Hi everyone, woken up this morning still in a state of disbelief about Airbnb's action! I've been keeping a track of Airbnb corona virus updates. However I only realised that they changed their EC policy 24 hours after they did and only when guests started emailing me in a bit of a blind panic and as a result of the emails they had received from the company. Not informing Hosts directly before contacting guests and confusing guests???. Neither act appears community minded.
With regard the EC policy it states clearly STILL in the Airbnb policy (in the guest section https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/1320/what-if-i-need-to-cancel-because-of-an-emergency-or-unavo... )
that they will take advice from local authorities and the WHO when taking decision on what constitutes extenuating circumstances and allowing cancellation without guests having to provide proof. And they state that their team will still review each individual case to confirm they are directly affected.
"Circumstances that require special review
There’s no required documentation for these circumstances, but our specialised team will review each case to confirm that you’re directly affected.
Epidemic disease or illness that suddenly affects a region or an entire group of people. This doesn’t include existing diseases that are associated with an area – for example, malaria in Thailand or dengue fever in Hawaii. Any updates to our policy regarding the outbreak of a disease, and the scope of policy application, will be determined based on announcements by the World Health Organisation and local authorities"
In the UK where we are based there has been NO local authority policy introduced for social distancing at present- only a containment strategy, we are at delay - which consists of introducing stringent cleaning regimes and as of yet no ban on larger gatherings.
The WHO at the present time state on their website -
"In general, evidence shows that restricting the movement of people and goods during public health emergencies is INEFFECTIVE in most situations and may divert resources from other interventions. Furthermore, restrictions may interrupt needed aid and technical support, may disrupt businesses, and may HAVE NEGATIVE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC effects on the affected countries. However, in certain circumstances, measures that restrict the movement of people may prove temporarily useful, such as in settings with few international connections and limited response capacities" At leastThe WHO are mindful of the negative economic impact. Great to have this all on line, great ammunition when hosts sue Airbnb for breach of hosts cancellation terms and contracts.
https://www.who.int/news-room/articles-detail/updated-who-recommendations-for-international-traffic-...
I've been trying to be mindful of my coaching training which is to focus on the solution and not the problem. So yesterday we spent most of the day emailing guests due to arrive in the next month who have emailed considering cancelling. So far one has moved their booking to October, the rest we are waiting to hear their response to our replies letting them know we are in a remote area and what precautions we are taking to ensure they have a safe trip and current WHO and government advice.
We will decide in the coming days wether to preempt the possibility that Airbnb will extend their extenuating circumstances policy for May and onwards and get in touch with May's guests in advance of any Airbnb communication going on again without our knowledge.
I've had some really frustrating experiences with Airbnb of late. They updated their site and in the process lost my listing. Guest breakages which they offered to pay for, it was approved on the site and Airbnb have still failed to collect the money. Finding out that they have changed our cancellation policies and are also are not actually providing guests a 100% refund is enough for me to say enough is enough. I'd already set up a listing with homeaway and other platforms and was debating wether to make it live and move away from Airbnb. My focus over the next few days is ensure that the property is listed as many places as possible and develop my business away from Airbnb so eventually I can close the account down. Continue to contact future guests and keep a constructive dialogue going, providing them with up to date local information and recommendations being set by the WHO, CDC, and ECDC.
If anyone else has found any other useful ways to deal with the current situation, be happy to hear them.
I feel for you all, keep focussed and lets keep sharing information to help each other through a challenging time
Best Wishes
Lisa
