Extenuating Circumstances Policy - SO unfair to hosts

Maria188
Level 8
Wells, United Kingdom

Extenuating Circumstances Policy - SO unfair to hosts

As a superhost of 6 years standing and 100% 5 star reviews, I have, for the first time, been caught out by Airbnb's Extenuating Circumstances policy. I have lost 780 eur with little or no chance of rebooking the dates as the guest cancelled on the day of booking. I know I have suck it up as it is in the ts and cs - albeit buried deep within of course.  However, I believe this is a grossly unfair policy and amounts to misuse of power by a large corporation over its individual suppliers. I would love to know what any corporate lawyers out there think of this policy. If a host has chosen, as I have to have a strict cancellation policy, should Airbnb not honour this? By all means have an EC policy but the funds to pay for this should come from airbnb or a guest funded insurance policy, NOT out of a host's own pocket. 
 
Whats more, despite having never visited my property, the guest has been invited to leave a review. I imagine they are angry with me for not agreeing to give them a refund as I cannot afford to do so, (although thanks to airbnb I have ended up gving them one anyway) and I am worried they will leave me a bad review. I have worked tirelessly to achieve my great reviews and I cannot believe that now my business could be adversely affected for something that is completely beyond my control. When I called airbnb about this they said it was not possible to stop them leaving a review. The guests did not even reach my town let alone my house, yet they can review me! How is that fair?  Yes, I can review them too, but I am a good person and I am not going to leave the guest a bad review when they have tried understandably to reclaim their money.
 
I want to do something about this and would welcome feedback for other hosts who also feel the policy is grossly unfair to the entire host community. 

64 Replies 64
Gary103
Level 2
Paddington, Australia

Just got hit with this issue and received the following reply. Not sure how this is considered balanced. Guests are usually able to find alternative accommodation whereas hosts struggle to get last minute bookings. 

 

"I truly understand that you've set Cancellation Policy is Moderate, and I'm sorry to know that you haven't found anyone for the next few days. 

In this case, we will base on our Extenuating Circumstances Policy to refund your guest if he can provide the documents. And based on your guest's document, his sickness not allow him to flight. We totally understand that this might cause you an issue. We're also seeking the comprehension, and empathy to your guest as this is not the things that we can control.

For your information, Extenuating Circumstances Policy not only cover guest's issue but also cover host's issue. For example; if you have an emergency situation that cause you couldn't host your guest right on the check-in date, and you would need to cancel the reservation within last minutes. We will also assist you to cancel the reservation on your behalf and waive the cancellation penalties without any charges.

After the reservation has been canceled, your guest has no place to stay, and the price of new booking in last minute will be higher than normal. We also assist you to deal with the upset guest to find the new booking replacement in short time. 

This is the way we keep the balance between host and guest in Airbnb community."

 

I guess Airbnb may not have the financial returns to provide hosts with compensation.

Dallas1
Level 10
Durban, South Africa


@Gary103 wrote:

Just got hit with this issue and received the following reply. Not sure how this is considered balanced. Guests are usually able to find alternative accommodation whereas hosts struggle to get last minute bookings. 

 

"I truly understand that you've set Cancellation Policy is Moderate, and I'm sorry to know that you haven't found anyone for the next few days. 

In this case, we will base on our Extenuating Circumstances Policy to refund your guest if he can provide the documents. And based on your guest's document, his sickness not allow him to flight. We totally understand that this might cause you an issue. We're also seeking the comprehension, and empathy to your guest as this is not the things that we can control.

For your information, Extenuating Circumstances Policy not only cover guest's issue but also cover host's issue. For example; if you have an emergency situation that cause you couldn't host your guest right on the check-in date, and you would need to cancel the reservation within last minutes. We will also assist you to cancel the reservation on your behalf and waive the cancellation penalties without any charges.

After the reservation has been canceled, your guest has no place to stay, and the price of new booking in last minute will be higher than normal. We also assist you to deal with the upset guest to find the new booking replacement in short time. 

This is the way we keep the balance between host and guest in Airbnb community."

 

I guess Airbnb may not have the financial returns to provide hosts with compensation.


The admins of this community will probably delete your post because you quoted their email (so I'll quote it here and give them double the work to do). They did this to me a few months ago when a guest created a giant chip in my tiled floor and they exerted about as much effort to help me resolve the issue as it takes to click the mute button on a TV remote. 

 

I've basically given up on Airbnb as a reasonable company to deal with. I'll take only the bookings that I want to take from now on and if that means I go down in search, so be it. Life's too short to be concerning oneself with the foibles of millennial start-up companies like this one. 

Avril26
Level 2
Helensburgh, United Kingdom

@Dallas1 Try sending the email address again please?

Dallas1
Level 10
Durban, South Africa


@Avril26 wrote:

@Dallas1 Try sending the email address again please?


I don’t follow?

Maria188
Level 8
Wells, United Kingdom

Hi @Gary103  I feel your pain. I keep getting the same response and it's infuriating and patronising! The guest gets a full refund in all cases of Extenuating Circumstances Policy so how is that 'balance'?  I dont  reckon there is a single host in the Airnbnb community who thinks a policy that overrides a host's own cancellation policy is fair.  By all means, if Airbnb (a huge muti billion dollar company ) wants to offer this to guests, go ahead, but dont steal the cash from hard working hosts. We are not a collective insurance policy!  

Alice702
Level 1
England, United Kingdom

Just had this experience and I am waiting to see if air bnb pay the guests back. The guests messaged me that someone was ill and couldn't travel a few days before the trip. I asked them to cancel on the website asap so I might pick up a new booking. They didn't cancel until the day before the booking so no chance for me to get a new booking. They will go to air BnB with extenuating circumstances and I guess I will lose the whole of the rental for the peak summer week. I would consider refunding something as I have  sympathy with the guest but in the end this circumstance should be covered by mandatory insurance provided by Airbnb and it should not be a cost for the host to absorb.  It should be made clearer when you set your cancellation policy that these extenuating circumstances exist. Do Airbnb read these posts ?

