Burned by Covid Cancellation Policy

Deirdre12
Level 8
Santa Monica, CA

Burned by Covid Cancellation Policy

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. 
76 Replies 76

@Branka-and-Silvia0  Ugh that is scary to hear about the increase in cancellations. It worries me. But on the upside,  I agree I have had much more long term bookings which has been great. 

@Deirdre12yes, but they were not bc guests get sick of Covid. Their reasons are: ... plans had changed .....or they didn't read house rules and description ..... or they thought 2-7 PM check-in time is "not so strict" ...or they missed the plane... etc..

 

I don't know is it a sign-effect of Covid or not, but people are very confused lately 🙂

Deirdre12
Level 8
Santa Monica, CA

For anyone who's interested in the ending, I was only able to rebook 3 of the 11 nights after the cancellation, and those were at a lower nightly rate than my initial booking because I had to lower prices because it was so close to the date.  Extremely frustrating.

Brian2036
Level 10
Arkansas, United States

@Deirdre12 

 

Thanks for sharing the end of this sad story.

 

 I truly hope this doesn’t become a trend.

 

Ultimately both hosts and guests will suffer.

Richard531
Level 10
California, United States

@Deirdre12 

 

A heartbreaking resolution.  So sorry to hear this.  

Deirdre12
Level 8
Santa Monica, CA

Thank you @Richard531 and @Brian2036  and thanks to all of you for listening and sympathizing -- it truly helped me deal with my feeling of unfairness and anger about all this.  I really appreciate you all. 

Max144
Level 10
Bongaree, Australia

I have had several cancellations when last lock down was announced and had no hesitation in giving full refund because it is circumstances beyond guests control, i know i would like a refund if i found myself in that situation, its a shame some hosts are only in it for the money and don't show some compassion.

I had to cancel an international flight because of covid in March last year and still unable to fly but Air New Zealand are still holding my credits till next year and i appreciate that also when things get back to normal i am sure guests will remember my listing.

Richard531
Level 10
California, United States

@Max144  You're a dang good man.  

 

However, assuming someone will remember your listing and book later simply due to your generosity is a little optimistic.  We are not the Time Square Marriott with hundreds of rooms available ~365.  We are insignificant tiny businesses that people book because they get impulsive looking at our pretty pictures and we're a smidge cheaper than the listing next door.  These same guests are more likely to just book whomever has the best deal once they decide to travel again.  So this means: unless you rebooked those exact nights you allowed to be canceled to new travelers, you are simply giving your money away.  Period.  

 

My wife and I had a pretty awesome Bora Bora/Morena/Hawaiian cruise adventure planned in April of 2020.  The whole trip imploded, obviously.  We got our money back from the cruise ship (we'll never go on that cruise again), we got our Hawaiian Airlines flights reimbursed (we'll never fly those again).  But then the French Bee Airline (discount French Polynesia airline) that had our long haul 1-way segments DID NOT give us our money back.  I fought and tried.  $2K gone.  French Bee got paid, pointed to the contract I signed about it being non-refundable, and that was the end of it.  I even tried a CC dispute.  Nothing.  And if I were to MAYBE one day try to cobble together this itinerary again?  I'd just fly the best price/most convenient carrier we could find.  Even if it were French Bee.  And had French Bee given me my money back?  It would have zero impact on me flying them again.  

 

The same goes for 99% of Airbnb travelers.  

 

Again, you're a dang good man.  I admire your generosity.  I really do.  But you're just giving money away.  

 

There's a reason why professional gamblers NEVER tip their dealers.  It's the same reason why hosts that do this for a living want to protect their money from folks that want to cancel for ANY reason.  

Mary996
Level 10
Swansea, United Kingdom

Interesting choice you made there @Max144 but would you object if Airbnb did decide to drop the policy of refunding due to covid and supported Hosts instead? 

Mary996
Level 10
Swansea, United Kingdom

@Airbnb

We invite you to reconsider the Refund Policy in the event of Covid. 

Helen3
Top Contributor
Bristol, United Kingdom

Sorry I don't. @Mary996  I think as long as Airbnb are asking for proper proof, I support guests being able to cancel penalty free if they have Covid. It's happened to me six times already this year. 

 

@Huma0  I ask my guests to do a lateral flow test and provide a negative result to check in. I think all homeshare hosts should be doing this. 

Mary996
Level 10
Swansea, United Kingdom

Agreed @Helen3 if Guests genuinely have covid gosh we don't want them coming!!

 

But as @Huma0 and @Jenny349 and others are saying guests refer to their genuine reasons in the dialogues disclosing their true rationale. In such instances then there is a case to be made out for the burden of cancellation to be shared. I concurr with that. 

Helen3
Top Contributor
Bristol, United Kingdom

What's to stop guest lying is Airbnb asking for proof they have a positive Covid test and not letting guests book until they provide full names of ALL guests staying so they could check the name against the COVID test. @Mary996 

Mary996
Level 10
Swansea, United Kingdom

@Deirdre12 @Allie228  @Mike-and-Jane0  ... above... As you're also part of this conversation and we seem to be devising policy to propose to @Airbnb. I wondered if we could hammer out between ourselves what alterations (if any) we would like to see.

There had been a policy of complete refunds in the event of cancellation due to covid .. But now as covid becomes part of everyday life are there grounds to alter this? 

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Mary996  @Helen3 @Jenny349 

 

Exactly. I've had instances in the past when a guest has clearly stated their reasons for cancelling in the message thread (not eligible for EC refunds) and then, realised that they were not going to get a full refund. Next thing you know, they have contacted Airbnb and got that full refund under the EC. How?

 

When this happened before, Airbnb would not tell me what 'evidence' the guest had given due to the privacy policy. But I know the reasons the guest was cancelling, because they TOLD me. Once the refund was already issued (without checking with me), CS has no interest in reading the message thread to see if the guest was indeed lying. 

 

Also, the refunds happened way too fas (literally within minutes) for Airbnb to have verified any proof, had it been required. So, I'm pretty sure that guests were just asked to 'attest' to the fact.

 

I wonder if that is still the case? I haven't seen the 'attest' language used recently on Airbnb policy documents, but that doesn't mean it's not still happening. Has anyone else seen announcements etc. where Airbnb promised they would stop doing that?