alteration reservation post 14th March.

Paul60
Level 10
Dublin, Ireland

alteration reservation post 14th March.

Hey all - hope you're all doing great,

Question - I had a reservation confirmed prior to 14th March and the guest submitted an alteration request on the 15th March that was agreed to bring the reservation date to 01st August.  The guest now cancelled and received a full refund.

I would have thought given the reservation date was amended post 14th March that standard cancelation policy should apply.  

Any thoughts /  experiences?

 

Paul

Airbnb are Snakes.
11 Replies 11
Pat271
Level 10
Greenville, SC

Yes, this is a standard loophole for getting out of having to abide by the host’s policy.  The clock starts over again when a reservation is altered to a date out of the policy window, as if the guest was booking for the first time.

 

It used to be I could call Airbnb to make the change while still retaining the host policy.  These days, I’m not so sure.

@Pat271 Actually the opposite is true - Airbnb have closed the loophole whereby changing dates resets the clock and then allows them to cancel free of charge. As a consequence of this when @Paul60 's guest moved their reservation the clock did not reset and hence the pre March 14th cancellation policies still applied.

Ohh, I see.  I wasn’t aware they closed that loophole; good to know.

Ann72
Level 10
New York, NY

Yes, @Paul60@Mike-And-Jane0 is right - the reservation is always tied to the original booking date.  In your case, it sounds as if it fell within the COVID-19 cancellation policy?  At other times, this can work to the host's advantage.  A guest might try to game the system by rescheduling the reservation and then cancelling within 48 hours.  This happened to me last year.  Airbnb did try to persuade me to give the full refund, but I was so annoyed by the lying guest that I refused and got the 50%.

Fred13
Level 10
Placencia, Belize

@Ann72 I well remember and caused me to quickly move my April-September reservations into post-October; only 2 sandbagged and didn't move (early August reservations) waiting for Airbnb the EC time frame, and sure enough.  No complaints, 2/28 is not bad.

Paul60
Level 10
Dublin, Ireland

Thanks guys

Airbnb are Snakes.
Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

I was wondering about this too. I had a guest who was supposed to come in June for one month change her dates to September. Although she was not covered by the EC refund at the time and I was unable to rebook her original dates, I agreed as I understood her situation due to COVID-19 and she seemed grateful.

 

However, as the time approaches for her early September check in, I take it from this thread that she can now cancel last minute and still get a full refund regardless of whether the EC dates are extended to September or not? That would mean I would have lost income for TWO months.

 

What I want to know is, if the policy for EC refunds for any bookings ORIGINALLY made, should the host not then still be entitled to the 25% compensation as per the policy that applied at the time the guest changed their dates? I am guessing not...

 

So, that means being shafted in how many ways by trying to be a good host?

@Huma0  From @Mike-And-Jane0 ’s post above, my understanding is that whatever situation was in place at the time the booking was moved will remain in force.  So in @Paul60 ’s case, the situation was that the original booking date was before March 15th, and that was not adjusted when the check-in date was changed to August.  In your case @Huma0, was the original booking made before March 15th?    

Mike-And-Jane0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

@Huma0 As the original reservation was for a stay in June that would not have qualified for the 25% (aka 12.5%) refund because this was only for stays to end May.

Technically she can't just cancel - she has to have a reason for cancelling the September dates. 

Finally I don't think you can blame Airbnb for the June cancellation as you would have been breaking the law to rent in June unless she was a key worker.

Lets just hope Boris doesn't quarantine the whole of the M25 circle in September!

@Pat271 @Mike-And-Jane0 

 

Ok, thanks for clarifying. I just wasn't sure if the rules for bookings made prior to 15th of March (which is the case with the guest I'm referring to) would still apply if that guest had chosen to postpone rather than cancel.

 

At the time of the cancellation, the guest's booking was not covered by Airbnb's EC, nor did the dates fall within the Govt ban, nor was the Airbnb calendar blocked, so she could have kept the original dates IN THEORY. The issue at the time was that the course she was coming to do was cancelled, so she changed both her course and stay dates. 

 

From what I understand also, the calendar was blocked for new stays, not existing ones. I had a guest whose stay had already commenced and he was allowed to stay and, in any case, fell under the Government exemptions from the ban, so it was not breaking the law (I read this in detail and it did not just apply to key workers btw). Had this lady wanted to come in June though, yes, probably that would have been against the law, as she was coming from Germany and did not fall within those exemptions. I guess then I would have had to cancel from my end...

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

PS Yes, in theory, she would have to have a reason to cancel the September dates but, in practice, she can cancel and get Airbnb credit without providing any proof of EC. She just has to 'attest' to it and any guest who understands this can work that flaw in the system so easily. It has already happened to me with another guest.