The end of Airbnb as we know it?

[Kath9]

Here's an interesting article i just came across: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/airbnb-coronavirus-losses

It states that 60% (!!!) of Airbnb hosts have MORE than TWO OTHER listings and argues that Airbnb has become nothing more than a hotel chain. Sadly, I have to agree. As many hosts in this forum know, I have long lamented the transition from the original spirit of Airbnb (staying with locals in their homes) to the rise of the professional host with multiple listings. I take issue with many aspects of this, primarily the housing shortage it has created worldwide, and have long been dismayed at Airbnb's unwillingness to regulate this. The hosts who are now in deep trouble and calling for legal action are mainly those who have multiple listings and have made Airbnb their primary source of income.

If Airbnb manages to survive this crisis, it is my sincere hope that it goes back to its core values and becomes a true home-sharing platform once again. 

[Fred13]

@Melodie-And-John0 Unfortunately it took me forever to learn that sometimes and on some subjects the best word is the one not said.

We are all a circle of beliefs and emotions, when portions of our self matches that of another, why we have something in common; now we get fortunately to exchange and learn from each other. Is it not necessary  to change the conversation and get into areas that have no relevancy to what we indeed have in common.  

[Melodie-And-John0]

Indeed, like being rightfully peed off at our ground hog, Punxsutawny Phil who got it wrong yet again a couple months ago when he said we would have a short winter and early spring.  It snowed yesterday at 44 degrees. My Daffodils arent pleased at all and the Robins are looking at me saying What the Hell John, do we have to dig the snow for worms?   Its just not right, that whistle pigs gotta go, wonder what he would taste like in a stew?   Im just sayin....  JR

[Sarah977]

@Robin4  "There, have I missed anything!"

8/ Lies

[Robin4]

@Sarah977 

Sorry Sarah, I didn't want to be seen as bitchy, but yes, I probably would have put that one at number 2 on my list!

Cheers......Rob

[Alon1]

@Kath9 

Even 'if Airbnb manages to survive this crisis,' and realizes your  'sincere hope... '; the underlying and fundamental question is when is this crisis going to end? 

We've entered a new era and we're in the pre-Vaccine & medicinal stage of that era. Until we reach the risk free stage, which in all likelihood isn't for several years and further given that we don't  even know yet if immunity is guaranteed for someone who has had the Virus ; all live-in Hosts are going to have to face the reality that there is a potentially life & death risk of accepting anyone into one's home.

[Susan17]

Hi @Alon1

Good to see you back here, I was wondering where you'd disappeared to! I know this must be a terribly difficult time for you, as it is for many of us for whom our hosting income is/has been crucial. I do hope you're staying safe and well, and managing to find ways to navigate through this horrible crisis

Just to let you know, I tried to respond to the PM you sent me a while back - several times - but my messages wouldn't go through. Then all this COVID stuff blew up, and it completely slipped my mind until I saw your post here. Tried again just now to PM you, but of course, same old story - message just disappeared into cyberspace. 

I'd love to hear how the situation you were telling me about panned out, so please feel free to email me on xxxxxxxx. Hopefully, you'll see this message in time ro take down my email address, as I'll be deleting it in about half an hour, before the allocated time to edit our CC posts runs out. Don't particularly want my email address staying up here forever! Hope to hear from you 🙂 

[Susan17]

@Alon1

Email rec'd. Will respond shortly, just at supermarket for essential supplies (incl. chocolate!) 🙂 

[Robin4]

@Susan17 

You would have a field day here.....every guest get a block of Lindts chocolate!

I had one guest who found her way into my restock cupboard and helped herself to 9 blocks!

My 24 blocks overnight turned into 15.....I hope she got a belly ache!

On a more heart-wrenching front, are you seeing any of these. They are coming through to me at the rate of about 50-70 per day

It appears Airbnb are simply a black hole for money

Cheers.......Rob 

[Susan17]

@Robin4

Sorry to say, Rob - if you left all those delicious Lindt choccy bars in the same room as me, there'd probably be none left when you came back! And I'd have put on about 2 stone in weight! 😂

Re the refund complaint - yes, I'm seeing a lot of them. And almost invariably, they're accompanied by a sad, heart-rending story about the guests travelling with babies, or elderly parents/grandparents, or vulnerable family members with serious medical ailments, or it was a once-in-a-lifetime trip, or their honeymoon etc etc, and that's why they should be entitled to a full 100% refund, and the host should be left with nothing.

