Burned by Covid Cancellation Policy

[Deirdre12]

Hello fellow hosts,

This past Sunday I was on the sidelines of my 9-year-old son's first flag football game when I got a worrying message from my incoming guest. He had booked months ago, and was now due to arrive in 3 days from the UK, and stay for 11 nights, with a payout to me of thousands of dollars.  He and his family were flying in from the UK and they had just taken their required pre-flight Covid tests and their daughter had tested positive. Now, he wrote, they would not be permitted to fly for another 10 days.  Could I give him a refund or could he push the reservation to a later date? I have a "strict" cancellation policy that prevents last minute cancellations with refunds, so I wrote back that I really felt for him and I was so sorry he was stuck in England, but no, I could not refund or push the dates, as either way, I would be losing the money for the dates he had originally booked, and I rely on that money to pay the house's expenses, and I would be unlikely to find another guest so close to the check in date.  I suggested that he cancel as soon as possible to free up the dates so I could try to rent them to another guest, and if so, I would happily refund him for any dates booked, of course.

Well, stupid me, I was unaware that Airbnb has a Covid Extenuating Circumstances Policy that states that if you show a positive Covid test within 14 days of the trip, you may cancel without penalty or payout, no matter the host's cancellation policy.

So the guest just went to Airbnb, sent the positive Covid test, and Airbnb cancelled the reservation.  3 days before the check in date for an 11-day stay.  No penalty for him, no payout for me.  I got no help from Airbnb despite repeated calls, conversations and emails.  

I had long assumed, from a cursory read of the updated Airbnb policies, that a guest could no longer cancel by blaming Covid.  But I was wrong, of course. It turns out that the positive test is the only remaining way you can cancel.  But it's a VERY easy way -- just send in a Word document -- and it also guarantees that the cancellation will be last minute, which is the worst thing for hosts, since the test must be within 14 days of the stay.

It goes without saying that of course I wouldn't want someone who has tested positive for Covid to travel.  Of course.  But that doesn't make the consequences from a guest's pre-travel Covid test my responsibility.  Knowing he was flying internationally, from a place that has travel restrictions into the US due to Covid, the guest could have booked a house with a flexible cancellation policy, or he could have purchased travel insurance. He did neither. Instead he -- and more importantly Airbnb -- essentially expected ME to act as his travel insurance.

There was a lot of blowback in the early days of the pandemic after Airbnb allowed guests to cancel without penalty.  In response, Airbnb set up a fund to reimburse hosts for 25% of their cancellation policy, which was not much but at least something.  Post all that, Airbnb has talked a big game about trying to be better about supporting hosts.  But if they were serious about that, why didn't Airbnb just keep the Covid fund going if they were still going to allow guests to cancel without penalty due to a positive Covid test?  (You are not allowed to cancel due to other surprise illnesses or injuries.)  Why, as usual, are hosts expected to carry the entire burden of Covid on our shoulders? Why doesn't Airbnb just require guests to either purchase trip insurance, or forgo their right to get a refund due to Covid?  Or I am sure there are a million other ideas, any of which are better than making the host shoulder the entire cost. 

But what really worries me is what happens going forward. Because now I realize that there is a way for guests to easily circumvent my cancellation policy by either sending Airbnb a legit positive Covid test, or just sending a Word doc that looks like a Covid test.  So, what if someone books my house for weeks or months, blocking it months ahead of time, and then cancels with a positive Covid test 3 days before the check in date?   Sure, it may be unlikely that someone would do that, but my point is that Airbnb allows it.  And then I would have no recourse and I would really be in trouble financially. 

At the end of the day, this whole experience just once again makes me resent Airbnb and it makes me want to try to get bookings on other platforms that don't micromanage me and get in the way of how I want to do business.

Thanks for letting me vent and for listening. 

[Brian2036]

@Deirdre12 

The person who booked did not test positive, although I suppose the argument would be that he was exposed.

 I wonder if he was vaccinated.

 I think you’re right: this loophole is going to be abused in a variety of imaginative ways.

[Deirdre12]

@Brian2036  Thanks for taking the time to read and reply.   I appreciate it.  

Yes you’re right:  Airbnb said that because he was a close contact, the reservation could be canceled.  

So good point: now we have to worry not only about the booking guest testing positive but also about any family members / close contacts testing positive.   

[Raveena3]

Hi Deirdre, thanks for sharing, I just got burned too. Please help to give feedback on their facebook or twitter page, let's put some pressure so this doesn't happen to us again! 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Deirdre12 As a host who has benefited from the covid cancellation policy (we cancelled a guest with no penalty due to Covid in our household) I think Airbnb have the balance right. Booking an Airbnb is a greater risk for guests than booking a hotel as a host getting ill will likely cause a cancellation whereas a hotel employee would not. I suspect the current policy generates more bookings than it would if guests had to take the Covid risk on themselves.

