Changing our policy on avoidable Host cancellations

[Airbnb]

As our partners on Airbnb, Hosts do an incredible job of honoring reservations and going above and beyond to support guests every day. That’s why guests from around the world trust complete strangers with some of the most important days of their lives—from summer vacations and staycations to honeymoons and anniversary celebrations. 

But when Hosts cancel on guests for preventable reasons—like accidentally double-booking or wanting to host friends and family instead—guests lose the confidence to book on Airbnb, and this impacts all Hosts and hurts our entire community. 

Starting August 22, 2022, we’re updating our Host Cancellation Policy. The existing policy has been in place for many years and included small fees if you had to cancel a reservation. 

Get the full details on the Resource Center.

[Marc823]

Currently there are numerous complaints online of hosts having guests call support and they waive the host's cancellation fee even when they are outside of the cancellation period, is that stopping also now to hold the guest's accountable and not lose confidence in hosting???

[Jenny]

Hi @Marc823 

Thanks for your feedback on the Support team and the process you mentioned.

When a guest cancels, the Host's chosen cancellation policy applies.

Sometimes it can be the case that a travel issue disrupts the stay, in which case this might not happen - there's more details on that in this article.

That being said we hear your concerns and we'll make sure to pass them on. 

Jenny

[Marc823]

A travel issue is what travel insurance is for, something Airbnb should add as a service so that a guest may purchase it easily. It shouldn't be hosts covering this because a guest has an issue getting there which forces the host to then become their free travel insurance when Airbnb overrides hosts cancellation policies without asking.

Also it appears that if a host cancels, there could be fines and a calendar block. If a guest cancels, their ability to rebook in that period should be blocked as well. This would encourage trust in both directions.

[Emilie]

@Marc823 The travel issues in question are laid out in this article, however you'll also be happy to hear that we've also recently introduced travel insurance for guests - more info here. 

Appreciate you suggestion and ongoing feedback on this though, I'll pass it on to the team! 

Emilie

[Stephanie365]

@Emilie  again, the article you referenced is about guest protections. What about Host protections from guests who decide to change their plans at the last minute? While you now say you're offering travel insurance for guests, what if the guest declines the insurance? 

Host's calendars are blocked (and sometimes they are suspended) for cancelling. Why don't you enforce this same punishment on guests? If they cancel, they can't rebook another place. And if they cancel more than once, their account should be suspended with no warning or explanation. Fair is fair....

[Emilie]

@Stephanie365 I'm sorry if you felt the article I shared wasn't answering the question.

In terms of Host protection against a guest's last minute change of mind, unless a situation laid out in this policy comes up, your listing's chosen cancellation policy applies for all guest cancellations, with the matching consequences. Each Host can pick the one that suits their needs and their listing best. 🙂

Emilie

[Jacqueline190]

That is not true.  CS did not support my cancellation policy. A guest complained that she felt unsafe as soon as she arrived at my place.  proof she gave-- a 2 inch spill on the refrigerator shelf.  Nothing else.  I am a super  host with all 5 star rating. CS refunded her with no appeal from me. She was staying a month.  

[Toetsie0]

what a monster. 

[Toetsie0]

Im curious if this guest did that before.. I guess she did! 

[Mary996]

Oh no @Jacqueline190 that's terrible. You effectively had to pay for a guest to stay with you. And for a month. Try again with an appeal?

[Huma0]

@Jenny 

There's something really important here which hasn't been mentioned, as is potentially a big positive for hosts.

I was told by Airbnb that hosts would now be able to cancel ANY booking (not just instant bookings) penalty free 3 x a year if they felt uncomfortable about the guest or felt they were gong to break the house rules. This is a major step in the right direction.

However, in the resource centre article, it just mentions if the guest is planning on throwing a party or breaking the house rules, not if you feel uncomfortable about them in any other way. That is not what I was told. It also doesn't mention how many times a year you can do this. Is there now no longer a limit? Also, when I click on the link in the policy article that takes you to an article about reasons to cancel penalty free, this doesn't seem to have been updated. It still says that hosts can only cancel penalty free if it's an instant booking. 

This is really important, so could we please have some clarification on this? It also needs to be made crystal clear in the policy documents because, as I have mentioned, a lot of CS staff are not well versed on policy and hosts often need to quote the policy back to them when the agent or ambassador makes some random judgement.

[Jenny]

Hi @Huma0 

No problem - I've asked if we can get some clarification on that.

Jenny

[Huma0]

Thanks @Jenny !

[Maxine33]

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@Huma0 wrote:

@Jenny 

It also needs to be made crystal clear in the policy documents because, as I have mentioned, a lot of CS staff are not well versed on policy

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That is an understatement!  I am grateful that I have not had to have many interactions with CS but over half of them have been extremely frustrating, due in part to the fact they do not know Airbnb's own policies. 

[Mark116]

I didn't need any more evidence from Airbnb that they don't value me as a host but I guess the company can't stop themselves.