And, we're done. Bye AirBNB

[Rebecca-and-Mike0]

We listed our beloved home on @Airbnb a few years ago, and while the extra money was helpful, it didn't really yield that much more than what we would have gotten renting it out on the normal property market.  All in all, it's been a positive experience (with the exception of @Airbnb plus , which was a total disaster and mismanaged). 

We now find ourselves shocked and disappointed by the total lack of care from AirBNB, as we all try to navigate through this challenging new world. 

After losing thousands of dollars in bookings, in just a few hours, we are done and putting our apartment on the rental market. Never to be listed on @Airbnb again. We don't trust the platform, and now realise that they really don't care about hosts.

I'm wondering how many of you are doing the same? Will you weather the virus storm, or are you also out? 

We are in Melbourne, Australia - superhosts, who have only ever had glowing reviews. Not that any of that hard work matters anymore... 

[Huma0]

@Thomas977 

You can message Airbnb management and demand, but please don't expect or plan around it, because they will not honour it.

Here's a message I just received from a guest who had previously said she was gong to cancel or postpone her reservation, which does not fall under the current COVID-19 extenuating circumstances:

"I have just contacted Airbnb. They have suggested me to wait as much as I can. The limits on the check-in dates for the refunds derives from the travel restrictions of the countries. Most likely, since the situation is not going any better, they will extend their new cancellation policy for further check-in dates, which will include mine. In this case, we both would not have any losses. I will contact them again next week and keep you updated.

If I cancel now and if they change their policy later I will be losing my payment for something that is out of my control."

Funny how they lead the guest to believe that the host will not lose anything either if they do this! Well, maybe not so funny,...

[Thomas977]

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/19/coronavirus-airbnb-hosts-angry-at-refunds.html

[Maria481]

The premise that guests should get the refund because they never actually stayed at the listing, so thereby did not use or "consume" the service, is based on a complete misunderstanding of what the consumable is. The consumable, from a market standpoint, is not the stay, it is the occupation of the host's calendar. The space on the calendar, for a particular point in time that cannot be renewed or reused, is what is being offered. For the host it is an income opportunity that cannot be replaced. Wether or not a guest actually stays there has little to do with the main cost for the host; the costs, which are usually fixed, like mortgage or rent, as well as the projected income that the host depends on, is not conserved by the guest not staying there. Hosts have built livelihoods around the trust that the cancellation  policy, that they supposedly could choose, would mitigate the many other risks they already  take on by opening their assets to total strangers. Unilaterally stripping this away from hosts without consent undermines the core value proposition of listing on Airbnb. 

[Mike-and-Leyla0]

Oh we are done as well