Post by High Priestess on Oct 20, 2015 23:34:04 GMT
Alexina shared Oct 20 2015
Royally Irked Regarding Airbnb's "Extenuating Circumstances"
Fuming here in San Francisco.
ON SATURDAY, I received a Reservation Request for one week starting this Monday, from a woman wanting to book on behalf of her mother. I explained why we can't accept third-party reservations, and gave her a link to an Airbnb travel voucher she could use while helping her mother to open her own account. Mom successfully created a Profile, obtained all her Verifications, and sent a nice letter saying she would like to stay with me because her son, daughter-in-law, and new granddaughter live two blocks from me, but there's no spare room. I love hosting these kinds of guests, as they're invariably happy to see their family, and then come home exhausted, and spend quiet time in their room before nodding off to sleep. They're grateful and respectful guests, who often make repeat bookings over the years.
After accepting Mom, I asked if she'd be needing a parking spot in my driveway, and she said no, it's just two blocks away, and she "loves to walk!" Says she's flying out in the morning, will already be in town the day before her Reservation begins with me, and will see me on Monday.
ON SUNDAY NIGHT, I received a long letter from Mom, saying she exacerbated a "very recent knee injury," and is going to be staying with her family, and please would I cancel her Reservation, and could she have all her money back. She adds, "I know that you have a strict reimburse plan, and I accepted that, but that's before this happened."
So on Saturday, Strict Cancellation Policy is OK, but on Sunday, it's not OK, because it actually applies to her?! I told her I was sorry to hear about that, and asked her to contact (Airbnb to cancel. No way was I going to take any penalty for this!)
So I think, well, Airbnb is not going to give her any money back, because she canceled less than 24 hours before Check-in. However, I called, just in case, and the rep agreed with me, and said they were posting extensive notes to back me up.
Not ten minutes later, I received an e-mail from a different Airbnb CX, telling me they'd be holding up payment because Mom is claiming Extenuating Circumstances. I re-read the policy, and it says:
"In the rare instance where extenuating
circumstances arise, a guest may need to cancel a confirmed
reservation. In this instance, Airbnb may override the host's
cancellation policy (flexible, moderate, strict) and make refund
decisions. Such cases will be contingent on proper documentation, where
valid, and include:
There's a death in the guest's family
The guest has a serious illness or there's a serious illness in their family
There's a natural disaster in the destination country
There's political unrest in the destination country
The guest has jury duty or other similar civil obligations"
Mom flew cross-county with a (apparent) bum knee she already knew she had ("a very recent knee injury"), successfully completed that trip, and has been living two blocks away from me, with her family (who didn't have room for her before), and less than 24 hours before Check-in, is claiming Extenuating Circumstances?
I'd be a little more likely to refund at least something if she hadn't even been able to make the flight out here, but she did. What really irks me is that she's two blocks away; that really sticks in my craw. And I've received no payout from Airbnb, all the while they're sending me e-mail urging me to give her a full refund, just click this link. My feeling is that if they feel she merits a refund, they ought to do it out of their own money, not mine. I've given refunds to many people, in instances where I would have been entitled to keep all of it, but this one smacks of "My family decided to house me after all, so I'm going to try to find a way to get my money back."
What do you all think?
Raymond & Elaine (elaine)
I think you're right " Her family decided to house her after all, so she's going to try to find a way to get her money back."!
Guests will always agree on cancellation policies untill ......
Bekah and Brian (beeandbee)
This is BCS! (Complete Bull#&$%)
If they want going to refund her, it should not have come out of your pocket. Claiming an injury when she already knew she had an injury before booking the trip two days prior to arrival is crap. That's not "serious illness", sorry.
Was there less than 24h difference between the time it was booked and the time of the refund request? Wasn't there some new cancellation program being rolled out for guests canceling within 24h? I'm surprised that's not the angle, as opposed to the "serious illness". I'm wondering whether the CS rep dealing with this just doesn't know about that tidbit (if indeed it's still a thing. Tough call - rules change often and without notice). Her circumstances just ain't extenuating; airBNB is leaving this up to you instead of making the call right away.
I wouldn't click that refund link. I'd maybe offer a token refund then offer the rest in the event that the room got booked by someone else.
I call CBS on this one.
Mig (mig)
Stick to your principles. Let airbnb refund out of their coffers if they believe her circs warrant it.
Anne
I think Grandma is going to regret not having a quiet place (yours) to retreat to when that baby and parents get cranky.
Deborah (High Priestess)
in my view, the guests' situation very clearly does not fit into "Extenuating Circumstances."
I love this line you wrote Alexina, "So on Saturday, Strict Cancellation Policy is OK, but on Sunday, it's not OK, because it actually applies to her?"
I think we need to memorialize this phrase. In fact we need to clone it. Eg:
"So on Saturday, the house rule about cleaning up after oneself is OK, but on Sunday, it's not OK, because it actually applies to her?"
"So on Saturday, the house rule about shoes off in the house is OK, but on Sunday, it's not OK, because it actually applies to her?"
"So on Saturday, the house rule about guests not permitted to bring visitors over OK, but on Sunday, it's not OK, because it actually applies to her?"
You get the picture.
