Post Pandemic Airbnb Cancellation and Resolution Policies- Hosts Should Take Action

[Sky13]

Dear Friends,

As most of all who are here agree, the unilateral decision on the part of Airbnb to decide the when, what, where, and how of the extenuating circumstances policy relating to the Novel Coronavirus/Covid-19/Sars CoV-2 pandemic, have left more than a few of us feeling blindsided. Many petitions are swirling, and there's talk of a class action lawsuit. These are trying times.

Is it too soon to start looking forward to whatever may be left of Airbnb post-pandemic? I want to suggest that we as hosts consider taking some direct action to gain more control over our listings and our money. Specifically, regarding Airbnb's dysfunctional cancellation policies and resolution system, what would happen if EVERY host changed their cancellation policy to strict, and inserted the following into the 'house rules' section?

CANCELLATIONS – For a full refund, minus Airbnb fees, cancellations must be made within 48 hours of booking. After the 48 hours, this listing is non-refundable. Early departures are non-refundable. This listing is non-refundable for all reservations made within 48 hours of check-in time.

RESOLUTION REQUESTS- This Airbnb does not refund reservations, fees, or provide any other type of compensation for 'requests' made through the Airbnb Resolution Center.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT- Upon completion of the booking the guest acknowledges that he/she has been advised by the host/manager to arrange adequate personal insurance cover for all members of his/her party to cover all travel, personal risks/injuries and liabilities, and any cancellation. If you are concerned about the possibility of a last-minute cancellation, early departure, or extenuating circumstances, we strongly suggest that you take responsibility for this risk and obtain trip cancellation/interruption insurance.

I understand that my choice not to insure my vacation rental is my responsibility.

Would Airbnb have to honor the host 'house rules'?

Any thoughts?

extenuating circumstances policy, Novel Coronavirus, dysfunctional cancellation policies, dysfunctional resolution system,CANCELLATIONS, Trip Insurance

[Nanxing0]

Totally agree with your intention that we need to figure out who actually has the FINAL word about refund? Host or Airbnb? 

[Sky13]

@Nanxing0 

In any case, I think it would be a debatable point if the above language was in my House rules; at least one could argue that the guest was advised when they booked.

If all hosts and started such language in their house rules, would Airbnb be more inclined to change their policy?

Re:

CANCELLATIONS – For a full refund, minus Airbnb fees, cancellations must be made within 48 hours of booking. After the 48 hours, this listing is non-refundable. Early departures are non-refundable. This listing is non-refundable for all reservations made within 48 hours of check-in time.

RESOLUTION REQUESTS- This Airbnb does not refund reservations, fees, or provide any other type of compensation for 'requests' made through the Airbnb Resolution Center.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT- Upon completion of the booking the guest acknowledges that he/she has been advised by the host/manager to arrange adequate personal insurance cover for all members of his/her party to cover all travel, personal risks/injuries and liabilities, and any cancellation. If you are concerned about the possibility of a last-minute cancellation, early departure, or extenuating circumstances, we strongly suggest that you take responsibility for this risk and obtain trip cancellation/interruption insurance.

I understand that my choice not to insure my vacation rental is my responsibility.

extenuating circumstances policy, Novel Coronavirus, dysfunctional cancellation policies, dysfunctional resolution system,CANCELLATIONS, Trip Insurance

[Nanxing0]

@Sky13 As long as it complies with the policy we signed for, I think it's fine. However I feel this will not make any guest happy and will show results in the reviews. I'd suggest you reword it somehow so guests will feel better on the language.

[Sarah977]

@Sky13  I'm not at all interested in having a Strict policy. I've always used the moderate policy, and have never had a guest try to abuse it. In fact, I have even refunded a guest who had a 5 day booking, and decided to leave after 2 days- she didn't ask for a refund, I offered. And I've offered refunds to a couple of guests who missed the first day of a 10 day reservation because of an overbooked flight- they both refused to accept a refund, saying not to be silly-it wasn't my fault. Not all hosts are desperate to hang onto every bit of a guest payment, no matter what. If a guest has a legitimate reason for cancelling, why would I keep all of their money?

But I do agree that Airbnb has far too much control over the money. If they were fair to hosts, had responsible, well trained, and consistent customer support,  and didn't have so many payment glitches, that would be a different story. But they are not to be trusted.

