Refund discussion - no venting

Refund discussion - no venting

Hello community!

 

Many of us are feeling the burden of Airbnbs extenuating circumstances policy and at this time, there is not much more any of us can add to the conversation. So let's use this community to help us come together and share ideas. Let's keep the anger and disdain on the other conversation feeds, please.

 

I am starting to receive requests for full refunds for stays outside of the COVID window, and I am wrestling with how to handle these requests. I want to give everything back to everyone knowing that we can help lessen the spread but that is not possible. I have mortgages and bills to pay as well.

 

I would love to hear what others have been doing/saying to help maintain their business, help stop the spread AND be empathetic to the guest's situation.

 

Here are my thoughts and I would love to hear your constructive feedback:

1. Ask the guest if they purchased travel insurance;

2. Ask them to review my calendar and find dates further in the future they would like to change to (I worry they will realize if they move dates far enough, that they can cancel with a much lower penalty);

3. Maybe offer a 50/50 refund if they don't want to find other dates?

 

My understanding is that the airlines are NOT giving full refunds, but allowing guests to change their dates at no cost. I feel that as the travel industry, we should all be following a similar process for consistency. 

In reality, the Airlines and AIRBNB are the ones that will receive a bailout NOT us, so I feel like this would be a fair option to us little guys.

 

Lets please keep this constructive and helpful so we can get through this. 

Thank you all!

185 Replies 185
Albert180
Level 3
Glenelg, Australia

Re your 1, 2 and 3 options I can see how they are options when guests are simply cancelling without any discussion with us. Booking com and Homestay have the options you write about and I have managed to save the bookings but not with Airbnb.  All I get is a message that they have cancelled. End of booking. 

Thomas977
Level 10
Tønsberg, Norway
Mary419
Level 10
Savannah, GA

I am licensed to sell travel insurance and out of thousands of Airbnb guests about 3 that I can remember said yes I want to add that on. They all can see that EC covers those things for free. Right now after 5 days straight of assisting guests with their efforts to cancel for a full refund, I feel like one idea was that Airbnb keep the service fee withheld from the guest refund and send it to the hosts. Something to hold onto is better than zero. And I have always been surprised at how guests are more than OK with Airbnb keeping the service fee after a cancelation as long as I the host send back my 50% cancelation fee. That phenomenon has been clear over the years, and has irritated me during normal cancelations because I am the one that answered their questions and held their dates, but they want me to have nothing and are fine with Airbnb having that fee. So funneling the service fee to the host was one way they could have handled Covid 19. Also offering a 120% voucher for rescheduling or a 90% cash refund for a flat cancelation could have worked better than this.  Hosts needed something to hold onto, even a small fee per guest cancelation could have felt like a lifeline. I have had almost 200 reservations cancel in the past 6 days and the absolute zero payout is a disaster. 

Kristin108
Level 10
Scotts Mills, OR

@Mary41 Thank you for posting.

I for one would very much like to find out more about your business. And if CFAR coverage is even still available?

My thought was to offer to cover the cost in the form of a discount for future bookings as long as guests can prove that they have coverage. Don't know if it would even work, just a thought...

Rio3720
Level 2
Boston, MA

any ideas shared on here will most likely be removed or become hidden from the community. I shared something on another topic. Does Airbnb run this website or is this a 3rd party website?

@Rio3720  Posts on this forum are not removed or hidden unless they are personal attacks, personal information (phone numbers or email addresses), discriminatory (gender, racial, etc) or profane. And even then, usually just the part that is in violation of the forum rules is hidden, the rest of the post remains. Posts which are simply critical of Airbnb are not removed, as you can see from all the extremely critical posts here. If you posted something and can no longer find it, try going to your profile here, which has list of your most recent posts and see if you see it there. Then click on it, and I think it's likely that you'll see where it pops up on the forum threads. The most recent posts to be commented on move to the top and the rest shuffle down. 

Please don't spread misinformation about posts getting censored here. 

And in case you're wondering, I don't work for Airbnb or this forum. Just another host who's been active here for a couple of years. And I've been critical of Airbnb policies here a lot.