To summarize, the guest placed a reservation for two. A day after they were scheduled to arrive, they canceled the reservation because a friend who was also traveling to Branson (but not staying with us) had an accident. I understand the policy of extenuating circumstances. We had been in contact with our guest and know the situation. The person that had the accident was not staying with us and was not a family member of our guest. We do not understand why we are being penalized for something that was not related to our reservation. We were NEVER alerted that there was going to be a refund. In fact we were sent a link to leave the guest a review as they had stayed with us. We are very unhappy with this situation. We understand that accidents happen, however this was not with our guest, family member, or anyone staying at our home. If guest can place a reservation and cancel days into the reservation because a friend had an issue, it does not seem like a very reliable system for hosts. We need to know who to talk to. We did discuss this matter by email with someone at airbnb and was basically told that this is the way it is.

 

UPDATE:  Customer "service" just sent me a message that the person that had an accident was close to the guest and could "probably be considered" like family.  Yep.  So, if a host wants to cancel at the last minute on a guest, can we say a friend that is like family had an issue and we need to cancel without penalty?

Airbnb are becoming a giant crock of BS. I wouldn't put up with this at all. What kind of business in the traditional sphere of hospitality would ever refund a guest who cancels midway through a trip? A bankrupt one, that's what kind. 

 

Stand your ground. Make them pay. 

Maria188
Level 8
Wells, United Kingdom

You say 'Stand your ground'  @Dallas1  but the problem is that Airbnb have complete control over your income as a host. If they decide to refund a guest, they simply take the money from your next payout and there is not a **bleep** thing you can do about it. I think that is one of the reasons all hosts hate this policy.   Airbnb are in no danger of becoming bankrupt due to this issue as is doesn't cost them a dime.  However, they will suffer if hosts start to leave for other platforms that treat them with more respect.   Please @Christopher375  send a feedback form and write to the management team as I did (see earlier post of mine  on this thread) . This I did on the recommendation of another host who actually had his payout reinstated as a result of writing, so its definitely worth a shot.  Perhaps if enough of us shout, they might actually sit up and listen.  I started out thinking that perhaps Airbnb personnel read these posts but  now I don't actually think they do.

That's the problem.  There is no way to stand my ground.  When I questioned why this refund went thru, even though it doesn't follow their own guidelines, they said the case was closed.  I have no further options.  I sent in feedback.  However, they state that they cannot reply to individual messages.  So, basically, I am out of luck.

Avril26
Level 2
Helensburgh, United Kingdom

@Maria188 Finding your thread I am querying accepting a request.  It is for 3 weeks in the High Season in Sweden 2020.

As everyone has stated there is no comeback if a guest cancels. It's down to the host to 'try' and find another booking.  Seems so unfair that you/we should lose out.

@Avril26  Well, your strict cancellation policy protects you up to a point (that is, if Airbnb doesn't unilaterally decide to override it, which they've been known to do if a guest complains loud enough, but I don't get the impression that happens a lot ). But if the guest cancels 7 days before check-in, you'll get 50%, but likely wouldn't have time to rebook the whole 3 weeks. 

Maria188
Level 8
Wells, United Kingdom

E60642E3-E638-4E9D-A9D1-53BAC646DA00.jpegWTF! This arrived by courier today. Airbnb refuses to engage with hosts when they have problems, then wastes money sending ridiculous awards halfway around the world (ups California to UK). As if this will placate me after what they have done! I would rather have the money back that Airbnb stole from my payout under its illegal and discriminatory Extenuating Circumstances Policy, and better still, a proper review of the policy itself. Now that would be an award worth having. ........BTW, I wonder how much I'd get for this trinket on ebay. I have a hole in my payout to fill!

I'm sitting here, laughing my arse off, @Maria188! You're saying exactly what I'm thinking about those tacky little "trinkets" that they're couriering out to hosts who made superhost all 20 times since they brought in the SH programme. (Well worth 5 solid years of blood, sweat and tears, eh?😉)

 

Personally, I'd have preferred a little (or a big!) boost in the search rankings as a fitting reward for all my years' of hard graft and loyal service - now that would have been useful  (and appreciated) I might have actually been able to get a few decent bookings then, instead of the scrapings from the bottom of the barrel that I get nowadays!

 

They haven't even bothered to send my "Special Surprise" out yet - a month and a half after they sent me a breathless email, telling me how grateful Airbnb is to me for being part of a "very small, very elite group of superhosts"., and to watch out for the arrival of my exciting gift!! Just as well I didn't hold my breath. They can keep it, save themselves the delivery costs. What even is it anyway? Definitely not something I'd want to display on my mantlepiece, even if they do ever get around to sending it to me. Looks for all the world like a cheap, ugly keyring on a tombstone.. Whose tombstone though, that's the question...  mine or Airbnb's?? 😉

@Susan17 @Maria188  Remember back about a year ago when they had "Superhost Week"? They claimed that they were going to feature our listings in search and other great things. My serach ranking actually went down that week. Also, we were supposed to all get an "Airbnb map of the world". I never got one, and when I finally saw a picture of it that Lizzie posted, I saw that whatever graphic artist they had paid to do it up hadn't bothered to actually research anything. There were little pictures of tipìs on Mexico. Mexican aboriginal tribes never, ever lived in tipis.

Maria- I wonder how much of the money they owe you was spent on that fancy paperwork, the ugly keychain and the UPS charge.