Exceptions for cancellation/higher review by Airbnb

[Tim2736]

After a year and a half of isolation, and self-imposed home confinement, a ray of sunshine came in the form of two Covid-19 shots!  We believed it was time to resume our annual fishing trip of over 50 years!  I booked the trip for my group consisting of four brothers and a friend; retired first-responders, firemen, police officers, and Vietnam-era disabled veterans, (one 82nd Airborne, ex-paratrooper, and one Bronze Star recipient!)  About six weeks before the trip, my wife was diagnosed with advanced stage, colon cancer, a heart issue, and a spot on her lung.  Surgery was scheduled for a week before the trip, then tests, more tests, a long recovery time, and uncertainty!  My trip was over!  My wife is my priority.  I contacted Airbnb and the host and asked, (if we paid the second installment when due in Sep, would they allow us to pick dates for the following year, as we would be paid in full, based on their availability for next year, and they could still rent out our dates, this year!)  A win-win, I thought?  The hosts' answer was, "If you can't make the trip, cancel the trip"!  I got that reply twice!  Not exactly accommodating, welcoming or inclusive!  They have a strict policy, and must stick to it!  No, "sorry to hear about your wife"!  Or, "let's see what we can do"!  Instead, I got, we have return customers who have the first choice for dates, and the dates you want for next year are taken"!  I got their meaning loud and clear!  No help from these hosts!  Out of respect for my wife and me, the rest of the group decided not to go under the circumstances, even after my wife told them not to cancel on her account!  I had no choice but to cancel the reservation before the second payment was due.  Airbnb then advised me that since I canceled before the second payment was due, and the hosts refused to work with us, I would get a $12.24 refund!  The cost of the trip was $1866.33, total.  Airbnb states on the reservation confirmation that if a guest cancels before Sep 9th, (in my case), the guest would receive a 50% refund, minus the $200.00 Airbnb platform service fee for a trip we never took?  All I get from their representatives on the message board is patronizing, disingenuous empathy.  "We understand your situation, but we can't help either"!  The Airbnb rep did apologize for the 'misunderstanding and confusion, as she put it in the wording and meaning of the refund statement on the confirmation.  I paid Airbnb, a $933.00 deposit, and received a $12.24 refund because I canceled the trip for reasons not covered under their policies which were changed or modified because hosts were upset and complaining that some guests were falsely claiming 'extenuating circumstances' to cancel reservations for emergency illness and other unforeseen medical or family issues, and that was not fair to the hosts, according to the hosts!  Several appeals to the Airbnb rep, to escalate this issue for a higher review have been ignored.  Airbnb charged me $933.00 for the first installment down-payment that I now owe my credit card company.  I also owe the trip members, $200.00, each, ($800.00 total) for the deposits I collected from them, for a trip none of us took!?  I'm $1,733.00, out-of-pocket!  Does that sound like a fair resolution, or in keeping with Airbnb's stated corporate mission goals of fairness to all their partners, hosts, and guests alike?  My wife faces some life and death medical issues, pain, suffering, and an uncertain future, and no exception can be offered or worked out by Airbnb, or the hosts?  I'm asking for consideration for a higher review of a policy that has me beholding to two parties, each with different policies and each with a common vested interest to the exclusion of the guest!  How is that fair?  Airbnb and the hosts' have me trapped/caught in a situation that allows only them to refuse a reasonable method of relief that I never agreed to!  I do see a sad irony.  The outstanding humanitarian efforts that Airbnb has gone in committing their worldwide resources to help people fleeing war-torn countries is a true humanity effort and goodwill that deserves to be admired, and makes them leaders in the industry!  By collaborating and working with their hosts/partners to make accommodations available to people in great need, from other countries, living with the pain, suffering, and burden of losing loved ones and other family tragedies.  I'm not asking anyone for pity, just fairness.   I can only ask Airbnb to consider re-thinking their extenuating circumstances policy to be a little fairer to guests or allow an exception to me and my family, under these circumstances.  Please comment!  

[Sarah977]

@Tim2736  "if a guest cancels before a certain date, the guest would receive a 50% refund"!  I  took that to mean, I would receive a 50% refund for what I had already paid!  Who wouldn't think that?  That's what it says".

No, that isn't what it says. You have to read the full terms of the cancellation policy for whatever listing you choose.

All the cancellation policies state that whatever % you are due back is based on the nightly rate, not on what you paid up front as a deposit.  

Let me give you a really simple example of why this is the basis for the refunds.

Lets say you book Cabin on the Lake for 2 nights for $100/ night. You opt to pay half up front, so $100. You find you need to cancel- if you are due back 50% of the booking according to the cancellation policy. So you don't get anything back, because you only paid $100 to start with.

Now lets say Joe books the same listing, also for 2 days, but Joe chooses to pay for the whole thing upfront. Joe needs to cancel. He will receive 50% back, so he will receive a refund of $100.

You lost $100 of a $200 booking, the $100 you paid up front. 

Joe lost $100 of a $200 booking, half of the $200 he paid when he booked.

The pay-less-up front option is simply a convenience to guests, so they don't have to come up with all the money at once. It is completely unrelated to the amount you are owed back according to the cancellation policy. 

Also you seem to think that Airbnb sets the cancellation policies. There are a few different cancellation policies that hosts can choose from. The place you booked happened to have a strict cancellation policy. I have a moderate policy, which means guests can cancel up to 5 days before check-in and receive a full refund.

And I also don't understand why you yourself are out all this money. Forgetting the $933, let's say you paid $1000 up front and lost it. If the booking was being split between you and 4 other people, that comes to $200 that each of you have forfeited because the booking was cancelled. 

[Katja202]

@Tim2736   I am so so sorry you have to go through this all. If you where my guest i would have refunded you all. (This is why i have no strict cancelation policy. It is not human) You're costs must be sky high right now. I hope you find the help you need here. I see @Michelle53 is helping you do the math. I hope an admin can give you a bit of advise as well how to talk to the host and to Airbnb. 

For you and your wife, i really really hope it al will turn out Ok(ish) for as far as that's possible in your situation and that you have friends and relatives that will lovingly care for you two.

Stay strong Tim and love your wife as much as you can. She needs it.

[Tim2736]

OK, I understand and appreciate all of your comments. Thank you.  I meant no disrespect.  I needed feedback and comments to present to Airbnb to make my argument to Airbnb, successful or not, in seeking an exception to their policies.  Thank you all. Tim2736.