@Lauren422 You haven't lost 27K... if guests did not stay/will not stay, then you never earned that money in the first place....
I personally lost money, (letting rooms is my only source of income) - not because of cancellations, but because the UK government banned travel, & so Airbnb blocked all UK calendars. So no one has stayed with me since 21 March. I'd only had ONE 1 night booking cancelled, got nothing, cos of moderate policy, but who cares, 25% would have only been about £7! No, my losses are all the people who would have booked last minute..... my market is same day bookings or people booking a few days in advance.... So I've lost, but nothing on paper, so nothing to shout about!
Yes, you were expecting 27K of bookings, that have been lost through a pandemic. Why would you want to STEAL that money, if you did not host? If you bought something on Amazon or Ebay & it never arrived, you'd expect your money back in full... Airlines have refunded customers in full for plane tickets they can't use.
I'm not unsympathetic that loss of business causes hardship... But it's the same for everybody, every single Airbnb host across the world, & every single person who runs a hotel/motel/guest house/ B&B/campsite/caravan site/trailer park/holiday lodge/hostel - whether Airbnb/other platform/independent. That's life!
All of us, when we chose this way to make a living, were taking a gamble that the market would be there..... And it will be again. Yes, you've had cancellations, but others might book those cancelled slots?!
America is lifting the lockdown! Your expected 27K loss might turn out to be much smaller...
And you're still alive! You haven't died of Covid19!
I agree with you about the video chats! Smoke & mirrors! A lot of old nonsense!
- There are MANY many posts on this subject, posted over the last month, where you will find company in your point of view, try the search box top right. 🙂