Do hosts have to refund due to lockdown

[Kristy15]

As a host I have a strict cancellation policy so had assumed that even in lockdown I would not have to refund guests. BUT Airbnb isn’t making it clear whether it’s the guest that loses out or the host. Are we expected to give them their money back as they are not legally allowed to stay? Who’s rights outweigh the others? I want to do the right thing but have had to refund so much money back this year so am starting to struggle to pay to keep the property going. Any advice gratefully received. 

[Sarah977]

@Kristy15  If there is lockdown either in the host's area or the guest's, so that they aren't allowed to travel, yes, a full refund is given. It's not a matter of 'giving their money back', because you don't have their money at that point, Airbnb does and will issue the refund.

It also isn't a question of whose rights outweigh the other's. It's a matter of govt. regs to control a pandemic. Neither guest nor host have control over that. 

If a guest uses COVID simply as an excuse to cancel the booking, that's a different story, but if lockdowns make it impossible for the host to take guests or the guest to leave their area, a refund certainly seems fair to me.

[Helen350]

..... it's also the LAW in the UK to refund the guest when government legislation has made it illegal = impossible to provide a service, - Google "frustrated contracts".

@Kristy15 

[Kristy15]

Thanks both. Its therefore very confusing why Airbnb don’t automatically refund all guests then, why is it a hosts choice whether to accept a cancellation or not? Also when I have provided a full refund to my guest, which has now been for over 15 bookings, why do Airbnb say thank you for being so reasonable as if it is my choice, if it’s in law? Very mixed messaging coming through which isn’t helpful for either party involved. 

[Colleen253]

@Kristy15  "Its therefore very confusing why Airbnb don’t automatically refund all guests then, why is it a hosts choice whether to accept a cancellation or not? "

What's probably happening here is the guest is just hitting the cancel button without contacting Airbnb first. Your cancellation policy is being applied automatically. It's then up to you to take the ball and run with it, as far as then authorizing Airbnb to give the guest ALL their money back. You know the rules and laws you should be following in your locale. It's going to differ a bit, depending where you're located, and at any given point in time. Airbnb is a global platform. If you were to dig in your heels and refuse refund, the guest would just have to go to Airbnb, who would then over ride you and refund.

[Sarah977]

@Kristy15  According to the revised cancellation policy guests get fully refunded for govt. restrictions if they provide documentation. So maybe your guests are just using the option to request a refund from the host instead of following that procedure?

Or maybe Airbnb isn't telling guests to submit the documentation as the policy states, who knows.

While I don't think it would be fair for a host to keep the guest's money if travel is govt. restricted, I do think Airbnb should let hosts keep say $25-$30 on each booking. It wouldn't pay the bills, but would at least acknowledge the time hosts have spent communicating with booked guests. Similar to a company retaining service and handling charges even if they refund for a returned item.

And I don't think most reasonable guests would object to that.