[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.

[Andrea4560]

Airbnb is clearly trying to get back the lost trust from hosts after the rather poor decisions made during the pandemic. However, the real problems are deep, in my opinion, and go back in time prior to this exceptional event, due to an attitude constantly shifting towards the guests benefit and agains host's interest.

Airbnb has become quickly a big player in the industry, imposing high handed decisions for any sort of situation. With Airbnb I had the feeling that I was not the host, but a sort of employee afraid to comply at all times with their obscure/ever changing policy . 

Typical response from the customer service was they could not share details but only the outcome of a dispute. Very easy way to do whatever they wanted.

It's positive that now Airbnb acknowledged their mistakes, but I'm quite dubious about the real purpose. It seems more of a desperate move dictated by the current situation than a real change of heart. I'm sure when things will go back to normal, Airbnb will be again the same bully to the hosts. They should have made such efforts years ago, they should have listened to the hosts when it mattered.

It's funny though to see how over-kind the customer service has become, I miss the old days when I was basically told to f..k off over the phone...

[Andrea4560]

Just an update to prove that Airbnb is just a lot of talk and zero actions.

I just had a guest booking an apartment in Florence for the entire month. Upon enquiry he asked about internet speed. I replied that there is 100mb fibre optic plan with an average speed of 70mb. On the day of arrival he complained that the speed was only 15mb. I apologised, contacted Vodafone which confirmed an issue in the area. I asked the neighbour if we could borrow wifi details but unfortunately she had the same issue. I sent to the guest and the customer support, evidence of the communication with Vodafone that as of today already solved the issue (it  took from Saturday night to Wednesday evening ).

15mb is still a reasonable speed to stream movies, have conference calls etc. 

Nonetheless, the guest on Wednesday morning left the apartment, without any communication or notice from Airbnb, the reservation was ' cancelled by host', FULL refund.

Besides the fact that internet speed is NOT to be considered as an extenuating circumstance, this person slept, used the kitchen, the toilet, the towels for 5 days.

The landlord is furious and gave me notice to end the management as he will not let out apartments for short term anymore.

I lost the commission, the face and business with the landlord.

Amazing job Airbnb @Catherine-Powell 

[Katie]

Hi @Andrea4560, thanks for getting involved here, and I'm sorry to hear that you have had this issue. I have just received and update on your case, so I will drop you a DM with more info 🙂

[Cormac0]

Now that the extenuating circumstance (EC) policy has ridden a coach & Horses through Airbnb revenue stream they've decided to act in my opinion this is stomach churning but every cloud has a silver lining.

They will not do a travel insurance scheme because it transforms the guests into their customers in a legal sense which they cannot get around with fancy footwork.

"A general rule of thumb for knowing whether you should insure something you don't own is the definition of insurance fraud; if you aren't entitled to a benefit, you shouldn't pursue an insurance policy or make a claim. However, when you're financially liable for property that you don't own, you're probably entitled to purchase insurance for it."

Read between the lines...

[Ute42]

.

I watched the video 2 days ago and I watched it again today. I wanted to make sure there's no misunderstanding on my side. .

I think the keyinformation from this video is:

• The decision to refund guests in unexpected personal situations
  will rest with You, the hosts, rather than with airbnb.

Wow, I was speechless. We've been asking for this for years

Do I believe we will be getting what we expect to get, having watched the video?

• NO

Of course not. I've seen so many promises of „changes“ from airbnb which then turned into nothing. 2 Examples:

On October 31st, 2018, airbnb announced this: „Here are some of the things they’re (the team) considering:“

• 3. Average overall rating: Exclude one outlier low-review in the
  past 365 days from the (superhost) evaluation

Airbnb has promised to „consider“ it, but today, 2 years later, still nothing.

Or: Hosts were complaining all the time, that the location rating was unfair bc You just can't move Your place. Airbnb promised to look into it, that was on sept. 21st, 2018. What was the outcome? On march 7th 2019, airbnb stated:

• Now, when a guest goes to rate you in the location category, if they give you less than 3 stars, they see an explanation: “Was the listing’s location not described accurately?”

So the solution is: Airbnb is showing a promt, and than the guest can decide if he or she wants to

• leave the location rating at 1* or 2*

• change the location rating, maybe to 3*

The result: „So far, this has led to a 0.8% increase in the average rating for location.“ They did the same thing by the way with the value rating (holding up a promt). The result: „This has led to a 0.25% increase in the average rating for value.“ Well, these results were not what we expected when we read their promise to look into it.

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The new EC policy shall be effective starting jan 21st, 2021. Then we will have to wait how customer service reacts to that. Will they accept our decisions not to refund a guest or will they override it, as it happened so many times in the past. I think we all will know from posts of fellowhosts by march 2021, that's 6 months from now.

Let's assume the most positive possible outcome regarding the new policy: The new policy kicks in and Customer Service leaves us alone with our decisions.

• But

we will of course always get a bad review if we refuse to refund money, we already know that.

• Also

airbnb may turn off Instant Book on all hosts who refuse to refund money to guests.

Turning off instant book is an undisclosed airbnb penalty which they were using in the past.

Jennifer1421 wrote on jan 15, 2020:

• As far as being put in "instant book jail", yes, it's a undisclosed penalty that is meted out and there is nothing you can do about it. It has happened to me, and Instant Booking was switched off on my listing without warning for a period of several weeks.

