinging since in the end Airbnb got the money out of them? I want to be fair about this but I'm inclined to think that had it been a genuine mistake I would have had an apology after my polite chaser and not just anger a week later... I'm interested in your views...
Rosanne
Not knowing all of the details, I would personally just let it go and continue on with your Hosting. Hopefully, a lesson learned. I'm not sure how a guest could have gotten your address without paying? I thought that as soon as they confirmed a booking, it went right onto their credit card. Its very confusing.
helga (helgaparis)
If I remember your story, you picked him up close to your house after the pre-approuved booking which never completed. I'm impressed airbnb got payment from them - I tend to believe like you that they would not have paid if airbnb had not followed behind you - maybe a tiny little menace like 'pay if it's an error, otherwise we sue for fraud' ;-)
For the review I'd mentions something like the booking process was complicated - that should be enough that hosts check their bookings with them. Otherwise I'd review them like other guests for the facts during the stay.
The wife seems defensive, so I would not expect them to run after your with your money for an error if the police was not chasing them ;-)
But let that part go, it's normal for caught thieves.
Raymond & Elaine (elaine)
xxxx was a pleasant guest and left the room clean and tidy. When payment didn't come through after a week and several mails it was finally sorted out through the resolution center of airbnb.Hotel accomodation would have best suited this guest .
Rosanne
That sounds perfect, R&E. It may not have been the guest's fault if they didnt even know their cc had not been charged.
Christina
I would be factual but you have to mention your own mistake, which was letting him stay without completing the booking. You never should have verbally given him the adddress. Yes, I would say he was a scammer. If it were an honest mistake, you wouldn't need to chase him for payment. Glad Airbnb supported you.
Deborah:
I would very strongly advise hosts to NEVER allow an AIrbnb guest to stay at your home without payment, who hasn't paid and completed their reservation through AIrbnb. This is just asking for problems. Wrong credit card or expired credit card or whatever --- payment absolutely must be completed before the guest steps in the front door, no exceptions. If you get a reservation confirmation, that should indicate that the reservation is paid for. I don't think you can get the reservation showing as "accepted" if the payment hasn't been collected. So until you see "accepted" dont' let them in. If time is running short and it is awkward and they need a place to stay the night, and payment hasn't yet been resolved, what I suggest is that you require them to pay a CASH DEPOSIT which would be the total cost of the reservation. This would only be a deposit, and it would be returned to them when their payment from Airbnb comes thru. But in case their payment from Airbnb never comes through, you have the cash payment.