Covid-19.....lets help each other

[Robin4]

Reading many of the posts on this hosting board almost all correspondents are critical of the way Airbnb have handled this current pandemic situation.

What disturbs me is, some are trying to whip up hysteria by creating scenarios of their own which is not helping.

One host here  @Sheila22 has claimed she as a guest has double dipped on her travel insurance and also got a refund from Airbnb and then goes on to talk about price slashing, guests cancelling and rebooking at cheaper rates and even looting!! She then backtracks and says she is a host and just trying to put different ideas in the mix!

Sheila, I appreciate that you are simply trying to play the part of 'Devils Advocate' with your comments, but this is seriously not the time to be doing it! 

The hosting community are going through hell at the moment......as it stands this will cost me $20,000 this year if there is no short term remedy to the current pandemic. And all 3+ million of us hosts are going through the same thing.

I am also concerned that this pandemic could spell the end of Airbnb! To suddenly lose $94m in invest-able funds is not something a service company with few tangible assets can handle. Airbnb depend on cashflow and, that cashflow has stopped. The company may quite possibly not recover from this.

We are a community of hosts who collectively have a mass of experience and ideas to draw on. This is the time to be constructive and support each other and think of alternate ideas that may help us get our hosting wagons back on the tracks again once the worlds medical brains get on top of this. 

Please folks, can we be creative, not destructive!

Cheers........Rob

[Thomas977]

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/19/coronavirus-airbnb-hosts-angry-at-refunds.html

[Reyume0]

@Robin4  It is great to get a different perspective on the issue. After days of back to back cancellation, I made the conscious decision to not let it get to me. I was one of the “new hosts to this forum” (also wasn’t aware we needed to be seasoned hosts to comment on this forum, as another host pointed out)who came to this platform for comfort and was extremely mad at airbnb(still am) but I’m just mentally tired at this point and cannot waste mental energy being mad at a company that doesn’t care if I exist.  That being said, what is actually irritating to me is how Airbnb’s actions have allowed guests to manipulate the system after cancellation. I’ve had a few guests cancel at Airbnb’s recommendation, wait for me to get desperate to the point that they know I will have to slash my prices and then rebook at a much lower price. It is going unchecked and I feel taken advantage of. What’s worse is I even have some who have the nerve to ask me if I’m willing to reduce it further. It’s insulting. If you push a guest to cancel and they do, then they should not be able to rebook until this mess is cleared up. IMO

[Robin4]

@Reyume0 

Hey, I understand your frustration and I love your attitude that you will not waste your energy getting mad with the company....it won't achieve anything and I am glad you see that.

Airbnb came to a fork in the road here with this pandemic refund issue. They could have been adult about it and put in place strategic options that would involve both host and guest the way hotels, airlines, tourist operators, VRBO, Homeaway/Stayz, Booking.com, Expedia have done and kept the cashflow going around. Instead of that they have shot themselves in the foot, cut off their cashflow and are now screaming they need government assistance!

Reyume, I never wanted to admit to myself that Airbnb could operate in such a reckless and irresponsible way but.....that's in the past, they have. 

What is going to happen now, the hosts amongst us who are professional and successful....those hosts who have been the backbone of Airbnb's success,  will desert this platform for more responsible investment opportunities.

I really hate to see that happening because, although I, like you, are a relative newcomer, I have loved my dealings with Airbnb, they have provided me with 400 + hostings and it hurts me terribly to envision a future that does not have Airbnb in it! But I have to be a realist. Airbnb have never had to fight for business, since their inception in 2007 it has been a one way street all the way up and up. They have become complacent and have got away with telling the rest of the world what they should and shouldn't accept........That has now ended. Through a lack of responsible leadership and decision making, they may get some guests in the future, but the quantity and quality of their available listings will plummet and guests will search elsewhere for something better. Airbnb are going to become.....'bottom feeders'. Your comment about them allowing guests to cancel and rebook at a lower tariff proves that they are already in the bottom feeder, dog eat dog,  category.

We can't just sit around and hope that it will all be like a bad dream and tomorrow morning it will be business as usual.....it won't!

