New strict cancellation policy update

[Lizzie]

Hello everyone,

The Airbnb team heard feedback from you and the host community about the upcoming change to our Strict cancellation policy. In order to address your concerns, we’re delaying the change until May 1, 2018.

Before the change goes into effect, we’ll share more about what we’re doing to address your concerns, particularly around protecting your listing details from being shared with guests who cancel. But for now, we’d like to clear up some confusion and help you better understand the new policy and how it will benefit the whole community:

Here’s how the new grace period policy will work—and some of the protections we have in place for hosts:

Limited-time refund within 48 hours after booking when the check-in date is at least 14 days away

Guests must cancel within 48 hours after booking and can only cancel if their check-in date is 14+ days away. This means that no matter how far out your guests book, they only have 48 hours from the time they book to cancel for free. We want to make sure that if guests change their mind, you have enough time to get another booking.

Three refunds per year per guest

To prevent abuse, guests are limited to three fully refunded cancellations a year.

No full refunds for overlapping bookings

To make sure guests are not making multiple bookings and then cancelling, any booking made by a guest when they already have an active booking for those dates will not be covered under our grace period policy.

Your hosting success is top of mind for us, and tests of this policy—including among hosts with strict cancellation policies in place—strongly suggest the change will result in increased bookings and successful stays. With this grace period, not only do guests book with more confidence, but they also have the ability to resolve booking mistakes without requiring your valuable time and intervention.

We value your feedback, and will follow up shortly with more insight into how your ideas are shaping this policy.

Thanks,

Lizzie

----------Update April 24th, 2018----------

Hello everyone,

Just to let you know there is now an update regarding protecting your listing details, as mentioned above. 

Here is the link to take a look: An update on the Strict Cancellation Policy

Thanks,

Lizzie

[Ann10]

@Amanda0- Yes, I believe it will. I used to be on the 1st page, if not #1 even though I did not accept IB, SP, Moderate Cancellation to maintain BR, etc. Now, I still refuse all those things and I'm nowhere to be found even though I'm a SH who is supposed to be making 22% more. If I accept their SP their is no chance of making 22% more. I need my old calendars to see what I charged the years before. I don't need to have SP forced on me. 

I did a limited experiment where I accepted all the stuff they have been pushing on me and I was literally #1 again. So, yes you will be gasping for air in somewhere in the undertow in the back.

[Marie857]

I would rather not have this change.

[Christine1]

@Chris1019, 

I always do some research before directly interacting with hosts and guests.

Every Host is free to comment, but I found your comments towards @Lizzie offensive and inappropriate and certainly not a constructive contribution to this forum thread.

@Lizzie is employed to represent Airbnb in a public forum. Not an easy task in such a dynamic environment. She is a moderator for this forum, and always communicates with the utmost courtesy to all participants. Lizzie has been working with Airbnb and moderating forums for far longer than you have been a member and hosting with Airbnb.

Referring to Lizzie as a "liar" is crossing the line big time.

I suggest you reflect on the way you have expressed yourself and refrain from such caustic comments in future. 

Refrain from posting till you can conduct yourself with a greater degree of professional courtesy online.

Words can be very powerful and I hope you might experience some regret at your choice of words in your earlier posting.And words online can leave a lasting impression. 

As you have no doubt experienced with other Hosts.

I have posted examples below from my research.

Jordan

Really enjoyed my stay at Matthew’s flat. Great location and was really easy getting in and out of the city. Really convenient access to the flat too. Great value. Highly recommend.

 Cosy 2 bed 2 bath apartment in the city centre

Max

July 2017 · 

Nice and easy to communicate with. No issues with his stay.

Elsa

May 2017 · 

NO recomiendo a Matt como huésped. I do not recommend him as guest. Ha sido una tortura de semana para mí, para la persona que se encarga de la entrega de llevas y durante la estancia de los huéspedes, e incluso para la persona encargada de la piscina. Desde el momento en que entró ha estado quejándose, de cosas como si hay una bombilla fundida en un baño donde había otras luces, que si no podía abrir una puerta, y se desplazaron a la casa para solucionarlo y el problema era que estaba girando la llave hacia el lado equivocado,... Veíamos cuáles iban a ser sus intenciones: reclamar. El "gran problema" para él, fue que la piscina era de sal, no de cloro y no le gustaba. Pretendía que vaciara la piscina de agua y la llenara con agua con cloro. El chico que atiende la piscina fue a la casa a explicarle el funcionamiento y que la piscina estaba en el mínimo de sal. Llamó a su hermano que vive en Inglaterra para que le hiciera de traductor y le pudieran explicar bien el funcionamiento de la piscina. Nos amenazó con avisar a Airbnb y le dijimos que si él creía que debía quejarse, que lo hiciera, pero que no podíamos quitarle la sal a la piscina. Una vez que salió de la casa, reclamó 570€ de devolución por unas obras que había en frente de la casa, junto a todo lo anterior. De las obras a nosotros nunca nos comentó nada. Sacó fotos y videos que envió a Airbnb como prueba. Sin embargo, sus amigos tuvieron una actitud totalmente distinta. Sin duda, no recomiendo a Matt como huésped, ni como vecino! cuanto más lejos, mejor.

