Oh boy! Reading this thread has made me crazy! There are so many selfish people here! Before I get to my point, I want to say I have no idea where Sayulita, MX is but I want to visit you @Sarah977 ! i think we would get on fabulously!! For you hosts that think that Airbnb's declaration on 3/14 undermined your livelihood, please realize that an existing EC policy was already in place. It stated:
There’s no required documentation for these circumstances, but our specialized team will review each case to confirm that you’re directly affected.
Open Homes reservations that have been cancelled. More info about Open Homes.
Natural disasters, terrorist activity, and civil/political unrest that prevent the guest from traveling to or from the destination, or that make it unsafe to host guests.
Epidemic disease or illness that suddenly affects a region or an entire group of people. This doesn’t include existing diseases that are associated with an area—for example, malaria in Thailand or dengue fever in Hawaii. Any updates to our policy regarding the outbreak of a disease, and the scope of policy application, will be determined based on announcements by the World Health Organization and local authorities.
Travel restrictions imposed by a government, law enforcement agency, or military that restrict travel to or from the listing or experience location.
Safety and security threat advisories issued for the listing or experience location or the guest party’s departure location.
This COVID-19 special policy was likely implemented to streamline claims. It didn't change the rules of the game. There were already exclusions for natural disasters, epidemics, travel restrictions etc. You probably ignored them when signing up to host. They were there to protect guests because almost all travel insurance will only protect against a change of plans on the part of the traveler. Someone opting for "travel insurance" would not have covered a pandemic.
Refusing to reimburse guests during an international pandemic is unconscionable. I don't care if your sole income is derived from rentals. Most everyone else in the world has also lost their source of income! There is a place in hell for people that try and profit from these kinds of things (including Airbnb). Holding peoples money because you think you can, is despicable. If you do, I hope you are able to sleep at night because I certainly could not.
As a host, you have not provided a service (unless the guest was already there or within hours of arrival). You lost an opportunity to make money. That is not the same as losing hard earned cash that was sent in good faith for intended services to be rendered. Using the restaurant analogy, if you cancelled a dinner reservation two weeks before arriving at a restaurant, you would not expect to pay the same as if you ate half of your meal and needed to leave. You would recognize that as a lost opportunity cost for the restaurant but not a debt to them.
I had a trip to Ireland planned April 3-10. My hosts have refused to refund me my money. I am caught between Airbnb and the hosts to try and get my money back. Airbnb is not carte blanche refunding $. They are telling me to work with my hosts (Paul Quinn and Zen O) who have been extremely unreasonable. I find this offensive. Airbnb should be supporting their policies.
Y'all need to look at a bigger picture. We need to keep the world safe. To those hosts who want to keep my money, Karma is a bitch! To those who understand that we need to shelter in place until this is over for the betterment of all, thank you!!