I had guests booked and my husband took ill. Fortunately nothing serious, an extremely bad cold with constant bouts of coughing, but seeing he is in a high risk age-group and seeing the current situation with corona I thought it for all parties safer to cancel the reservation. Surfing the Airbnb website I found that the penalties are extremely high if you cancel as host and it was recommended to approach the guests, explain the situation and ask them to cancel, which is what I did. The guests were extremely understanding and promptly cancelled but found they would only be refunded (according to my cancellation policy) 50%. I then contacted the Airbnb help desk to enquire how this could be solved that I could give the guests a full refund. Support resolved the situation for the guests but then returned to me with the comment that the process had been initiated by me as a host and that therefore I was still open to penalties of which he could waive one; either the penalty fee or keep the dates blocked. Naturally I chose the dates staying blocked as the whole issue was that I felt it not wise to have guests at this moment in time considering my husband's condition. We are living in very fluid conditions and I feel that Airbnb should also be fluid in their handling of these situations and regulations. My guests-to-be were extremely understanding in their communication and promptly forthcoming in their approval, why couldn't Airbnb be????
My concern was for my guests, not wanting to expose them to any infections which might lower their immunity in these times, and I get punished for that attitude. All I can do is shake my head - Airbnb has lots of empathy for their guests, but not for the backbone of their organisation: their hosts. If you don't have hosts, you cannot accommodate guests!
I will start looking for another platform which hopefully will appreciate my services as a host.