And the first thing that goes through my mind is... "Well, why on earth would you even think about travelling without full and comprehensive  travel insurance in the first place then?" That's not what responsible, ethical travellers who take personal accountability for their own travel mishaps and for protecting themselves and their vulnerable loved ones do. And nor do responsible, ethical travellers expect others to pick up the tab for them when things go wrong, as they so very often do when travelling.

Nobody's going to pay my medical bills, if I choose not to purchase health insurance. And if the level of cover I do purchase doesn't cover me for my local hospital because I chose a cheaper package, then that's on me when I get sick and have to go to one of the lesser hospitals further away. 

[Robin4]

@Susan17 

Susan, I think you know the answer to that.......Airbnb does not let the opportunity go by to tell their users how they have their backs covered. Airbnb has this wonderful safety net that is there to pick up the pieces when things go wrong. 

The same with hosts, they don't take out insurance because they have been told there is no need to, The company have already covers them.  You have been here long enough to have seen those posts....."I am a new host and I just want to ask, is Airbnb host protection scheme the same as insurance!"  They have been told it is, they just want a bit of validation.

I have actually seen a lot of guest responses to hosts which say...."Well you are okay because Airbnb insures their hosts, so you won't be losing!"

Once again, another charred olive branch Susan!

Cheers.....Rob

[Huma0]

@Robin4 

Very true. A few days after I first listed on Airbnb, I got a call from a rep asking me why I had set such a high deposit (it wasn't high, it was about £400 for a newly decorated, very nicely furnished three bedroom apartment in a smart complex). He told me it was completely unnecessary because I was fully covered by Airbnb's insurance for any sort of damages. I though, "Oh great!" never considering that this might not quite be the case. However, I left the deposit as it was.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Susan17 

But patients wouldn't be expected to pay for a surgery or treatment that was scheduled then later cancelled because the hospital was shut down. 

[Susan17]

@Jessica-and-Henry0  

Well the patients certainly wouldn't be expecting to be given a voucher from the hospital to use for treatment with a different surgeon elsewhere at some point in the future.

Nor would they be expecting to be told by the hospital that they had to go negotiate with their surgeon to try and get their money back, while the hospital creamed a hefty percentage off the top for their "intervention" 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Susan17 

Agree.... and a surgeon wouldn't expect to be paid for a surgery that was scheduled but didn't happen either. 

I've expressed in other posts many times.... HOW Airbnb went about handling refunds regarding covid-19 cancellations is the absolute worst.  Even before all this...... when they thought it was okay to *reach out on behalf of the guest* to pressure/trick hosts into a refund is unethical.  Cancellations, refunds, payments.... everything has been really sloppy and irresponsible, to say the least. Their inconsistency in applying their own rules is ridiculously consistent. 

[Susan17]

@Jessica-and-Henry0 

By law,

burden cannot and should not be placed entirely on one party in any contractual agreement.

Hosts stood ready and willing to provide the service in question, as per their part of the agreement with their guests. It is no more their fault, than it is the fault of the guests, that the service they agreed to provide, was not/could not be availed of, due to circumstances beyond the control of both parties. Consequently, it is both unfair and unlawful that one party (hosts) should be/have been forced to assume 100% of the burden. 

"It is trite law that it is, in any event, impossible to assign "the contract" as a whole, i.e. including both burden and benefit. The burden of a contract can never be assigned without the consent of the other party to the contract in which event such consent will give rise to a novation"

(Novation - the transfer of contractual obligations)

Also.

" Neither at law or in equity could the burden of a contract be shifted off the shoulders of a contractor on to those of another without the consent of the contractee.'"

Furthermore.. 

"The principle that the burden of a contract cannot be transferred so as to discharge the original contractor without the consent of the other party means that, as a general rule, the assignee of the benefit of a contract involving mutual rights and obligations does not acquire the assignor's contractual obligations"