Throw the hosts a few peanuts and then screw them by extending the EC policy to May 31st. Thanks.
31-03-2020
01:20 AM
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31-03-2020
01:20 AM
Throw the hosts a few peanuts and then screw them by extending the EC policy to May 31st. Thanks.
Hosts with strict policies now get 12.5% of the rental (25% of 50%). This is about the same amount as the Airbnb fee which they kept (while refunding ALL of the host's money) and issued guests a 'voucher'. So essentially we're getting the voucher money, which costs Airbnb nothing. So generous of you to give us the money you didn't refund to the guests. Great, that'll pay about 15% of my mortgage.
And you couldn't scrounge up more than $10m out of your $3 Billion dollar cash hoard? I wonder how many superhosts will even qualify given the restrictions. And I'm guessing 'up to $5,000' means a couple people will get $5000 and the rest of us will get 500.
The rest of the 'benefits' are meaningless.
The EC policy is devastating to hosts. By extending it to May 31st you're showing once again how little you care or value hosts. Not surprising but it shows your true character.
79 Replies 79
03-04-2020
04:02 AM
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03-04-2020
04:02 AM
And about the other factors?
Do you think Airbnb will be stronger when things returns to normal? What is your opinion?
I think Airbnb may continue to dominate the home-stay market. If you notice, the majority of those who support Airbnb during this crisis are hosts on site.
As for the holiday lettings and off-site accommodation market, it is difficult to foresee a bright future. ABB is destroying their base of partners.
03-04-2020
04:02 AM
03-04-2020
04:14 AM
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03-04-2020
04:14 AM
@J-Renato0 I'm not venturing any guesses as to what will happen to these platforms when the smoke clears. I don't speculate much on things I'm not qualified to make an informed opinion about or on which there isn't any hard evidence, like the existence of God or what happens to us after we die. I'll only know when the time comes, and until then, I don't waste brain cells speculating and it doesn't bother me not to know.
I'd be quite happy to have a platform which only listed home-stays and on-site host properties, whether it ends up being Airbnb or some other new platform with more regard for its hosts. Those and the off-site, property managed entire house listings never belonged on the ame platform anyway, unless they are clearly separated in search functions. Some guests want no interaction with a host and some are looking for exactly that. It would be nice if guests could easily find whichever type they prefer without having to read through all the listing descriptions.
03-04-2020
04:33 AM
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03-04-2020
04:33 AM
I see @Sarah977 🙂
Sorry, I just asked you because you asked me "which platform do you think guests will be more inclined to use in the future? "
I thought you were interested in that matter as whole.
As for me, I am concerned with the future. I like to have my things under my control.
Again, I am sorry! Have a good night! 🙂
03-04-2020
04:33 AM
03-04-2020
04:43 AM
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03-04-2020
04:43 AM
@J-Renato0 Nothing to be sorry about as far as what you asked me. Yes, I do think guests who had holiday bookings on both platforms will use the one in the future (if there is a future for these platforms) that they received a 100% refund from. As for guests who only had bookings to cancel on one or the other, or guests who weren't affected by COVID cancellations, I have no idea. I do think it's wrong of guests to fault a platform, rather than individual hosts, though. Some hosts on VRBO agreed to refund guests 100% due to COVID, just as some hosts on Airbnb wouldn't have if they hadn't been forced to.
03-04-2020
10:13 AM
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03-04-2020
10:13 AM
The VRBO guests (and only a minority of those who chose not to adequately protect themselves by purchasing comprehensive travel insurance) only started to kick off after Airbnb's global media campaign, blasting out to the world that their lucky guests - who aren't required to take responsibility for their own travel disruptions - would be getting 100% refunds.
Airbnb's risky and ill-advised gamble to appease guests at the expense of hosts has backfired terribly, for a number of reasons. Firstly, they've managed to alienate a huge percentage of their host base, many of whom were previously fiercely loyal to the company. That will have serious long-term repercussions, and apart from losing many of their best and most experienced hosts, it will certainly constitute a huge deterrent to a large number of potential new hosts, who may have been considering throwing their hat in the Airbnb ring.
Secondly, guests have been having nightmares trying to get their full refunds, due to massive CX failures, incorrect manual processing, untrained staff, miscalculations, glitches, inability to get responses etc etc. So even many of those who have eventually managed to get their refunds, still won't use Airbnb again. (I had one guest message me last night whose cancellation notification indicates that he's due a refund of $368. He received a grand total of $9, and after repeated attempts to get clarification, over the space of three weeks, he still has no answers as to how that happened, where the missing $359 has gone (his host received $0), and when - if ever - he'll receive the balance)
Thirdly, the long delay in extending the deadline to May 31st resulted in guests with upcoming reservations posting furiously all over the internet - including Airbnb's own official FB and Twitter pages, decrying the lack of information forthcoming from the company on what their plans might or might not be, leaving them in limbo. Also, guests with reservations as far away as the end of the year are now losing their minds and stridently demanding their entitlements to full 100% refunds right now too, which is causing untold friction.
Probably the most insidious and irreparably damaging consequence of the whole debacle is the all-out war it's ignited amongst the fabled Airbnb "community" - hosts are hating on hosts, guests are hating on hosts, hosts are hating on guests, and just about everyone is hating on Airbnb. The ugliness and nastiness that's flying about everywhere is just shocking to behold - some of the messages I've seen between guests and hosts would make your hair stand on end. Tempers are frayed, emotions are running out of control, and much of the stuff being posted on social media - from both sides - is just horrendous.