• Or

airbnb pushes everyone who refuses to refund guests to the very buttom in search results

Maybe we will have the freedom to refuse to refund guests, but maybe this will then result in killing our business, who knows?

While I appreciate that airbnb finally changes their EC policy, I'm suspicious. I do not believe that we'll be getting what we expect to get after having watched the video.

Time will tell.

cc: @Super47 @Cormac0 @Andrea4560 @Ann72 

@Emilia42 @Huma0 @Debra300 @Mark116  

[Catherine-Powell]

Hi @Ute42 ,

Thank you for taking the time to communicate your views on Airbnb's updates and policy changes, both the upcoming EC update, and past amendments.

I appreciate your perspective. I'm glad to hear you are in favor of the updates we're making to the EC policy, though I also understand that your past experience has colored your expectations for this rollout.

As I have said to others here in the Community Center, we need to work to rebuild this relationship with our hosts. Thank you again for sharing your comments.

Best,

Catherine

[Anonymous]

The new policy goes into effect the day after inauguration day in the US, and has expanded the language concerning "civil unrest" as a cause for EC cancellations. Coincidence?

@Lizzie @Catherine-Powell a couple of questions I have concerning some of the language in the announcement:

1)  The text says that guests will be eligible for a refund if "large-scale events prevent them from traveling." Does that apply solely to events in the destination, or also in locations that the guest is traveling from or through? I'm unclear on how the policy would apply if a guest from Florida wanted to cancel their booking in Kansas because of a hurricane at home.

2) Will there be any transparency concerning which natural disasters are deemed to be "foreseeable," and what source is being used to make this determination?  It seems like a lot to ask of a service operator to intuitively know not only when it's hurricane season in Florida but also monsoon season in Bangladesh.

3) Does "civil unrest" encompass political protests/demonstrations? These are so ubiquitous at the moment that this clause seems like an enormous loophole. 

4) When suggesting travel insurance providers to guests, can you confirm that the insurers you recommend will not use the Extenuating Circumstances policy as a basis to deny their claims? 

[Anonymous]

@Katie I thought this thread was the appropriate place to ask those questions. Could you suggest a more appropriate venue?

[Katie]

Hi @Anonymous, sorry for the delay - I've been away from the Community for the past week so only just picked this up.

Yes, it absolutely was the right place to ask - I can see that Catherine has come back to you in the time I was away, so hopefully this has answered some of your queries 😊  

[Catherine-Powell]

Hi @Anonymous ,

Thanks so much for your comments here.

You’ve raised some very good points that touch on current areas of discussion within our own policy teams. Some of these policies are still in development, and I'm eager to share as many details as I can with our community soon.

Regarding our new EC cancellation policy, this update means that guests will be held to the host’s cancellation policy except in the case of natural disasters (like a hurricane) or other extreme unforeseen extenuating circumstances. Personal and foreseeable cancellations will henceforth be handled under the host’s cancellation policy.

We are currently reviewing how best to draw a line around what is and is not a foreseeable weather event and we will be publishing additional details on that in the coming months. And, as you've noted, we're working toward offering travel insurance for guests—first in the U.S., and then in other areas around the world.

Guests who purchase travel insurance will be able to use it to cover costs associated with reservations that they need to cancel or modify due to personal/foreseeable circumstances. I’ll have more details to share on this program and other aspects of your comment in the weeks ahead.

Again, thank you for the very smart and insightful questions. Please keep an eye out for future updates as they will provide even greater detail on these policies.

Best,

Catherine

[Sarah977]

@Catherine-Powell  While it was good of you to reassure hosts that we would still be able to cancel penalty-free in the event of a host accident, illness, or if the property suddenly becomes uninhabitable due to something like a fire, burst plumbing, etc, unless the updated EC policy is amended before it takes effect, there are none of those assurances in the policy as it currently reads.

In fact, it says the exact opposite. That "everything else" that is not listed as a valid reason for an EC will not qualify.

What Airbnb customer service, guests and hosts are bound by is what is actually in the EC policy as it is written, not on what you might say in a video to reassure hosts. 

So please, what exactly is being done to ensure that what you have told hosts here regarding their ability to cancel due to a serious unforeseen reason will be incorporated into the new EC policy? Verbal assurances mean nothing if it isn't incorporated into the policy in writing.

With all due respect, I could make a video saying that I'm going to send all hosts $100 next week, but that doesn't mean that will actually happen. 

[Jonathan1369]

I had to cancel a trip last weekend due to a death in the immediate family. How can I get a full refund if I’ve never had a refund in the past since I was forced out of trip due to a situation I can’t control? I’ve received the cleaning fee back but I think in this situation I should get more. What’s the policy? @Catherine-Powell

[Katie]

Hi @Jonathan1369, welcome to the Community Center and I'm so sorry to hear about your relative. Have you gotten in touch with Support? This is your best bet, and once you are in touch with them they can advise on how to proceed in your specific circumstances.

[Charles686]

Catherine - thank you for the update.  But, why wait until Jan 2021 to implement the change?  The market in the UK is so volatile this policy needs to be in place now.

[Katie]

Hi @Charles686, welcome to the Community Center. I just wanted to jump in here to reply to your question on the timing: we wanted to ensure there was time for both hosts and guests to be informed about the new policy, and for other additional resources to be prepared. So although it will not go into effect until January 20, 2021, we wanted to share the news with you now. I hope this helps to give some insight 😊