During COVID-19 Fellow Hosts are an embarrassment!!

[Ginny30]

I am embarrassed by the entitlement some of my fellow hosts are having during COVID-19 epidemic.  The world does not revolve around your rental property or mine!  Airbnb has my full support in issuing 100% refunds during this time. 
This entitlement to thinking Airbnb should pay you according to your cancellation policy is absurd.  All of us are “self employed” with Airbnb, we pay them a small percentage to advertise, showcase and handle our bookings.

There is nothing more important to me then my health, the health of others in my community and the health of my guests!  Welcoming guests to my property right now could potentially expose them, myself and my community to this daily growing virus.  We don’t know if they have been exposed to the virus and they don’t know if I have!  
I have a feeling you would still be complaining even if they would go with your cancellation policy.  This is a global problem and their are people out there financially suffering much more than you are!  Airbnb or any other rental company should never be considered your main source of income period!  There...rant over

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Susan17 

If you think this way about Airbnb WHY OH WHY do you advertise your property through their business?

I find it totally bizarre that, if you really feel this way, you haven't left to another STR platform.

I am afraid many of your points are fundamentally flawed -

Guests do not necessarily need insurance because Airbnb has its extenuating circumstances policy. Thats not to say the policy is correct but it IS the policy and it IS in the T&Cs that we sign up for.

The Airbnb policies are NOT unlawful and we are not being robbed - we may not like it but again we signed up for this.

[Michael4841]

Why shouldn’t it be left at 50:50?
Why shouldn’t guests share  in the “community” ? Guests are just as “selfish” as this @Ginny30 thread implies - demanding they are “entitled” to a full refund. I’m not Marriott. Oh wait, AirBnB offering “magical” 100% refunds do not tell guests they are overriding host contracts and the “refund” comes directly out of host’s pockets.
To think I trusted this corporate service. 

[Ashley678]

thank you !!! 

yes, it's horrible what she wrote , no empathy at all.

50/ 50 is the only answer... and it should start today !

[Ocean50]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

It's NOT unlawful but it is morally wrong. It likes I rent your place for 1 month, then decide not to leave and not paying rent anymore, claiming squatters right and you can't really kick me out isn't it? But I don't do it because it is morally wrong, not because it is lawful or not.

And Where/when/how did we sign up this??? None of us sign up for this crap until Airbnb throw it right at our faces few days ago.

[Susan17]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

As I'm sure you're perfectly well aware, Airbnb is by far the dominant player in most markets, and people have no choice but to use it if they want to survive. Also, as someone who has spent 10 years building up my (very) small business and excellent reputation as a host on this platform, who has been a superhost every single time since the programme was first implemented over 5 and a half years ago, who has catered for probably close to 6000 extremely happy and satisfied Airbnb guests over the years, and who has contributed more than my fair share to the "success" of this company, I have bloody well earned the right to be here, and to voice my opinions, however I see fit. Have you? Oh and by the way, it wasn't what I joined up for - the extenuating circumstances policy didn't exist when many of us first signed up for this gig.

And if everyone who felt the way that I do left this platform tomorrow, I can assure you, that there'd be no Airbnb left for the cheerleaders to ply their wares on - it would be decimated overnight. And finally, just because Airbnb has decided to put something in their T&Cs, doesn't necessarily make it right, just, ethical, fair or legal. (The company has already been forced by the EU Commission in 2018 to amend several or its unlawful, misleading and deceptive terms and conditions - the Commissioner's words, not mine - to bring them into line with European laws) There's also a multitude of other unjust and unfair policies, practices and diktats in place all over the world, that systematically deny people their rights and autonomy - places where loving someone of the same sex can get you stoned, beaten up or thrown in jail, for example. Do you support those abuses too, just because they're "the law"?

And if you don't like what I have to say, or have nothing constructive or intelligent to add to the debate, WHY OH WHY don't you just scroll on by?

[Ashley678]

YESS!!! #whyohwhy lol 

[Trudi15]

booking.com has 80% market share in most european countries, how each of the platforms address this issue will determine market share of both hosts and guests in the future. The growth is forecasted to come from where? more hotel bookings? not sure that the small ABB host has the power anymore. 

[Mark116]

@Mike-And-Jane0   If I knew then what I know now about airbnb I would have gone to VRBO in the first place, but like many hosts who don't have a disastrous incident it took me quite a while to understand exactly what kind of company airbnb is, and by then, the listing was established.

But, none of that changes the fact that all of these guests could have booked a place with a flexible cancellation policy, there are millions of them.  Does it not occur to people that a host has a strict cancellation policy for the very reason that they  probably depend on the money?

[Patricia2604]

@Mark116 

Hi Mark

I'm curious, we are in Australia and not sure if we have different rules. 

