Extenuating Circumstances Policy - SO unfair to hosts

[Maria188]

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. 

[Brian68]

Here's my story

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Guest-claims-Airbnb-s-exteneous-and-travel-insurance-pay...

[Spencer136]

I also just got burned by extenuating circumstances policy.  I have the strictest cancellation policy and AirBnb policy allows my guest to cancel with zero penalty 8 days before arrival. Messaging history demonstrates half the party was already planning to cancel while the other half would still honor their reservation. Seems the "client" was looking for a way out. The "client" reserved the unit for 7+months for the highest priced/busiest week of the year and thus left the owner with no rental after declining dozens of other interested parties throughout the year to honor the commitment to this "client." The point is, I signed up for the most strict cancellation policy to avoid such issues. I know that had it been the other way around, I would have still assured the "client" to have the unit available for their visit. I question the fundamental basis of a reservation with no penalty for cancellation.  Mind you the rental party was 6 guests and 1 being ill is not an excuse enough for total cancellation. I can assure you the airline did not refund the 6 tickets, nor any other commitments they had made for their visit. I question the fundamental basis of a reservation with no penalty for cancellation.  I find this to be a complete abuse and while I was sent a message, well actually a message addressed to someone else, clearly a generic form letter but maybe next time at least change the name before sending. Anyway, AirBnb sent a message stating they wanted to be fair to both parties and while more than fair to the "client," there was nothing fair about this arrangement for the owner. Very bad experience which makes me question allowing AirBnb future access to my prime booking dates.

[Etain0]

Airbnbs policy for hosts for the current situation STINKS!

I have been with them for over 10 years, I am also a super host.

I also have lost thousands of euros in cancelations this year.

I also have a strict cancellation policy.

Airbnb is only protecting guests,

I+ it wasn't for us, there would be no guests, no money for Airbnb.

A fair situation would be payment of  50-50, hosts and guests (where the host has a strict cancelation policy) 

I have also not been able to travel to my country, Australia, i this year in March, and have lost thousands of $ in airfares.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Etain0 if you were unable to travel due to the pandemic then the airline has to refund your fares under EU law.

If guests are unable o stay due to lockdowns in Spain why would it be fair to only refund 50%?

[Yvonne601]

This has happened to me twice and same day cancellations with full refund given by Airbnb. The policy states it must be prior to check in date but they gave a refund anyway.