I have an Airbnb guest arriving from Nanjing in China, 546 km from Wuhan. Should I be concerned about the risk of contracting coronavirus

[David3418]

Airbnb said I can’t cancel without penalty because the Australian government is not blocking people who are Australian residents coming back to Australia, only non-residents. They also contacted him and he says he is abiding by the government rules about minimum going out etc. My concern is that the Australian government blocked people coming in from China for a reason, and the coronavirus does not discriminate between residents and non-residents.

Should I cancel anyway, just to be safe?

Should I turn off instant book or leave it on?

Airbnb says I can still cancel without penalty if I leave instant book on. But often I am using Airbnb from work on my mobile phone and its hard to use apps on mobile phones. Perhaps easier to judge each one on a case by case basis.

But in the past when I didn't have instant book, people would enquire at 10am, and then when I check my mobile at midday during lunch break, there is another message that they booked somewhere else. So, therefore, much less bookings overall.

[Robin4]

@David3418 

Well Airbnb are skating on really thin ice here David.

The current ban on entry into Australia is for non resident Australians. So, no tourist who permanently reside in China are permitted entry to Australia at present, but Australian nationals who have traveled to China are still permitted entry back into Australia but, are required to personally isolate from the public for 14 days.

Are you saying Airbnb are still publicly telling you they will not allow a penalty free cancellation and are forcing you to accept a person the Australian government have deemed should remain in isolation?

Is that what they have said to you David? Do you have that in the form of a message, or was that simply a phone conversation?

It's about time this was bought to the governments attention.......maybe through the ACCC or the immigration department.

I would hate to think that Airbnb are actively promoting the spread of an infectious pandemic, but by what you are saying, that is exactly what they are doing.

It seems this company will stop at nothing in search of those lucrative service fees.....Time they were reported!

Cheers......Rob

[Stacy105]

My husband and I were excited to get a two week booking last week from a woman who said she was starting a new job and needed a place to stay before she moved in to her apartment. She had a Chinese name but we didn’t want to assume she was form China because her profiles said Boston. She did a self check in last nigh while we were out. This morning my husband ran into her while he was working in the yard and introduced himself and shook her hand. She then told him she was doing a self quarantine in our Airbnb for two weeks. She even asked if she could use our kitchen. My husband was so shocked, he went into the house and immediately washed his hands and took s shower and put all the clothe he was wearing in the wash machine. I had been out all day so I never met her. I am so upset that she shook my husbands hand and that she did not tell us this information before she booked. It never accured to me that someone would do this. I feel like a fool! 90% of our guests are great but the 10% are seriously making me want to quit. My husband told her I was upset and to stay away from us. She had offered to go to a motel . I’m waiting to hear back from my doctor as to what I should do. Beware hosts!!!

[David3418]

Thanks for your reply. I do have a message in writing from them, explaining that I can't cancel penalty free, because they contacted him and he told them he is abiding by all the Chinese government rules (staying in his apartment most of the time) etc. For some reason, when I try to access the message on my desktop computer it doesn't work and I can't see the message that way. I can only see it on my mobile phone. So it would be difficult to cut and paste it here. As I said in my other post, having looked at AirBnb's extenuating circumstances policy, it seems it doesn't match our government's policy,  I tried just then to bring the message up on my mobile phone and I couldn't get it to display that way either. But I'm sure I read it, even though I can't access it any more.

[David3418]

I managed to find the message from Airbnb regarding request to cancel someone who booked, and is currently in China, but booked before coronavirus (who I have now cancelled, and he is okay with this).

Hi,

I recieved a response from your guest Qiang Fei for reservation code  (long term stay).

He confirmed that there has been no plan of cancellation on his end and everything looks good.

He mentioned that his flight is with China eastern airline departing from Nanjing to Melbourne (transition in Shanghai) on 19th and that he is an Australian permanent resident which exempt him from the entry restriction. As long as his flight not being cancelled and entry policy not changed, He will be able to make it.

Although his family is living in Nanjing. He has never traveled to the affected city Wuhan and never have contacted anyone from there in person. Meanwhile, he almost never leave his apartment since 23 Jan, to support local government policy and to protect themselves from the virus.

If you decide to cancel this reservation, the host cancellation policy may apply:
https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/990

If there's anything else I can assist you with, please let me know.

[David3418]

I managed to find the message from Airbnb regarding request to cancel someone who booked, and is currently in China, but booked before coronavirus (who I have now cancelled, and he is okay with this).

Hi,

I recieved a response from your guest Qiang Fei for reservation code  (long term stay).

He confirmed that there has been no plan of cancellation on his end and everything looks good.

He mentioned that his flight is with China eastern airline departing from Nanjing to Melbourne (transition in Shanghai) on 19th and that he is an Australian permanent resident which exempt him from the entry restriction. As long as his flight not being cancelled and entry policy not changed, He will be able to make it.

Although his family is living in Nanjing. He has never traveled to the affected city Wuhan and never have contacted anyone from there in person. Meanwhile, he almost never leave his apartment since 23 Jan, to support local government policy and to protect themselves from the virus.

If you decide to cancel this reservation, the host cancellation policy may apply:


If there's anything else I can assist you with, please let me know.

