Another update, another huge added risk for hosts at the mercy of Airbnb glitches & false claims by guests

[Mary419]

Today Airbnb emailed their new (much higher) penalties for hosts canceling on guests. Anyone who follows the host forums has seen the multiple red flags raised by hosts seeing glitches in AIRBNB's system that allow either double bookings or bookings that do not match the host's settings in some other way. Yet here we are with the new policy specifically saying "accidentally double booking" will result in this enormous new penalty. Trying to explain to Airbnb that it is their fault not yours that there was an ical synch failure allowing their system is just about as much fun as beating your head into a brick wall.  

But the next one is even worse. 

We have all seen plenty of false accusation situations regarding mold or pests. Especially people who live in tropical environments can easily have random mildew or bugs pop up. Now if you have a guest claim your house has "mold" you can not only lose your booking income will be charged additional fees when that guest cancels (tells Airbnb they are "unable to stay") just as if YOU canceled on the guest!  And how do they determine if it is "severe" mold do they send an expert before charging you the penalty? 

These new penalties are steep: 

Take note, I have had thousands of reservations and personally have never once canceled just because I could get a better booking or wanted to use it or host friends instead. I have a perfect track record regarding zero cancelations and that was with "only $100" at stake that was plenty to deter me. Plus the loss of super host (and I have been one for years).  So I am not one who wanted to be able to cancel willy nilly. But I see ALL the angles about how this new policy is going to be super dangerous for hosts and their income. And I am curious about all the angles regarding why they are doing this. 

What on earth is causing this policy change right now? Hosts are actually out there listing a 1 bedroom as a 3 bedroom? That is the example and shouldn't that listing/host just be kicked off as a fraudulent listing? Why should those of us who have been here and working hard for years to be respectable be given this new dire warning with lots of hidden risks for us too? No legitimate host with long standing usage of this site would list a place as something totally different from what it is. What does this tell us about the overall site and who is listing things right now? 

What do you all think about this? The entire thing is on the Policy Updates page or on this link https://www.airbnb.com/resources/hosting-homes/a/changing-our-policy-on-avoidable-host-cancellations...

[Hello6]

@John5097Well said " I'm more concerened about not getting enough bookings or guest canceling on short notice.".  We all have the new normal increase of bills to pay.  98 - 99% of the guests we have hosted (and we host solely through Airbnb for our Hostel in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria)  have been amazing people.  Absolutely we do everything in our power to be good hosts and to provide a safe, clean shared home / hostel for our guests.  Let's hope that these change announcements continue to attract great guests to Airbnb and we hosts will not have to worry about problems out of our control as everything is supposed to be under control and under a series of rules, regulation and laws.   

[John5097]

@Hello6 

Great points and great perspective! I Extenuating Circumstances Policy was updated about two years ago that eliminated a lot of the reasons for both host and guest to cancel without fee or penalty. Most host liked it because it applied to guest as well. 

They could also suspend a listing for more than 3 cancellations. So the only thing that has changed is that there is a higher fee schedule. 

In the end its all about the guest stay, and their experience. The reality is also that some dwellings have hidden health issues and some guest are going to be more sensitive. I had several guest with lidgitale medical conditions and we worked together and they ended up having a great stay. 

Its a review based platform. Occasionally it may not be fair as humans are involved but there is also a reason why some host and some listings do really well and guest are all very happy while others are always having the same issues and unhappy guest. For example my policy before listing with Airbnb was that if anyone showed up and didn't like it would issue refund but so far not a single guest has requested any kind of refund, and confident that as long as I get bookings there will be happy guest. 

[David8879]

Everyone has an opinion indeed 

Remember the old movie Trading Places?

Bookie never loses the money no matter if customer wins or loses 

Hence - bookie does not care for as long as there are hosts

[Jennifer2682]

I'm now listed on Houfy.  No service fees and none of this garbage.  At this point, Airbnb is going out of their way to show hosts that they don't respect us at all and I'm looking at all other options.  

[David8879]

@Jennifer2682 and who may I ask KNOWS about ...what the name is? "Hou..what"?

Looked at it - good luck getting a SINGLE booking from there

[Jennifer2682]

@David8879  Oh, I hear ya. Houfy is very new and I might never get a single booking from them. But it was a cinch to get listed and they don’t charge any service fees, so why not? SOMEONE is going to come up and replace Airbnb. Might be Houfy, might not. But Airbnb is setting itself up to be toppled. At this point, it’s definitely wise to keep an eye on some fresh players. 

[Mark116]

@David8879  That's why people don't leave Airbnb, because not even VRBO comes close to the reach and recognition of Airbnb.  But, you have to start somewhere, Airbnb was once a no name company no one ever heard of.  Probably sooner, rather than later, some other company will realize the massive opportunity that exists to bleed off its business, due to host dissatisfaction.  And that day cannot come soon enough.   

[Mary419]

I know there is a place and time to talk about the competition sites and I know for a fact that the other sites can replace Airbnb for certain regions and property types.  But on this post I would love to get back to discussing why Airbnb is doing this exact thing at this exact time.  I sincerely believe there is more to this than individual hosts getting divorced or selling houses. 

In fact, a house sale was considered EC in my past history with Airbnb. You could send your closing documents and they would cancel bookings past the closing date without penalty. Unless that is changing which @Sybe is looking into for us 

When discussing their competition I would say it is relevant to discuss what THEY do for cancelations... VRBO penalizes your search ranking if you cancel more than a tiny percentage and that is across your whole account so for someone like me that means I can basically not cancel VRBO bookings even though it is within my power and would not cost me more than the booking value I still do not do it. 

[David8879]

Two of the hosts I know who were on ABNB for a while just deleted their listings.

More to come

[Elaine701]

Airbnb has the marketing and market reach. They're not going down anytime soon. 

The best way to avoid Airbnb is to use them for their strengths, and forget what they're weak at. 

Strengths: bookings. 

Weaknesses: support, but more dangerous, ignorant intervention. Avoid these things, and you aren't likely to end up getting screwed by them. Unless you host a dubious guest, but you can largely avoid that too, if you screen them well. 

Some say Airbnb bookings are down. I haven't seen that, but it's always a good idea to develop alternative supply chains. VRBO turned out to be more of a burden than a benefit, but we've had some decent results from a boutique outfit that specializes in our area. But they'll never compete with Airbnb.

If VRBO is popular in your region, by all means, get listed with them. But don't expect any better support and certainly don't expect more bookings. Just nurture it in case Airbnb really screws you, for no apparent reason. 

Good luck. 

[Chris16856]

It seems to me there should be no penalty for cancelling a certain period out. The platform can take bookings 3 years out. Should I really be penalised for cancelling 2.5 years out? Not even I can predict everything about my life that far out.

I don't have much sympathy for hosts who cancel a few weeks out for bad reasons. But surely there can be some happy medium here. Should be be paying 3 years of penalties because I sell my house? At least if there was a 6 month cut off, that would be reasonable. Plenty of time for customers to make other arrangement.s

[Alessia182]

In my area we mostly have last minute booking. So will I always be penalised? If somebody books a couple of days ahead but I realise right after that there is an issue and I cancel quickly (in less then 24 hours) I should not be penalised as if I kept a host booked for weeks.