I have written to AirBnB thus:
Good day
I'm afraid I can not continue to do business with an organisation which so totally disregards the interests of its partners. In the morning I will examine the cost implications of this disastrous policy. Clearly, I can have no confidence in an organisation which treats its partners with such shameful contempt. I would expose my business to even greater risk if I continue in a relationship knowing that you are likely to make similar policy changes indiscriminately relating to reservations covering a different time frame in the future.
I'd be very surprised if most, if not all, of your host partners do not feel likewise, and choose to cancel all reservations made with Airbnb.
Will you not stress to the guests affected that you are obliged, both morally and legally, to stand by the agreements you have made with your partner hosts, and offer assistance to these guests to provide evidence to assist them with claims against their travel insurance companies?
Clearly, if you were applying this change of policy when hosts had agreed to it because they were unable to accept guests due to the virus, that would be very different, but to unilaterally and indiscriminately apply this policy, knowing that your hosts will have no resort to an insurance claim, and may well be put out of business, is morally obscene.
It would be much more sensible for me to cancel all resetvations made through AirBnB and rely on other OTAs, such as Expedia, Booking.com, HomeAway to take up the slack. They all treat their hosts fairly.
Kind Regards
