Once again, AIRBNB exposes hosts to losing funds, while failing to properly vet guest’s claims under this policy.
Case in point: A party of 5 presents themselves in writing as a couple and 3 friends, all of whom live and work together in San Francisco. The night prior to arrival (we have strict cancellation), we receive notice that the reservation has been cancelled under EC. For the EC claim, the guests have represented themselves as an entirely different group — one consisting of a bunch of colleagues from several international locations. One of the five (not the guest who booked) is/was flying from South Korea. Airbnb sends us an airline ticket as proof — of what? The flight dates do not coincide with reservation dates. In fact, the flight occurred 10 days prior.
So here we are asking ourselves, “Why don’t the flight dates align with the booking dates, they’re not even close? If the flight was cancelled due to COVID-19, the cancellation would have occurred at least 10 days ago, why are we just finding out about this cancellation now, the night before arrival? Why is this now a different group than presented to us for booking purposes? Why has AIRBNB approved this and why are they refusing to listen and consider our response? Does/should the policy extend to all unidentified potential guests or parties now claimed to be ‘guests’ for the purpose of such claims? How many more of these are we going to see this week and going forward? “
If this becomes a prolonged issue, as it is likely to be, all the people who are simply afraid to fly or have changes in plans for personal reasons will be gaming EC. Could be a lot. Could mean mortgages not paid. Could mean finally switching back to long term rentals, as saturation in supply has reduced bookings and pricing, while costs continue to increase.
In a travel industry comprised of mega players — airlines, hotel chains, cruise lines, AIRBNB — why on earth would AIRBNB implement this special EC without keeping hosts whole financially, or at the very least, properly vetting claims? Neither. Unacceptable. This certainly is no partnership, we’re serfs, let’s all face it. Except we own the properties.
Please, no push-back and other nonsensical comments from AIRBNB community bots or hosts who’ve imbibed the cool aid. This platform puts ordinary people at risk, who clearly lack the cost structures of hotels and other enterprises, and there’s no justification whatsoever.
Good luck with COVID-19 related cancellations everyone, real and falsified.