ABB's policy towards endemic disease is insane

[Joy298]

Due to the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, I would hope to cancel a group of upcoming guests from a neighboring province of Wuhan. I know it’s not good. I have never canceled any guests before. But I’m doing home sharing so this really upsets me.

However I just called ABB and found their policy towards endemic disease is not practical at all. The rep told me they only counted the Wuhan administrative district as the affected area. Any approaching areas are not counted. Please check the map below, Wuhan administrative district is in irregular shape. Any surrounding areas like Xiaogan, Huanggang and Ezhou are not counted.

How could they implement the policy so stiffly? I’m really worried now and feel like ABB is put me in danger.

Appreciate for any advices!

[Robin4]

@Joy298 

Joy, I too am a little concerned, the sheer volume of Chinese guests coming to Australia each week does put us in the firing line. One would hope the airline authorities are taking all precautions when dealing with so many passengers in close proximity to each other in that 'bacterial test-bed' that is an aircraft passenger compartment. With 160 direct Chinese flights to Australia each week, plus many more that arrive via other countries that originated in China........ as good as our Immigration people are, I am sure affected people are going to get through!

Four of my upcoming reservations over the next month are coming, (or are from) China and although my cottage Hepa air filtration system filters the air to hospital operating theatre specifications and runs 24/7, I am still in touch with authorities to find out what other precautions we should take as far as washing and cleaning linens and surfaces is concerned. More than ever, cleanliness is going to become a predominant part of the cleaning regime.

Airbnb are not helping the situation, it appears locality information for Chinese guests is now being removed. All we are getting on all my bookings now is....'Lives in China'!

Whereas for all my other overseas guests I am provided with information of the locality they are from.

I really hope this is just coincidence Joy.....what are you seeing in your reservations? I would really, really want to hope that Airbnb are not deliberately removing locality information from Chinese bookings to prevent cancellations!!!!!!

The problem is, the health dept authorities don't know enough about this Coronavirus to give any more than a guess as to what we should do....and as you have demonstrated Joy, Airbnb are not going to allow us to simply cancel Chinese guests. Their precious reservation service fee is more important to them than the health of their hosts!

I will take all the precautions I can,  just as I am sure will Joy. All I would ask for is a bit of cooperation from Airbnb to help limit the spread of this disease!

Cheers.......Rob

[Joy298]

Hi Rob,

Thank you for your kind input. Yes it appeared to be the same to me. Only shows live in China, but no further information about any detailed province or city. But I think it's not deliberately removed, just some guests only left very limited information and ABB still allow them to use the system and even instant book.

The thing I feel extremely uncomfortable is when I called ABB and asked them to reach out to the guests to complete their information. At least I wish to know which area they were coming from. The rep simply said they couldn't force the guests to do that. How ABB are treating hosts and guests with totally different standards?

Regards,

Joy

[Robin4]

@Joy298 

Joy, guests who leave 'only very limited information' don't get to book on the Airbnb platform! There is a verification procedure a guest has to go through to be able to actually book on Airbnb and an address that is simply.....'China' would not pass even basic verification criteria.

When I joined Airbnb I had to provide my personal details.....where I live, my phone number, my email address. That enabled me to actually become an Airbnb account holder. It did not however enable me to actually book an Airbnb property. In order to do that I had to upload positive identification material to Airbnb.....my drivers licence, my passport information. 

People who say they live in China don't actually get the opportunity to book, and I had this situation just today......so it still exists.......

So, if Airbnb are still sticking to this verification criteria as late as 11.10 am today it must still exist. 

Joy, I am concerned that certain information is (and is being) withheld from us where guests from China are concerned. And it seems more than coincidental that it coincides with this virus outbreak in an obscure part of China.

Cheers......Rob

[Joy298]

Hi @Robin4 ,

Thank you for detailed information. I think the information required to be “verified” vary in different countries. In ABB China market, the most common way to get verified is by uploading a copy of the personal ID card. The ID number includes code of the birth place(only birth place, not residential place). I believe guests from China are not required to provide their actual residential places when registering. Once they got ID uploaded, no more actions are taken and ABB soon give them full authority to use the system.

[Robin4]

@Joy298 

Sorry Joy, I hate to cross swords with a fellow Aussie host but, prior to this current situation all my Chinese guests had their specific location shown. Here is just one example from last year........ but I can show you twenty just like this if you wish.....

Because I do have a lot of Chinese guests (who I do love, they are all exceptional guests) my listing is shown first in my area to guests from China! If they search my reviews, all my Chinese reviews will be shown first.

So Joy I have a great deal of experience in dealing with Chinese reservations. Previously I have always been given a location in China the guest hails from.....now, all of a sudden, I am not.....I am simply given 'China' as a guest location. 

Joy, I don't feel comfortable with that, I don't like the fact that Airbnb would deliberately hide information from me if they thought it would affect my decision to accept or decline a reservation. But I have a distinct feeling that is what is happening here. 

