100% refund for guest - perfect solution or threat to the community?

[Frank35]

When I first heard that AirBnB is refunding the guest 100% I was seriously impressed. I thought wow, AirBnB must have some sort of insurance, some sort of stashed away super fund to cover this and I was impressed.

Then however, I learned that this is not the case at all. I learned that AirBnB was actually refunding OUR money without even asking.

So how on earth can AirBnB refund money that isn't even theirs to refund? I understand that its a hardship for a traveller, not being refunded (100%). But for us hosts its for than a hardship, its a severe financial problem, at least for people who rely on their income from airbnb.

Here is some math: if there is a group of 10 friends, who booked a place for a weekend for 1.000 EUR and they have to cancel their plans due to the Covid-19 pandemic and they are not refunded at all. Their maximum financial damage per person is 100 EUR, which is annoying but not a real hardship.

The host on the other hand looses 1.000 EUR and yes, this is a hardship and can be very threatening if this continues for much longer. 

I just hope that AirBnB realizes that siding with the travelers does not solve the problem, it creates a very severe problem for a lot of hosts and in the long run undermines the very foundation AirBnB is built on.

[Frank35]

... and yet another Level 10 person commenting... how can somebody be Level 10, posting over 2700 comments. At the same time a super host with a little over 10 reviews! how is this even possible???

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Frank35 

Seems like you've never heard of long term hosting. 

My target customer base and majority of guests were exchange students usually staying entire semesters, and I've been hosting since Feb 2017 (with a single private guest room in my home) with a yearly occupancy rate of about 75~85%. I've hosted 10 guests till now, 2 were repeat guests, and only 3 of my confirmed bookings were for less than the 28 nights that make the booking automatically qualify as a long-term booking. 

I am fully aware my hosting style is very unique. Doesn't mean I am any less experienced than other hosts or less qualified to share my views based on my own hosting experience. 

And in your reply to @Helen3 above you say try being a freelancer? Well I am one - an interpreter/translator. My current "gig" just happens to be full time dedicated in-house interpreter with a 1-yr service contract. 

[Juan63]

@Jessica-and-Henry0  Your voice is important, but the fact is some of us have hosted exponentially more guests and not just room rentals, so yes, experience level does matter. Some of the loudest voices on this forum are the least experienced. That doesn't make your voice less important but the weight of your experience should absolutely be considered when discussing important matters.

[Helen3]

Wow yet another patronising assumption @Juan63 

You have no idea what experience hosts have outside Airbnb. They could have run a multi-national business and have an investment portfolio.

I am not so narrow minded that I believe because I have been hosting for five years that my voice is any more valid than someone who has hosted for a year or because i have hosted hundreds of guests my voice is more important than someone who has hosted 50.

Why is your experience any more valid than anyone else's because you have a couple of properties on Airbnb?

[Frank35]

Ok, fair point. But still - as you say - its a very unique hosting style. So you probably aren't facing the severe problems a lot of us do at the moment.

As I already mentioned: the airbnb community apparently is very diverse and that's good 🙂

[Helen3]

Thanks @Frank35 

Sadly whether we have an STR or LTR we are all facing the same problem - loss of income and how we are going to continue to pay the bills. Long term tenants are losing their jobs and are struggling to or can't pay their rents.

Much better if we focus on what options are available to support us all during this time of crisis.

[Juan63]

@Frank35  Although I do believe everyone should be able to voice there thoughts, you are correct, that not all host's experience is equal.

[Sarah977]

@Juan63  I wouldn't make presumptions about anyone's "experience" based upon their Airbnb profile. Just because a host may only have 50 reviews on their profile over a 3 year period doesn't mean they might not get the bulk of their bookings from elsewhere, or had past experience with hosting and property managing. To look at my Airbnb profile, you could assume that I was "inexperienced", but I've done a lot of property management for others, dealt with renters and guests long before I ever started hosting on Airbnb. Probably from before you were born.