You said 

" I would have gone to VRBO in the first place, but like many hosts who don't have a disastrous incident it took me quite a while to understand exactly what kind of company airbnb is, and by then, the listing was established."

Are you not able to list with more than one? We have listed our property with 3 and looking at a couple more.

Regards

Tricia

[Ashley678]

We didn't sign up for this.  At this point we can't leave the platform , but many will and airbnb  will be left with newbie idiots who have lockboxes , no contact and a blah stays.  WE are the ones that built the Brand into an experience even when we don't list it as one.  we give more to them then they to us; by opening up our homes to complete strangers and lets just say the amount of new comers with zero reviews are mostly a nightmare, yet we still give expert service. 

Miss level 10 lol ... does that pride you so??? 

[Karen2391]

Amen

[Ashley678]

How do you know they are, " suffering more than you ."  Many Hosts are losing their homes because their income is gone, Pooff overnight.  It should be 50/50 between the guests and the host .  A traveler can take a hit on a single vacation , a host cannot take multiply hits for several months straight. Airbnb will lose many superhosts when this is over... and the new comers who think it's easy, will come around with crappy conditions, no extras, poor hospitality, bad decor.. you name it... and travelers will take note and seek out other short term rental platforms.   

WE are the ones that busted our assess with unique marketing plans ; including building stays with individualized style decor, from log cabins to Tipi's... cleaning for 5 star sparkling reviews, extras like wine and chocolates... EXPERT superhosts who were loyal to airbnb AND BUILT this brand. 

I myself do not have mortgages , I have five stays in three states and i don't list on other platforms because i am loyal, as were many other Hosts, we were proud to be part of this , " community " . NOW , thousands of people who put their money and faith into airbnb are losing their homes.  So if you can sit pretty with no worries for yourself, at least have some empathy for those that are going belly-up over night because of this 100% refund.  Its bull**bleep** and Airbnb knows this, or they wouldn't be scrambling right now to fix it... of coarse without taking money from their pockets.

How do you know they are, " suffering more than you ."  Many Hosts are losing their homes because their income is gone, Pooff overnight.  It should be 50/50 between the guests and the host .  A traveler can take a hit on a single vacation , a host cannot take multiply hits for several months straight. Airbnb will lose many superhosts when this is over... and the new comers who think it's easy, will come around with crappy conditions, no extras, poor hospitality, bad decor.. you name it... and travelers will take note and seek out other short term rental platforms.   

WE are the ones that busted our assess with unique marketing plans ; including building stays with individualized style decor, from log cabins to Tipi's... cleaning for 5 star sparkling reviews, extras like wine and chocolates... EXPERT superhosts who were loyal to airbnb AND BUILT this brand. 

I myself do not have mortgages , I have five stays in three states and i don't list on other platforms because i am loyal, as were many other Hosts, we were proud to be part of this , " community " . NOW , thousands of people who put their money and faith into airbnb are losing their homes.  So if you can sit pretty with no worries for yourself, at least have some empathy for those that are going belly-up over night because of this 100% refund.  Its bull**bleep** and Airbnb knows this, or they wouldn't be scrambling right now to fix it... of coarse without taking money from their pockets.

[Patricia2604]

@Ashley678

Hi Ashley

In your comment you said airbnb are scrambling to fix it, could you tell me how as i am curious?

I have had a request for a cancellation that falls outside of their Corona virus extenuating circumstance policy which means  the guest is entitled to a 50% refund under my cancellation policy.  She also hasn't made her second/final payment yet. 

She sent me a message saying she is happy to lose some of her deposit but cant afford to lose it all. I told her she would receive her cleaning fee back in full and under the cancellation policy she agreed to she would lose 50% of her accommodation costs.  I contacted airbnb and advised them i would cancel under my cancellation policy, they got back to me and wanted to confirm i was happy for them to give her a full refund. My response was NO at no time did i say that was OK and i wanted my cancellation policy enforced. They then responded back and said the guest could still request a full refund under the extenuating circumstance policy and that they had sent her a message advising her that she could do that to get her a full refund. She reason for cancelling wasn't even directly because of the virus.

Now how is this fair? They are acting out of their own virus policy time frame and using their general extenuating circumstance policy that is in place for every booking a guest makes. That's just doing the dirty on its hosts again.

Hence me asking how they are scrambling to fix anything. 

Thanks

Tricia

[Ashley678]

I meant it in a sarcastic way.. they don't care , now they have taken down the total on our spread sheets so we cant even calculate loses. I was just saying it should have been a 50 / 50 split between guest and hosts. 

[Patricia2604]

Hi Ashley,

Thanks for the clarification, that's why I put my example, the just don't give a ....... About it's hosts when they continue with this crap.