Filippo

February 2017 · 

Cate and I did everything to check Matt in before the regular check in time. I explained where he could find more showersoap in the textbox but he did not react. Leaving he did not pay the local city tax and fees advertised clearly in my listing, albeit he promissed he would when leaving. Even after requesting them In the mediation center of airbnb he did notreact Left the apartment in total disorder 😞

You are welcome to look up my posts and Airbnb  profile if it helps you to get a perspective on where I am coming from.

Regards. Christine 

[Rachel537]

 @Lizzie  Thank you for the opportunity to comment.  I concur with the majority of hosts who have previously voiced their concerns regarding parity and property protection.  Guests should enjoy a certain level of flexibility given flight cancellations or event changes, however, hosts should be privvy to those benefits without penalty as well. 

Anecdotally, I had a personal situation in which an urgent, unexpected surgery was anticipated for a family member who would need my property for a respite/recovery location near the hospital.  I provided ample notice to the booked guest, refunded their reservation and also directly paid them $100.00 for the inconvenience (the Airbnb site would not allow an Airbnb gift card to be issued).  Although the guest was very pleased with the agreement, there was no way for him to leave feedback on the cancellation experience and I was delayed from acquiring superhost status with Airbnb customer support citing the cancellation as the sole reason. 

**It would be beneficial for hosts/guests to have the capability to leave feedback on cancellation experiences as well as fully executed bookings so that there can be transparency in the process and adequate protection for all end users in the process.**

Additionally, I have significant concerns for both guests and hosts related to the functionality of the Airbnb iOS application.  When response timliness is needed, I have found the app to be glitchy, in multiple cases failing to sending messages/responses and on several occasions (while traveling myself) delays in transmission of booking inquiries.  If guests and hosts have limited response times, there will need to be an avenue of redress when app malfunctions are a barrier to timliness.

Thanks again for the opportunity to share experiences and interject on upcoming changes.

Best wishes,

Rachel

[Sonia416]

I have big concern on the 2 weeks rule. My house is in the countryside and most of our guests are group over eight people. Most of them plan their trip at least one month before. If someone make reservation very earlier and then cancel the reservation only left 2 weeks I think we have very less chance to have another booking on that day. Because most of potential guests of our house couldn't get a chance to see my house because my house was blocked by the other guest when they plan their trip. And I highly think these policy should be determined by individual host upon their situation. I rent my house so I think I have a right to set up my own rule on reservation of my house. Airbnb can give suggestion on the policy but I think host should be allowed to make customized rule on thier own reservation rule.

[Lady-Susanna0]

I wrote these suggestions back on page 22? 24?  somewhere in there.

THEY ARE GREAT SUGGESTIONS.  Yet, no acknowledgement from @Lizzie. 

Bottomline - this 48 hour crap should be a privilege EARNED and not a right.  

1)  AirBnB definitely should NOT release the private information -- home address, phone number, etc. until it is a confirmed booking.

2) DO NOT tie up the calendar -- make it so guests have to check a box if they want the "cancellation" option -- and if they check that box, leave the calendar open for other people to book who don't need the "cancellation option".

3) Charge a $15 "restocking" fee to guests who tie up a calendar and then cancel?  With the proceeds going to the HOMEOWNER.

4) First time guests with no feedback/recommendations should NOT have this option of cancelling....it should only be available to guests with at least 3 previous reservations who have recieved thumbs up feedback from other hosts.  In other words, this should be an earned privilege, not an automatic right.  

[Ann10]

@Lady-Susanna0-All you ideas are great except $15 is way too low. I think @Lizzie is doing the Airbnb ignore and disappear act which is so typical of said company employees, but not her fault. She has to tow the company line and right now, it's silence. I think this delay by ABB has fooled us and made us waste a month of our time because at this point it looks like they have no intention of listening to the "community", changing anything, or giving us anymore information. I don't know, maybe they will surprise us.

