This is getting out of hand with the cancellation policy

[Christopher375]

Is there not a time restriction on guests cancelling at the last minute and claiming covid?  We had a reservation placed earlier this year, the arrival is in a few days.  The guest just now cancelled and received a full refund and it is way too late for us to rebook the dates.  It seems that there should be a cutoff.  They would have qualified for the refund had they canceled a few weeks ago.  Now we are left with nothing.

Also, are new covid dates retroactive?  A guest cancelled in April for a July reservation, knowing she did not qualify for a full refund.  Now she is constantly emailing and calling because she wants a full refund almost three months after the cancellation, because the date was extended into July.  Does this mean anyone cancelling earlier this year can now request a full refund?  Our entire tourist town is now up and running and would have been for her dates.  This entire situation is a mess for hosts.

[Beth3711]

Anyone else think they need an in between moderate and strict?? I mean 5 days for full refund to never a full refund is a big leap. I would think a 14 or 30 day would be a good in between.

[Beth3711]

It seems there is no end to covid cancellation policy. We just had someone cancel for September due to covid! I had strict policy and they got a full refund. Thankfully it’s far enough out I can get rebooked I hope.  And we don’t even have restrictions where I live now. There has to be an end date at some point.

[Gordon0]

It's undoubtedly a very messy situation, @Christopher375, and what makes it worse is different parts of the world (even countries) are at different stages. As for the cancelled guest calling you, simply refer her to Airbnb CS. It isn't for you to waste energy on. 

I suspect many would-be guests will see the pandemic as the perfect carte blanche to get out of bookings for all sorts of unconnected reasons. 

[Anonymous]

@Christopher375 I haven't yet heard of the Extenuating Circumstances clause being applied retroactively to bookings cancelled months ago, so I'd expect that the guest who cancelled in April is out of luck. However, Airbnb has been so inconsistent with the cancellation policy that just about anything could happen at this point. 

We can expect that any outstanding booking that was placed before March 14 will be eligible for a full refund at some point, even if it's for Christmas. But it's not going to be localized. Hosts shouldn't fool themselves into thinking that it makes a difference whether services in their specific town are "up and running" again, because at no point was that among the criteria. 

[Amanda660]

I had a chap who was travelling at the end of June cancelled in the first half of April despite me advising him to wait until

the EC dates were bumped forward to allow him a full discount.

Despite that he cancelled regardless and started hounding me via messenger for a retrospective refund despite being told no from Airbnb.  He began getting very personal and aggressive so I blocked him.