[David3418]

If you look below I have copied and pasted the message from Aribnb that said they may penalise me for cancelling someone from China. Tried to send it directly to you but did not seem to work.

[Joy298]

Hi @David3418 

I think the rep is wrong. Due to their latest update of the policy, both guest and host can launch penalty-free cancelation if either side is from China. I'm 100% sure as I have canceled another group 3 days ago. Such cancelation is not counted into that 3 free chances per year. Maybe the english crew is not familiar enough with the new policy. Try to call again and ask for another rep please. 

[David3418]

I have already cancelled the only other person coming from China. I was pleased he wrote back to say the he was very understanding of my coronavirus concern. I sent a message to Airbnb saying that it was booked under instant book before coronavirus outbreak and explaining that even though he is Australian resident, the coronavirus does not distinguish between residents and non-residents.

I had another lady who said on her profile that she was from Alice Springs Australia, write to me, saying that she is currently in China (I had no idea from her unclear photo that she was Asian but further investigation revealed she did have an Asian surname, which I had not bothered checking). She said that her intention was to stay with me and then go in into self-isolation. She also said that because she was flying from China to Australia that it would be ok to cancel her. I was a bit surprised that she was planning to stay with me and then self-isolate, which obviously doesn't make sense. I phoned Airbnb about it at 7am. I had to wait for the person I spoke to refer to their supervisor and they agreed to cancel penalty free. So, I have told them they should also accept this other cancellation in very similar circumstances.

I asked them to look into the situation with the guy from China who was booked in. He was from Nanjin,, 546 km from Wuhan. They said they contacted him and he told them he was doing all the things the Chinese government told him to do, and that therefore, if I cancel him, they will penalise me.

I looked at their policy on this issue and it is a bit complicated. I think they are basically saying that unless the person comes from Wuhan or a neighbouring area that their "extenuating circumstances" reason for cancelling someone does not apply. But my argument to them, (explained when cancelling him) is that the Australian government is not allowing people from anywhere in China to come to Australia (unless resident, permanent residency or family member of such person) and so their policy does not seem to match the policy of the Australian government. And even though both these people were exceptions due to being permanent residents or Australian citizens, the virus does not discriminate on this basis.

Also, another reason I decided to cancel the other guy from China, is that there is a 14 day incubation period. Even if the latest stats on coronavirus are accurate, they are still going to be 14 days behind. And I don't see any reason why I should believe the stats from China, as their non-democratic government has form when it comes to lying.  Also, I am concerned about the risk of the virus mutating into something much more serious than what it is.

Also, this guy made the booking BEFORE coronavirus outbreak. Presumably, he was going to go to my place straight from the airport, in the usual manner.

I would not have a problem taking someone from China if they self isolated for 14 days and then had medical certificate to show they don't have coronavirus. But, how can I prove they self-isolated for 14 days after they got off the plane? And why should I trust a "stranger", even if they did claim to have self-isolated?

I went to a restaurant last Sunday with friends, as we always do. We commented to the waiter that we are the only ones there, and normally it is much busier. She said people are staying away due to concerns about the coronavirus (a person contracted it at a restaurant at a suburb close by). So, I don't think I am acting more paranoid than the average person.

I have also taken instant book off now, as I am a bit concerned about a huge influx of instant book people from China, taking advantage of AirBnb's lax approach to coronavirus. 

[David3418]

I managed to find the message from Airbnb regarding request to cancel someone who booked, and is currently in China, but booked before coronavirus (who I have now cancelled, and he is okay with this).

Hi,

I recieved a response from your guest Qiang Fei for reservation code  (long term stay).

He confirmed that there has been no plan of cancellation on his end and everything looks good.

He mentioned that his flight is with China eastern airline departing from Nanjing to Melbourne (transition in Shanghai) on 19th and that he is an Australian permanent resident which exempt him from the entry restriction. As long as his flight not being cancelled and entry policy not changed, He will be able to make it.

Although his family is living in Nanjing. He has never traveled to the affected city Wuhan and never have contacted anyone from there in person. Meanwhile, he almost never leave his apartment since 23 Jan, to support local government policy and to protect themselves from the virus.

If you decide to cancel this reservation, the host cancellation policy may apply:
https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/990

If there's anything else I can assist you with, please let me know.

[Stephanie]

Hiya @David3418 ,

Airbnb released a statement recently regarding bookings from Chinese territories in light of the pandemic which I urge you to review here: Coronavirus outbreak.

Thanks,

Stephanie

[David3418]

Thanks for your response. It all seems long-winded and complicated. I just want the option of not having to accept people from China until the coronavirus thing is settled, as I can't verify if they have had 14 days isolation in Australia before coming to my place and the Australian Broadcasting Commission says all travellers from China are supposed to do that due to coronavirus concerns. So, at this stage I have turned off instant booking. I will turn it on when and if I am confident I don't have to worry about coronavirus or any other similar issue. My experience, and the experience others have shared on this forum, indicates many people don't even understand what "self-isolate" means, with people booking from China to "self-isolate" with AirBnb hosts or saying they will "self-isolate" AFTER the booking, neither of which makes sense.