{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-30T10:53:04.042Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"customer-support-chatbot","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"unknown","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":0,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":1,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":1,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":1,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2026-airbnb-host-says-ai-support-assistant-said-resubmitted-refunds-would-replace-held-one-three-refunds-paid-first-person","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'My guests let me know there was a crack in the bedframe so I wanted to give them roughly a nights refund as a small gesture.'; 'it said the minimum threshold was not met and the payment was on hold.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The host says guests reported a crack in the bed frame and the host wanted to give them roughly one night's refund as a small gesture; the refund made through the Resolution Center later showed that the minimum threshold was not met and the payment was on hold.","causal_attribution":"The host's account of the starting situation."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I'm an AI assistant who can get you help quickly.'; 'No refund has been processed yet, as your refund total is currently £0.00.'; 'I recommend resubmitting the refund through the Resolution Center with a brief note explaining the issue with the bed frame.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"In the posted transcript the support assistant introduces itself as an AI assistant, says no refund has been processed and recommends resubmitting the refund through the Resolution Center.","causal_attribution":"The transcript as posted by the host; Airbnb's own record of the chat was not inspected."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Im worried it will the send the money twice if I submit it again.'; 'resubmitting will replace the pending request, not add a second one. The system only allows one active refund request at a time, and any duplicate submissions are automatically rejected or overwritten.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"When the host asked whether resubmitting could send the money twice, the assistant replied that resubmitting would replace the pending request, that only one active refund request is allowed at a time and that duplicate submissions are automatically rejected or overwritten.","causal_attribution":"The host's transcript attributes this assurance to the AI assistant."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'try resubmitting through the Resolution Center with an amount that matches your exact nightly rate'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"After a further on-hold result the assistant suggested resubmitting an amount matching the listing's exact nightly rate.","causal_attribution":"The host's transcript attributes the suggestion to the AI assistant."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I can see that you have refunded the guest thrice with 3 different amounts one for £115, £120 and £123.63 would you like me to offer them another refund of £100 from your payout?'; 'have reduced my monthly earnings by £358.63 so far'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"In the transcript a human support agent then said the guest had been refunded three times, for £115, £120 and £123.63, and offered a further £100 refund from the host's payout; the host wrote that the attempts had reduced their monthly earnings by £358.63.","causal_attribution":"The host connects the three refunds to the assistant's advice; Airbnb's payment records were not inspected."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'we would not be able to reverse the payment directly'; 'The refund has been processed already its not on hold. For which we need to send the guest a request so that they can return the excessive amount they have received.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"In the transcript the human agent said the refund had already been processed, could not be reversed directly, and that the guest would be sent a request to return the excess amount through a claim.","causal_attribution":"The transcript as posted; no later outcome is reported."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'the chatbot didn't seem to know this and led me on a wild goose chase and paying multiple refunds out.'; 'has resulted in me potentially losing money'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The host's post says the assistant did not seem to know why the refund was on hold, led the host into paying multiple refunds, and gave information that has resulted in the host potentially losing money.","causal_attribution":"The host's own causal attribution, alleged."},{"id":"c8","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'Our AI Assistant uses artificial intelligence and is designed to respond to your message'; 'information about your account, listings, or reservations to try to answer your questions'; 'it sometimes makes mistakes or may provide inaccurate or irrelevant information.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Airbnb's Help Center says its support AI Assistant uses artificial intelligence and information about accounts, listings or reservations, and that it sometimes makes mistakes or may provide inaccurate or irrelevant information.","causal_attribution":"Airbnb's own description of the assistant; it does not mention this chat."}],"effects":[{"label":"Three refunds totalling £358.63 processed to the guest instead of one £100 gesture, after the assistant said duplicates would be replaced (host report)","claim_id":"c5","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/airbnb_hosts/comments/1tu4ihq/the_airbnb_ai_chatbot_gave_me_false_information/","kind":"forum_post","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-30 through the arctic_shift Reddit archive API (post text and comment tree). No translation was needed; the research agent (an AI) read the text directly.","independence_group":"reddit-airbnb-hosts-1tu4ihq-account"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/3594","kind":"company_documentation","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-30 on airbnb.com. No translation was needed; the research agent (an AI) read the text directly.","independence_group":"airbnb-help-center-ai-assistant"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["finance","work"],"unknowns":["The date of the chat; the transcript shows times only, and the post was published on 1 June 2026.","Whether the guest returned any of the excess and how much the host finally lost.","Whether an Airbnb manager reviewed the case or Airbnb compensated the host.","Why the refunds showed as on hold; the host later guessed that the guest payment had not yet cleared.","Whether the earlier attempts would have been processed regardless of the assistant's answers.","Where the host is based."],"geography":{"basis":"The post gives amounts in pounds sterling but names no place; currency does not establish a country, so none is recorded.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the charter's first-person rule: the host's post includes the support transcript in which Airbnb's AI assistant told the host that resubmitted refunds would replace the held one and that duplicates would be rejected, and the host reports that three refunds were then processed and could not be reversed directly. Airbnb's own Help Center says the assistant uses artificial intelligence to generate its responses. The account is attributed to the host and the outcome is recorded as unknown.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-30"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The host's posted transcript shows what Airbnb's support AI assistant itself said: that no refund had been processed, that the host should resubmit, that resubmitting would replace the pending request and that duplicate submissions are automatically rejected or overwritten, and later that the amount should match the exact nightly rate. The host followed that advice, and a human agent then said three refunds had been processed and could not be reversed directly. Airbnb's Help Center says the assistant uses artificial intelligence and may give inaccurate information; the transcript shows it answering the host's open questions in free text, including its statements that no refund had been processed, which the human agent's later account contradicts. Airbnb's own chat record was not inspected.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Airbnb host says AI support assistant said resubmitted refunds would replace the held one; three refunds totalling £358.63 went to the guest (first-person)","summary":"An Airbnb host posted on Reddit (r/airbnb_hosts, 1 June 2026) a transcript of a support chat with Airbnb's AI assistant. According to the post, the host had tried to give guests a goodwill refund of about one night after they reported a cracked bed frame, and the refund showed as on hold with a minimum-not-met message. The transcript shows the assistant saying no refund had been processed and recommending resubmission; when the host asked whether that could send the money twice, it replied that resubmitting would replace the pending request and that duplicate submissions are automatically rejected or overwritten. After two more attempts, including one at the exact nightly rate the assistant suggested, a human support agent said the guest had been refunded three times (£115, £120 and £123.63), that the payments could not be reversed directly, and that the host should file a claim asking the guest to return the excess. The host had wanted to give a single £100 gesture. The post does not report the outcome.","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-06-01","aiSystem":"Airbnb's AI support assistant in the host support chat, which introduced itself as an AI assistant (per the posted transcript)","aiProduct":"Airbnb AI Assistant (reported)","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The host reports that, after the AI assistant said resubmitted refunds would replace the held one, three refunds totalling £358.63 were processed to the guest instead of a single £100 gesture, and support said they could not be reversed directly (first-person Reddit post with transcript; uncorroborated; final loss unknown).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the Airbnb host who posted the account and the chat transcript. Exact 1. The guests received the extra refunds and are not described as harmed.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","platformType":"chatbot","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.reddit.com/r/airbnb_hosts/comments/1tu4ihq/the_airbnb_ai_chatbot_gave_me_false_information/","primarySourceLabel":"Reddit, r/airbnb_hosts, host post with support chat transcript, 1 June 2026","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-30T03:06:55.488927+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-30T03:06:55.488927+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["first-person","reddit","customer-support-chatbot","refund","false-assurance","financial-loss"]}]}