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!

[Cathie19]

Current Information as at today 25 January 2020:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/china-expands-coronavirus-outbreak-lockdown-fast-tracks-hospi...

WHO - World Health Organisation directives:

https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/23-01-2020-statement-on-the-meeting-of-the-international-health...)

[Helen350]

@Cathie19 I see the virus has reached France  (Paris & Bordeaux) & Chicago.....

[Cathie19]

Sadly @Joy298 & @Helen350 , anywhere there is an airport, or any form of transport that leads back to an airport is essentially at risk. Therefore, good hygiene approach to anyone of any nationality, anywhere, including at your malls and supermarkets. We ALL need to eat and so does anyone carrying a cold, flu or any other pneumonia type virus.

[Marko222]

Hey everyone..

At this momment, I have guests from Guangzhou, China and in the next week or so, I have 3 groups from China.

The issue is that I am not able to see from what part of China those next guest are coming from. I asked all of them about their city and got only one reply that they are from Shangai and that are in good shape and health. 

I am a super host and never ever cancelled a guest so far for 3 years but this is something I am considering right now so I can protect me and my family.

I will probably cancel them all but it would be helpful if I could get some ideas about how to avoid being smacked by Air bnb because of this sudden cancellations. Thanks

[Robin4]

@Marko222 

Marko, you can't avoid being 'smacked' by Airbnb if you cancel anyone outside Airbnb's nominated boundary.

Airbnb considers that these epidemics respect municipal boundaries, and your family's health is not a major concern. There are after all 1.435 billion people in China so when you divide that by the current 1.500 infected souls, the chance of you striking one are literally one in a million. You have more chance of winning the lottery than getting an infected guest. So trust Airbnb, they are not taking a risk with your health!

The truth of it is Marko, Airbnb are not the slightest bit concerned about your health....they don't want to see a downturn in reservations from Chinese nationals so, they will do exactly as the Chinese government will do and downplay the risk. They will wait until the W.H.O....... the Chinese government.......the comprehensive report by the immunology department of the Ulaanbaatar university in Outer Mongolia........ the complete 'steamroller' effect of this virus become totally apparent, before they might consider it is prudent for hosts to actually protect themselves penalty free!

I currently have a few guests I would like a bit more information on, but I can't look to Airbnb to provide answers.....and that makes me really sad!

Cheers.......Rob

[Marko222]

Hey Rob,

Thanks for the reply. 

I just cancelled the next two groups from China. I wanted to see where they are coming from aka are they close to the infected area but were not able to see the city/village or whatnot.

I am penalized by Air bnb with 100$ and it seems that I lost the super host status. Better safe than sorry.

[Joy298]

@Marko222 

Hi Marko,

If you have time, would you please make a call to airbnb. They are updating their policy towards coronavirus almost every day. You may able to get your penalty removed.

[Robin4]

@Marko222 

No, it appears Airbnb are not presently giving out any information about the locale that Chinese guests are coming from. Marko I would love to think this is just a coincidence, guests do not have to publicly disclose the locality from where they live. But Marko I am not seeing it with any of my other overseas guests, and prior to this situation I was given my Chinese  guests locale.

In fact I found my Chinese guests were proud of where they came from.....they are keen to teach the world about modern China and are always forthcoming with information about where they live.

Marko, if Airbnb have penalised you for nothing more than trying to protect yourself and your family, I would take to social media, I would embarrass the sh*t out of them, maybe even enlist mainstream media, they are always after juicy Airbnb stories. 

Here is the situation as of midnight on the evening of 25th January.....

• 41 people have died from coronavirus in China, which originated in Wuhan, a city in the Chinese province of Hubei.

• 16 cities in Hubei have been locked down, and around 28 provinces have issued the highest emergency response ranking possible, which enables measures including quarantines.

• There is no travel in or out of Wuhan, and Beijing has suspended inter-province travel.

• There are more than 1,280 confirmed cases worldwide, predominantly across Asia. However, the virus reached Europe yesterday, with three confirmed cases in France, and has also reached Australia and US. In total, 14 countries have been affected.

• 14 people were tested in the UK but all were cleared of the virus. The government are tracking down 2,000 people who have arrived from Wuban in recent weeks.

In three days we have gone from one country being infected to 14. 

This is a serious problem and now is the time for serious people at the helm, I just hope Airbnb can muster up a few of them!

Cheers.....Rob

[Bronwen3]

It's one thing if as a host you decide to cancel.  But my situation is that ABB just cancelled a reservation from the Wuhan region, refunded the guest, and did not pay me.  It was a ten day reservation so I have lost over £1000.  This is very unfair as the guest should have travel insurance which covers this sort of situation.  ABB should compensate hosts in any event if they decide to cancel the reservation as we have no say in it. I have complained to ABB who keep just telling me the same thing about the Extenuating Circumstances policy.  I am very unhappy about this, it is very sad for those affected in Wuhan, but I just don't see why it is down to the host to compensate and not down to ABB.  They say they are simply a platform, but this is patently not true.  They handle the whole process, deal with complaints, supply insurance etc. etc. and should honour the booking rental if they make it. They also encourage instant booking which I do, which means I cant vet the booking in advance.  Perhaps I should change this, and reject all enquiries from China and Hong Kong going forward since I cant possibly know if ABB will honour the booking going forward.  Has anyone else faced this problem?

[Adam1147]

 Yes this also happened to me, and something else happened. I had a guest from China book for the entire month of February and a week before check in I contacted ABB to find out if they endorsed travel from China (wanting to be on the safe side) and was told if I wanted to cancel it is up to me.  The guest then cancelled and since my cancellation policy is strict , I would have received the payout in full in a few days. ABB sent an email indicating this to me as well. I was then contacted by ABB on behalf of the guest to ask for a refund. As it gives me very little time to secure new guests I declined to offer a full refund but said that any new guests I book, I can use that as a refund. In an attempt to get the guest as much $ as I could, I lowered my price to attract guests and received a few bookings at a deeply discounted per night price. This morning I get an email from ABB saying the guest will now get a full refund. The upcoming payout for that cancellation has now disappeared and now I’m stuck with guests who are only paying a very cheap fee to stay with me. 

[Colleen253]

@Marko222  Just be sure to reply to the auto cancel review with exactly why you cancelled....that you 'cared more than Airbnb'. Future guests will understand. 

[Colleen253]

@Marko222 👍 Good for you, sorry about the penalties. That's outrageous. If it were me, I'd also say Superhost and penalties be damned. I'd be cancelling and eating all penalties. Some things are more important. It's heinous how Airbnb are handling this. So we are all to be put at risk, and contribute to the spreading of this virus, just to maintain the 'guest experience' and retain the almighty service fee??? Mind boggling.

[Bronwen3]

So my problem is that ABB just cancelled a guest under the epidemic policy, but also cancelled my payment without compensation, it was a ten day booking, so I've lost a great deal.  They didnt even check if the guest has travel insurance.  We would be heavily penalised for cancelling a booking and yet they did this without consulting me or dealing approprately.  I am very sorry for all those suffering in Wuhan, its not their fault, but not mine either.  I took the reservation in good faith so I really dont feel its fair. 

Any others in this situation? 

[Helen350]

@Bronwen3 I agree with Airbnb in this situation. They were right to cancel & refund the guest. Yes, it's not YOUR fault, it's just one of those things..... (a potential pandemic.) According to @Robin4 above, the guests will be banned from leaving China by their own government. The guests should not have to pay you. Airbnb should not have to pay you, for a world health problem; who DO you expect to pay you, the Chinese government? - I think you are being a bit selfish... 

[Bronwen3]

Travel insurance!