Airbnb drastically limiting Extenuating Circumstances policy

[Pat271]

Anyone read about this?  Seems like great news for hosts:

https://airbnbase.com/extenuating-circumstances-policy-stops/

This will curtail full refunds to guests for frivolous reasons.  Finally, our cancellation policies will be upheld.

[Emilia42]

Well, you get some you lose some. I'll have to make it work. Although, I think that I will be more forgiving on guests when they cancel then guests/Airbnb will be on me.

[Emiel1]

So... if the host is dead, old policy considered it as an EC

New policy: no EC, guest can come.

Unless a dead host is "an act of God" ?

Nice Policy !

[Pat271]

“Guests that are impacted by an event covered by this Policy can cancel their reservation and receive, depending on the circumstances, a cash refund, travel credit, and/or other consideration. Hosts that are impacted by an event covered by this Policy can cancel without adverse consequences, but, depending on the circumstances, their calendars may be blocked for the dates of the cancelled reservation.”

So this is definitely intended to cover both guests and hosts.  @Emiel1, you make a good point that death of host doesn’t seem to be covered. Hmmm...

[Emilia42]

@Pat271 @Emiel1 @Branka-and-Silvia0 

How did we miss this?

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Airbnb-Updates/Updates-about-our-extenuating-circumstances-polic...

[Pat271]

Thanks, @Emilia42! That link answers some questions, and even has a link to a video discussing the modified EC policy.

[Sarah977]

@Emilia42  I believe you are correct. I saw this issue posted on another hosting forum. It appears that hosts will no longer qualify for EC, except in the case of govt. mandated travel restriction, or major "acts of God". So if a host has a major accident or an illness and is in the hospital, or their husband dies, or their plumbing bursts, or their house catches fire, meaning they obviously can't host and have to cancel the upcoming guests, hosts will receive all the cancellation penalties. 

So you're in the hospital, sick with COVID, and Airbnb levies $800 worth of fines on you because you had to cancel your guests.

That's how the new policy reads to me.

@Branka-and-Silvia0  I don't think this has anything to do with refunds, as far as the hosts being penalized for cancelling. The way this new policy reads, it doesn't matter if the guest gets a full refund because the host cancelled- the host will still receive the usual penalties, because almost nothing horrible that could happen to a host, preventing them from hosting, is covered any longer under EC policy.

[Pat271]

Take a look at the link @Emilia42 posted.  I think hosts that are unable to host for good reasons will still qualify under the modified EC policy.

[Sarah977]

@Pat271  I'm not interested in what Catherine Powell said about it in a video. Nor is what you or I "think" relevant. Read the link that Branka and Silvia posted which is the actual policy starting in January. If you have a heart attack and get rushed to the hospital and you have to cancel the upcoming guests, you won't be covered by any EC policy and you'll get the same penalties hosts normally get when they cancel a reservation. Ditto for if you have a house fire or your plumbing springs a major leak and floods the house. So not only will you have a disaster to deal with, you'll get charged fines for cancelling. 

As far as guests are concerned, of course it's better for hosts if guests aren't able to so easily get refunds under EC. But that new policy also states that guests don't have to submit any documentation for what falls under the new policy and that each case will be reviewed by a special team to make sure it qualifies. That just sounds like more of Airbnb reps making unilateral decisions to refund guests.

And you know what's going to happen if guests stop being able to get refunds so easily? Hosts are going to start receiving nasty messages from guests irate that they couldn't get refunded because they're sick or they had a car accident, demanding that the host refund them and cursing them out if they don't.

This policy change wasn't done for the benefit of hosts, it's so hosts take the heat for upholding their cancellation policies, rather than Airbnb CS.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

So for years hosts have complained about the EC policy. Now it has been changed there are still complaints.

I guess whatever Airbnb does is wrong.

For the specific of not being able to host through property damage or host illness I guess hosts will just have to get renters insurance just like hosts expect guests to get travel insurance.

All seems fair to me.

