Guest honesty - UK Covid Travel Quarantine booking requests

[Helen2404]

I am getting a lot of booking requests asking me to book but the reason is unclear.

When I ask further I either get no reply or it is a to UK Covid Travel Quarantine.  

That is if I am not deceived - I have been deceived once so far by a woman saying she was working from home but in fact flew in from Amber Warning listed Uganda - I have been asking for help from Airbnb about this guest for 5 weeks and how to make a formal complaint for the last week and nothing back so far.  

My home is not safe for UK Covid Travel Quarantine guests coming from Amber Warning list countries for  ten days quarantine. It puts myself, my household and my other Airbnb guests in danger as well as our and their communities. There is a shared hallway, kitchen, lounge and ventilation. 

I am relying on the honesty of the guest when accepting bookings. This evidently isn’t working. 

I have asked if I can mark my listings as not safe for Covid Quarantine but Airbnb say that is prejudice.

 I have been told I should have sympathy for the position of Airbnb staff and that the Airbnb rules have worked for a long time. 

I am penalised by Airbnb for not accepting these bookings or for letting them expire. When I ask guests to withdraw their request I am told that its my problem, am ignored or in one case so far told that I am stupid and offensive by a prospective guest. I ask Airbnb what to do and they close the support case threads. 

I also can’t be made to be responsible for travellers breaking their quarantine. This has already very nearly been a problem with the guest and Airbnb bullying me to give a full refund. I had to remind Airbnb of their cancellation policy time and again so I was not made responsible for the guest walking out on day two. 
 

How have you dealt with these quarantine booking requests? What have you done when the guest breaks quarantine? 

I would be grateful to know your experiences. Please help.

[Shaun69]

HI @Helen2404 , You are certainly in a difficult position and I totally support the fact that you are trying to play by the UK rules. All of my lodges are detached so we do not have the same problems with shared spaces. May I suggest that you have a look at the passenger locator form which is available online and will give you a much better idea on what data passengers from "amber listed countries" have to supply to the authorities. I know it will not help you with the dishonest guest but it will probably assist you when dealing with BNB c/s. Kind regards Shaun.

[Helen3]

Hi @Helen2404 

As part of my IB questions I ask all guests to a) confirm where they are travelling from b) confirm the purpose of their stay. This helps me identify if anyone wants to stay who wants to quarantine. 

Have you put up front in your listing your place is not suitable for quarantine stays?

To be honest you are likely to be no more  at risk from quarantine guests then you are from other guests that you accept from the UK who may not have been vaccinated. 

[Helen2404]

@Helen3  I was getting so many quarantine enquiries I asked Airbnb if I could mark my listing as not safe for UK covid travel quarantine. They told me I should not as it would seen as prejudice.  

I have also been asking where the guest is travelling from and the purpose of their stay. This weeded out 9 out of 10 third-party and travel covid quarantine bookings. Where I came unstuck was the first booking who replied saying she was coming to ‘work from home’ for a month.  In fact she was flying in from Uganda to quarantine at mine for the beginning of her quarantine, use my address to satisfy that travel requirement and protect her London based family with the intention of moving out after a few days breaking her quarantine. 

[Sarah977]

@Helen2404  I have a hard time understanding your concerns. As @Helen3  pointed out, a shared home listing makes you vulnerable to infection from any guest, not just those who have to quarantine. That is why I have had my home-share blocked to bookings since March 2020. I'm not willing to take the risk.

[Helen2404]

UPDATE:
Thanks everyone here and those who got in touch. Its been horrible but I am happy to say that I am off the Airbnb platform now. Listings deactivated. It feels great.
I may have to get back on in future I suppose if our finances get desperate but be assured I will be using Airbnb very differently then and with huge caution.
Now I feel a little conflicted about whether to write to the Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, brian.chesky@airbnb.com (thank you UK Citizens Advice). Honestly I don’t think it will make an ounce of difference and I am a bit sick of doing the right thing and being ignored or abused for it. Ironically I feel a little guilty for not helping more to protect other hosts. I am well aware that the truth always comes out everytime time but I worry that Airbnb’s truth will be forced out when someone like me comes to harm directly because of their neglect and lack of a formal complaints procedure in the UK. (Or any country as far as I have discovered from miserable fellow Airbnb hosts.)
At least tonight I have peace of mind for my little family.