I am starting to really mistrust this company's motives! God, I don't want to, Airbnb have been so good.....but I am starting to feel, they have only been so good because, I don't make waves, I don't hassle Airbnb for anything, I just keep accepting reservations without question.

I am sure Joy, if you went back through your reservations a year ago you would find your Chinese guests would come from specific areas......they wouldn't simply  be generic Chinese citizens!

Cheers......Rob

[Joy298]

Thank you @Robin4 

You are right. I just checked some completed reservations and some Chinese guest's specific location has disappeared. I remembered there used to be the location but not showing there anymore. Not all disappeared but quite a big percentage.

[Helen350]

@Robin4 @Joy298 I always assumed guests could CHOOSE whether to fill in where they come from..... Many of my guests have "lives in England" on their profile, but not which city, town or village...

[Robin4]

@Helen350 

Yes you are right Helen, a guest can elect to have their locality shown publicly or not. It's just that I used to see where they came from in China, now I don't. Of course that could simply be coincidence, my current guests from China may have chosen not to say where they actually come from, so maybe best not to labour a point there.

Until the authorities get on top of this my feeling is Airbnb should be allowing us to use our discretion rather than drawing a heavy handed line. 

Would I reject a booking coming from the Wuhan district? I don't know, I don't think so but, I would certainly like to ask a few questions....'How many days pass from the time you leave home and the time you arrive here'  

Things are changing quickly, yesterday there were 100 cases and three deaths, this morning there are 600 cases and 17 deaths and the authorities have now establish transmission happens by person to person contact. It is not the minor little 'incident' it was yesterday, there is now even a case reported in the US.

If Airbnb consider this is a storm in a teacup maybe they can subsidize us as they did with Co2 monitors and cover the cost of putting a few of these in that we can supply our guests with.........

I shouldn't be making fun of a situation like this!!!

Cheers......Rob

[Kath9]

@Joy298 @Robin4, I had exactly the same thought this morning after listening to the news. I also have a lot of guests from China and am very worried about this. @Robin4, cleaning will not necessarily kill the virus and will not stop it from being transmitted directly to you and Ade. If I get an instant booking from a guest from China, I will be asking where they are from. If they are from anywhere near the Wuhan district, I will be calling ABB to cancel them because of the risk to myself and future guests.

[Joy298]

Thank you @Kath9.

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If they are from anywhere near the Wuhan district, I will be calling ABB to cancel them because of the risk to myself and future guests.

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That's exactly what I'm trying to do. But ABB refuse to cancel as to their standard, where the guests were coming from was not close enough to Wuhan. When I asked further about how they determine the distance. The rep replied currently extenuating circumstances policy only applies to Wuhan administrative area which I feel is just perfunctory.

[Rowena29]

Hi @Kath9, @Joy298, @Robin4 

I have NOT been following the news closely and do not pretend to know anything much about it. However my husband has. He has travelled extensively in China and such news always gains his attention.  He is not offhand about risk, in fact he tends to be overly vigilant in my opinion.

His comment was, in a country of 1 billion people, there are only 100 reported cases.  There is only one reported case of it being transmitted human to human = the rest have been via animals in marketplaces to humans.    I only share this hoping it may help to lessen your alarm.  Don't take it as gospel of course, but I thought they were interesting points. 

Cheers

[Joy298]

Hi @Rowena29 ,

Thank you for your comment.

I definitely hope I'm overacting. However I'm afraid the fact is much worse than the media is now telling us. I myself was from China. I've been living there for more than 20 years. It's very shameful that it looks like I'm slandering against my motherland. But I still have to say my government was infamous for blocking news.

If you have time you can check the case of SARS 10+ years ago. The government blocked the news so people didn't prepare enough and it finally caused severe casualties both domestically and internationally.

I have a lot of friends living in China and they've been sending me unofficial information showing the virus is spreading much faster than the media is now telling us.

[Robin4]

@Rowena29 

Rowena, you have of course heard of Murphy's Law....what can go wrong, will.!

But have you heard of Patrick's Law?   He reckoned Murphy was an optimist......boom    boom!

I understand an appreciate that the risk is incredibly minimal Rowena but, we hosts are not like the perfume sales chick in Myer in Wagga Wagga, or the real estate property manager on 'The Corso' in Manly.....or the electricity meter reader in Belmont! We do not only carry a higher risk because of what we do, but our business is one of perception. We have to be seen as offering a facility that is not susceptible to such risks!

I am not trying to be alarmist but I will keep abreast of all the information I can find and I will do what ever I can to make sure this issue does not walk up my driveway!

But thanks for the moral support stuff mate.

Cheers......Rob

[Kath9]

Thanks @Rowena29, that helps put it in perspective. Australian authorities are stepping up biosecurity measures at airports, however, so I do think it's worth taking seriously. I'd be pretty annoyed if I died because of an Airbnb guest!