Coronavirus cancelations is it an extenuating circumstance?

[Az2]

Hi team hosts, we are getting tons of CV cancelations. I went thru extenuating circumstances and there is nothing that match with CV situation. Any idea will this fall under extenuating circumstances or it won't....

[Ann72]

@Az2  Here's Airbnb's article about it:  https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Coronavirus-outbreak-Information-on-Airbnb-s-extenuating/m-...

[Az2]

Yes but situation in United States is not clear.

[Anonymous]

@Az2  The section of the policy that's relevant to hosts everywhere outside of China and South Korea is:

Regardless of reservation date, the extenuating circumstances policy applies to reservations of all global hosts or guests who must change or cancel travel:

• In order to comply with disease control restrictions implemented by relevant governmental or health authorities;
• In order to perform medical or disease control duties in connection with the COVID-19 outbreak;
• As a result of flight or ground transportation cancellations initiated by an airline or ground transportation provider due to the COVID-19 outbreak;
• In the event that they are diagnosed or suspected of being infected with COVID-19 by a medical or health authority.

Short version:  if an external forces bar you from making your trip as a result of the virus, you're covered. If you voluntarily choose not to travel even though you can, you're not covered.

[Gail-and-Beth0]

Unfortunately, this is not how the policy is being implemented.  If any one of multiple guests in the party decides not to travel (for any reason), but says it's due to Coronavirus, AIRBNB is processing the cancellation as extenuating circumstances.  No checks and balances.  AIRBNB gets 'docs', but the docs we saw did not align with the booking dates,  or the info that the guest had given us about the location and composition of their group.  After presenting as a San Francisco based group, they suddenly claimed to be a group of colleagues from various places, including one (of 5) from South Korea.  The night before arrival they presented an airline ticket from South Korea for a trip that had occurred (or not occurred) 10 days prior to the start date of the stay.  If the flight had been cancelled, this would have occurred at least 10 days ago, but they claim they had not decided to cancel the booking due to one person's absence until the night before arrival.  Irresponsible.  A guest who books a stay can claim anyone at all was an intended guest, after the fact, and that's what's happening.  (It would be very easy to go to my office and get a copy of a ticket from the many business travelers with whom I work.)  I don't think hosts should be absorbing losses in cases like this, and AIRBNB should be reviewing adequately and vetting  -- and they're not.  Voluntary decisions not to travel, because people are scared, should not fall within this policy, unless AIRBNB intends to cover the hosts.  These people blatantly recast themselves, nothing added up, and AIRBNB just pushed it through.  

[Pilar1]

I couldn’t agree more with you Gail and Beth. As usual it’s ultimately AirBnB’s decision to process a cancellation without following the host policy and applying any relevant penalties, regardless of not even having time to obtain any proof whatsoever of the alleged extenuating circumstances or communicating at all with the host about it.
I just suffered the cancellation of the one and only booking I had in March from a couple travelling from the US to Paris and London for their honeymoon alleging Coronavirus issue and only found out when AirBnB messaged me to inform me the refund had already been issued “with no penalty to me”. What’s even more grating is the fact that I had discussed the potential of  a CoVid-19 cancellation with them (at the time there were only 4 cases in UK, more in Paris) and I was assured they had already talked about it themselves and postponing or cancelling was not an option as the whole trip was booked with non refundable airfares and hotels so they would be losing a lot of money. What really happened I will never know but this was obviously the best excuse to cancel with no penalty as the story they told the AirBnB agent and what they told me when I approached them myself didn’t match at all.

It looks like the simple mention of Co-Vid 19 is the free out of jail card that’s going to be used unexcrupulously  more and more for the foreseeable future and I’m sure many hosts will end up leaving as a result. 

[Inna22]

@Az2 I don't think you should be making those decisions. Do not tell the cancelling guest about extenuating circumstances and if they bring it up, tell them that airbnb makes that decision. If someone asks about cancellation terms, you have a cancellation policy and you will uphold it. I would imagine if you were willing to cancel everyone for any reason you would have had a flexible cancellation policy, right?

@Gail-and-Beth0 a guest of mine once presented a FAKE death certificate (it was self printed on a logo paper from the person's own place of work which was an endocrinology office and signed by so and so, md but there was no licenced md with that name, so clearly a made up piece of paper). I explained that to Airbnb but of course they could care less. The only reaction I got was them being mad at the representative who showed me the death certificate because he should have kept it away from me