Yet another clueless non-response from CS

[Sarah977]

How does "Jessica" even have a job doing this?

[Fred13]

What you mean? I think 'Jessica' pushed the auto-answer #8 button rather smartly. Give her some credit. 😉

[Sarah977]

@Fred13   Okay, I'll give her button-pushing credit.  I guess she just picked out the word "refund" and figured she wouldn't have to break any more nails typing.

[Fred13]

LOL. Yes, next time best not to even use 'dangerous' key words like 'Refund' or 'Cancel'; but more intellectually challenging phrases like "Read First' or 'Stop, and Think'. 

[Sarah977]

@Fred13  Great tips! 

How about

1. Can

2. You

3. Please

4. Answer

5. My

6. Question

7. ?

Comprehending long sentences, like more than 5 words in a row, are probably more than we should expect in terms of attention span.

[Emily140]

It's a good question.   I'd like to know too!  If you push "Refund Money" and you enter $100, does that mean the guest receives $100?? 

You truly have to imagine you are talking to a small child.  Maybe give an example, like I did above then ask:  If I enter $100 into the resolution payment, I have two questions:  (1) how much will my account be charged, and (2) how much will the guest receive?  And (3) does it matter if the guest is in a different country?  If you enumerate, I have found with lawyers anyway, and put a question mark at the end of each line (very important, otherwise they can't tell if it's a question), you might get a complete answer.

I think bots answer a lot of the questions, so they run algorythms like "refunds to guests" to clear some of the pending Airbnb Support questions and a standard "response" (different from an answer) get pushed out of a computer.

Would be nice to know that in resolutions, money goes straight thru. 

[Sarah977]

@Emily140  Yes, I was asking because a guest cancelled 2 days before her check-in, I was paid out according to my moderate cancellation policy, but I'd like to refund her more (as a reward for her message of sincere apology, and the fact that she didn't demand any refund, plus I rarely get bookings this time of year anyway, so it's not like she tied up my calendar in busy season).

I want to retain enough to pay myself for my time dealing with her reservation (long story, but she said she never got any of my Airbnb messages, and I sent many, no notifications, and Airbnb also tried to contact her for days), but if I send her say, $50, am I going to find that $55 is deducted from my next booking because of service fees and conversion charges (she lives in Lebanon).

I messaged "Jessica" back, thanking her, but pointing out that I'm well aware of how the Resolution Center works, that I'm a Superhost, not a guest (her response was info for a guest, not a host, talking about my "trip") that I had asked specific questions and would please like her to answer them. If that doesn't work, I'll start over with a new CS and word it as you suggested.

[Robin4]

@Emily140

Hi Emily, when you hit the Refund Money  field a box will appear where you can enter the amount of money in the currency you wish to refund to the guest. When you hit Submit or Next in some countries a summary box will appear showing the amount you wish to send to the guest and the amount the guest will recieve and in what currency, and you will be asked to confirm before the transaction takes place. 

It is my understanding that the guest receives back to their payment method the amount stated in that summary box!

Cheers.....Rob

[Sarah977]

@Robin4   Thanks for that explanation. When you say "In the currency you wish to refund to the guest" that would be the currency the host deals in, correct?

And I still can't get an answer to my original question, which the CS rep didn't even come close to answering- can you read my post above and see if you know the answer? If I refund a guest $50, will only $50 be deducted from my next payout, or will it be more because Airbnb has charged me service fees and currency conversion on the refund?

[Robin4]

@Sarah977

No Sarah, if you nominate $50 is to be rufunded to the guest, that is the exact amount which will be taken by Airbnb from your next payout.

You have to remember Sarah, Airbnb have already been paid the service fee and they don't give a *bleep*  what you decide to refund...they are not going to refund any of the service fee they have already collected, just the amount you nominate.

As far as currency is concerned Airbnb do that for your benefit and peace of mind! They tell you they will refund the guest in your usual nominated currency so there is no surprises coming. You got paid  (or will ger paid) in USD, you offer a refund in USD, and they just confirm that before you proceed with the refund.

Time I cracked a bottle......

Cheers Sarah..,......Rob

[Sarah977]

@Robin4  Thank you. You're a wealth of information. I thought they might very well charge another service for the service of processing a refund.

[Letti0]

@Sarah977  You get charged only what you offered as a refund as @Robin4 states. The guest may not actually get full $50 USD because of Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) or cardholder preferred currency (CPC) unless the card is like mine that does not charge foreign transactions fees .

[Sarah977]

48 hours now and no response from CS "Jessica" to my follow up message saying her response didn't answer my question (which Robin and Letti DID) and to please answer the questions I asked (I was polite).