An update on changes to the Strict cancellation policy

[Lizzie]

Hello everyone,

We recently announced that we’re updating our Strict cancellation policy. Starting May 1, 2018, guests will have the option to cancel for free within 48 hours of booking, as long as their check-in date is at least 14 days away.

In response to this announcement, many of you voiced concerns about Airbnb sharing your details with guests who may cancel. We take your privacy very seriously, so thank you for that feedback—it inspired important updates that give you more control over when your listing details and contact information are shared with guests.  

Here’s how we’re addressing your concerns

You can choose not to share your address, phone number, and last name with guests during the period that they can cancel for free. Guests will never see these details if they cancel their reservation during the free cancellation window.

To use this feature, go to Listing > Listing details > Edit location in your Airbnb account. Under Visibility for booked guests, check the box next to Share details with guests after the free cancellation period.  

This feature will be available to all hosts on May 1, regardless of their cancellation policy (Strict, Flexible, Moderate). And just in case you missed the announcement, here’s what’s changing for hosts who have a Strict cancellation policy:

• Guests will get a full refund if they cancel within 48 hours of booking, as long as their check-in date is at least 14 days away. This means that even if a guest books a reservation months in advance, they’re only able to get a full refund if they cancel within the first 48 hours after booking.  
• Guests can only get 3 full refunds per year. After that, guests will no longer be able to cancel for free.
• To discourage guests from making multiple reservations for the same dates and then cancelling, overlapping reservations aren’t eligible for a full refund.

This change helps hosts with a Strict cancellation policy compete with listings that offer guests more flexibility. Guests feel more confident booking reservations that give them room to make changes or fix booking mistakes immediately. The updated policy gives guests this flexibility, but only for 48 hours after they book.

Airbnb is committed to the success of all hosts and we know changes impact how you work. We don’t make changes like these without extensive testing, and after we change the policy on May 1st, we’ll continue to monitor the impact by providing the grace period to a portion of guests before making it available to all guests. As we roll this out, we’ll continue to listen to your valuable feedback.

Thanks,

Lizzie

[Ann10]

@KandT0-Typical!

[Kelly149]

@Lizzie I'm set to Moderate and the hide details button is not available to me.

Will I have to check back after May 1 to find it??

"This feature will be available to all hosts on May 1, regardless of their cancellation policy (Strict, Flexible, Moderate)."

[David2118]

@Lizzie,

Extremely disappointed in Airbnb and their mafioso tactics. Since clearly Airbnb is not paying attention, I too will look elsewhere for my listing and only use Airbnb for bookings where my strict policy can be applied.

Please request your technical team clarify the following edge use cases: hopefully it's all be thought through, even if it hasn't been communicated well at all to us. Please then UPDATE THE CANCELLATION POLICY NOTES so that everyone understands how this policy will apply precisely. 

I'm sure you know that guests will find these edge cases very confusing and I hope Airbnb is prepared for its liability, because 1 second past the cancellation period, I will never refund more than 50%. Before I was quite lenient, but now I expect Airbnb to take full responsibility. Further, I recommend a perpetual timer for both guests and hosts with a countdown on exactly how much time remains in the 48 hour period as well as the 14 day before check in issue (see below). Given time zones, this is going to be a headache for everyone.

USE CASE 1: The policy says: "...guests will receive a full refund if they cancel within 48 hours of booking a reservation with a Strict cancellation policy—as long as their check-in date is at least 14 days away."

Let's say today is June 1. A person books today at 3pm (listing local time). The booking start date is June 15 with check in at 3pm. (booked exactly 14 days before check in.)

At booking, the check in date/time is (listing local time) exactly 14 days away. So any cancellation within the next 48 hours is less than 14 days before checkin.  Does the "14 days before check in" apply to the booking date/time? Or the cancellation date/time?

Obviously this is crucial: if the person can cancel on June 3 at 3pm, the cancellation itself is only TWELVE DAYS from the check in, not 14, and gives that host only TWELVE DAYS to replace the booking. I hope you have a clear answer here.

