MESSAGE YOUR GUESTS AND ASK IF THEY NEED TO CANCEL PLEASE DO SO 6 DAYS BEFORE CHECK IN!!

[Bobbiecool0]

This morning I messaged all of my upcoming guests and asked them if they have to cancel please do so 6 days before the checkin date ( luckily I have a strict cancellation policy). I explained to them how Airbnb are screwing over hosts but also told them I understand if they need their monies back sooner rather than later as most people are suffering financially. This is the most I can do to prevent a 100% earning loss. If anyone has a strict cancellation policy please do this, it might help to prevent a total loss of earnings. 

[Robin4]

@Bobbiecool0 

Bobbie, I never expected to get paid for a service I did not provide.

I have no desire to hoard money from guests who, through no fault of their own, did not get the opportunity to experience what I offer.

I would have liked to have had the opportunity to discuss with the guest, in an adult way, alternatives!

A hosting deferment to a future date with an extra day or two thrown in as an enticement,. Some way of keeping the reservation on the books!

Instead of that all I get is a string of cancellation notices saying the guest has been fully refunded and I then find out via the guest that, that was not in actual fact what happened! A guest might have been given a credit, not necessarily with me, but any other Airbnb listing that might better suit their needs! 

Once Airbnb process the reservation that is their job done! From that point on my contract is with the guest and it should be up to us to sort out our affairs from there.

Bobbie, I don't want handouts at someone else's expense......all I want to do is arrive at an equitable solution.....but Airbnb are not offering me that option!

Cheers......Rob 

[Bobbiecool0]

Sorry, but are you aware of the policy regarding the coronavirus and guests who cancel? I'm not taking any guests money, its Airbnb who are giving back a small percentage to hosts if they fit the criteria, not guests. Also hosts and guests should be able to sort issues out between themselves, Airbnb have been proven to be a nightmare to sort out issues in my experience.  And aren't we all supposed to be one big happy community? So please, as far as I am aware there are no handouts at a guests expense, which is what you are saying. 

[Robin4]

@Bobbiecool0 

You are expecting to be paid something for something you haven't provided.....I don't need to say any more than that!

You are right in that hosts and guests should be able to sort out their issues between themselves, but realistically, that is never going to happen, at least not with Airbnb. I also host on another platform where this whole thing is handled in a much more adult way.

And to your last comment, that is exactly what you are saying, the guest should give up money for a service they did not receive to a host who did not provide the service.

Look Bobbie, this is a difficult time....I have lost, or will lose $25,000 worth of business this year, and I am not happy with the way Airbnb have handled this pandemic issue.

But, I still want to be ethical about the situation we are in. If I provide a service I expect to get paid....if I don't......well, I don't!

Cheers......Rob 

[Bobbiecool0]

Unless the policy has changed I understood it as the guest will receive ALL of their money back if they cancel because of the virus, as I have already stated. My intention is not to take any money from a guest, only from Airbnb themselves, which is why they have put aside $250 million. So no, I'm not saying guests should pay me something 🙂 

[Huma0]

@Bobbiecool0 

There is a problem with this, unfortunately. Another host posted on FB a message one of her guests had received. This is the section that is most pertinent:

"We’ve expanded our cancellation options. You can always change or cancel your existing reservation under the terms of your host’s cancellation policy. As an alternative, we are now also offering guests impacted by COVID-19 the option to cancel and get 100% of the amount they’ve already paid as travel credit to use toward a future trip. To receive this credit, please cancel at least 7 full days before your check-in date to give your host plenty of notice. Know that when you choose this option, Airbnb will also pay your host a portion of the reservation value from a support fund we have established for this purpose. This is our way of helping to ease the financial burden of both our guests and hosts during this crisis."

Am I going mad, but what kind of double dealing is this? From what I understand, and correct me if I am wrong as maths was never my strong point, if you have a strict cancellation policy, and the guest cancels more than seven days before, you would normally receive 50%. So, 25% of 50% = 12.5%.

If the guest cancels less than seven days before, you would normally get 100%, so that 25% would actually mean 25% of the booking.

Airbnb is telling guests who still have reservations, that the only way they can get their 100% credit, is if they cancel more than seven days before because it is KINDER TO THE HOST. They are further PR-ing to the guest their wonderful host support plan, within an email that is precisely designed to reduce the amount they will need to pay to hosts under that plan.

Even if you then inform the guest what this really means, the poor guest is stuck between a rock and a hard place. They can either lose 50% of whatever they have paid to ensure the host gets a bit more, or can say, sorry not my problem/fault, and take the 100% travel credit instead (Airbnb earning more interest on their money in the meantime). What option do you think most guests will choose?

Sorry, but am I reading this wrong?

Airbnb, really??? How much lower are you going to stoop?

[Huma0]

They should have rephrased it thus:

"Dear guest, even if you're not thinking of cancelling your reservation, we thought you would like to know that they only way you can get 100% of your money back - and only in Airbnb travel credit by the way, which we will make interest on in the meantime - is to join us in screwing over the hosts as we are, after all, "all in this together". If you cancel more than seven days before your booking, your host will get half of the measly  payment we promised to give them. If you don't, then they will get slightly more but you will lose half your money. Your choice. Have a nice day!"

[Bobbiecool0]

So are hosts now not allowed to offer guests 100% of their money back if they cancel less than 7 days to go? Is that option no longer available??? This is becoming very confusing. 

[Huma0]

@Bobbiecool0  I really don't know.

There was no mention of what would happen if the guest didn't cancel at least seven days in advance. It only said that if they wanted a 100% travel credit, they must cancel seven days in advance. No mention of any full cash refund. No mention of any refund at all in the last seven days.

So, yes, one alternative might be to ask the guests to cancel less than a week before and you will refund them the other 50%. But, I assume then the guest would not be refunded their fees by Airbnb.

Also, who knows what other goal posts Airbnb have moved behind our backs, or what other obstacles they have put in the way of us getting any of that host fund?

[Bobbiecool0]

What a nightmare. Reading a lot of posts on this forum many hosts, and I'm including myself in this, have no coherent understanding of the cancellation policy.