cancellation

[Leandro268]

Airbnb has been making it extremely difficult to receive a full cash refund. they keep updating their extenuating circumstance policy but making it harder for guests to receive a refund. they keep ignoring certain points I bring up and keep replying with the same pre-written responses. the experience has been extremely negative, especially considering the circumstances. they have been asking a multitute of documents to prove that I cannot travel. How am I supposed to prove that I don't have a (student)-visa anymore (university has cancelled exchange programme) and cant apply for a visa? There is no option for me to select for these circumstances. Furthermore, my host has been very understanding and is willing to cancel but Airbnb is telling her that she will incur charges and affect her Superhost status. This is absolutely not true as the policy clearly states: "hosts can cancel under the policy without charge or impact to their Superhost status". Additionally, my flight to the destination has been cancelled. But Airbnb is now requiring all flights to the destination to be cancelled by the airline. Am I supposed to travel for days on end and make an infinite number of stops just to make it to Singapore, to then be placed for 14 days under quarantine in a government facility? My university has cancelled my exchange programme and thus will no longer have a student visa. I have no reason to travel to Singapore and risk exposing myself to the virus by making all the stops needed to get to the country. 

[Gordon0]

Assuming you booked before C19 became a thing, most of the cancellation stuff is done through an online flow system, @Leandro268, so not sure how you've got into a debate with CS.

Presumably you'll have a flight cancellation notice and a letter from your university pulling the rug? That should fit the bill.

If all else fails, the host should be able to offer a refund when you cancel, minus the fees. Your travel insurance should also get you out of a hole too? 

[Sarah977]

@Leandro268  Don't presume to know that the host will not incur penalties because of what you read on the website. It depends on when the reservation was booked, and other things. Tons of hosts have been getting penalties for cancelling reservations and "without loss of Superhost status" doesn't mean there aren't other penalties. There are.

It's you, the guest, who wants to cancel, therefore it's you who has the responsibility to cancel. If the host had some reason they couldn't host at this time, then it would be the host's responsibility to cancel.

[Leandro268]

@Sarah977 Nobody is presuming anything. That is what I have been told explicitly by one of the so-called "community experts". It has taken 3 weeks of communication with them while being continuously forwarded from one specialist to another to finally get the issue resolved.

My host actually suggested me to write on the community as it helped one of her other clients. Is it a coincident that soon after posting on here the support team was very quick at replying to all my messages, as opposed to the previous hours of waiting time for every message? And all of a sudden they were very lenient on what documents/proof are acceptable and proceeded to cancel the reservation for me for a full refund.

[Helen350]

It probably IS a coincidence @Leandro268 ! This forum is for Airbnb service users to ask each other advice, share experiences, have a whinge, & be social! - I doubt CS staff read this at all!

If CS were slow it will be cos there are SO many guests like you cancelling cos of C19, & they are super busy! Plus, they've just laid off 25% of the workforce, 1900 workers! Which won't help response rate.

Congratulations on getting your refund!

[Sarah977]

@Leandro268  I'm glad your issue was finally addressed satisfactorily.

So you experienced how difficult, inefficient,  and unreasonable customer service can be. Part of that is that just because a customer service or "community expert" tells you something, doesn't mean it is true, unfortunately. Both hosts and guests will get told completely different things by various customer service reps. 

When I first signed up to host on Airbnb, I had a question about an aspect of listing. One "community expert" told me that what I wanted to do was not possible, another told me that it was not only possible, but that it was simple to set up and explained how to do it. 

That's what I meant about the host cancellation issue. CS reps will tell a guest that a host can do the cancellation without penalty, but the host then does it and gets penalized.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Leandro268 when was your booking made?Was it prior to March 14th and when were you due to stay in the property?

[Leandro268]

my circumstances all fell within the policy for a refund. they were just making the situation very difficult. my host suggested writing a post on this community as it helped one of her other clients. And all of a sudden they gave me a full refund. A coincidence?

[Ingrid51]

Did you ask for a refund from the airline?