New Airbnb payment settings and cancellation grace period

[Jacqueline317]

Dear Airbnb,

Your help center has very contradicting explanations about "paying for a reservation. In one place under "When am I charged for a reservation" it says that "Once the host accepts your request, or if you book a reservation with Instant Book, your payment method will be charged for the entire amount at that time.", here there is nothing mentioned about the "split payment" option. In a different place in your policy under "Can I split the cost of my reservation across multiple payments?" it says on the other hand that "If selected Pay less upfront. You’ll pay part of your reservation now, and you’ll be automatically charged the remaining balance before you check in." Which one is true now? There is also no explanation on WHEN the final part of the payment will get charged (1 day before check-in, 2 weeks,..?) and HOW MUCH the first payment would be. As host, this is a very important information. Also, what happens if there is an issue collecting the final part of the payment? Will the reservation automatically get cancelled from Airbnb without penalty for the host? And if so, who is compensating the host for losing out on a booking so last minute?
This setting as well as the new setting that people can split payments with other people in the group is effecting host experiences very negatively. We already lost out on a lot of reservations due to the full group not paying in the 72 hrs, the reservation being retracted, but the calendar was already blocked for 3 entire days, meaning in those days, we had told everyone else that the property is not available anymore due to the calendar block and then we had lost out on all these potential bookings for 3 full days. The same can happen with that new "pay less upfront" setting when the final payment will be unsuccessful. Also the new 48-hrs cancellation grace period is effecting hosts very negatively (I can understand 24-hrs, but 48 hrs is 2 full days the calendar will be blocked and potential reservations lost). All these new settings only benefit travelers but have a huge negative effect on hosts and owner. That Airbnb does not take the hosts side in consideration is very unfair.

Sincerely,
Jacqueline (Hosting 24 properties on Airbnb)

[Geni4]

SO ridiculous. Why don"t I know this new policy? Dont they message hosts about changes ? Also there is no phone contact to Airbnb anymore...at least that I can find.

I received a message from Airbnb that my guest was charged for cancelling and I would receive the money (less fees). For my own reasons I decided to refund her the whole amount. I then find that they did NOT  charge her and yet  I just credited  her the full amount! She just made money  for not coming! and I'm out the money. Also, Airbnb has made it more difficult to contact or resolve issues.I have really enjoyed my experience until now. 😞 I cant imagine if there were bigger issues that needed resolution. 😞 I only hope they resolve this for me.

I hope you get a resolution.

[Armando23]

Free cancellation is free at the expense of the hosts, and still there are so many of them whom are offering that option; probably because their rentals are given priority at the search page. If a guest decides to cancel in the last minute, Airbnb still receives its payment, and the host ends up with almost no time to get another guest. As a compensation, Airbnb at least should transfer those fees collected from guests, into the host's account; this will show to all parties involved in this bussines, that they are offering an option that benefits all.