I had an Air BnB reservation from 9 March to 15 March for a guest and his family to stay in my DC home. The guest reported that he and his family were familiar with the neighborhood, had lived here previously, and were looking forward to returning to DC for tourist purposes and for a conference at Georgetown University.
As the pandemic was growing, I confirmed via message that the guest was still coming on 4 March despite the global pandemic situation with the coronavirus.
On 8 March, one day prior to check in, the guest canceled the reservation. In accordance with my cancellation policy, no refund was issued due to the late notice of the cancellation. The guest was not impacted by travel restrictions within the United States. I was not made aware of any members of the family being sick. The guest reported that the reservation was canceled because the conference that one member of the family was attending was canceled.
On 11 March, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a global pandemic. On 13 March, Air BnB announced a platform-wide change to its extenuating circumstances policy which allowed guests to cancel reservations from 14 March – 14 April.
On 26 March, Air BnB sent me an email informing me that the guest had been issued a full refund, despite the fact that the guest did not meet the platform’s coronavirus policy, which only covered reservations beginning on 14 March. I contacted the company by phone on the same day and was told that the reservation payout, $1158.18, would be taken from my future earnings on the platform.
Am I crazy? Is this happening to anyone else? Any advice?