Extenuating Circumstances to contine long past Covid-19

Jan288
Level 6
Lahaina, HI

Extenuating Circumstances to contine long past Covid-19

My feed back to Airbnb today after a June guest canceled:

 

I had a cancellation today for a reservation starting June 17th, 2020, on Maui.  My website that I can see said no to extenuating circumstances because it was after May 31st! I called up only to find out you have once again changed the rules! That sucks, just so you know. I am a super host, I would think you could have mentioned it. Supposedly you sent out a notice, I didn't see any notices.
Now I find out that you are going to let this cancellation and that cancellation go as "extenuating circumstances". I cannot afford to be an insurance company without even getting any premiums! Do you understand? If the guest didn't buy insurance, and they have a death in the family, I have to pay for it? Stuff happens. I am one condo. I cannot afford to pay for someone else's choice of not buying insurance for their trip. That is on the guest.
I have made a lot of money with my Airbnb site. But to be truthful, when I say "no refunds" I mean it. The guests know if they even try to read it. I don't hide this! VRBO still sends me my income when a guest decides to not come to Maui for whatever reason they say. Yet you are going to override my no cancellations policy and give my profit back. People book a long time in advance for a trip to Maui. It is not the same as "Oh, let's take a ride to the next state tomorrow" type of vacation. So when you allow them to cancel, against my wishes, I am NOT O.K. WITH THAT! I cannot rebook that close to the reservation.
I have to rethink my being able to host on Airbnb. If I am rethinking it, you can be sure others are too. You cannot do business with a company that you cannot trust to keep their word. You just randomly make changes.
Then, poor business move on your part, you do not offer insurance on your site! If you offered insurance, and it popped up with every reservation, "do you want to insure this trip?", then no one would have issues with cancelations, guests or hosts.
Please offer insurance and please stop making changes that are detrimental to hosts or you aren't going to have a lot of hosts.

Also, hosts, did you know that Airbnb is going to continue to offer extenuating circumstances for illnesses or whatever else a guest tells them to cancel.  So your reservations are never really secure!  You can never count on that time being truly reserved if the guest is an Airbnb guest.  

28 Replies 28
Erez162
Level 3
United States

What's annoying is that they won't let us, hosts to cancel for the same reasons. FL had a short term rental ban that was extended for a few times. last week when it was extended again I called to cancel two bookings so I won't lose my FL license. That is the state of FL banning ALL short term rentals. They told me because I have the strict cancellation policy and the bookings were made after March 14 I can cancel but will get the penalty and the 1 star auto review! no matter how much info I gave them they just said I shouldn't accept those bookings, both were made in April for beginning of May when the executive order was set to expire April 30. It was extended again April 30 at 5pm. In the end the guests canceled because they also didn't feel like going to jail but this is unacceptable that guests can cancel as much as they want but hosts always have to fight for just process  

Do you really thing hosts are “ten-a-penny”?

it seems to me that Airbnb wouldn’t exist without hosts. 
if they lose any, that hurts their business. 
you can have all the potential guests you want, but without hosts, you have no business. 
At this point, most of the people willing to host have already listed. 
it is pure magical thinking that they can easily replace all lost hosts. 

“Fair” usually indicates both side have to compromise. To AirBnB, fair means the guest gets 100% satisfaction and the host can go pound sand, the agreements we signed are changed without our consent. 
This is anathema to all precedents of contract law. 
And to add insult to injury, Airbnb tells the guest to request a full refund from the host, as if it was us holding their money. 

It’s guests that are a dime a dozen, hosts ARE your business. 

They bet on the wrong horse, and now thousands of hosts are waiting for the “next AirBnB type service”, one that doesn’t rewrite contracts for their own benefit any time they feel like it. 

They clearly demonstrated what matters most to AirBnB- their own public image, and they put guests above hosts in the pecking order. 

so go ahead and attract new customers, I’m curious where they will be staying, as this 5 star superhosted half a million dollar house with fabulous views, is no longer available to Airbnb. 

 

 

Hillary9
Level 2
Camden, ME

I am in the same boat. Despite being told repeatedly that I would receive the first month's payment due to the long term - 3-month cancellation. They changed the rules and refunded the guest. So the host is not protected at all. Sadly I rely on my summer 3-month window to pay my mortgage. 

