Is this legal

[Fiona274]

Am I correct in thinking that despite having had a strict cancellation policy in place, of which guests were aware when booking, I will now only receive 25% of the amount I should for a cancellation? Is it legal for Airbnb to change the goalposts in this way? Guests were going to lose the cost of accommodation - I could lose my property over this! 

[Anonymous]

@Fiona274  The Extenuating Circumstances clause has always been in the terms of service, and it has always given Airbnb broad latitude to override cancellation policies at its discretion.  I see a lot of people making the case that Airbnb has unlawfully changed the terms of a contract after the sale, but I don't think a close reading of the pre-Covid19 policy supports this. 

That's the gamble a host takes with Airbnb. Not only can they override your cancellation policies at any time; they can also cancel any booking, suspend any listing, or delete any user's account at any time without any prior notice or explanation, and it's all right there in the fine print.  Another thing that's in the terms of service that all users agree to is paragraph 19:11, waiving the right to participate in a class-action suit.

Whether a specific law was violated would surely vary from country to country, but as far as I can tell as a non-expert, this is more of an ethical issue than a legal one. I don't think Airbnb was playing fair by encouraging guests to demand full refunds that they might not have otherwise sought.

[Fiona274]

Thank you so much for this clear information, Andrew. Hosts are suffering financial loss in many areas and having to take it on the chin. I believe it would have been fairer to encourage hosts to allow guests to change booking dates rather than cancel reservations with a full refund. I certainly wouldn’t expect a full refund after accepting a strict refund while booking!

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

@Fiona274 It is still possible for guests and hosts alike to initiate a date change request, and in some situations it could be mutually beneficial. But from the guest perspective, this is not a practical option when a full refund is possible. And it comes with a lot of downsides for hosts:  the payout date gets delayed to the new check-in date anyway, so it's still a loss in the short term. Hosts who are able to reduce their losses by selling off or switching properties to long-term rentals will be forced to accept cancellation penalties if they can't fulfill the rebookings. And there's no certainty of when travel will be possible again. Switching a booking to later in the year might help kick the can down the road for airlines and listing services with cash-flow problems, but one would have to be pretty delusional to be making travel commitments for any point in the future under current circumstances.