Hi,
I have 3 guests who had checked in on 13th march in my apartment in Malaga, Spain. At this point WHO has already declared the pandemic. After 3 hours of my guests checking in, they had decided they prefer to return home after all, due to uncertainty with virus situation. (They returned to another part of Spain) At this point Airbnb had no new policies regarding cancelations. My cancelation policy obviously doesnt give full refund once the guests have checked in. On 15th of march, Spain declares state of emergency and Airbnb issues the new Covid19 cancelation policy, which gives full refund to all guests with stays starting from 15th of march, if they are not traveling within same country. My guest is denied a full refund from Airbnb and advice to consult me if i would refund at least one part. I explain to her how cancelation policies apply in her case but propose to refund the night they didnt stay in my apartment. (This was a two night booking). After a few days without her answer i write to her again with a proposition to donate the money of their second night to a charity as i dont feel either of us deserves it really. She replies that she has already talked to Airbnb again and they have agreed to give her the full refund. At this point, extenuating cancelation policy says *** (copy of policy in the bottom) - which still doesn't apply to their check in date (13th of march), especially since they had already checked in. I have tried to reach Airbnb support but I can't contact them regarding her booking because now it has been deleted from calendar as if it was canceled long before the check in. Also i can not contact them in any other way, that option doesn't exist at the moment, probably due to too many questions both from hosts and guests.
So in this situation, i have no say in managing my property, it seems Airbnb is overwriting both my cancelation policy and their own extenuating circumstances policy.
I hope i have explained the case well enough and i hope someone has advice on how i can procede with this situation.
Thank you.
***
What reservations are covered Reservations made on or before March 14, 2020
Reservations for stays and Airbnb Experiences made on or before March 14, 2020, with a check-in date between March 14, 2020 and April 14, 2020, may be canceled before check-in. This means that guests who cancel will receive a full refund, hosts can cancel without charge or impact to their Superhost status, and Airbnb will refund all service fees.
Reservations for stays and Airbnb Experiences made on or before March 14, 2020, with a check-in date after April 14, 2020, are not currently covered for COVID-19 related extenuating circumstances. The host’s cancellation policy will apply as usual.
If a reservation has already begun (the check-in has passed) this extenuating circumstance does not apply.