I am going to rethink hosting with air bnb.

Ciao @Hillary9 , it's always been a bet, one year is great and the other one is worse. Did you really think to find the final job of your life? It's just to fine tune your back-office, if you rent for mid-long terms probably next time you'd ask for a not-refundable down payment to keep you covered if any upcoming probs such as this one that came up like a torpedo straight in our backs.

Sheila22
Level 10
New York, NY

I am only here to tell you that you all: you need to find the FB pages that are seriously discussing your legal rights (as well as hash out options for how to move your STR business forward).  Airbnb is going to keep doing this to you and will not respond to you.  This forum is not helpful either because it is paid for by Airbnb and the moderators are subcontracted by Airbnb.  There are a few different FB pages that you might find helpful.  PM me if you would like the links.

Hi  @Sheila22 I think you're here to say what is totally obvious, if you look at at the address bar on top you'd see community (dot) withairbnb (dot) com. so what? renting for short terms is a bet, if you want to be more covered contact a real estate and they have an insurance, but you'll earn less. My partner is renting 2 properties in London through RE, both of tenants quit paying, now she has to attend the court in July. Of course, after this big problem, no work no rent, it is regular. I'm not having income from airbnb so right now i'm not paying any bills again at the moment. We're under a deep emergency and discussing about legal rights I find it mean, the crows always there like you.

 

I'm not gonna shake your hand even virtually.


You cannot do business with a company that you cannot trust to keep their word. 

*personal attack removed*

Simply:

 

If you're not happy with this company grab booking or expedia and start paying their 23% commission fee without any covid money aid. 😉

Jan288
Level 6
Lahaina, HI

Expedia not the only game in town.  

Look at the good @Jan288 , Booking and Expedia don't give any importance to your reservations if you or your guests will complain they don't have a 24hrs assistance like airbnb does, in short they're not communities just companies to sell their web service which is meant to let you rent your beautiful house blah blah. So let's do a comparison, say you're a house, your eyes like windows and hair like rooftop so beautiful and catching, I can't really miss to kiss it, it's a pretty good house. Would you waste your house on Innclusive or MisterBNB??? Nope, you would improve the food in your basket. Dsl? Put a fiber optic. just ceiling fans, put A/C. Invest a budget on what you earnt with airbnb the last years. I want to see you to restart not complaining on aids. Got it sweetie? Go ahead and if you'll be around will be my pleasure to host you Barbie.

Robbie54
Level 10
North Runcton, United Kingdom

What a heart warming post. By the way, I've seen a better understanding of grammar from key stage 2 children. 

Brenda-and-Gary0
Level 3
Coquitlam, Canada

I wouldn't expect any business to keep their policies unchanged for ever, especially if an unexpected world crisis hits. 

 

I had booked accommodation as a guest with another platform and had to chase down refunds when travel was no longer permitted.  It was such a negative experience that I will not book with the properties nor the platform again.  

 

Our property has been closed since March and remains closed until further notice.  We are hurting, but if the guests don't trust booking with us, they will go to a hotel where they can cancel with 24 hour notice.  They are going to be very cautious going forward.

 

Without guests, most of us have vacation rentals we can't afford to carry.

Lauren144
Level 2
Hartford, CT

@Jan288 - I completely agree with you! Airbnb is abusive to hosts. The current COVID cancellation policy is unconscionable! Of course, people who booked before March 14 should have been able to cancel, but this endless extension shows ZERO regard or appreciation for hosts and our need to pay mortgages. At this point, when we are at the start of the high season for east coast beach rentals guests should have to COMMIT or cancel. Airbnb is giving guests until July 15! THAT IS THE MIDDLE OF THE SEASON. At this point, a guest can keep my property booked and cancel without penalty giving me no time to get a booking from someone willing to travel. I cannot believe that Airbnb is holding hosts hostage in this way. I have not heard one logical argument for this policy. 

How many times is Airbnb going to extend their dates and screw the hosts over?  We have bills to pay, and they do not care about us.  Right now, they won't even let me reply to anyone because they do not like what I have to say!  I write a reply, and then they block it!   Now, so they look good to the public, look this up:  "Airbnb donates $500,000 to Black Lives Matter and NAACP after laying off 1,900 employees".  How about those of us who cannot pay our bills due to their unfair policies?