[Nanxing0]

@Sarah977 I be honest with you every one who cancels has a legitimate reason for cancellation. It's a matter of whether it's sufficient to qualify for a full refund or not. Different people have different standard on this and it should not be mandated by anyone. LIke you are offering refund to those who stayed already but I never do this. Once a guest checks in with no problem he/she is starting to use the service so we cannot refund anything he's used. For early departure I only refund if the cancelled days get rebooked by others, which happens on me pretty frequently. But I do appreciate your kindness to those guests departing early. It's not a matter of money, although we want to make money, but the point of fairness. I'm just worried if we all issue refunds so easily, then at some point most guests will feel they are entitled for full refund as long as they provide "some reason". Spoiling the guests will not give us anything good at all and I can see it already happening in this pandemic time.

[Sarah977]

@Nanxing0  When I said a legitimate reason for cancelling, I understand that a guest would always think their reason is legitimate, but it may not be to me. If a guest books 5 days and wants to cancel and leave after 2, simply because their friend offered them a place to stay, there's no way that would be a legitimate reason in my book, and I wouldn't refund for something like that. The guest I refunded for unused days, I did because her reason had nothing to do with my place, she wasn't complaining about anything, she simply didn't realize how hot and humid it was at that time of the year here and was really suffering. And I almost never get any bookings at that time of year anyway (for the same reason), so it isn't income I'm counting on in any way. If she had wanted to cancel after 2 days during my high season, when I could have most likely filled those dates had they not been blocked, I wouldn't have been inclined to refund. So yes, I agree that it should theoretically be up to the host whether to give any refund, but the problem is, that there would be many hosts that wouldn't want to refund anything at all for any reason. So that would be as unfair to guests as guests wanting to cancel and get a full refund, simply because they changed their mind for some reason.

[Nanxing0]

@Sarah977 Make sense. Generally speaking my observation is that there are much more demanding guests than mean hosts. Certainly there are some hosts who are not willing to give any refund beyond the agreed cancellation policy, but I would count this as minor. I have travelled not too many but a few times with Airbnb and all the hosts I dealt with are very nice when it comes to cancellations. I remember I went on vacation in Puerto Rico this past X'Mas and the first Airbnb I booked was very close to the airport where my kids couldn't bear the noise from the runway so we cancelled the booking and told the host the reason for the cancellation but we didn't ask for refund because I felt it was our fault that we didn't research properly. But to my surprise the host indeed refunded me in full. However on the other hand from my 4 years hosting experience, I'd say over half of all guests are refund demanding when it comes to cancellation. Not saying right or wrong just the fact. I had some guests ( less than 10%) who are so sensitive to noise that they can't bear some basic city noise and demanded refund to me, that made me disclose the noise situation and asked anyone sensitive to noise to think before booking. I felt it's a common sense that staying in a house in the central city there will be some sort of city noise but apparently some people don't have this in mind. They simply think the central city should be as quiet as rural.

Again, different people have different mind. 

[Susan17]

@Sky13 

I'm based in Dublin, home of Airbnb Ireland UC (the entity through which the majority of non-US and non-Chinese users contract, in order for the company to take maximum advantage of our shameful tax avoidance/corporate welfare schemes)

I have already been in touch with several European and Canadian law firms - three of those, with extensive experience of dealing with Airbnb in relation to legal matters, so already very familiar with the company's abusive and exploitative terms of service and shady practices - to assess the possibility of challenging the validity and legality of their T&Cs through the European courts. 

In July of 2018, Airbnb has previously been ordered by the European Commission to amend several of its T&Cs - regarding pricing, distinguishing between private and professional providers, access to dispute resolution, jurisdiction and applicable law and survival of terms - to align with European regulations (some of which the company has yet to fully comply with, which also needs to be highlighted to the courts)

If it can be done, it will be done.

[Jim330]

I would like to add my comment regarding the latest Airbnb change for the coronavirus cancellation  policy. March 31st. Allowing the ability to cancel 60 days out. This is not typical notice to vacate. It should be 30 days not 60. This is an out for guests who randomly change their mind as well. This wasn't the case with this cancellation and I complied.  I had a guest cancel and she did have a reasonable reason to cancel.  So I let her cancel and accepted her refund notice. My complaint is I have no financial loss accounting on the site for the cancellation. I want full disclosure for the economic package of lost rents. My rental home at the beach is an investment not a second or principle home. The economic package has very specific language for Broker/Realtor self employed.  I need the same documentation of the payout on the cancellation accounting page. All information regarding the payout on the original reservation for the payout is gone. I want my documentation as proof.  To use for any of what I am entitled to receive from the economic package.  There will be small business loans, mortgage forbearance etc etc.  I feel this needs to be taken care of for hosts as quickly as announcements are made for guests. Jim Long jimlongrealtor@gmail.com 310-633-3420