USE CASE 2: Let's say today is May 30. A person books today at 6pm (listing local time). The booking start date is June 15 with check in at 3pm. (booked exactly 15 days and 21 hours before check in)

If guest cancels on June 1 at 3:15PM, that is within the guest's 48 hours cancellation period. But it is less than 14 days at that point from check in. What policy applies and why? [This is the same issue as USE CASE 1, but from a different perspective.]

USE CASE 3: Let's say today is June 1. A person books today at 3pm. The booking start date is July 1 for 15 days with check in at 3pm.

I offer to book the first day only (July 1). Then, after the 48 hour period of cancellation has passed, I offer to extend the booking through July 15. Does that extension re-start the cancellation policy? Does the option for the guest to cancel *include* the first booked day, or only the extended period?

I'm sure I will think of more examples, but let's start with the obvious ones. I refuse to bring up all the problematic daylight savings time issues around the world. It's going to be embarrassing.

David

PS If I made any math errors, I hope the community will help correct them and my thanks in advance.

[Bertrand58]

 @Lila And Chris 

I left a message to your inbox on the Airbnb Community forum. Let me know if you have received it. Bon courage!

[Shannon199]

Is it best to give formal feedback at www.airbnb.com/feedback? Airbnb really needs to hear us out on this matter.

[Lizzie]

Hello @Shannon199, @Bertrand58, @David2118, @Kelly149, @Ann10, @Lila-And-Chris0, @Christine615, @KandT0, @Wendy-and-Markus0, @Ange2, @Maria1948, @John1421, @Chris959, @Steve143, @Ben205, @David126, @Martin140, @Cor3, @Ziyin0, @Mike340, 

Thanks again for your comments. To provide a little more information about the privacy function showing in your settings, this will be in place on May 1st, so please don't worry if you don't see this at the moment. I just wanted to make sure you received an update letting you know this feature will be available, as soon as possible. (My original topic here has been updated to reflect this). 

Whilst I know that many of you wanted more significant changes, (particularly on the length of the grace period and when exactly a grace period should be allowed), I don't want you to feel that your feedback here in the Community Center didn't have any impact. Many of you raised concerns around the sharing of your private information during the grace period, so this is an important feature update which has been implemented due to your feedback. 

On the other changes, I am really sorry that more changes weren't made at this stage. 

As many of you may know, we have been trialing these changes prior to the earlier announcement about rolling this out, with a group of hosts and had positive results. I know all hosting experiences are different, however I hope you will give it a chance when it comes in. If you are finding this policy is not working as expected, or in general have more feedback once you experience it, then we want to hear this and discuss it. This is not the end of the discussion, so please do continue to share your thoughts here and I will continue to make sure this is heard.

Speak to you soon.

Lizzie

[John1421]

"with a group of hosts and had positive results"... Define group and who was part of it. In my book, a group is 3 or more people. Also, if I want to promote something, I can also easily pick people that are on board with what I want the end result to be and ask for their opinions as well. When you have hundreds (if not thousands) of hosts saying very similar things in a thread that spanned weeks and 51+ pages, there's all the answers and input you should have needed. I read every response in that thread and withheld saying anything till the end because I was hoping your hosts would be "heard".

I hold to my statement that Airbnb "listened" but did not "hear". I know you're the messenger, however you're the one telling us our thoughts and feelings didn't matter. Sugarcoat it any way you'd like. I still call BS. 14 days is a lifetime for some hosts. In a day and age where most people have to pick and book their vacation time almost a year in advance with their jobs, the likelihood that a cancellation 14 days out will ever result in a rebooking, even in the most sought after locations, is slim IMHO. I will stick to my strict policy on my listing and swallow the pill you're forcing down out throats. Don't expect me to like it and you can bet your a$$ you will hear about it if I get any cancellations going forward. 

Airbnb was a breath of fresh air when I added my listing a few years back and honestly I have had more bookings than any "traditional" rental site in the history I've owned my property. This change makes me feel like someone pulled the rug from out under me. Such is life I suppose...

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

The only people this sharing option will help are those of us with Moderate or Flexible policies.... because now our personal information will not be shared until 5 days or 24 hours before the reservation start.  For those of you with Strict policies, you realize that the rest of us have been giving out our information, sometimes for months and months in advance before the start of a reservation, and guests were still able to cancel and get a full accommodation refund. 

