[Updated Jan 2021] Updates about our extenuating circumstances policy in the latest Host Update

[Airbnb]

Last Updated: Jan, 2021

Hello,

The policy update outlined below is now in effect. 

You can find out how cancellations will work under our updated extenuating circumstances policy, effective for reservations starting on or after January 20, 2021, here.

Thank you.

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Catherine Powell is back with a new Host Update, sharing how Airbnb is working to make our extenuating circumstances policy more transparent and fair for hosts. The changes—effective for reservations of stays and Airbnb Experiences with a check-in or start date on or after January 20, 2021*—will give hosts discretion over whether to refund guests who can’t travel due to unexpected personal circumstances. The policy will continue to cover natural disasters and similar large-scale events.

Get all the details about the upcoming changes to our policy here in this Help Center article. Please let us know what you’d like covered in future Host Updates with Catherine. As always, thank you for sharing the topics that matter to you.

*This policy doesn’t apply to Luxe reservations, which are subject to a separate Luxe guest refund policy.

[Debra300]

This is just my speculation that I have about the lead time.

Personally, I think it would be great if the new EC policy could be implemented sooner than January 2021, but I believe that the lead time for enacting the new policy is needed to work on the systematic updates required to support the self-service capabilities that Catherine mentioned.  Most tech companies in the US usually have system freezes that begin at the latter part of November during Thanksgiving week and end the first week of January.  They may continue to do some development work and internal testing of new systems, but the only changes made in the production environment will be fixes to existing systems.  Another reason for the long lead time could be the availability of resources (many employees take time off during this period), and the time to obtain hardware or networking from vendors (e.g., it can take up 120 days to receive servers or have circuits set up).

[Cathy820]

Hopefully Airbnb will actually implement and enforce the new policy. I do not have much faith in this as they are not sticking to their own policies at the moment. I just had a booking cancelled and refunded to a guest 3 days before arrival,  with absolutely no consultation with me. Booking.com have already informed guests and hosts that the final decision regarding cancellation of bookings made after April 2020 will be made by the host. AIRBNB hosts will now have uncertainty with all bookings from now until Christmas.  

[Catherine-Powell]

Hi @Debra300 ,

Thanks for your comments here--you are very insightful.

Yes, these are some of the main factors which prevent us from being able to make this change overnight. We also wanted to provide some lead time to better inform both hosts and guests about this update ahead of making the change.

Thanks,

Catherine

[Debra300]

@Catherine-Powell,

Thank you for acknowledging my comment.  I think what frustrated many hosts is the lack of transparency for small details about the reason for the delay between announcement and implementation.  It would have helped a many to have a better understanding of what's going on, and the information is not confidential. The other thing is that changes seem to be either rushed or not thoroughly reviewed for comprehension and  consistency.  The new EC policy has prompted significant open questions and pointed out large gaps compared to the existing policy.  I truly hope that there is a response/revision coming very soon.

Good luck, and please do keep us informed.

[Timothy18]

I think Airbnb has really punted here. They need to give hosts cancellation options and then enforce them. Leaving it up to the host to decide if someone deserves a refund passes the buck and places an unnecessary burden on hosts. I'm not feeling like Airbnb has my back here.

[Ute42]

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@Timothy18 

What?

Why shouldn't a host be entitled to refund guests if he or she wanted to do so?

If You don't want to refund guests, just tell them

• NO

[Emilia42]

@Timothy18 That is exactly what this new policy will do. As a host, you have a cancelation policy. If the guest cancels outside of the cancelation window, they get a refund. If they cancel within, no refund. Stick to it, it's YOUR policy.

[Laura2592]

I still don't see where this is actually helpful, sorry to say. 

Friend was a host, had to put her house up for sale due to job loss and had to cancel her home share guests due to showing the space. Airbnb did nothing despite ample proof that the house was being sold. So you are supposed to host people during your open house because guests are more entitled to their vacation than you are to use the space that you own? Unreal.

Another friend has a mom in a care facility which shut down and she had to bring her back to her home

temporarily. Again, Airbnb blamed her for cancelling guests, she lost SH status, etc. Life happens. 

