Seeking refund for long stay cancellation

[Van6457]

I booked accommodation through Airbnb for 34 days (starting 25/5) on 16/5. It was for an internship in that area. On 21/5, I received word from the company that they had withdrawn from my internship due to safety concerns regarding COVID-19. I let my host know straight away and tried to cancel the booking. However, as my booking falls under the long stay policy (30 days or more), the cancellation penalty is the first 30 days. 

I have tried to reason with the host but no luck so far. I have tried to go through Airbnb Help Centre but they can't do anything since it's within the cancellation penalty. 

Has anyone been successful trying to do something similar? Is there any way I can get any more refund? Even half? 

[Anonymous]

@Van6457  Airbnb's Extenuating Circumstances policy gave broad latitude to guests seeking to cancel bookings that were placed prior to 14 March if their travel plans were affected by Covid-19. This doesn't tend to apply for bookings placed at any point since then, because of course anyone who's not been living under a rock will have known that their travel plans were likely to be disrupted directly - or, in your case, indirectly - by the pandemic. So there's no sensible reason to think that the cancellation policy that you agreed to when you booked somehow doesn't apply to you. Therefore, it is entirely up to the host whether they feel inclined to give you more money than your contract entitles you to. I see no point in pursuing the matter any further with the Help Centre since they've already relayed the relevant information to you. 

What some hosts are willing to do in this situation is refund the guest for whatever portion of the canceled stay they're able to successfully rebook. But this is an act of generosity with no real benefit to the host except for ending the conversation. 

If you haven't yet processed the cancellation and can't absorb the loss, you could consider keeping the booking and seeking other work in the area. Otherwise, I think you're going to have to accept that any additional refund is at the host's discretion. 

[David6871]

I know the feeling. I'm pissed off at my host for refusing to refund as well. I booked my stay back in February (more than a month before the CDC / pandemic crisis hit the USA) for an entire month of September internationally in Montreal, Canada. But there's no way I'm going to fly internationally this year with these **bleep** policies in place (wearing face mask on airplane, social distancing, 14 days quarantine). So I cancelled but the **bleep** ass host refuses to give me any refund at all. I'm very pissed because had I known about the pandemic before hand back in February and the social distancing / mask rules back then, I would never have booked at all. So now I'm trying to raise a dispute with Airbnb. If both Airbnb and the host refuse to refund me any money, I will make sure Airbnb and their hosts never make a single penny from me ever again. I will gladly quarantine their ass in return. Adios amigos to them.

[Anonymous]

@David6871  You booked a trip for an entire month, and didn't even take out insurance on it? 

Try not to let the door hit you on the way out, and don't forget to wash your hands as thoroughly as the hosting community will be happy to wash its hands of you.

[Sue714]

@David6871 Feel the same, don’t want to be crammed on a flight with 300 odd people to travel to an area which has restrictions and to isolate when we arrive and return home. Our host will not fully refund but generously do 50%  oh and 25% on a future booking. Well your ripping us off mate! We won’t be rebooking with you ever! The only one winning here is Air b as they are holding on to our funds. The host is not thinking of future bookings he’s just being greedy! Im just hoping Australia’s Internal boarders remain will closed so he will be forced to fully refund.

[David6871]

What travel insurance? The long stay in Airbnb is over 30 days and has a strict cancel policy where you lose 30 days if you cancel. That’s fine by me if under any other circumstances but not in a worldwide pandemic where the rules of travel drastically change. I booked back in February when the USS and Canada were clueless of what was happening, including myself.

[Sarah977]

@David6871  Travel insurance. You know the kind you purchase through your credit card company or a private insurer so that if you have to cancel a trip, you'll be covered by your insurance for any money you are out-of-pocket? 

[David6871]

I was never going to cancel under any normal circumstances. When I set a date / time for vacation / job travel, I don't cancel since it's all set for me. Unfortunately, I did this in February when the USA and most of the world were completely clueless about covid-19, which hit from left field totally unseen. I figured it was going to go away by August / September and everything would be back to normal but instead it changed the rules of travel completely so that's why there's no way I'm doing any international travel this year. But this host refuses to refund me anything (not 50%, not me renting out his place same time next year 2021). So that's why I'm angry since the host is being totally unreasonable and in the wrong here. And if Airbnb doesn't help with some refund or travel credit, then I feel the need to quarantine them in return since I deem this unacceptable in a business environment. It's not like I booked this reservation after mid March when the CDC and USA and other countries started their official travel warnings, etc. If only they had done this sooner like January or February, I would never have booked anything.

[Sarah977]

@David6871  The point of travel insurance isn't that you have in the back of your mind that you might cancel, it's to cover you in case something unforeseen happens that makes it impossible for you to travel. You could get sick, you could have an accident, you could have a family emergency, any one of a number of things that no one plans on.

No one plans to have a car accident, but everyone who drives has to have car insurance. 

[David6871]

You are correct. Lesson learned for me for future travels.

[Mary312]

The only thing I don't understand is why do guests not pick a place to stay that doesn't have a strict cancellation policy. As host we set our policy, as a guest you can choose a listing that is more flexible with refunds.  If the borders are closed and you cannot get out that's a different story, but if people don't want to travel because they are uncomfortable then that becomes a personal reason.  im  speaking in regards to all reservations when guest book under a strict cancelation policy. I understand long-term stays are different but way before the pandemic guest always wanted me to go outside of my cancellation policy.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

Unfortunately for you @Van6457 I completely agree with what @Anonymous posted. In May..... everyone in the entire world knew more or less that covid-19 was here to stay for the long-term and that it would continue to disrupt travel of any kind. Since March...... even insurance companies do not consider covid-19 an "unforeseen" event and will not cover the type of situation you are in. If travel insurance refuses to cover you, why should the host be expected to overide their own cancellation policy???

It is the guest's responsibility to read and understand what the cancellation policy is and the implications. 

I host a lot of people just like you, exchange students or interns coming to Seoul for 1~4 months. FYI, I had an inquiry end of March for a long-term stay with an early May check-in date for 3 months (for some sort of exchange program). I had no intention of hosting an international guest in my private room home due to risk of exposure and extra burden if the guest needs to self-quarantine for the first 2 weeks upon arrival in our home and explained why I could not host her. I also suggested to that guest to hold off on booking ANYTHING because I had been hearing that most schools, companies, institutions were planning to fully cancel any sort of international exchange program for the remainder of this year and the government would soon issue a *recommendation* along these lines - all of which did happen in April. I told that guest, if travel restrictions are lifted and we magically become able and comfortable enough to host and we happen to get an inquiry for any of the overlapping dates, we will message her to ask if she was still planning to come and would like to stay with us before accepting another booking for the dates she wanted. 

While I understand how frustrated you must be feeling...... you really should have done your homework before parting with your money, *assuming* you'll get everything back if you cancel. I've voiced many times that I feel people who booked before mid~end of Feburary (for stays anytime during the remainder of this year) before the world realized how serious covid-19 is should get a full refund and refunding is the right thing for hosts to do. In your case..... you already knew the risks of covid-19 and decided to book anyway so imo, there is no reason for the host to refund you beyond the cancellation policy.