COVID-19 Host Support - Read the Fine Print

[Mark156]

$250M Host Support - WHAT A JOKE! It's nothing but a marketing stunt from Airbnb.

I have 4 cancelled bookings that meet all the advertised criteria to receive the 25% Host Support Payment however when I enquired with Airbnb Customer Support I found out otherwise. 3 of the bookings are listed on my cancellation page as 'Not applicable separate policy applies.' It appears that if the guests cancel within your normal Cancellation Policy the cancellations do not qualify for the 25% Support Payment, even if the guest cancels due to COVID-19. As an example, one of my guests booked 7 nights stay on 12 March 2020, staying 11-18 April 2020 and cancelled 22 March 2020 after the WHO declared a global pandemic on 14 March 2020. Looks good for the 25% Support Payment from Airbnb - BUT NO! As I have a Moderate cancellation Policy and the guest cancelled more than 5 days out from their stay it DOES NOT qualify.

Another guest cancellation, who for all intents and purposes qualified for the 25% Host Support Payment but because the reason they selected for cancelling was 'No longer required' instead of 'COVID-19' it does not qualify, despite all the email threads between us referring to COVID-19 restrictions as the reason. I'm penalised this time because the guest selected the wrong option.

So, out of 4 potential cancellations qualifying for the Support Payment, because of the unadvertised FINE PRINT, I'm down to only one and that cancellation is listed as 'Pending still processing' and I can't get a straight answer as to if or when this might be paid by Airbnb.

I know that Airbnb didn't have to provide the Support Payment but why advertise it with broad criteria and then have all these 'hidden' criteria. In my case all that potential goodwill from Hosts just disappered. The guests get a full refund and the Hosts - NOTHING. Sound familiar. Consequently, I'm not that optimistic regarding getting that 1 Support Payment or even the Super Host Payment. Anyway, that's my rant.

I'd be interested in hearing about the experiences from other Hosts.

Stay Healthy,

Mark

[Sarah977]

@Mark156  You're a little late to the party. This has been discussed ad nauseum  for weeks here already. Just scan through a few pages of posts on these forums or use the search function.

Fine to vent, though. You're not alone.