Brian you don't need to 'ideate' for 3 weeks: Just stop refunding 100%. That's the right thing to do.

[James207]

The message Brian Chesky sent out was just massive insult on top of massive injury. You've totally screwed your hosts. We're not partners. Unless you consider getting mugged 'partnering' with the thief.

The only 'big idea' you need is: stop bankrupting your hosts by refunding 100% to travelers that accepted the terms of the rental and couldn't be bothered to take out travelers insurance. If they didn't like terms, they didn't need to book it and Airbnb shouldn't be bailing them out at the hosts expense. And of course, Airbnb isn't refunding their fees. Guests just get a travel voucher. So the hosts get screwed but Airbnb gets to keep their money.

But of course, Brian doesn't actually want to do the right thing. So he's going to 'ideate' for a few weeks and think up big ideas that kind of sort of sound like the right thing, but aren't. Well, aren't the right thing for hosts. The big ideas, of course, will either cost Airbnb nothing or make them money. And if you want the few pennies they're willing to toss to you for screwing you, you'll only get them on future bookings. So, they'll be useless to you in the short term when you need them and tie you to the platform. 

Here are my predictions of the types of the 'Big Ideas' that will get presented:

(and these are just guesses from having been in the tech industry forever and having listened to many founders BS to stakeholders)

- Loans that you can repay with your Airbnb income. Except the loans come with credit card interest rates, so it's a huge money making thing for them (PayPal and others do this kind of thing). They bankrupt the hosts and then give them a predatory loan. So awesome. So socially conscious. Probably the only thing holding this up is confirming with the lawyers that this can be a 'business' loan and not subject to consumer finance legal requirements.

- Reduce the host fee to 2% instead of 3% until the end of the year. I've lost $7600 in bookings and counting. A 1% reduction in service fee would take me NINETEEN YEARS to make up what I've lost. And it costs Airbnb nothing as the rate they pay on credit cards is probably well below 2%. (although they lose a tiny bit of revenue)

- Let hosts take a couple trips without paying the service fee. I just burned through a good chunk of my savings trying to make the mortgage because of your policy. I'm not taking a trip any time soon.

So expect to see completely meaningless things like the above when they come out with their 'big ideas'. Painless for them, virtually useless for hosts. And, again, like the hypothetical service fee reduction, you only get it in the future and only if you keep using Airbnb.

(and for those of you who are like... you shouldn't rely on Airbnb for income... great, then Airbnb shouldn't accept the bookings. I'll get bookings through other sites. Don't accept the bookings and then completely disregard your hosts' well being)

Those of us that host, and especially the Superhosts and those that are close to it, go to great lengths to take care of our mutual customers. If we were actually 'partners' you would acknowledge the financial stress you're putting hosts through and back off the 100% refund policy. The fact that you're going to announce your big ideas in a few weeks, while bleeding most of us into serious financial distress in the meantime, just really illustrates how much they don't care.

btw... and, yes, my posts here seem to have gotten my listings buried in the search results. Much further back than they usually are. You call them out to do better and get punished for it.

[James207]

Since this is pretty negative, here's what I think they _should_ do:

Allow guests to reschedule with the same host and then pay out the deposit to the hosts. Keeps the booking with the host, with Airbnb and provides hosts with some needed cash flow.

This would be the fair thing to do and help keep everyone solvent. I'm not optimistic Airbnb will do anything fair for the hosts, but who knows.

[Brenda328]

So I am sure by now that many of you are receiving Nate's heartfelt message urging us to contact our Senators and Representatives to encourage them to pass relief for Airbnb hosts in Congress.  He outlined three items that Airbnb had proposed.  

This is the response I just sent back to him (which I am sure went right into his spam folder).

Nate:

There are several significant flaws in your proposal below:

1)  Expand federal short-term rental tax exemptions from 14 days to 60 days to help you keep more of the income you earn.

This proposal would only help those hosts who rent 60 days or less per year.  That is not the majority of hosts. The current tax exemption specifies that taxpayers do not have to claim rental income at all if they rent for 14 days or less.  The rule is not that taxpayers are allowed to exclude the first 14 days of rental income from their taxable income.  This policy would make no difference to me or any of the other hosts who rent 61 days or more per year.  Hosts who rent less than 60 days per year would rent on average 5 days or less per month so the current COVID-19 virus is having much less of an impact on those hosts.  

2)  Introduce a federal tax credit, deduction or deferral of taxes on the 1099 income earned by Home and Experience hosts.

A tax credit, deduction, or deferral of taxes provides very little benefit to the majority of Airbnb hosts.  Most hosts are able to deduct depreciation and other business expenses to significantly offset that income.  Assuming a taxpayer's 1099 income is taxed at 20%, the taxpayer would have to get a credit of 5 times the amount of rental income lost to just break even.

Also, how would short-term rental income be differentiated from other rental income?  All types of rental income are reported in the same box on the 1099 form.  Would there be a differentiation between Airbnb income, hosting income from other platforms, or income collected through credit card payments for direct bookings?  That would be unfair to hosts utilizing a variety of business strategies and impossible for the Internal Revenue Service to verify thereby allowing for significant abuse of the policy.

3)  Encourage lenders to make available low-interest loans that assist your small business needs as a host.

I don't need or want a low-interest loan.  What I want is the funds the are contractually owed to me based on my strict cancellation policy.  

I also don't think that the tax paying citizens of the United States (of which I am one) should be bailing out Airbnb hosts due to the ineptitude of Airbnb corporate management.

Please contact me if you would like to discuss in further detail.