Now false reports of Covid to get a free cancellation are another thing altogether....

[Deirdre12]

@Mike-And-Jane0   Thanks so much for your reply.  

I see your point regarding people who share space with others when renting an Airbnb.  I hadn't considered that because my Airbnb rental is a standalone house with contactless check in, so I have no contact with the guests, so that is not an issue for my rental.

I agree with you that Airbnb's policy allows guests to book with more confidence knowing they can cancel if Covid arises, and likely increases bookings.  What I think is unfair is that, instead of asking guests or Airbnb to take on ANY financial risk or hit if a guest ends up getting Covid, Airbnb asks the host to bear all of it. The fallout is also different depending on whether a host or a guest cancels.  If a host gets Covid and must cancel, yes, it's a huge bummer for the guest to have to scramble to find a place, but they did not lose anything financially.  I think that's an important distinction.  My feeling is that at the very least, Airbnb should continue the 25% Covid fund to make up the hit for hosts, since Airbnb are the ones insisting that their Covid cancellation policy supersedes the host's cancellation policy. 

I also get less views and less bookings because I have a strict cancellation policy, rather than a flexible one, and many guests prefer flexibility, so I already pay a penalty in that way (less views and bookings).  But it's worth it to me for the security of knowing people cannot cancel.  So when I lose a booking like this, when I've tried so hard to prevent it with my own policy, it really hurts and feels unfair. 

Anyway, thanks so much again for your reply and especially for that point about shared space, as I hadn't considered it.

[Anonymous]

@Deirdre12   Travel insurance policies tend to require you to prove that you've exhausted your available possibilities for a refund before they'll pay out a claim. So even if this guest had insured his trip, it wouldn't have made a difference here - Airbnb's Extenuating Circumstances policy on a positive Covid test result has been in place for over a year, every insurer is well aware of it (I thought most hosts were too), and they don't want their customers defrauding them into double refunds.

Your concerns are legit, though you must have had a pretty lucky year if you haven't had any cause to actually read the Extenuating Circumstances policy since its major update last January (which was actually an improvement, as it no longer covered non-Covid illnesses or injuries). Now that you know what the policy is, if this situation happens again, you might try cutting your losses by agreeing to a date change. But let's not kid ourselves, trying to profit from tourism during a pandemic is always going to be a risky way to make a living.

[Deirdre12]

@Anonymous   Thanks so much for this.  You are right, I have been really lucky as my rental has been booked a lot and I haven't had a lot of issues with it during the pandemic. I did have cancellations at the beginning but I got the 25% reimbursement, and that was much better than nothing.  And then quickly my house started getting booked with people working from home.  I know, I should have read the **bleep** policy!!  I just saw way back when that Airbnb was no longer allowing cancellations due to Covid because travel risks were a foreseeable thing now, and I just assumed that meant all Covid related things. It was stupid of me not to know.   (Though now that I DO know, I will sort of be living in fear of last minute Covid cancellations, especially for long term bookings!)   Also, thank for making me aware that the policy  is better than it was before in other ways, as I didn't know that.  And you are right, if this happens again, I may try to do along with a rebooking, though yes, I would be cutting my losses, because I would still lose money that way.

RE: travel insurance, I totally get that they would have declined to cover this because of Airbnb's policy. The point I was trying to make (but clearly failed to 🙂 was that if Airbnb did NOT have this Covid cancellation policy in place, my guest could (or would) have either booked a flex policy house or gotten travel insurance, knowing he was flying from a country that has travel restrictions related to Covid. The onus of covering his 11-day international trip would have been on him, as it should be, rather than on me.  For instance, the other booking site I use offers guests the opportunity to buy travel insurance as a routine part of the check out process. Rather than having this blanket Covid cancellation policy, I think Airbnb could consider offering a travel insurance option as a part of the check out process, especially for rentals with strict cancellation policies.

I said this in an earlier comment,  but I already pay a penalty for my strict cancellation policy, in that I get less views and less bookings, because the majority of guests prefer more flexibility.  But it's worth it to me to get less views and bookings for the security of knowing people cannot cancel after a certain point.  So when I lose a booking like this, when I've tried so hard to prevent it with my own policy, it really hurts financially and feels unfair.  

Anyway thank you very much again for taking the time to chat with me about this. It helps!