There should be something in the EC policy that states if the property owner needs exclusive use of their space to sell it or prepare it for sale, or if an elderly or infirm family member needs to occupy the space due to a caregiving emergency, the host can provide proof and there will be no penalty for guest cancellations. We aren't hotels after all. Sometimes you need to use the space for legitimate reasons of your own and you can't predict them.

The thing that kills me about this whole policy is that it supposes that the "host-guest agreement" supersedes actual property ownership rights. That is legally unenforceable but I guess Airbnb can slap your hand or ban you from the platform instead. 

[Huma0]

Many hosts have been complaining very vocally for years about the extenuating circumstances policy being too lenient. So, now it is going to be tightened up significantly. I see that as a step in the right direction.

Now people are complaining because it is not lenient enough for hosts. Well, we can't have it both ways. Either have your cake or eat it. Yes, life happens and gets in the way and it's very helpful to be able to cancel penalty free using the EC,  but life happens to guests too. Yes, we are property owners and what we do with our own properties should be our choice, but hosting on Airbnb is a CHOICE. Accepting reservations is a CHOICE. With those choices comes a certain level of commitment. 

Catherine has said in her video that should something happen that is beyond the host's control that prevents them from hosting, they will still be able to cancel penalty free and maintain Superhost status.

If this statement is true, hosts should be covered to a reasonable extent. We can't expect hosts to be able to cancel penalty free because they decide to sell their homes, even if their financial situation deems this necessary (still a personal circumstance) and, at the same time, for guests to not be able to cancel penalty free for personal circumstances. We are already being told we'll be able to cancel in case of injury for example, when guests will not. Let's not be hypocrites please.

@Catherine-Powellit would be really great if we could the above in writing please! The updated EC policy as it is currently written seems to only refer to what you describe as applying to guests. I can't see any mention of hosts being able to cancel due to circumstances out of their control that prevent them from hosting. I have often had to explain Airbnb policy to CS reps who make decisions in direct contraction to it, so we really do need this in writing from Airbnb! I trust also that CS will be sufficiently trained on the changes before they come into force?

[Mark116]

@Huma0  You know what, I don't care anymore.  We got our permit a couple of weeks ago, we have a 3 week guest right now.  As soon as that guest leaves, we're getting professional photos and listing on VRBO, hopefully to phase out Airbnb over time if we're lucky, and if not, then we will offer the apartment for regular tenants, because post-covid, at least right now, we need the income and NYC doesn't look like its going to be 'back' for many, many more months. 

I'm exhausted by Airbnb, by the crazy algo that hides my listing and now thinks that bedrooms are 'similar' to my 2 bedroom entire apartment; by having to constantly think up tricks to make the listing visible, by the stress of bad guests, by the pressure to offer more for less, and all the time knowing that Airbnb won't assist us let alone reward us.  I'm over it. 

[Katie---Sean0]

@Mark116 @Airbnb @Lizzie – I'm kinda getting to the same place unfortunately. We have two long-stay units, and Airbnb has been great for finding guests. But I'm tired of all the same stresses Mark mentions here, plus bad, inconsistent or non-existent support.

For example on an entirely different subject to this post – recently a "community" support rep – (meaning a host/guest, not somebody employed or trained by Airbnb) – actually gave me legal advice about service animals that I KNOW is completely wrong, and refused to escalate my questions to somebody who could actually answer them! – at one point I replied, are you sure you want to be putting stuff like this in writing because it's completely wrong per ADA guidelines and could get Airbnb in trouble... eventually I gave up.

So yes... we're at the the point of thinking it's time to consider alternative ways of finding our long-term guests. Or at least spreading our wings across multiple platforms so that we are not so reliant on a business partner who doesn't have our backs.

[Huma0]

@Mark116 

Sorry to hear that you're getting to that stage. I understand. As you well know I am not an advocate of many of Airbnb's seemingly anti-host policies and I've not been shy about giving feedback on those.

I'm just saying that hosts have been protesting about the EC policy for ages. Now that it has become significantly tighter, hosts are complaining about that too. We complain about there being double standards for hosts v guests and then complain that more double standards aren't being applied!

What exactly is it that people are asking for here? Do we expect that guests will not be covered by any extenuating circumstances but hosts will be covered by any which we happen to experience down the line? Is that fair? Is it reasonable?