I'm sure that Brian, Nate, and crew will completely ignore this message.  I just find it really insulting that their 'solution' is once again so poorly thought out - or maybe they just feel that their hosts are easily tricked.

Source:  I am a tax attorney

[Sharon1014]

@Brenda328  If it weren't so serious, it would be hilarious.  Just can't believe they are going cap in hand to the US govt to fix a problem Airbnb created all by themselves.  And what a pointless exercise for the "global" community.  If I were a potential investor in an IPO (which incidentally is probably worth 50% of what it was 4 weeks ago), the first thing I would be doing is seeking to get some common sense on the board and in management.  No business owner with any sort of acumen deliberately sets fire to their own inventory (let alone then asks taxpayers to fix it).  

The longer Airbnb delay making amends to hosts, the more host inventory they are going to lose and the company will be worth even less because of it.

From Monday they should (at a minimum) -

1. Uphold all host cancellation policies.
2. Offer guests "Cancel For Any Reason Insurance"
3. Waive the Airbnb host fee for 12 months minimum
4. Make all bookings optional 10% off for non-refundable payment (regardless of reason)
5. Give guests already booked the option to defer for 12 months with seasonally adjusted credits (and pay hosts the anticipated revenue per normal arrangements as if the booking had proceeded).

While it would be a lovely gesture for the company to reimburse hosts all of the lost income, in reality that is unlikely to happen.

At law, the company can argue "exigent circumstances", so very unlikely any class action suit would succeed.  Fair?  Nope.  But that's the reality check.

However it isn't too late to rescue this current train wreck.  Except the longer they wait, the greater the damage to the company's potential net worth as hosts head for the exits.

[Rebecca181]

@James207 @Sharon1014 @Brenda328 As I said elsewhere in a related comment: Airbnb's requests of the U.S. government, which was made only after refunding guests 100% of their reservation fee (without checking to see if they had travelers insurance that would cover the loss and without notifying hosts of their most 'generous', public relations-driven plan) is akin to Airbnb Corporate driving a car that they then use to deliberately run over Airbnb hosts with while going 60 miles an hour, then stopping the car, getting out, walking back to the hosts' flattened, ' 'road kill' bodies, then covering the bodies gently and dramatically with soft, fluffy blankets. 

Scary to think that this well-publicized plea for government assistance might actually make them sleep better at night over there at Corporate. The things people do to salve their consciences after committing the most unconscionable acts...

[Russell49]

One word- AMEN!

[Brian-and-Leah0]

@Sharon1014   I agree.  And I think those are all very good suggestions.  When I called Airbnb support following the EC extension I asked if Airbnb would consider: 

1). Giving guests 48 hour max to cancel under EC:  At the moment guests can cancel up until check in without penalty.  Many are playing the “wait and see” game effectively eliminating any chance for a host to mitigate the loss with a local re-booking.  I’m not blaming guests but under the circumstances there should be some risk sharing when a guest wants to hold onto dates.  

2). Allow host to take a “step back” from STR hosting altogether:  Allow Hosts the option to clear our ENTIRE calendar penalty free.  Currently I am booked up most weekend until October.  If Airbnb extends the EC policy again, I would like the option of canceling ALL of my pending dates penalty free in favor of a conventional long term lease.   I simply can’t afford to play “wait and see” each month while Airbnb decides whether it’s going to extend the EC to allow guests to cancel penalty free.  As it stands, I would barely survive with 50% of my expected $$ let alone zero indefinitely.  

I estimate I’ll lose $25-30K in March/April alone with my entire calendar soon to be clear for April.  If my  strict cancelation policy were still in place  that would be a much more manageable $12.5-15K loss. Still very painful but not devastating.  No doubt this is an impossible situation but it’s neither equitable nor sustainable to place the entire burden of the pandemic on hosts while simultaneously allowing guests maximum flexibility.  

Meanwhile Airbnb’s corporate messaging continues to reference a “community” while promising “bold ideas” to protect hosts.  Mortgages and rents are due on April 1st.  I hope these ideas are meaningful and come very soon. 

[Russell49]

I genuinely feel that if a guest books within the last week since this has been a serious issue, then they can forfeit their refund. They know what the climate is and cannot pretend otherwise.

[Helen3]

Airbnb is a global community @Brenda328

[Elan1211]

We are a frequent AirBnB guest family, booked in a large AirBnB property in Dublin, Ireland for early May for a family reunion between family members from California (us), Spain and Germany.  That property has a 50% cancellation penalty.  We cannot go, since we are on lockdown here in Los Angeles, our government strongly advises against international travel and Ireland isn't far behind either of those policies.  The host in Dublin says go ahead and cancel without penalty - but said she cannot do anything about the AirBnB extenuating circumstances policy that goes only through mid-April.  So, as a compromise - since we're still going to go to Dublin, just not now - I agree with your solution:  AirBnB should offer hosts and guests a voucher option, so that neither party feels cheated.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@James207 @Brenda328 

This whole 'blanket refund policy' takes on a new light when 'Nate' only addresses Congress.

What will Congress be able to do for the rest of the world?

[Russell49]

To think this is the guy responsible for over-riding the policies he allowed us to choose in the first place.....smh.

[Amber1]

DONE WITH AIRBNB! 

[Amber1]

It seems like any time I mention other platforms my messages get blocked. I encourage everyone to look into how other platforms are handling this, as many are leaving the situation up to hosts. Let's take our listings there guys. I'm not waiting for Brian's solution to marinate for a while, meanwhile rent's due, credit card payments are backed up etc....

[Sarah977]

@Amber1  The other platforms don't do home-share listings, so that isn't a viable solution for many hosts.