[Ann10]

@Rachel537-Hi Rachel,

How are you? I grew up in Upland. I miss the area.  One time my dad had a nearly fatal heart attack at the vacation rental and all my relatives were staying there. I was supposed to have a one night rental while they were there so I told everyone they had to go stay w other relatives for one night or I would lose my SH status. They all looked at me like I was crazy and said call ABB and tell them your father is in the hospital in critical condition and we need the house and you need to cancel this one time. I had never, ever cancelled before. Anyway, I called and that was like the only time they ever showed any humanity towards me. The people in the Philappines don't know anything about ABB policy, but they are kind. 

My point is, maybe call if you have extenuating circumstances. Our company ideal is never to cancel, but there are other times I should have called. There were 2x when I was being abused by the guest before they even got there, but I didn't think ABB would help me and I didn't want to lose my SH status. I should have at least tried. Also, this whole SH thing makes people crazy for nothing. I used to be at the top of the 1st page even though I had strict cancellation, no IB, SP, moderate cancellation to maintain BR or anything they are now pushing so hard on me. Now, that I'm still not accepting I'm drowning somewhere in the undertow in the back. How am I supposed to make 22% more under these circumstances. Not nice ABB! I did a limited experiment where I accepted everything they have been pushing on me and voila, I was literally #1 on the page. I found accepting IB was the most important factor in placement. In the past, I had strict cancellation and they were not pushing all the other stuff as hard and I was fully booked almost all the time. My listing said rare find on it, on the dates that were open. They are losing money by doing this to me.

I also read a study on ABB that said being Business Ready was more important than being a SH. However, now you have to have a moderate cancellation policy in order to be BR which is absurd because Business' have insurance. I can't have people canceling 5 days out, and I'm sure they won't be business travelers.

Have a beautiful day!

Ann

[Lizzie]

Hello everyone,

Thank you again for all your fantastic feedback here, as I have mention quite few time in this thread, (but has slightly got lost with the amazing contribution you have all made), it is really important to hear you thoughts on this.

Understandable, I know it you are eager to know more on this change before May 1st and so I do have an update for you on this. To make it easier to find, I have created a new topic–please take a look here.

I hope you find this information helpful and please do continue to provide more feedback on this.

Thank you again,

Lizzie

[Shannon199]

What is the reason that my contribution to the converation is no longer being posted?

[Ann10]

@Lizzie-Why did we all waste so much time contributing to the conversation, if no one gives a hoot about what we want or need? I don't need to compete w hosts w more flexible policies. Guests already know they want to book w me. My reviews, photos, and fast response times speak for themselves. I know it isn't your fault, but did they read what we said or did they give us the forum to complain knowing they would go forward w what they wanted? I suppose this is also a waste of time. 

When they wanted us New Yorkers to go out and fight for them, we were a warm and fuzzy "community". Remember when they wanted us all to make our own unique logo? What happened to all that. I remember one senator saying that corporations should not be considered people because corporations act like sociopathic people. Con artists and sociopaths say and do what they need to do until they get what they want. For example, the warm and fuzzy campaign, "belong anywhere". What happened to all that? How about the hosts? Don't we belong? Don't "host lives" matter? I have felt manipulated by ABB employees. Guests have told me that as well. The whole NYC thing was one big manipulation. Anyway, they get what they want and on to the next thing. That senator was right.

[Victoria448]

Full details of the property which includes check-in info etc. should not be disclosed to the potential guest during the free cancellation period.

[Natalia282]

@Lizzie yes, I do have an update for you as well. 3 more days until I can permanently deactivate my listing on airbnb and I cannot wait.

[Jessica704]

In my view, this grace period idea is just another way that Airbnb is under cutting their commitment to hosts/home owners. For my circumstances, the strict policy is NOT strict enough. Why are stricter options, 30 and 60 day, not available to ALL hosts rather than by invitation. If I hold a booking for someone and they cancel 7 days prior there is VERY little chance I will be able to rebook and will lose 50% of the fees. We are not a hotel with lots of rooms to soften the loss. I think that Airbnb should allow hosts to set our own cancellation policy. If a guest doesn't want to book with the policy we have, they don't have to book. I am quite capable of making my own decision about how we want to structure our property. If someone cancels, I always do everything in my power to rebook and work with guests. I also suggest that folks purchase travel insurance to protect themselves in the event of unforeseen events. In general, hosts should have more choice and control in the booking and guest vetting process. Thank you for your time.

[Joe241]

Hosts should also have the same flexibility to cancel within 48 hours without a penalty.  Many times the guest policy favors the guest and forgets about the host.