As for the self-stated cornerstone of Airbnb's brand image - "trust" has well and truly left the building, never to return. One thing that the company failed to take into account - even though they may have quite happily have accepted their 100% refunds (or in lots of cases, were gifted them even where they hadn't requested them), many guests still also feel that Airbnb have treated their hosts appallingly, and are acutely aware that they've been screwed over. Whether or not one has personally borne the brunt of such cavalier and unethical behaviour, it will still have the unfortunate effect of making people extremely wary of dealing with that company again, in case they're the ones on the receiving end next time.
So all in all, it appears that rather than placing all their money on the one horse, Airbnb really should have plumped for an each-way bet.
03-04-2020
06:07 PM
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04-04-2020
05:01 PM
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04-04-2020
05:01 PM
You have raised a very very important key point here, quote
"I certainly don't like any company that has policies which unilaterally favor one party over another as a normal practice."
Very well said, this is the route they have decided to take for quite sometime, it has been very sad for me to experience this, the good thing I do on my end and I actually encourage others to do since I cannot change how they handle their business I have chosen to use other channels and give Airbnb less business every day.
Thanks for bringing that up
04-04-2020
04:20 AM
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04-04-2020
04:20 AM
@Sarah977 Whichever is cheapest. People forget very quickly and will usually side with their wallet.
04-04-2020
07:29 PM
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04-04-2020
07:29 PM
Agree with you @Juan63. In the future, the guests will pick the best and less expensive accommodations.
From the part of hosts, they certainly will prioritaze the most trustworth company. It is pretty hard that the hosts will forget the losses that a company has inflicted to them by being biased. I am forced to prioritaze another company.
I may continue using Airbnb in the future, but I will never trust in this company to let them fill up entirely my calendar.
I do not trust anymore to let some of the most expensive and mostr profitable dates of my calendar to be booked via Airbnb. Fortunatelly, the C-Virus crises did not happened during my local high season.
Even before C-Virus crises, about 2 or 3 months ago, Airbnb returned 100% (regarding strict cancellation policy) to a guest due to Extenuating Circumstances. Meaning... certainly the guest did not have travel insurance... than Airbnb forced me to play the insurance company!!!! E.C. should not apply at the discretion of Airbnb. It should be at the discretion of the host to accept the claim to return money or not. Better say, E.C. should not exist.
The old adage - "Never put all your eggs in the same basket"
04-04-2020
07:29 PM
01-04-2020
08:23 AM
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01-04-2020
08:23 AM
At least you are getting something.
Those of us who wanted to make things super smooth for our guests by giving them a flexible cancellation get absolutely nothing.
01-04-2020
08:36 AM
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01-04-2020
08:36 AM
Question: If I have a "moderate" cancellation policy and guests canceled more than 5 days ahead because of the corona virus, do I get nothing from Airbnb? That doesn't seem fair if that's the way it's going to work.
01-04-2020
08:36 AM
01-04-2020
09:47 AM
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01-04-2020
09:47 AM
It gets worse....
As it turns out, Airbnb is being even shiftier behind this new "support the hosts by giving them a petty, miniscule part refund" policy.
We have just supported a guest in cancelling their reservation due to COVID. Given that Airbnb has announced they will be extending their COVID extenuating circumstances policy to offer guests 100% refund for stays beginning before the end of May we advised the guests of the policy extensions and assured the guest that we would support them in getting a full refund for their reservation.
The guest has contacted us to ket us know that the only option offered when doing the online cancellation was CREDIT for their stay,. Airbnb did not offer them the option of a full refund, DESPITE their marketing campaign noting that they have extended the COVID extenuating circumstances policy. The reason provided by Airbnb during online cancellation was "DUE TO THE HOSTS' CANCELLATION POLICY". Hosts are being blamed and thrown under the bus by Airbnb yet again!
We have a Strict cancellation policy. Under the newly released, token "Airbnb are supporting hosts" marketing policy, we would be due some payment (albeit tiny). It seems that Airbnb is trying to avoid having to pay hosts OR guests any money at all by offering only Credit to guests, and then blaming hosts for not offering a full refund, destroying goodwill between hosts and guests, but maintaining Airbnb's image.
Crappy, shoddy, shifty behaviour from Airbnb again.
We are trying to contact Airbnb to support the guest in getting a refund, but of course haven't yet been able to get in contact
02-04-2020
04:56 PM
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02-04-2020
04:56 PM
@Jo56 are you saying that BnB is giving full refunds to guest and then are paying them with vouchers ? A guest said something to me yesterday about receiving a voucher for half her stay, and I told her that was the first I had heard. That would be totally wrong if BnB wont allow the host to do that and then turn around and do it themselves. Is this something you have heard from more than one guest?
02-04-2020
04:56 PM
02-04-2020
06:05 PM
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02-04-2020
06:05 PM
I have seen a screenshot from a guest confirming that, in case of cancellation, he has two options: either a 50% refund in cash or a 100% refund in the form of vouchers. He was also under the strong impression that the host would be paid as per normal cancellation terms. The duplicity and lack of clarity about what is actually happening are extremely irritating. Why can Airbnb not state - plainly and simply - how they are refunding our guests?
02-04-2020
06:05 PM
03-04-2020
12:16 PM
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03-04-2020
12:16 PM
@Sam397 Yes, the guests are ONLY being offered vouchers for their full refund. NO cash refund option, despite the fact the COVID policy says :
Reservations for stays and Airbnb Experiences made on or before 14 March 2020, with a check-in date between 14 March 2020 and 31 May 2020, may be cancelled before check-in. This means that guests who cancel will receive, at their option, travel credit or a full cash refund.
..and the guest told me the reason listed for not offering a cash refund is "due to the hosts' cancellation policy".
03-04-2020
12:16 PM