After the pandemic blast, Airbnb has shown some generosity to their hosts for a few months, helping them financially to support the subsequent reservation cancelations. But now, I can testify that (super)hosts are merely expected to support any Covid related risk, because guests interests are blindly favored.
Two days ago, I received a cancelation request from a guest that was supposed to arrive in my listing only 5 days later. The reason given was that the person who was supposed to travel with them had been tested positive for covid.
This sole information was enough for airbnb to cancel the reservation, considering there was there an extenuating circumstance. So they repaid the guest entirely, and therefore left me without any compensation at all, only 5 days before the guest arrival date.
Since I have never had a chance to see a copy of this positive test, I can only hope that it has been been provided to Airbnb before they made that decision. Yet I am not even sure. However, I seriously doubt the legality of this conclusion, which shows a very serious breach into contract safety for hosts. Here is why.
I think it is totally fair that a person who is tested positive to Covid could get some refund for the travels that they are not able to do for that reason. Yet the problem here is that the person who has been tested positive has remained an unknown party to the reservation until their name was dropped only two days ago, to justify the cancelation request.
Indeed, when booking a listing on airbnb - in France at least - there is no need to mention - let alone get verified - the identity of the other guest(s) who may be traveling with the person that is making the reservation and hereby, dealing with the host.
In practical terms, this means that any reservation can be canceled and totally repaid, even at the last minute, as long as it concerns more than one person. To do so, one just needs to provide Airbnb with a Covid positive test - which can be under any name - declare that it is that person who was supposed to stay with them in the listing and so the case is closed, without any compensation for the host. Too bad for them.
In my case here, having in mind the many messages that the guest has sent me before finally telling me about their cotraveler covid case, I have serious reasons to doubt their good faith. I think that they were trying to find a way to cancel their trip for other reasons, at a cheap cost. I can’t be sure of this hypothesis. But what really matters is that Airbnb gave them all they needed to cheat, if ever they wanted to. Here is the breach. And I can’t imagine it is not being used.
The listing I am talking about here being my home, every reservation means that I have find another place to live, and pay for it. It is therefore crucial for me to get some security regarding airbnb reservations. This is why I opted for the strict cancelation policy that airbnb offers to hosts. However this option has proven totally useless here and I even think that it may have worsened my case.
Indeed, my guest may have not taken the case to the airbnb support team if they could have counted on a lesser money loss for their cancelation. Then I may have been better off, that is if the guest was happy enough with the lesser money loss…
But considering airbnb s justifications about my case, there is no reason why their very wide understanding of extenuating circumstances shouldn’t also apply as soon as the guest wishes for a better payback, whatever cancelation option is taken.
Finally I find myself without most of the revenue I was counting on for the upcoming month and a rent to pay for a place I no longer need nor can I afford. I can’t imagine telling the agency that rent me this studio to accept to cancel my lease because of my guest cotraveler got covid. And I don’t hold it against them : no business would accept to support the cost of a risk that concerns an unknown party. Yet that’s what Airbnb makes me do. So beware!
