Cancellation policy does not matter anymore!!!

[Michael-And-Tammy0]

I have recently learned that AirBnB is "testing" a new way for travelers to pay. 50% now, 50% later. According to Airbnb, this is only offered to 15% of new travelers but if the second payment is declined, the 50% deposit is returned to the traveler leaving the host with an empty calendar and no money. 

I just happened to learn of this becuase I contacted airbnb support and asked them what would happen if a second payment was declined. I dont know about anyone else but we rely on our bookings, especially in the summer months to literally pay our yearly expenses! If we lose one week, we lose thousands of dollars that we cannot afford to be without! For airbnb to implement this and not alert their hosts is awful! Please contact airbnb and let them know how you feel about this! 

[Fred13]

   Interesting answer you got, that ~perhaps~ is not correct, taking into consideration that sometimes CS personnel take some wild guesses.

  As I understand it, this new feature affects only 15% of applicants because of its limiting requirements, not because it is limited to only 15% of guests during the 'test'.

  Either way, you bring up a great point: ~IF~ the intention is for all booked guests to be able to cancel by simply not making the 2nd payment, then yes this is a game changer.

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

@Michael-And-Tammy0 - this is actually not a new program, it's been going on for a while - since April, 2017. However, I was under the impression that if the host is on a Strict cancellation policy, like you are, that you would always be entitled to the 50% compensation as outlined in that policy should the guest need to "cancel" because they cannot (or will not) pay the additional 50%.  This is why they collect 50%. Perhaps the help center person did not fully understand. 

https://www.fastcompany.com/40410787/airbnb-is-quietly-testing-flexible-payment-options-for-guests

https://www.engadget.com/2017/11/28/airbnb-rolling-out-split-payments-for-group-travel/

But it has been TOO long for Airbnb not to update their Help Center policies for this split payment endeavor.  This makes it impossible to know the full width and breadth of this policy.  

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/92/when-am-i-charged-for-a-reservation?topic=1120

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/311/do-i-get-a-full-refund-if-i-cancel?topic=1119

[Michael-And-Tammy0]

I spoke to multiple people, all of which told me that if the second payment was declined, the travelers deposit is returned to them. Feel free to look into it yourselves because everyone should be aware of this

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

Interesting doing a search for this topic to find another person was told that the trial had ended on June 30.  Communication and Airbnb do not go hand in hand.... when do we get to review them?!  Definitely not Superhost material ;0 

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Host-Voice/Split-payment-option-is-no-longer-available-disappoin...

[Fred13]

@Alice-and-Jeff0Thanks for update.

[Alexandra380]

I just booked a place for travel in March 2018 and was offered the split payment, share payment with friends, option. Interesting discussion and confusion about how this will work for hosts and how it will affect the cancellation policy. 

[Matthew285]

@Alexandra380 the split payment is different, but also not popular with hosts.

One big complaint is that the split payment booking will block your calendar for the entire 72 hours allowed for the guests to make their parts of the payment. If not all the payments are made, the booking fails but the host had their calendar blocked for 72 hours!

I don't know how it affects the cancellation policy.

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

@Matthew285 - Cancellation policy doesn't even come into play with a split payment because the booking is never made until all parties have paid. 

[Matthew285]

@Alice-and-Jeff0, thank you for that information!

I am always learning new things from the more experienced hosts.

[David126]

I am not sure this would add much to the issue, you should as a general comment not rely on your cancellation policy being upheld, not that difficult to get around it.

[Michael-And-Tammy0]

Hi Michael, I completely understand your concern regarding the reservations getting canceled at last time due to non-payment from the guest's end and Hosts have to bear the consequences of this. However, as per our policy, if the guest isn't able to pay the rest of the amount(in case of split payments), then the paid amount is refunded automatically by our systems and the host's calendar gets automatically available for those dates.

I can understand that it can be frustrating for hosts who expect the reservation and it gets canceled at the last time. I would certainly take it as a feedback and forward this to our management. They would look into this and try to experiment new idea which favors both the host and the guest in equal way.

Your understanding and cooperation in this regards is highly appreciated.

This was their response....

[Michael-And-Tammy0]

How is this right for them to just leave us hoping that the reservation comes through?!?! @Alice-and-Jeff0 how do you stay up to date on all this? 

[Fred13]

  I think a few posts back the ~Group~ split payment got interwhined into the conversation, which it is different than what @Michael-And-Tammy0 is alluding to, which is the 'Pay Less Upfront' option: the ability of a guest to delay paying the 2nd half of the cost of their reservation (unlike the past when 100% was required up front). Then on the 'eve' of their coming (probably on the 'eve' of the host's cancellation policy kicking in); this 'new' option offers the guest the ability to cancel the reservation altogether by claiming they are 'unable' to make the 2nd payment, and then get totally refunded the initial payment.

   ~If so~ Airbnb will have no incentive to be the heavy in this situation and pay the host, most likely it is the host who will be left scrambling anew to fill the cancelled slot.

   The other booking agencies do it this way, probably why Airbnb is experimenting with this new feature.

[Matthew285]

@Fred13, yes! Thank you for clarifying this for us.

The original question was indeed about the "Pay Less Upfront" option and how that might cause cancellations when the 2nd half of the payment failed.

The topic of "Split payments" (an entirely different topic) arose from Alexandra's comment on this thread.

The two topics are completely different things, and each have their own issues and complications.

It is too bad there is no way to split a discussion into two parts when things like this happen...