AirBnB Reached a new Low & refunded a guest for mosquito bites

[Joe Garvin]

We recently had a guest from New Jersey who arrived on July 23rd and was booked until August 6th.  He was a difficult guest from the start and very needy!  After they were there for 12 days and also tried to have additional guests stay, which we denied, he said his step mother was severely bitten by bugs and they needed to leave early and go to a hotel.  Our properties are on the East Coast of Florida on a barrier island.  I knew immediately that these were Nosseums bites and forwarded him a link explaining what they were as well as suggested repellents,...https://g.co/kgs/sSesLa.   His response was we should have disclosed this and thus now they have to leave for a hotel and we should refund him for the 2 days he left early.  At this point I ceased all communication via texts and did all my communication thru the AirBnB portal as well as called them to make them aware that he may call and complain.

Below is some screen shots of the conversation,...

In the end AirBnB sided with the guest and declared it vermin and refunded him $221.00 which they deducted from a later payout for us.  We had no idea until they sent a Payout email for a different booking and it showed a $221 adjustment for "Dispute Reconciliation"  They say they sent me an email but the only one we got had no content or details and now 6 days later nobody from AirBnB has been able to produce this mysterious email that I never responded to,  and below is the response I received,..

I have called repeatedly and whenever a rep picks up and starts the research the case the call just drops.  We've been Superhosts for 3 years now and have never had an issue like this before.  I'm amazed how poor the treatment of hots has gotten within AirBnB.  I write this to see if anyone else out there in the community has experienced this or if anyone has any suggestions on how to appeal this.  

Its not about the money but the principal.  The treatment of hosts is getting worse and there has to be something we can do as a community.  And before someone suggests creating our own website and going Direct Bookings, personally I don't believe its that easy so we feel stuck having to rely on the OTA's!!!!

They are setting a precedent by not supporting the hosts for insects bites that occur in nature.  I've since added specific language to our Rental Agreement that releases us of responsibility for things like insects bites or aquatic mammal stings.

Just curious what the community feels about this?

[Jonathan Greene]

My best AirBnb/Homeaway strategy over the years, and I don't know if this was the case with your people @Joe Garvin, was that if the potential renters ever asked any questions before renting, we denied or cancelled the booking. Everything necessary was included in the listing so we began to realize that the people who want to clarify things or who don't read the listing are the same ones who start complaining right away and say they can't turn on the tv when there is a 30-page instruction booklet on everything on the dining room table.