Why Airbnb’s new cancelation policies are absolutely wrong

[Andrea374]

Many hosts woke up this morning having received an email from Airbnb informing them that there would be some “minor” changes to the cancellation policies on the website.

As you may know, the world-famous online platform for vacation rentals offers three different policies for guests’ cancellations:

• Flexible: Full refund 24 hours prior to arrival, except fees
• Moderate: Full refund 5 days prior to arrival, except fees
• Strict: 50% refund up to 1 week prior to arrival, except fees

The Airbnb commission for any of those cancellation policies was 3%.

The email received this morning informs us that the commission will change based on the cancellation policy we apply to our listing(s).

If we choose the Flexible one, allowing our guests to cancel with a full refund up to 24 hours before their arrival, the commission will remain the same: 3%, whereas if we choose the Moderate it will be 4% and up to 5% if we choose the strict one.

In addition, guests will no longer have to pay the service fee to Airbnb if they decide to cancel!

It goes without saying, that this unilateral change in the company’s policy is absolutely wrong, and here is why:

Airbnb has once again decided to overprotect guests in damage to the hundreds of thousands of hosts who literally are the backbone of the website and of the industry in general.

Management is clearly forgetting that we, house-owners and managers, are not hotel-like accommodations and that we do not have all the tools, nor the client-base, to have new reservations in a matter of minutes when a guest cancels only 24 hours before.

This new policy will only create damages to the whole system, with guests feeling free to reserve the house and then cancel at the very last minute by choosing another cheaper accommodation, without any consequence.

I, for one, am feeling very frustrated by this sudden change, and consider this only a subtle and not so honest way to simply raise the commission to the hosts, without really considering the consequences.

I do really hope Airbnb’s management will hear our voices, through the feedbacks we are sending to the website and through our social media comments on the official page, and will decide to take a step back and restore the old policy which has led this company the become the world phenomenon it has been for the past five years.

Andrea ***

[Marzia0]

I totally agree with Andrea and feel very frustrated as well 😞

there are no other words to be added.

I only would like to know which are the sales and marketing strategies, (or maybe finacial) that led to this unexpected decision. I also would like to know where is the attention and care to hosts and guests wich is at the base of airbnb philosophy. 

[Helen3]

I checked this out with BNB through their FB. At first they said - this is just 3% independent of the reservation fee or cancellation policy. When I pushed they admitted that the new charges apply 'to certain markets' 😞

Helen Ashley Is it true that BNB is imposing higher commission charges on hosts with stricter cancellation policies? The post below was posted by Andrea a longstanding host from R...See more

Like · Reply · 6 hrs · Edited

Airbnb Hi Helen, we charge hosts 3% of service fee, independently of full amount of reservation or cancellation policy. Read more here:www.airbnb.com/help/article/63

What are host service fees? | Airbnb Help Center

AIRBNB.COM

Like · Reply · 4 hrs

Helen Ashley Thanks for clarifying. Do you know anything about an email being sent out to hosts, saying BNB are changing charges as indicated in post above?

Like · Reply · 3 hrs

Airbnb That's correct. Currently, this change only applies to certain markets. If you'd like to learn more, you may do so here:https://www.airbnb.com/.../updated_cancellation_policies... Thank you for your feedback, Helen!

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AIRBNB.COM

[Raymond-and-Elaine0]

I've just read an article on the increasing number of break-ins which occur due to cancellations by guests after they have the entry codes. With this new policy being tried out in Italy it dispenses guests of any foreward planning and allows them to cancel with a full refund just after they have gained access to our private details. http://miami.cbslocal.com/2016/09/02/airbnb-burglaries-on-rise-using-last-minute-cancellations/amp/  

BOCA RATON (CBSMiami) — As the popularity of the vacation rental website Airbnb grows, so are the scam artists and crooks looking to prey upon homeowners advertising that their property is unoccupied.The latest trending scam involves customers cancelling their rental agreement just hours, or sometimes sooner, before it starts — but after they’ve received the key code to get inside the home.Boca Raton Police are warning the community of this type of scam following an incident on August 29th.

A Boca resident rented out their home on Airbnb for 10 days, but it was cancelled three hours before the rental was set to begin. However, the garage code was already sent to the customers for entry.The owner immediately changed the code.Shortly before midnight, police said, four people, including a juvenile, went to the residence and tried to use the code to gain access inside, unaware the code had already been changed.They allegedly forced their way inside by “prying a slider open,”

Police were able to apprehend one suspect inside the home. 