Now, it may well be that this change has been made as a PR move ahead of the IPO. Or it may have been made because @Catherine-Powell has a genuine commitment to improving things for hosts. Who knows?

Either way, I'm not going to trash what I see as a positive change. What I want to see now is:

1. The points Catherine made RE hosts being able to cancel penalty free due to circumstances beyond their control that prevent them from hosting spelt out in writing in the policy so that there is 0% ambiguity about this.

2. CS staff fully trained and up to date RE policy, particularly in regards to EC or COVID-EC cancellations. They are already all over the place in that regard. Who is to say that won't continue when the policy is updated?

3. CS staff actually following that policy in the decisions they make, rather than just making it up as they go along and then telling us 'decision made, case closed'.

I agree with you that there are a lot of other improvements that need to be made for hosting on Airbnb to remain tenable for many of us. I have no idea if some, or any, of these improvements will be made and I'll continue to be vocal on those topics, but I also prefer to give credit where credit is due.

[Super47]

@Huma0 @Katie---Sean0 @Mark116

Perhaps people would have a great deal more trust and faith in Airbnb's commitment to these proposed new measures if they'd been presented in a more cohesive, credible, professional manner. 

What we've had instead - in the space of 48hrs - is a mish-mash of information, contradictions, omissions, and hastily inserted addendums. Catherine's video was contradicted by the Resource Article, which was contradicted by the Help Article. The original post has already been updated once, the Help Centre article was also updated, and the Resource Centre article was updated twice. And still, nobody really has any clear idea as to what the exact parameters of these changes are - confusion reigns supreme as always, and 2 days later, no clarification has been offered, nor queries answered. 

Incredibly, Catherine also somehow omitted to mention in her video by far the most important and vital piece of information of all for hosts - that Airbnb are, allegedly, "working towards" providing options to enable guests to purchase trip insurance as part of the booking process, which would indeed offer a great level of protection - and peace of mind - for hosts. That crucial detail was only added later, after it was brought to light that the only mention of insurance had been that Airbnb would "help guests find insurance after booking". (Even that part doesn't make sense - why would guests pay a premium to purchase external insurance when many events that insurance would cover are still included in the free EC policy anyway?)

All of a sudden then, the huge, game-changing news that there supposedly are 'plans' to offer guests trip protection was belatedly slipped into the mix - almost as an afterthought. It just doesn't add up.

The date on this thread is 17/9, almost a full week before it went live. Plenty of time to check and double-check that the information contained in this announcement of such great interest and value to hosts was solid, clear and easily understood, that it matched up exactly with the corresponding Resource and Help articles, and that nothing had been omitted.

The fact that none of that was done speaks volumes, offers very little hope for Airbnb's actual commitment to the implementation of these proposed amendments and unfortunately, hints at yet another shambles in the making. (If there are already discrepancies in Catherine's announcement and the written policies, what hope can we have that the poor support staff will have a grasp on anything?)

And realistically, if it's going to take another 4 full months to implement these changes anyway - and if there is any truth in the future plans for guest insurance - why not just scrap the whole EC policy altogether, and introduce the trip insurance for guests in late January instead? That would seem like an infinitely more workable, logical and efficient way forward. And so much less confusing for everyone involved than the current convoluted, opaque proposals.

As much as we'd all dearly love to see the end of the EC tyranny, it's difficult to trust from the muddled, disjointed, poorly put-together communication we've received so far that this is really a matter of any priority for Airbnb, or that any of it will actually pan out as promised. 

[Huma0]

@Super47 

Well, this is why I am calling for that clarification to be added in writing to the EC policy asap. Otherwise, well it's clearly not something we can take for granted simply because it's been mentioned here in this announcement. Add to that the fact that CS are frequently ignorant about Airbnb policy and blatantly disregard it in their decisions. However, I have found it very useful to have that policy spelt out on the website so that I can remind those reps that they are in fact wrong and breaching their own policy.

Yes, I agree a simpler method would be to scrap the EC altogether and offer guests Airbnb travel insurance instead. I don't know if that will ever happen, but I do still believe that this policy, if properly implemented, is a step in that direction at least. It does need to be PROPERLY implemented though, with CS sticking to it...

[Ann72]

@Mark116  I hear you.  Let us know how VRBO goes.  Congrats on getting the permit, though!