[Richard531]

@Deirdre12 @Anonymous @Mike-And-Jane0 @Brian2036 

We have fallen victim to several successful cancelations using COVID as the excuse/carrier over the past 6-8 months too.  The first was a complete shock (for the exact same reasons you mentioned above).  The two that followed, we knew how the story was going to end and it really sucked.  All cancelations were in the face of the most stringent "Non-Refundable" policy available (increasing the frustration).  

I'm a rather optimistic person and I don't consider myself cynical.  That said, it is my position that there is a 100% chance that IN ALL THREE of the situations above the guests did not have COVID (nor did anyone in their "group").  The guests then easily manufactured "documentation" to placate Airbnb, and stuck us with the cancelations.   How do I know?  All three started with an unrelated excuse as they dipped their toes in the "I'd like to cancel" water.  When they got pushback and we pointed to our cancelation policy, they cried "COVID" and good things started happening related to their situation. 

It's despicable.  

In the first case, I had the Airbnb call center's supervisor's, supervisor, admit to me in writing that the likelihood of the cancelation being actually legitimate was less than 1%.  It made me feel better, but Airbnb stuck with the decision and the cancelation was allowed to proceed.  

On the upside, all 3 bookings were recovered within hours (albeit for less money).  But it was super stressful (one 5-day booking turned into three 1-2 day smaller bookings) and scrambling to make it all happen with our crews was a nightmare.  

The bottom line: I feel that COVID just shouldn't be allowed to be an excuse anymore for ANYTHING.  It's far too easy to fudge, it's now a part of everyone's life, and it will be for a LONG, LONG, LONG time.  Airbnb could make it easier on hosts (create yet another tier of cancelation policy even stronger than "Non-Refundable" that includes ANY REASON OF ANY KIND).  But for some reason, they haven't yet.  

Meanwhile, if you want to be a savvy jerk-of-a-guest, there's going to be the ejector seat called "COVID" that you can use in a pinch.  It's just another risk in calling this occupation what we do for a living (Andrew put this much more eloquently that I can). 

Just hopefully not for too much longer. . .

[Deirdre12]

@Richard531  Wow, that is scary.  Thanks for this.  I 100% agree that Covid should not be allowed as an exception anymore; as you said, it's just part of everyone's lives now.  

[Raveena3]

Hi Richard, I just got burned as well, Xmas week cancellation 2 days before the trip! Please help to feedback on their Facebook or Twitter like I have, let's put some pressure so this doesn't happen to us again! 

[Anonymous]

@Richard531  I agree, it sucks that getting out of a contract can be as simple for guests as falsifying a diagnosis. And it's going pretty much the way I would have expected - there's no way that the outsourced service contractors could possibly be qualified to authenticate digital scans of documents from over 100 countries, in dozens of languages, so that was always going to be an open loophole.

It was the same problem before Covid, though. Under the prior Extenuating Circumstances policy, all guests had to do to get out of your cancellation policy was claim to be sick or injured. A support agent might have asked them to send evidence, but that was just a formality, because they certainly weren't committing any resources to verifying it. So we had to deploy some subtle strategies to reduce the risk of being mistreated as the guests' de facto travel insurance. Mine included:

- Making calendar dates bookable for only up to 3 months ahead

- Maximum stay of 3 weeks (no long bookings)

- No Instant Book

- Declining requests that seemed wishy-washy or noncommittal

- Declining everyone who asked about discounts

Usually in the process of screening a request, it was easy to spot who was an entitled jerk and who was careless with their trip-planning. I don't think my Acceptance Rate ever got about 70%, because there are a lot of those out there.

[Alastair0]

Totally agree with you. I think it is time that these reasons for canceling are removed. If you book during a pandemic you accept the risk it’s not the host’s responsibility any longer.  Glad to see some are getting bookings, here in Thailand we are still effectively locked down since the start of the pandemic as Thais don’t use Airbnb much and we have no international tourists. It’s a nightmare. 

[Deirdre12]

@Alastair0  Thanks for this.  I love Thailand and Chiang Mai especially -- next time we go back I will look up your listing beforehand. Wishing you luck in getting more bookings!

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

 We reopened in March this year after a 1-year long pause and since then we have had an insane increase of cancellations. 

Pre Covid it was maybe 3 cancellations per year. Now, each 3-rd request or booking gets canceled. We switched from flexible to medium policy but it doesn't help. 

I tried to offer a 10% discount for a non-refundable option but at the same time, I had to increase the regular price by 10%. Unfortunately, Airbnb as is showing the regular price in search we were too expensive and had to drop the idea.

Good thing is - average stay is much longer now.