Sign a petion: Airbnb Refund ALL COVID Cancellations (Both Hosts and Guests)

[Yoko131]

http://chng.it/Tz7FVWdnqc

News media has announced that Airbnb has updated their refund policy. However, it is totally superficial: few people realize that Airbnb's COVID policy only protects themselves. It is a stark difference from the airlines and hotels that are waiving their cancellation fees and issuing full refunds to assist their customers. Airbnb's COVID policy forces the hosts to issue refunds, placing all the burdens of income loss on them OR the guests will receive no or little refund if their hosts refuse to refund.

Airbnb's COVID full refund policy applies only if a check-in date is before April 14, 2020, or within one month of the National Emergency declaration. However, we do not know how the virus situation will develop, and many events that were scheduled beyond April 14 have already been canceled, forcing many guests to cancel their Airbnb reservations. The new policy does not protect reservations with a check in date of April 14, 2020, or later except where the guest or host has contracted COVID-19. It is still extremely difficult to receive COVID-19 tests at this point. This Airbnb restriction encourages both hosts and guests to spread the virus unknowingly, endangering the general public as well.

Airbnb currently has a $1M giveaway: "The Unique Airbnb Fund: $1M for 10 groundbreaking ideas" with the entry deadline of 11:59pm EST on April 15, 2020. Isn't this a time for Airbnb to cancel this giveaway and use the fund to help their current customers, the hard-hit GUESTS and HOSTS? Airbnb has a right to cancel the contest without any legal consequences as stated in its Official Rules.

[Sarah977]

Ground-breaking ideas #1-10- Actually care about your hosts and make this right for them.

Excellent post, @Yoko131  A million dollars for PR fluff while half their hosts go bankrupt. It couldn't be more wrong.

[Yoko131]

Please sign the petition to help make it come true!

http://chng.it/Tz7FVWdnqc

Thank you!!

[Susan17]

@Yoko131 @Sarah977 

Perhaps if they also dialled back on the stupidly generous bribes.. sorry, I mean referral bonuses (£450 in UK, up to €550 in Europe, up to $750 in US and $800+ in Australia) - that they're offering to reel in as many new hosts as possible in already grossly over-saturated markets, they might be able to put together a fairly substantial bail-out fund for hosts whose calendars have been wiped clean, and whose income has been decimated by the 100% refund initiative. 

[Yoko131]

Sarah, Please sign the petition and ask others to do the same.  $1M should cover a lot of loss for both hosts and guests.  We must start from here and now!

[Pilar1]

Petition signed, as hosts we are going to need as much help as possible, although I won’t benefit from it directly. Unfortunately I’ve had to put my listing on hold given that I am in a high risk group of complications from CoVid.  I can’t afford the risk of having people who will be using public transport, visiting sites or going to a play, getting infected unknowingly and bringing the virus into my home. What might be just a mild illness for them could actually kill me. I’ll need to use my savings to survive cause at the moment I can’t even contemplate renting the room long term which I was considering before all this started. I think London is saturated and my booking levels had kept dropping to an unsustainable level in spite of the SH status and dropping prices.  Apologies for the rant but I just needed to vent my frustration somehow.

[Frances52]

Can I ask what are you doing about reservations that have already been booked that are after 14 April?  My partner and I are also in high risk group and we are temporarily snoozing our listing, but we already have guest reservations that I can't cancel without risking $100 penalty per booking and suspension/delisting. I'm at wit's end trying to get in touch with Airbnb help to no avail. 

[Susan3622]

I had a request to cancel for reservation arriving 4/30. If guest cancelled they would lose 50%, I have strict cancellation policy. I agreed as host to cancel. Airbnb waiving penalties they usually impose for host cancellation for Covid-19. Any other reservations after 4/14 I’m going to wait & see. I’ve lost $3700 in March/April weekend cancellations in the past week. 

[Frances52]

I agree.petition signed

[Cathy545]

I agree=)

[Zivka1]

There is one petition with over 100 signatures:

http://chng.it/Sj9nRW7VDn

[John4645]

I must decry the decision by Airbnb to unilaterally withdraw the one financial protection which Hosts have - the cancellation policy.
Travellers are protected by a number of protections - including Travel Insurance. If they do not carry travel insurance, they must accept the risks involved by that decision.
In the case of small hosts like me, when someone cancels we are only left with the hope that someone else will book to fill the gap.
Whether we gets guests or not, we must pay public liability insurance. We must pay Tourism Licences. We have to paint and decorate and replace linen.
When we do have guests, we must collect taxes, pay taxes, and pay for heating, lighting and cleaning. We must pay both Airbnb and our governments.
And Airbnb is constantly harassing us to lower our fees!
Small hosts like me represent the essence of how Airbnb was founded - small homes providing quality and homely experiences for travellers at rates cheaper than hotels. We are expected to give a first class service at bargain basement prices for tourists travelling on a tight budget. We are constantly under minute scrutiny and public criticism.
In my case I am a 72 year old pensioner whose UK pension has been decimated by Brexit. I have two rooms in my home which I rent at low prices compared to the quality of the service I give. I cannot exist without the income that I get from renting rooms. So to lose all of my scheduled income for months is a disaster!
I was not consulted on the decision by Airbnb to give full refunds to customers. I was not given the option of offering discount vouchers for future bookings to affected customers!
This week I hosted 2 Polish tourists whose flight home was cancelled by Polish government actions. Ryanair will refund them €45 each for the cancelled flight - but the Polish government will make them pay €180 each to be flown back to Poland - hundreds of miles from the airport from which they took off. No support! No discussion.
In my case, Airbnb has cancelled my cancellation protection leaving me penniless!
I would like to know what legal right you have to do this!
I would like to know what steps you will take to compensate and protect your small Hosts, so badly affected by your one-sided decision.

[Patricia-Lynn0]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4T1k9SJFds&feature=youtu.be

[Bobbiecool0]

Here in the UK travel insurance generally isn't required for UK travellers to UK destinations as we are covered by the NHS for medical reasons and home insurance generally covers high price items that are taken out of the home ie wedding rings, watches etc. I just had to cancel a local holiday in April through an online cottage holiday site and luckily, as the owner was accommodating, I was able to move the dates for later in the year, otherwise I'd have lost ALL of the money.  It's one extreme to the other as Airbnb gives the travellers all of their money back but most others, if not all as far as I can tell, are obliged to fall back on their own cancellation policy. However in these very strange times we surely have to find some sort of middle ground that would be best for all. As a host I certainly wouldn't want to take all of a guests money, I would find it immoral. Yet I would expect the guest to either move the dates or have to pay some sort of compensation, I would be happy for anything in between 30 to 50%. Airbnb have really cocked this one up and i would expect a mass exodus of hosts as a result of it.  In fact I hope it happens. 

[Thomas977]

Please sign petition http://chng.it/Sj9nRW7VDn (AirBNB's UNFAIR treatment of HOSTS amid COVID-19)