I just learned that Airbnb has retroactively disqualified reservations by adding a new, previously undisclosed provision -- now only reservations cancelled by guests on or after March 14, 2020 are eligible for Airbnb's 25% support payments for Superhosts.
As background, CEO Brian Chesky in his video presentation and the posted policy on Airbnb website, stated that:
"For a reservation to be eligible under our extenuating circumstances policy, it must have been for accomodations and booked on or before March 14 with a check-in between March 14 and May 31, 2020. If a reservation is covered:
-Guests will be able to cancel for a full refund for COVID-19-related circumstances.
-Airbnb will pay 25% of what you would have received for a guest cancellation based on your cancellation policy. For example, if you would normally receive $400 USD through your cancellation policy, we'll pay you 25% of that -- or $100 USD. . . .
-This policy will apply retroatively, including any cancellations you may have had since March 14."
Also posted was this question and response:
"What happens for reservations that were canceled before this March 30 announcement? As long as the criteria above apply, and the guest cancels under our extenuating circumstances policy, we’ll pay 25% of the amount you would’ve received for a normal guest cancellation."
All of my guests with qualified check in dates, who cancelled in March but before March 14, specified that their cancellations were due to COVID-19 health concerns or work travel restrictions -- and got full refunds per this written policy. I made sure that these guests got full refunds. I was shocked to learn today that because these guests cancelled their reservations in March but before March 14, the cancellations do not qualify for Airbnb's support payments to Superhosts.
I asked the Airbnb customer representative to pass on my concerns that Airbnb retroactively added this new cancellation date restriction. Airbnb's response today has been to update its written policy on its website -- without acknowledging that they added this cancellation date restriction retroactively and therefore are not providing all of the support payments promised to hosts.
I greatly appreciated Airbnb's efforts to support Superhosts, and was counting on the support promised. I now feel that the way Airbnb is handling this is deceptive and undermines good will. If you feel the same, I urge you to let Airbnb know about your concerns.
