Covid-19 & Cancellation Policy

[Rita587]

Hi everyone, we manage several properties in Southern Spain and surprisingly, I have only been contacted by two guests regarding our Covid-19 cancellation policy. I wanted to ask the following:

1. Are any of you getting ahead of the situation and reaching out to your upcoming reservations or are you waiting for them to get in touch?

2. Are you sticking to Airbnb's cancellation policy as it stands or are you modifying your own to be more flexible and offer 100% refunds on your part? Our current cancellation policy is STRICT (as per the request of our clients) but I'm feeling a sense of guilt for not being more flexible given the severity of the situation. 

Interested to hear your thoughts on this and wish you and your guests continued health and safety. Best...Rita

[Katie903]

Hi Rita,

I'm a guest, not a host - so not sure if this is helpful, but when cancelling my booking to Spain yesterday (Malaga), the information that AirBnB provided to me during the cancellation process said I would receive a full refund due to the coronavirus situation. I chose to cancel because the news said Spain were declaring a state of emergency. I was impressed that AirBnB were offering a full refund, and thought "wow, what a great people-first service."

I wish I had taken a screenshot now of the information related to me during the cancellation process, because I've only received a partial refund in accordance with my host's usual cancellation policy.
 

I've messaged the host, who understandably says I need to contact AirBnB about the payment...

Not sure how I'm going to resolve this as I have no evidence of the information provided to me when I was processing my cancellation, and Spain isn't listed in AirBnB's 'extenuating circumstances' policy.

My hope is that someone else who has cancelled a booking in (southern) Spain can verify that they've had the same experience!

[Rita587]

Thanks for your reply and info Katie. I'm happy to hear you worked out your booking with no issues or penalties. We woke up today to the news that a state of emergency had been declared but there's been no response/update from Airbnb's side so I wasn't sure how to deal with cancellation requests from guests. What I've done so far is to assure them that they can postpone for a later date without any issues and also since our strict policy ensures 50% refund up to seven days before booking, I also suggested they still had time to wait a little longer to see how things develop in the coming days. I'm hoping we'll get some feedback from Airbnb ASAP so we know how to handle things moving forward. Thanks again Katie and stay healthy. Best...Rita

[Brian1720]

Dear Katie,

Did you get any resolution to your cancellation and refund issues? We are in a similar position, looking to cancel a reservation in Spain that meets the Airbnb covid policy but not seeing cancellation options to request this option in the Trips section of their website. Reluctant to cancel for fear of experiencing something aimilar to you. The host has been very unhelpful.

Brian

[Arline1]

I am posting in regards to the deceptive support practices in helping Super Hosts. I was told I would receive funds from cancellations that fell within the Airbnb guidelines and never received them, and all Airbnb support agents are the worst in communication and followup. I have contacted support and was explicitly told I would receive funds by April 30th and have never received a dime. I am an 86 year old lady dependent on the income, especially during the virus outbreak. I was left to fend for myself by the greedy CEO and support staff at Airbnb.

I am very disappointed in the blatant false statements and support by the CEO and the staff at Airbnb regarding helping host. Lying to hosts regarding false statements made to me and my case is that of poor business practices and greed.

I have not even received a reply to numerous messages sent to Airbnb. As if I don't even exist.

I am sure they are still making hundreds of millions of dollars, yet an old lady on SS benefits can't put food on the table because they need to fuel their jets and live in palaces. Shame on them for their greedy business practices making money of the backs of seniors during this difficult time.

[Rita587]

Hello fellow Superhost @Arline1 and @Cynthia758, I'm sorry you're experiencing such difficulty in receiving the promised relief in addition to having your messages go unanswered. I can only imagine how stressful this must be. We manage several properties for our clients and have actually had every booking cancelled from March through end of June and several in July and August also. Our experience has been the opposite of yours, I'm afraid. As soon as the original check-in date of each cancelled booking passed, we promptly received the partial payment that was promised. In agreement with our clients (the property owners), we have issued full refunds to our guests because these are scary times for everyone and we also didn't keep a single cent of Airbnb's refunds and passed it all onto our clients. I'm not sure why you and others on the forum are not receiving the payments but I assure you, they have been sending them out. The only thing I can suggest is to keep reaching out via online chat to make sure they resolve this issue ASAP. Good luck and I'm sorry again. Best...Rita

[Arline1]

One in a million hosts to receive funds is not good enough. Airbnb CEO and support teams are using deceptive and greedy tactics to undermined hosts that have helped them become the company they have become. Now they turn their backs on those that got them there. Shameful on every level. There is no rational or valid excuse for such criminal actions.

[Cynthia758]

This happened to me too! I am in CA and the rental was in CA but the information on the page said that exact same thing so I canceled. I really wish I hadn't and now they will not go through with the promise of a full cancelation. They asked for a screen shot, but I did not think to take one.

[Arline1]

Airbnb CEO and support teams are using deceptive and greedy tactics to undermined hosts that have helped them become the company they have become. Now they turn their backs on those that got them there. Shameful on every level. There is no rational or valid excuse for such criminal actions.

[Nanxing0]

I'm reaching out to all reservations before 5/31 at this moment. Some of them simply forgot to cancel it and it's certainly unpleasant to have a last minute rush on this. It makes us even easier to find a tenant to occupy longer as well.

[Christopher51]

@Christopher8  - The airbnb platform for questions and problem solving is not very user friendly and can be quite time cosuming. Usually the information one is seeking is there, just requires effort to get it.  If Airbnb was a responsible company who is actually concerned with the ethics of its practices during 'covid 19 it would make the cancellation policy as simple as possible.  If a government order prohibits short term rentals during a time that covers and existing reservation then all that needs to be done is for the guest to be notified of the government order and for the guest to notify airbnb of the need to cancel due to government orders re covid 19.  It should not matter as to when the reservation was made.  In california the restriction is put in place on short if any notice and is extended for an unknown period of time.  The restriction extensions depend on ever changing covid rates and ICU rates of availability.  We notify our guests of the ongoing situation and share the government website so both sides can learn the details of the restriction.  I can see from this conversation that there are many guests and hosts who are dissatisfied with the current procedures and protocols of Airbnb.  Lets hope they respond and make the necessary corrections.

christopher8