Has anyone noticed the dramatic change in how hosts are treated if there is some kind of dispute?

[Cynthia59]

 Airbnb has changed a lot.  They support the guest 100%, no matter what they do 100% of the time.  Your cancellation policy is now meaningless. Airbnb decides everything , and in the guests favour.  Hosts are completely dispenseable. Guests can do no wrong.   I never have cases,  but recently have had 3, and in all 3, the guests could do no wrong.  One had a huge party, had extra guests I saw, in an apartment which slept 7, the reservation was for 3.  Yet they cleared out a storage room to make it a 4th bedroom.  Had a huge party...left everything the way it was....a disaster.   there was broken furniture, missing things, wine stain on the carpets.   It took an extra day or 2 to put everything back and clean.   The guest had 0 reviews, and no photo.   Airbnb said I was lying, even though I had time stamped photos, and lots of proof.  They said there was no proof the guest did this!!   PHotos were not enough.  It took a long time to do the claim too...they needed so much documentation,  and links to replacement costs.  Their decision...I get 0.  Guest has done nothing wrong...pays 0.

Airbnb is getting outright abusive to their hosts.   That is only 1 or the 3 stories.  In all cases the guest is 100% correct, yet they are lying.  In fact airbnb will give more to the guest than they are even asking!!!

[Susan285]

Sorry to hear about your problems.
I also don't like to see how Airbnb now turns to the guest by changing the cancellation policy. Now hosts pay 5% commission instead of 4% in order to have the worst cancellation policy which is absurdly called "strict" but allows your guest to get refunded 50% until 1 week poor to check-in. And what means very strict upon invitation only? Very secretive. Will need to increase the price for that favour. But another platform is even worth... They just follow each other.

[Zandra0]

@Susan0 this change just applies to Italy at the moment. I had to add this in case someone reads this and thinks it might affect them.

And yes I agree (I'm imagining your reply to my note...) there is a chance Airbnb is using Italy as a test and plan to eventually roll this out across the board. Which is why I am 100% behind you guys and will join in any petitioning of Airbnb,

[Susan285]

Hi Zandra,

you are well informed! (How come?)

Actually I saw that change in my dashboard by coincidence about one or two weeks before they officially wrote an email (but I must have overseen that it's only for Italy). So I was kind of not amused finding it out by coincidence!

I checked the community center and googled, but couldn't find any discussions so I jumped on Cynthia's post as it was the first I saw after the feeling airbnb shifts its focus on guests.

I observed for the last season getting less guests on airbnb, meaning that another site is taking away shares from airbnb. I assume that the smart guys at airbnb are observing the same and trying to get their guests back and even getting more guests to book on airbnb because due to the incresase of airbnb hosts, the competition is thougher and more hosts have to "fight" for their share of the cake. Maybe my rant was too fast. Maybe it will benefit us hosts in the long run. After hosting 3 years, I had maybe 3 cancellations and none was with airbnb (if I remeber well) because, my observation is that airbnb guests tent to be younger and more spontaneous for "last minute" bookings, while on other platforms the older guests sometimes plan up to a year ahead and then change their mind...

Unfortunately all agents, not only airbnb, increase their commission on a yearly base, slowly and often secretavly. 

[Cynthia59]

I am in Canada.  What is happening in Italy, is it the same?  It sure is strange,  and completly different than it was before.

[Zandra0]

What is happening in Italy is not happening anywhere else - for now.

[Susan285]

I clicked on "Cancellations" in the Calendar dashboard to check ... and it says:

STRICT: 50% refund up to 1 week prior to arrival (except fees)

I do not see where this is a strict cancellation policy!

Moderate was stricter before (30 days prior to arrival).

In the email I reveceived later they state, that they generously will wave the fees too for guests.

[Cynthia59]

Also, what does it mean when it says Level 10 besides your name?  I see everyone else has level 1.

[Danny0]

Level 10 refers to the number of posts that an individual has posted.

[Danny0]

The changes have rolled out worldwide, after being tested in Italy.

[Cynthia59]

Hey

What changes have you noticed?  How did you know about Italy being an experiment?  I wonder if Canada is an experiment too.

I was just told today from Airbnb, because there were no airbnb staff at the apartment, they can't say the guest did it, and the damage occured.   They need a neutral 3rd party to witness, and the only people to qualify are airbnb staff.

[Cynthia59]

so what about level 10,   how about your expericences with difference of opinion?

[Cynthia59]

HI there,

Where would I find info about this experiment in Italy?  I googled it and found nothing.

thanks

[Cynthia59]

I have the moderate cancellation policy, but it is meaningless.  Airbnb decides, and that is it.

[Susan285]

what do you mean?

In case the guest cancel you do not get the 50% or whatever applies?

If Airbnb decides to be genereous with the guest they should pay out of their large pot...