COVID19 cancellations for June check-in dates - Hosts get 0 regardless of policy

Pat271
Level 10
Greenville, SC

COVID19 cancellations for June check-in dates - Hosts get 0 regardless of policy

 

Just a heads-up that I just got an e-mail yesterday outlining what will happen with June COVID19 cancellations.

 

Apparently guests can cancel any June reservation for COVID19 reasons with a booking date before March 15.  The guest gets 100%, the hosts get 0, regardless of cancellation policy.  The 25% of normal cancellation payout does not apply for check-in dates after May 31st.

 

I guess it was presumptuous of me to assume that the 25% holdback for hosts would be extended past May 31st. 😞

7 Replies 7
Donald28
Level 10
Lithia Springs, GA

I got that same email. 

Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hello @Pat271 and @Donald28,

 

Thanks for letting others know to look out for an email. Just to mention, there are a couple of other conversations on this elsewhere in the CC which you might like to read. Take a look here

 

Thanks,

Lizzie


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@Lizzie, the discussion in your link above does not discuss the discontinuation of the 25% host payout.  I think that is a significant enough event to mention on its own.

I just read this email and I am so disappointed. I have been a SuperHost for over 5 years, I have been committed and loyal. Why is it that hosts don't get reimbursed when it is entirely out of our control? If it were the other way around hosts would be penalized some how. I feel like AirBnB gives all the allowances to guests but very little support to the hosts, who are the backbone of the community. I am so frustrated. Is there anyone who will listen to hosts facing financial despair because of ABNB unwillingness to offer adequate financial support to their hosts. I also was told that qualifying for the "grant" is subjective so ABNB decides who gets the grant, even if you are a SuperHost and they think you have enough money to survive you won't get it. How do they know what your personal financial situation is? 

Mike-And-Jane0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

@Ellen82 @Pat271 @Donald28 

Sadly, in the face of a pandemic I really don't think Airbnb can do anything other than what they are doing. The original post is not quite what Airbnb said - Guests can only cancel if there are travel issues. If guests are unable to travel due to Covid 19 then I think they will expect their money back even under the original EC policy in place when they booked. Airbnb cannot afford to repay guests and pay hosts so hosts will just have to recognise that Covid 19 will likely wipe out this years bookings/earnings. 

Also not mentioned is the fact that Airbnb will allow hosts to cancel the rest of 2020 if they wish (bye the end of April I think). That way people can take control and switch to long term rentals if they want to.

@Mike-And-Jane0 

 

My post was meant to focus on the discontinuation of the Airbnb 25%-of-payout disbursement to hosts. It wasn’t meant to start (yet another) discussion on the 100% refund to guests, nor on the fact that Airbnb will allow hosts to cancel.  Sorry if I didn’t make that clear.

 

I agree that Airbnb may not be able to do more, but I was hoping that the 25% disbursement would continue past May 31st.  Wishful thinking probably; they can’t keep disbursing forever.

 

I wonder if Airbnb is eligible for any of the US government grants, loans, and/or stimulus payments being offered to businesses.  It would be nice if they would consider sharing that with us if they get anything. 

Dear Airbnb,

Thank you for the  update.

I fully appreciate your efforts during this crisis in supporting the Airbnb community and especially the fact that you understood the impact of your decisions on guests as well as hosts such us myself.

I strongly feel that the decision imposed on us by yourselves in the email below is a serious step backwards. If you feel you should include this situation under your extenuating circumstances policy and give full refund to the guests who not be able to travel then by the same token you should extent your $250 million USD commitment to hosts to include such cases as well. Otherwise it seems to me that you do not have a clear strategy in place but rather that you just gave away $250 million in order to keep hosts quiet for a while.

You should advise your guests to take out travel insurance (you could even make money on this yourselves) to cover themselves for such risks. This is exactly the reason why you have a cancelation policy in place that may include a non-refundable sum. You should not try to mitigate these risks yourselves but rather have a clear policy which is enforced and let the insurance companies handle this risks.

I understand that only guests who are sick or unable to travel may be eligible for full refund, but then again you at Airbnb consider the cancelation of flights as extenuating circumstance, therefore, with the travel restrictions that are in place at the moment and until mid-June you basically cover almost all guests under the extenuating circumstance rule and you are going to give them full refund leaving us hosts to suffer once again.

All other major platforms including Booking.com and Expedia allowed the hosts to decide on how to proceed and encouraged the Voucher scheme.

I strongly suggest to you as a long time host to stick to your strategy for protecting the hosts and paying out of your own pocket the unilateral decision to grand full refunds to guests under the extenuating circumstance rule.

Thank you for your attention.