I'm a Superhost and I had booked a room for April 9th-14th in New York City.
On March 13th Governor Cuomo said, "My guess is in the state, we already have thousands of cases,".
By March 13th Broadway had canceled all shows and so I canceled my reservation with Airbnb.
They gave me all the money that goes to the host back but refuse to refund the $69 in service fees.
Their excuse is that I canceled too early.
To be clear, Airbnb forced the host to give a full refund and then refused to refund their service fees.
I have asked Airbnb to explain to me in detail with dates why my reservation does not qualify for a full refund of Airbnb service fee?
I have not heard back.
Here is Airbnb's response to my request for a refund of service fees:
Hello Steve
We know how disruptive something like the COVID-19 can be and we understand how uncertain you must feel. Our extenuating circumstances policy covers our hosts and guests with eligible reservations who are being impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Unfortunately, your reservation is not eligible and does not qualify for a full refund but it depend on the host which in your case refunded you in full outside of the cancellation policy.
The reservation has been cancelled to early and that is the reason why airbnb doesnt refund it.