Do I have the contraints of the information being sent to the guests correct, @Lizzie?  I mean, if it's about the guest getting their money back that is driving this decision, then that's when the information should be sent for those policies.  

[Lizzie]

Hello @Alice-and-Jeff0,

I hope you are good.

If you are on the Strict Cancellation Policy (from May 1st), if you select this new privacy option, during the time that a guest has the ability to cancel for free, ie. 48 hours in this case (14 days away from the check-in date), your guest won't be able to see your listing's address, last name or phone number during this time. It will be released as this time.

If you are on a different Cancellation Policy, it will work the same, but the length of time the guest has to cancel for free is longer. 

I hope this helps. 

Lizzie

[David126]

I ticked the box to show my precise location, I am hardly unobvious to someone driving around.

They get my telephone number, just wondering what else they get?

[Mike340]

@David0 - San Fransisco

(Totally hopeless trying to reply to your post, as I constantly get an error message, and your name doesnt come up as a suggestion of names in the conversation....such a primitive system this is at times... )

I think we have to get a perspective on the % of bookings that actually do get cancelled, after being booked.

On June 1st, in your example...you had NO booking for June 15th...so even if in the unlikely event of the guest, changing their minds within 48 hours, you still have only "lost" 48 hours of booking space ...and as of pre June 1st, you had no interest in the dates at all.

" and gives that host only TWELVE DAYS to replace the booking " ..

..yeah, sure ...but you have to remember that as of pre June 1st..you didnt have a booking at all...

If your dates are popular then in all fairness you should get a booking well in advance anyway

Be optimistic, that once you get such a late booking then all will continue well

[David126]

I assume another @David0, not sure what is happening but the forum is glitchy but the glitches change.

Anyway the people I see having major issues are the ones that have to comit at the time of Booking, say they have days in a timeshare they can not ue and get a booking so use their days and bam with 48 hours they have it cancelled. 

[David2118]

Hey, @Mike340 , the examples I provide are invented out of whole cloth, not related to my listing directly.

I'm trying to understand precisely how Airbnb intends to implement the policy. These examples are called "use cases" and they are designed to help software developers test their logic so that there are not unpredictable results in most situations. 

When Airbnb says "...guests will receive a full refund if they cancel within 48 hours of booking a reservation with a Strict cancellation policy—as long as their check-in date is at least 14 days away," most hosts assume they have 14 days to re-book the cancelled listing. But they may only have 12 days, depending on how the algorithm is being created. Also, there's the issue of exending (or shortening) a reservation and whether those actions get a 48 hour cancellation period applied (and how it's applied).

I've given up on this community and have no intention of participating in further discussions hosted by Airbnb. It's disgusting to me that an executive from Airbnb (not poor @Lizzie) has not come onto the board to address the overwhelming consensus of the host-side of their platform transaction. Most importantly, I want an Airbnb senior exec to address why Airbnb believes that heavy-handed controls on hosts' listing options, well-communicated to prospective guests, are at all reasonable. Especially options which are un-related to being a "fair broker" between parties.

In any event, Airbnb is quite clear: "If hosts don't like whatever we do, they can leave." Message received, loud and clear.

[Shannon199]

With all due respect, Lizzie, I know you are just the messager, but I am hoping that this upset (51 pages of opposition from hosts) has been relayed to the CEO's before this monumental change is implemented. 

Do you know if they have been informed of the opposition? Is there a way for this thread to be posted at the forefront of the community center so that ALL hosts have the opportunity to contribute? This little thread doesn't seem to be visible. 

I have excellent occupancy levels, of which I am proud of even with a strict cancellation policy. If Airbnb has hosts not getting bookings this is likely a problem not associated with guests not having 48 hours to change their minds. I have deep doubts about the 'research' you describe. 

I do not need this feature, or want it, and am dismayed that Airbnb will be imposing it and is steadfast despite the pushback from those who stand to lose the most. 😞

[Shannon199]

To all the hosts that are not happy with this change: do not give up! 

Email the feeback department outside of this forum, where our voices seem to be getting lost and clearly not heard. We can not be confident that the executives, or powers that be, are getting these messages.

www.airbnb.com/feedback

We must not take 'NO' for an answer!