$250 million is pure political

[Ramon385]

Do you also feel that Airbnb has not even thought about the type of hosts they support with their $250 million refund plan and this decision is pure political?

Most of the amount will be spent to refund 25% of the bookings that guests could cancel without any cost. In my opinion, the hosts that have moderate or flexible cancellation policies. I am a host in Amsterdam and before this crisis I was always very flexible to my guests. The market in Amsterdam is large and very competitive, but on the other hand demand is high. Most of the hosts here, like in most locations on Airbnb, have flexible to moderate cancellation policies. Thanks to the effectiveness of the platform, the competitiveness and the advantage of being able to receive last-minute bookings made those cancellation policies the only way to survive.

So basically, most of the hosts that wil not survive this crisis are not getting anything back from the $250 million refund. I have completed a research showing that hosts with smaller chances to get booked often have stricter cancellation policies. The low probability to get booked make them not willing to lose a booking so that they tend to have strict cancellation policies. With the probability to get booked is low, they often have another main business because they do not want to depend on the income from Airbnb. Another group with stricter policies are hosts that have listings where their costs are high when a guests cancels. Those hosts often have only one listing which is a large or luxurious homes where again, Airbnb is probably their side business. 

To me, it feels Airbnb has not digged into who really needs the refund in order to remain in business. Another argument against refunding based on the cancellation policy is that COVID-19 is rather an extreme shock that hits us all than a business risk. I would have at least expected a sort of algorithm that decides on more factors to determine who is most in need for a refund. But may be it's just me being naive to think Airbnb cares more about community than other stock-listing companies. 

[Eli15975]

“Since cash disbursements depend on the amount owed to you by guests at the time of cancellation, those of you with Flexible and Moderate policies may be less likely to benefit from them.”

The above is from the article posted on April 9th. When I first read it, I was hoping it wasn’t as shady as I thought it looked but I was proven wrong. Because of our flexibility, we are being penalized now and essentially not receiving any benefits from this fund. I’m in South Carolina and they have  completely shutdown short term rentals. I typically love Airbnb but this is shady. We should not only make a ruckus here in the community page but also outside as Airbnb controls this portal.   

[Michele-and-Dana0]

Up here in North Cackalacky, we agree! Here's the feedback we just sent to Airbnb (commiseration toward the end):

Hi there -

I wanted to take a moment to thank you for your pledge to support hosts with a payment of 25% for all eligible cancelled reservations and to raise a question about your policy for those payments.

I have never been part of a community - or even worked directly for a company - that pledged this kind of support. It's truly a beautiful - and much appreciated - thing to do and, whether or not any of this money ever makes it to me, I'm grateful.

Here's my question regarding your payment policy. For reference here's a link to the page and a copy of the policy as it reads today, 4/27/2020:

https://www.airbnb.com/resources/hosting-homes/a/250m-to-support-hosts-impacted-by-cancellations-165

I have a Flexible cancellation policy. Am I covered?
Since support payments depend on the amount owed to you by guests at the time of cancellation, those of you with Flexible and Moderate policies may be less likely to benefit from them. But we’re working on other ways to support you, starting with getting you more bookings as quickly as we can. We've rolled out a new search filter so guests can find your listings more easily, and we're making your listings more visible in other ways, too. And we're seeing signs that this is what guests want—the share of bookings with a Flexible policy is now 15% higher than it was before COVID-19.

_______________

Here's what we hear when we read this:

For those of you who have been doing the right thing by having a flexible cancellation policy all along, even through the COVID-19 pandemic, you are probably screwed in terms of getting support from us. But don't worry - we're trying to find something else for you. Even though you need money now, and even though you did the right thing with your cancellation policy during COVID-19, we're going to give most of the money to the people who didn't and you won't get as much as they do.

Instead, what we'll do is boost your listing ahead of those with less flexible cancellation policies so you can get rewarded in the future and you can continue to get rewarded going forward. Of course, those who are getting your reward now can always change their cancellation policy and get rewarded in the future. Hope you're ok with that!

_____________________

Again, it's not that I don't truly appreciate the support you're offering and I'm sure there's a very good reason that you decided to grant this support based on cancellation policy. What's difficult for us is that we have ALWAYS had a flexible cancellation policy and we depend on short term vacation rental for 100% of our income. We're running out of money now, and facing an economic recession that will likely make our boosted listing irrelevant. Yet you're giving support to the people who deserve it the least, based on the cancellation policy perspective - and that is the measuring stick you decided to use.

It's hard to cry about this being unfair since it's a gift from you to us - well, not us specifically, but some other people. It's really the flaw in your logic - the action of doing the wrong thing and saying it's the right thing and assuming everyone will be grateful. It's the perfect phone call. Pass the Cheetos.

[Kevin1797]

Along with the posts above, I just want to register my outrage and hope other hosts do as well.  Airbnb gives the impression of helping hosts, but this support is of virtually no use to hosts with guest-friendly cancellation policies. 

Airbnb knows that these cancellations are due to COVID-19.  The timing of the cancellation should be irrelevant in terms of supporting hosts, many of whom have had revenue go to zero.  It's just offensive.