Cancellation due to COVID-19 interstate border closure and inability to travel

[Vera573]

Hello,

I find it particularly unfair that Airbnb earns money on people loosing their holiday plans. For example, recent development in Sydney (started last Friday, 18th of December) prevents us from traveling from Victoria to NSW. Although my bookings stated free cancellation, there was service fee attached to them of a very large amount that I believe is wrongly to charge in this case.

Airbnb describes charging such fees to limit "frivolous" cancellations. Well how frivolous are we to loose all our vacation plans and have to stay back in Victoria instead of enjoying the warmer weather and beaches in NSW. I believe that sudden appearance of cluster in Australia where there were no cases for almost a month should qualify under extenuating circumstances. Who may have known that this will happen? It is particularly unfair to make money when people loose their plans, loose the ability to travel because they simply cannot return home after traveling. This is very upsetting, and unbelievable. I'd like to request the refund of service fees for the two bookings I had that were cancelled not because of me not willing to go and being "frivolous" but because it is simply not possible to cross the Victorian-NSW border and be sure that I will be able to come back home given border restrictions.

[Cathie19]

I feel your pain @Vera573. 

Some of my family drove from Canberra to Sydney and stayed overnight, away from the northern beaches LGA, which was the only hot spot.

They needed to collect their 20 month old and 5 year old who had been with their other grandparents for a few pre-Xmas days, during a Covid19 free period, in a Covid free area......

The parents collected the children and caught a plane to Darwin. It wasn’t until they had landed, were they told the NT government had named an “immediate” hotspot for the “whole of greater Sydney, out to the blue mountains, up to the Central coast and down to, including Wollongong! 

They had no control on this rapidly evolving situation. Other states gave till midnight!

Along with many, they were taken by border force to supervised quarantine. They along with about 60 others, paid through the nose, to get flights back to Sydney this afternoon, to pick up their car from the long term car park at the airport and drive directly to Canberra to quarantine there in their own home. Serious government issues evolving and @Airbnb should be showing more sympathy to those Australians during a recession, at Christmas time, caught out by events they have no control over. Not in the spirit of Christmas to keep the money....

This story is one of many for NSW, with the ripple affect widespread across all states.....