[Emilia42]

@Sarah977  This will give host's control over their cancelation policies (more control over their business) and yes, it does mean that hosts will be fielding complaints from angry guests over those policies. When someone kills me with kindness, I usually fold and sympathize. But when someone is nasty and starts cursing, I have no problem reiterating a @Ute42 style: NO! So I suppose the more angry guests become the more money I make 😁

[Fred13]

   No kidding @Mike-And-Jane0, how did this thread turn so quickly into if its applicable to hosts also; stands to reason it does, and the reality is hosts are always craving for bookings (and honoring them so they get paid), and the guests are constantly trying to weasel out of them and Airbnb has allowed them to do so too easily - that has been the main issue. 

   What this does is set at least a more (it is all a matter of degrees) concrete set of parameters in which guests must honor a reservation.

   What Airbnb still has to do is now enforce this new creed with consistency and integrity, and that could only become the case by hiring only bright, dynamic personnel that can even understand the new concept.

[Debra300]

The EC policy change is not primarily to empower hosts, but is another step Airbnb is making to become more like other reservation platforms.  Add this change with the change to have hosts pay the entire service (just like the commission paid on other platforms), and Airbnb will look very similar to Booking.com and Expedia to guests. 

In regards to cancellations, on Booking.com and Expedia, if a property owner is unable to host and has to cancel a reservation outside of the free cancellation period, the platforms will assist the guest with a new reservation (always at a place much more costly than your listing), and the host is responsible for paying the rate difference.   They don't care that the previous guest left your place in shambles,  the neighbor above you flooded your apartment with overflowing bath water, or that you were just in a bad car accident (you can call, and plead your case though).  On the other hand, both of these OTAs (online travel agencies) also allow for free cancellation periods that end up 30 days before scheduled arrival, share the guest's payment information with hosts, and hosts can charge guests the reservation and for damages.  Hosts can state in their house rules that  guests will be held financially responsible for all costs associated with repairs, including cancellation of subsequent reservations, if necessary. 

Also, hosts already have the flexibility to enforce or over-ride their cancellation policies without intervention from the platforms.  These last two points are where Airbnb currently falls short.  It will require a systematic upgrade to provide hosts the capability to self-cancel a reservation, and there still will be no ability to recoup for damages or lost revenue due to damages without interacting with Airbnb.

As I see it, the home-share and hands-on hosts could be the ones most impacted by the new EC policy regarding cancellations for personal sickness or injury, because they typically do not have co-hosts who can fill in for them.  

@Pat271, @Fred13 , @Emilia42 , @Mike-And-Jane0 , @Sarah977 , @Branka-and-Silvia0 

[Sarah977]

@Debra300 Yes, it appears that Airbnb wants to change its policies to be more in line with other platforms in the ways that benefit the company (i.e.guests seeing the same pricing structure as similar platforms), while retaining all of the current policies that give them far too much control over hosts' business, such as the lack of any reliable security deposit that the host doesn't have to spend countless hours pleading their case about to even try to collect on to guest-centric CS reps.

[Inna22]

I have always been extremely vocal about the EC policy. This is a welcome step in the right direction. Yes, it is yet to be seen how CS interprets it. For example outages- there is no time limit. If there is a one hour outage during the guests stay, does it give them the right to leave with full refund? Civil unrest or riots- that is a really broad one. What is the geographic area it covers? For example, if there are riots downtown Chicago, does it cover city of Chicago? State of Illinois? What is a riot and who decides if an activity qualifies as one? If there is a demonstration and it turns violet, gets disbursed on Wednesday, will Friday check in be eligible for a refund if cancelled on Wednesday? 

Overall though I would like to praise Airbnb for doing the right thing for the first time in a long while @Catherine-Powell 

As for the host piece- yes, it goes both ways. We will need to step up and think about this a little bit more as a business. If something breaks or floods, we can have business interruption insurance. It is not expensive at all. Also, have someone trained as a co host just in case

[Sarah977]

@Inna22  What you have to realize is there's no such thing as business interruption insurance in many parts of the world. Certainly not available here in Mexico, and at my $28/night for a private room listing, even if it were available and wasn't expensive, it would still be too expensive. Nor do I know anyone I could trust to co-host for me and there's no way I would have a guest here in my own home if I were in the hospital. The reservations would have to be cancelled, period.