I propose we collectively come up with some host community "golden rules"' and "clone-worthy phrases" !!
Royally Irked Regarding Airbnb's "Extenuating Circumstances"
Fuming here in San Francisco.
ON SATURDAY, I received a Reservation Request for one week starting this Monday, from a woman wanting to book on behalf of her mother. I explained why we can't accept third-party reservations, and gave her a link to an Airbnb travel voucher she could use while helping her mother to open her own account. Mom successfully created a Profile, obtained all her Verifications, and sent a nice letter saying she would like to stay with me because her son, daughter-in-law, and new granddaughter live two blocks from me, but there's no spare room. I love hosting these kinds of guests, as they're invariably happy to see their family, and then come home exhausted, and spend quiet time in their room before nodding off to sleep. They're grateful and respectful guests, who often make repeat bookings over the years.
After accepting Mom, I asked if she'd be needing a parking spot in my driveway, and she said no, it's just two blocks away, and she "loves to walk!" Says she's flying out in the morning, will already be in town the day before her Reservation begins with me, and will see me on Monday.
ON SUNDAY NIGHT, I received a long letter from Mom, saying she exacerbated a "very recent knee injury," and is going to be staying with her family, and please would I cancel her Reservation, and could she have all her money back. She adds, "I know that you have a strict reimburse plan, and I accepted that, but that's before this happened."
So on Saturday, Strict Cancellation Policy is OK, but on Sunday, it's not OK, because it actually applies to her?! I told her I was sorry to hear about that, and asked her to contact (Airbnb to cancel. No way was I going to take any penalty for this!)
So I think, well, Airbnb is not going to give her any money back, because she canceled less than 24 hours before Check-in. However, I called, just in case, and the rep agreed with me, and said they were posting extensive notes to back me up.
Not ten minutes later, I received an e-mail from a different Airbnb CX, telling me they'd be holding up payment because Mom is claiming Extenuating Circumstances. I re-read the policy, and it says:
"In the rare instance where extenuating
circumstances arise, a guest may need to cancel a confirmed
reservation. In this instance, Airbnb may override the host's
cancellation policy (flexible, moderate, strict) and make refund
decisions. Such cases will be contingent on proper documentation, where
valid, and include:
There's a death in the guest's family
The guest has a serious illness or there's a serious illness in their family
There's a natural disaster in the destination country
There's political unrest in the destination country
The guest has jury duty or other similar civil obligations"
Mom flew cross-county with a (apparent) bum knee she already knew she had ("a very recent knee injury"), successfully completed that trip, and has been living two blocks away from me, with her family (who didn't have room for her before), and less than 24 hours before Check-in, is claiming Extenuating Circumstances?
I'd be a little more likely to refund at least something if she hadn't even been able to make the flight out here, but she did. What really irks me is that she's two blocks away; that really sticks in my craw. And I've received no payout from Airbnb, all the while they're sending me e-mail urging me to give her a full refund, just click this link. My feeling is that if they feel she merits a refund, they ought to do it out of their own money, not mine. I've given refunds to many people, in instances where I would have been entitled to keep all of it, but this one smacks of "My family decided to house me after all, so I'm going to try to find a way to get my money back."
What do you all think?
Raymond & Elaine (elaine)
I think you're right " Her family decided to house her after all, so she's going to try to find a way to get her money back."!
Guests will always agree on cancellation policies untill ......
Bekah and Brian (beeandbee)
This is BCS! (Complete Bull#&$%)
If they want going to refund her, it should not have come out of your pocket. Claiming an injury when she already knew she had an injury before booking the trip two days prior to arrival is crap. That's not "serious illness", sorry.
Was there less than 24h difference between the time it was booked and the time of the refund request? Wasn't there some new cancellation program being rolled out for guests canceling within 24h? I'm surprised that's not the angle, as opposed to the "serious illness". I'm wondering whether the CS rep dealing with this just doesn't know about that tidbit (if indeed it's still a thing. Tough call - rules change often and without notice). Her circumstances just ain't extenuating; airBNB is leaving this up to you instead of making the call right away.
I wouldn't click that refund link. I'd maybe offer a token refund then offer the rest in the event that the room got booked by someone else.
I call CBS on this one.
Mig (mig)
Stick to your principles. Let airbnb refund out of their coffers if they believe her circs warrant it.
Anne
I think Grandma is going to regret not having a quiet place (yours) to retreat to when that baby and parents get cranky.
Deborah (High Priestess)
in my view, the guests' situation very clearly does not fit into "Extenuating Circumstances."
I love this line you wrote Alexina, "So on Saturday, Strict Cancellation Policy is OK, but on Sunday, it's not OK, because it actually applies to her?"
I think we need to memorialize this phrase. In fact we need to clone it. Eg:
"So on Saturday, the house rule about cleaning up after oneself is OK, but on Sunday, it's not OK, because it actually applies to her?"
"So on Saturday, the house rule about shoes off in the house is OK, but on Sunday, it's not OK, because it actually applies to her?"
"So on Saturday, the house rule about guests not permitted to bring visitors over OK, but on Sunday, it's not OK, because it actually applies to her?"
You get the picture.
I propose we collectively come up with some host community "golden rules"' and "clone-worthy phrases" !!