@Sarah977, I see you're comments on the whole forum so yeah we know you do you're best to answer everyone's questions or comments. Thinking positive and leaving positive messages that has nothing to do what with you've said about leaving profane messages or spreading misinformation. It was a reply for a certain individual here that I tagged and it was removed but I found his profile and sent him a private message idea of how hosts can flourish from this virus situation in the future.

Roberta236
Level 2
Atlanta, GA

I just had to fully refund someone with reservation dates in mid May. Thing is in a review based system u cannot really say No without expecting a **bleep**ty review if they decide to keep their reservation. It is outrageous for Airbnb to allow guests with these requests in first place. They should do the credit type cancellation for close dates only. And monitor the situation.if in May we are still in this emergency then u extend possibility to use the credits for future trips. 

Me too! I have just posed a question about if other hosts are finding airbnb are automatically fully refunding cancellations on arrivals outside of the covid-19 policy as I was so confused as to why a guest booked in mid may was getting an automatic full refund, yet some guests are only getting 50% arriving between 14th -30 April. If makes no sense to me, I so wish airbnb would be clear, open and honest about what they're doing and offer 50/50 at least then hosts could cover bills and guests would get back 50% plus booking fee. 

They are doing a listening tour ... shrunk their customer service staff ... busy pulling money out of hosts pockets... most likely lining up for a bailout ... it’s a sh*tshow.  They can’t run a business the top brass are out of their depth.

Beth3619
Level 2
Evergreen, CO

I am a host, with many cancellations like all of you. I also just lost over $2,000 for a VRBO Hawaii vacation that I had to cancel (cancelled family wedding, and traveling with at-risk family members). So I would like to offer the following perspective - just food for thought.

 

I support Airbnb's cancellation policy, and I will likely continue full refunds even if they do not. I am mindful of the money I lost on VRBO and the fact that now, even if the wedding is rescheduled, I will be unable to afford the trip this year...maybe even longer. So I can only assume that other travelers are being put in the same situation.

 

Our actions now, as hosts, will likely help to define how quickly this industry recovers and resumes. I love the ideas shared here in this post - great ideas for weathering the storm. In the end, none of us makes a dime without the guests, and the way they are treated in a crisis can define how they travel in the future. 

 

I will personally never book VRBO again. I will seek out the platform/owners that treated me with some dignity and kindness during an unprecented worldwide event. As a host, I will do everything I can to be here when they start coming back - but not on the backs of the very same people who paid dearly for something they had no more control over than we do.

 

I really LOVE the ideas in this thread. Thanks for being a great community of people!  

Steve2542
Level 4
Marblehead, MA

does anyone know what the message wording is that Air B and B are sending out to guests offering them to cancel even  after apr 14th. I t seems like there is something like "the situation affecting your area", I don't know who is in charge of communicating but it seems they are naming towns as if their is a specific hotspot where the guests have booked even when that's not the case?

 

 

@Steve2542 

 

It is an automated message. I received one too. People all of the world are receiving them. We all agree it's atrocious and outrageous. 

Ashley678
Level 7
Apache Junction, AZ

@Brandon-And-Robert0  I have zero bookings for april,  half of my march booking canceled. This could go on a few months. I went for booked solid to nothing. so it's not one month. 

 

Yes, the Government is doing a great job, but they are gonna bail out the hotels, not us and airbnb needs to step up. Instead they want US to write to our senators... they need to do the work, ... but , hey , they are so used to us busting our assess for them... idk. I think they did the Hosts wrong. 

Andrew1915
Level 1
England, GB

We want to travel but cannot due to flight restrictions and quite rightly to. 

Want to book for one years time and most hosts are cooperative as our tour covers 3-4 months across the USA. 

AirBnB however will not waive their service fees instead giving us vouchers. 

Our holiday should have started so our entire trip is off. 

The vouchers offered are useless as they have to be used by Dec 2020. 3 months before our trip starts. 

Sorry but this is indirect profiteering. 

Tried to contact AirBnB but I have more chance of going into a shop full of toilet rolls than talking to someone. 

Not venting just stating facts from a renters viewpoint that could so easily be solved without anyone being out of pocket. 

Think it’s called customer service.