Helpful Tips To Renting Your Property

Boca Raton Police have also offered several tips when renting out property:

•Thieves often look for clues in the postings to see if there might be valuables left inside the residence.•Do not leave anything of value, including jewelry, portable electronics or important documents (such as passports and social security cards) in your home while you are renting it out. If you must leave these items at home, lock them in a safe that is secured to the floor of your home.•If possible, meet your renters in person rather than leaving a key for them, especially if the account is new. This allows you to have a brief conversation with your renters before you allow them access to your home and everything in it.•Thieves often use fraudulent identification to open online accounts. When you meet your renters in person, attempt to verify their identity by asking for their driver’s license, and if possible, take a photograph of it.•Ask for the names of every person who will be staying at your property. If the renters refuse to give you everyone’s name, the renter may have bad intentions.•Try to take note of the make, model, color, and license plate number of the vehicles your renters are driving.•Thieves actively try to avoid surveillance cameras. If you have surveillance cameras inside and/or outside your home, a thief is less likely to rent your home than one without surveillance cameras.•Be extremely cautious of people who book your home at the last minute and cancel once they find out the hiding location of the key or obtain any codes to access the property. Immediately remove the key from where you told the renters it would be. If the key is already missing, call the police.•If you feel the renters’ behavior is suspicious during the reservation process, cancel the reservation and call the police.

[Pierpaolo6]

This is my answer to a new request just some minutes ago:

'Ciao Emmanuelle, Lemon Room is available but in this moment I cannot accept reservation after october 18 becouse Airbnb Italy decide to change them refund rules after october 18.
In other words if you delete your reservation the same day of your check-in Airbnb refund me only 50%.
This is very bad for me and for all italian hosts and we hope that Airbnb would change this absurd idea.
Anyway, until they don't change idea, we don't take new reservation after october 18 and we will go to work only with Tripadvisor.
I am sorry but this is the only way to made understand to Airbnb that they are not the only one in yhe world'.

[T2]

I think we are going to need to stick together on this, by posting on the Airbnb facebook page and perhaps other places,maybe even calling CS, that we, as hosts, dont feel ok with these changes. I myself posted on the FB page and hope everyone else will do the same. Hopefully there will be power in numbers.Personally I am ok with the higher fee for a moderate( the choice that works for me) cancelation policy but I am really not ok with booking thats cancel while they are in your house that get a 50% refund. How is that possibly fair?You open your home, block your calender, turn others away, perhaps even visiting friends and they can cancel any time? 

[Maxine0]

Forgive me if I am being dim in my interpretation, but are Airbnb saying that hosts who choose a moderate or strict cancllation policy will universally be charged a higher commission across all their bookings, irrespective of whether a host cancels or not? Meaning if you have a strict policy they take 5% commission on all bookings? 

Thereby raising their commission to hosts choosing strict even when guests do not cancel.

I have a strict cancellation policy as I, like so many other hosts, only have one space available to guests and on the 'rare' occasion a guest cancels, it is hard to replace a booking at short notice. The focus on increasing the number of hosts universally has already significantly increased competition and affected supply versus demand. Twice in 18 months, I have received a cancellation as the guest changed their mind, both occasions due to their change of plans (once a friend offered them free accomadation, the second as they double booked an event), and therefore in both instances the guest had to pay airbnb fees in full across the total booking value and 50% to me as the host affected.

If I now have to pay 5% commission on all bookings unilaterally, I would be 2% worse off over the year on all bookings. Airbnb own no property, have no maintenance costs, no insurance costs (host guarantee is not an insurance policy), no host employee costs, no host operational costs (whilst pushing hosts to add more and more free stuff) no wifi costs etc etc etc - it's all risk free to airbnb, high risk to hosts (damages, security, cost of business) and now they want an even larger share of the income for providing nothing more?

They are forcing hosts to choose other platforms, reduce loyalty to airbnb or leave them altogether. 

[Andrea31]

Yes, the call center tell me that.

Airbnb takes 5% ALWAYS, for every transaction

You can tell you opinion about this here:

https://www.airbnb.it/help/feedback?type=cancellation+policy+updates

[Andrea31]

Try thathttps://www.airbnb.it/help/feedback?type=cancellation+policy+updates

[Andrea31]

I suggest another choice: the 18/10 we can hide all the listings/annoncement/apartment/room for one week

[Andrea31]

Guys, you can tell your opinion here

https://www.airbnb.it/help/feedback?type=cancellation+policy+updates

Try to change Airbnb!

[Villa-Rental0]

Andrea o you think they will even read our comments ?

[Ariel10]

Thanks for the information 

[Louise0]

Airbnb, have you lost your collective corporate minds?  VRBO, Stayz.com et al must be fist pumping with glee over this one.  Roll it out globally and you'll be giving them the biggest early Xmas present they could ever hope for.  

The very best hosts who run their listings as a true business will be deserting Airbnb in droves at the first whiff of a semi-reasonable alternative.  Given that Airbnb already extract an eye-watering 9 - 15% from the value of every booking, pushing this to 17% just isn't competitive, particularly when coupled with the increased underwriting risks.  

[Villa-Rental0]

Well said Louise !

[Ange2]

It's entirely feasible that Airbnb is using the rental business as a jumping off point to morph into a bigger, vastly more lucrative billion dollar business, like FB that relied on collecting data (accounts) to grow, and many other platforms have done.  Airbnb is looking around for an enormous amount of investment capital to do something!