Cancellation refunds

[David501]

Does anybody feel as let down by Airbnb as I do?

Their policy to give guests a 100% refund with OUR money, without any form of consultation and despite our cancellation policy is an absolute disgrace and betrayal of the people (i.e. hosts) that helped make Airbnb what it is today.

Not only is this policy unnecessary and grossly unfair it is also, in the opinion of our Lawyers, unlawful. Their Extenuating Circumstances Policy states that THEY (not us) MAY (suggests consultation) refund guests in such circumstances. If Airbnb choose to refund guests with their funds this of course is their prerogative but to refund with our funds is a very different matter. In our Lawyers words, this is a misappropriation of hosts' funds; we prefer to call it theft.

Their cavalier attitude towards hosts' funds has cost our business £thousands in just 3 days and will put many in the tourism industry in financial dire straights. It's just too much money for us to ignore, so we have instigated legal action against Airbnb.

We are very reasonable hosts and are prepared to refund guest amounts far in excess of that detailed in our cancellation policy but to receive nothing for reservations that we have already incurred costs to process and prepare for, without any consultation and very little notice is simply not acceptable.

This nightmare that the world finds itself in will impact on all our of us, physically and / or financially but Airbnb still have an obligation to treat everybody, guests and hosts alike fairly and with repect, so why they expect hosts to take the full brunt of this situation defeats me.

Travel insurance companies are paying out (providing policies pre date CV outbreak) for forced cancellations and most guests would expect to lose at least a deposit for cancelling booking, so Airbnb's policy is unnecessary and one sided to say the least.

We welcome the views of all hosts, for and against Airbnb's policy. Hopefully Airbnb will read and listen to the responses posted. As they have closed their phone lines and email addresses, this or post seems to be the only way to communicate with them.

Best wishes to you all, David & Hannah.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Jen89 

"Attested" Covid cancellations might add another issue to your case. If attested, the guest only gets vouchers. Unless of course Airbnb are breaking their own rules by allowing "attested" Covid cancellations and giving the guest a full cash refund. Either way, the host is out of pocket as you point out and the guest gets a payout. Cash or vouchers depends on what the guest actually received. Might he tell you?

I've had two guests cancel between 4th July - 31st July.. First "attested" got cash. Second needed to prove some EC and got cash.

[Jen89]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 

I asked the rep who messaged me whether the guest had received vouchers or a cash refund and he told me that a full cash refund had been given to the guest after he 'attested'. 

I too thought that evidence was required for a full cash refund and I know that my guest had already checked this out with an online cancellation and had messaged me that he wouldn't be able to get a full cash refund which is why we came to an agreement with the reduced payment!

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Jen89 

According to Airbnb's Covid cancellation policy and the facts that @David501 pointed out - that travel is possible, the guest should have some serious evidence for a cash refund. Airbnb shouldn't have their EC policy in place after July 4th - but they do. In this situation the guest should get Travel Credits without evidence. You can still message the guest to find out for sure - and cash refunds take 5-10 days to arrive back in the account. If he insists with Airbnb he might get cash for attesting.

If you already had a cancellation agreement and Airbnb overridden that then you should be able to claim against them for doing that. That was Airbnb's doing, not your guests. Screenshot all your message stream as evidence, then when you find out off your guest what happened you can decide what you need to do.

How many guests in the cancellation?

[Jen89]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 

Two guests for a six night stay.

Thank you, that's useful information.  I think I'll try another rep as the one who was messaging me has gone rather quiet!

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Jen89 

Two guests will have difficulty claiming any sort of 'bubble' Covid violation and the government website should state guests are free to travel..