Guests breaching COVID 19 rules... where is the Airbnb support?

[Alexandra199]

I have been inundated this week with bookings from guests who live in UK Tier 3 areas. Government guidance says these guests are not allowed to travel out of their Tier 3 area, except in exceptional circumstances. A nice little holiday in an Airbnb is not one of those exceptions!

I've had guests lie to me, ask me to turn a blind eye, argue the guidance etc but I am following the rules and as a result I have had to refuse or cancel over £2000 work of bookings this week. The vast majority of guests attempting to book have been from Tier 3 London, they don't think the rules apply to them. My issue here is two fold:

(1) Where is the help from Airbnb to follow the rules, many of  these guests are registered as living in London yet there doesn't seem to be any restriction on their ability to book. Added to that if I cancel their stay once ive found they are breaching the rules, the dates get blocked on my calendar.

(2) I'm starting to wonder if I'm being an idiot stringently following the rules. Other local properties are all fully booked, are these owners turning a blind eye? Do they just not care?

What are you doing to keep to the rules? In my opinion we are in this mess because people arent following the rules....I'm just trying to do my bit.

[Helen350]

@Sarah977 Evidence that masks are useless - from a medical doctor! 

https://sebastianrushworth.com/2020/11/19/covid-19-new-evidence-on-facemasks/ 

[Sarah977]

"A" medical doctor? So what, Helen. One person's opinion isn't accepted science.

Want a visual even a child can understand?  https://ca.news.yahoo.com/face-mask-cold-air-demo-covid-19-222417215.html

@Helen350

[Helen350]

@Sarah977 - Try https://www.sott.net/article/438827-A-classic-fallacious-argument-If-masks-dont-work-then-why-do-sur... 

[Sarah977]

That's a religious website, run by Seventh Day Adventists. @Helen350

[Sarah977]

https://www.newsguardtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/SOTT.net-2-28-20.pdf

"A website that has repeatedly published false claims and conspiracy theories on subjects ranging from the Sept.11 terror attacks to vaccines".

Now I see what kind of publications you choose to get your information from.   

@Helen350

[Sarah977]

And that link you posted has been removed. I wonder why? @Helen350

[Helen350]

The link is still there @Sarah977 . I just revisited. Why should Dr Sebastian Rushworth's  articles be discounted? He says studies show masks don't stop viruses.  Google Sebastian Rushworth masks for several articles. OR CLICK THE LINK ON THE RIGHT HAND COLUMN of the Ooops 404 page my link brings up.

Why SUCH a fuss about Covid, when there are other respiratory illnesses that can kill? SO WHAT if most of us get Covid? We don't panic about the normal flu or the common cold. I had a bad chest/cough for months last winter, from about Jan -May. Didn't bother the doctor, just let it get better come summer. Did I quarantine? No! Did I worry I would pass it on? No, we all get these things, that's life!

I once spent a year in Papua New Guinea, knowing I could get Malaria. Did people say, You must not go, you might catch Malaria? No! (I DID get Malaria, & so did my husband, not at the same time.)

Life is for living! Why is a life well lived dependant on making that life as long as possible? - I guess our generation no longer accepts the reality of death like people did a century ago?

I'm beginning to think the world wide attacks on liberty ARE tyranny; now that it's gone on so long... And the prophesies of doom never came true, nowhere near as many folk died as predicted, those who died were mainly 80+ with ill health, and the second wave has very few deaths, but loads of so-called positive tests with people who are not ill so no problem.

[Sarah977]

Coronavirus vs. Flu Deaths

COVID-19: There have been approximately 1,665,008 deaths reported worldwide. In the U.S, 310,792 people have died of COVID-19 between January 2020 and December 18, 2020.*

Flu: The World Health Organization estimates that 290,000 to 650,000 people die of flu-related causes every year worldwide.

The COVID-19 situation is changing rapidly. Since this disease is caused by a new virus, the vast majority of people do not yet have immunity to it, and a vaccine may be many months away. Doctors and scientists are working to estimate the mortality rate of COVID-19, but at present, it is thought to be substantially higher (possibly 10 times or more) than that of most strains of the flu.

*This information comes from the Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases map developed by the Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and ...

Not the same at all, but of course someone who has their mind made up that it's no big deal can't be reasoned with and won't believe anything that doesn't jive with their own ideas.  @Helen350

[Sarah977]

Hospitals in Mexico City are filled to capacity with COVID patients. They are setting up makeshift ICUs in the parking lots. A woman just died from COVID yesterday on the steps of the hospital because there were no beds available. The same thing is going on in places all over the world. Ever hear of that happening with influenza?

Yet there you sit, in your quiet little spot in the UK, denying that any of this is true. It's infuriating and highly disrespectful. 

@Helen350

[Helen350]

@Alexandra199 If it's YOUR house (home share or whole listing), then you jolly well CAN tell them what they can & can't do! - I'm not sure whether we hosts are breaking the law, by hosting from Tier 3, but when guests would be breaking the law by leaving home, then I'm not comfortable aiding & abetting someone else's law breaking... 

[Jane563]

Hi Alexandra

As I live in the property I rent a room in, I’ve found the easiest way is to stop taking bookings for a while.  

At the moment I will not bend on allowing kitchen use, but I still had guests trying to get me to make an exception. I’ve had them refuse to say what country they are arriving from, or where in the Uk they are travelling from. One lady in particular obviously had no intention of self isolating once she was in the country.

I want to spend Christmas with my sister so I need to keep us both safe. Brighton is still in tier 2 and the local residents would like to stay that way.

I’m getting self employed allowance so I will be okay - I’m not judging anyone else who needs keep their listing filled. However, I will not be letting my spare room on airbnb (except to regulars I trust) until this is done. 

For what it’s worth, I think once this is over there will be an explosion of people wanting to travel.

[Alexandra199]

Yes thank you Jane, I understand your position to totally. My cottages are separate from my home and they are my full time business and work so there is a lot riding on me keeping my business going. I see that you have also been approached by guest wanting you to bend the rules.

[Emilia42]

I agree with @Helen350 in that I don't want Airbnb to police. I am glad they don't. 

A guest's "location" on their Airbnb profile truly means nothing. Are guests giving you written confirmation that they are traveling from the areas that they shouldn't be? What do they say when you tell them the rules and that they are breaking them? I have found that many guests are guilt-tripped into backing out. 

[Alexandra199]

Yes, most people have felt awkward when i have asked questions and have fessed up that they are breaking the rules. They then offer to cancel which i agree to.....i suspect they then just go elsewhere to a host who isnt bothered about where they come from. It would be nice to feel that once they had been caught out Airbnb woild prevent them from booking elsewhere especially given they block my calendar if i cancel them.

Airbnb are happy to police the potential booking i lost this evening to a lady who wanted to boom NYE for two nights. They stopped the booking because it looked like they might have a party. This lady had 8 perfect reviews. 

[Colleen253]

@Alexandra199 Are you doing IB? Disable it if you are, so you can ask questions and suss out the questionable bookings beforehand. Easier to decline a request than cancel a booking.