So forget about hoping this company will give you what you are owed...the very least being loyalty, we can't ever hope for that again. Now we as a community need to learn from this and put in strategies to make sure we don't get 'lead up the garden path' like this again.

All the best Reyume.

Cheers......Rob

[Sarah209]

I would like to add my voice to what I can only assume are thousands of other hosts who Airbnb have completely screwed with their policy of 100% cancellation refunds.  Guests have travel insurance that they can claim on.  WE HAVE NOTHING.   We have our mortgages to pay our childcare fees to, food to buy etc etc etc, but Airbnb have effectively cancelled our business and our livelihoods.  They  say they made the decision to stop guests from being tempted to travel but that is just rubbish because people are not allowed to travel in any case!!  Stupid messages from  'founders' telling us that they are with us just adds insult to injury in my opinion – it’s OK for the founders with millions of dollars in your bank accounts but they have neglected the core of your business - us - the hosts.  I can only hope that many of us vote with our feet when this fiasco is finally over and go elsewhere abandoning Airbnb as they have done us. 

[Kim2339]

Well put, being Airbnb is overwhelmed with this.  How can host help them?  This would help where Airbnb leaders can work on resolving issues and ideas to help us all.  Host are having it extremely difficult.  I do worry about Airbnb recovering from this as well as us host.  We need a balance.  Ideas?

[Michael4841]

Thank you for starting this thread @Robin4.  Here’s an idea to start with AirBnB posting this on their site:

Due to the incredible toll C19 is taking on our community, we hope you understand that many hosts and guests are also experiencing difficulties. As we all look forward to better days ahead, we hope our community engages with compassion and understanding.

Hosts with a strict cancellation policies will be asked to honor the 50% refund which AirBNB will process (including refunding all fees) on your behalf. Community members are also free to work out additional  arrangements which might include discounts for upcoming stays or a free night.

Guests may also opt-in to allow hosts to keep 100% of their booking to help, in particularly economically hard hit communities such as NY, WA, CA and Italy.

We are all stronger when we all share the burden of difficult times equally. Thank you for your understanding. 

[Robin4]

@Michael4841 

Michael, thanks for that. It is probably too late now, but that would have been a great suggestion for Airbnb to adopt two months ago when it was clear there was a major virus incident in the making.

It could have worked......people around the world are very generous....we Australians discovered that just recently. The rest of the world donated in excess of $1 Billion to help the bushfire victims in this country. People do help in a time of need.

It was unfortunate that the executive arm of Airbnb felt that damage minimisation rather than generousity and conciliation was the path that they should follow. They did owe a certain dept to the community that got them where they were.....but they didn't see it that way, and will now suffer the consequences of that decision. 

You are 100% right Michael, we are stronger when we band together and share the burden, hopefully some good will come out of this and that we, the community, can be the result of it!

Cheers......Rob

[Trevor36]

How about AirBnB tries to be constructive rather than destructive when it comes to their hosts upon whom their business depends!

I would be delighted if anyone can actually explain WHAT AirBnB has ACTUALLY done to support their hosts in the current situation!

All of my guests received terms and conditions that advised them to take out travel insurance to cover for cancellations yet AirBnB just unilaterally decides to override that and say that they are offering the guest a FULL REFUND and giving me nothing - which is actually untrue anyway - AirBnB is actually retaining a large proportion of what the guest was paying as a credit against a future booking somewhere - that is NOT a full refund.

Way to go AirBnB - it's great that you can keep yourselves afloat while letting us small hosts go to the wall; nice doing business with you!

[Helen3]

Not sure that Airbnb or other STR platforms will be able to keep afloat @Trevor36 . So for many hosts this will affect our longer term viability.

As hosts we can't in any reasonable way expect guests to pay 50% of the costs for a service that we as hosts can longer provide. It is only right that they are not charged.

[Trevor36]

1. But I can expect my guests to take out travel insurance as indeed we recommend in our terms and conditions in case they have to cancel for any reason - I too always take out travel insurance when going on holiday as you never know what might happen.

2. Even these online agents also recommend to guests that they take out travel insurance; indeed I know that Homeaway and VRBO even have links on their websites to Insurance Company affiliates to allow guests to click and get travel insurance.

3. So there's at least one winner out of this sorry situation, the Insurance Companies who wont have to pay out because AirBnB is refunding customers

4. And there again, as I said in my original post, AirBnB is being particularly disingenuous because they are not offering a full refund they are retaining a large amount of the guests money as a travel credit, so at least AirBnB will have some revenues this year!

5. We used to manage our business by working directly with our guests through our website and everything was working fine until these online agents stepped in and began promoting their services and suggesting that peoples bookings would be "safer" if they booked though them and didn't deal directly with the owners - they began sowing little seeds of doubt in our guests minds and charging them (and us) handsomely for the privilige.

6. And without us hosts these online agents would not even have a business and what sort of help have they provided us hosts? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, they haven't even suggested that as a show of good will they might reduce their fees for next year.

7. So the ONLY people getting nothing out of this dire situation is us, the hosts - there was nothing to stop AirBnB applying even a small cancellation charge to the guests so that everyone received something, the host, the guest, AirBnB but no, there's nothing!

8 You may be able to afford not receiving any money from your bookings, I certainly cannot and as far as the demise of AirBnB is concerned, I will lose not a moment of sleep over that; there will always be various middle men prepared to offer their services to my guests and charging them and me large fees for doing so, assuming I am still in business next year!

[Robin4]

@Trevor36 

Trevor it is not as simple as you suggest!

You would well know that, the offer of insurance, and the premium is based on the risk, and since January this year no insurance company anywhere on earth will offer cancellation travel insurance for anything which involves this current pandemic. You can insure against losing your luggage, falling over and breaking your hip, but getting a refund for a known existing event at the time insurance is taken out is simply not possible! 

Because I had two stents inserted in my coronary arteries a decade ago I cannot get travel insurance involving any heart related matters in the US. No travel insurer will offer me a premium or coverage. Elsewhere in the world I am fine, but the potential cost of healthcare in the US is a risk no insurer will accept!

Most of my cancellations were for bookings made this year when the Covid-19 outbreak was a known event and I would guarantee none of those guests who cancelled would have had access to cancellation insurance, even if they had wanted to take it out!

Cheers......Rob

[Linda108]

Your point is well taken, @Robin4 .  Many people think insurance covers stuff is does not until they find out it does not.  Even if you get the insurance before a declared pandemic, many insurers, including health insurers, will have limits applied if there is a declared pandemic.

I think the one size fits all thinking in ANY company is problematic.  For Air BNB to be sweeping about their policies without individualizing circumstances, is not doing anyone any good.  What is needed is an appeal system that is easy.  Front line CS have certain training and authority, supervisors can have another level and managers another level. Each level can have the ability to consider the more individual circumstances.

I was a manager of a health insurance call center before retirement, I acted in that capacity all the time.  Usually I was able to get to the real issue and most of the time able to find in favor of the insured.  If I could not, then there were a couple of levels of appeal after me.

I have never felt the stance that a CS rep decision cannot be reviewed.  Somewhat reminded me of my parents response to my protesting a decision, with the retort "Because I said so." 😛

[Trevor36]

Rob,

I do appreciate that and I am sorry you are in that position.

Sure I realise that once the Coronavirus was known about, getting insurance to cover that would be impossible but that's not what my gripe is about.

All of my cancellations made by AirBnB were for bookings made BEFORE Covid 19 was even known about so insurance cover would not have been a problem.

Still AirBnB cancelled them none the less, at my cost, and even without checking whether they had insurance cover or not!

[Marit-Anne0]

@Trevor36   As far as I understand from reading other forums, many Europeans are covered based on the government travel restrictions, but most US travel insurances have a pandemic clause no matter when they were taken out.

BUT European insurance companies are well avare of the airbnb EC clause and will not pay out anything that can be refunded, that being airbnb, airlines, credit card reclaims etc.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Wende2 

It would have been easiest if they gave guests the opportunity right at the point of refund "We're giving you 100% back (even though you're not entitled)... Please share with your host... how much can you spare? 25%, 30%, 40%.." Where the guest here doesn't need to go online to fill out a form it would be so simple. Probably not liked by the finance department though, as lesser value travel vouchers would need to be issued and actual cash might need to leave the bank.