Am I the only one who doesn't want to host during Coronavirus pandemic ???

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

I am very surprised to see so many angry hosts who worry about the money more than about their health and life. Do you really want to host during a pandemic? You would risk your health for a few bucks? Are you so desperate? Money means nothing if you will die or live with damaged lungs for the rest of your life. Think about it.

I really don't want to risk mine and my daughter's life and clean after potentially sick guests. I don't want us to be infected because we touched their towels and sheets and inhaled the air in the room where infected guests spent a few days. We can't protect ourselves by wearing just a pair of rubber gloves, without even a proper mask not to mention the whole protective suit. Do you?

And, no matter how much we try, we just can't sanitise and disinfect the entire apartment from top to bottom. It is not a hospital room with just a metal bed and a metal nightstand on the vinyl floor. We have carpets, upholstered furniture, curtains,  full kitchen with cutlery and plates for 12 people.... We can't wash every single item in 70% alcohol after each guest and this virus will stay on surfaces for days .

We closed our calendar for all future bookings a few weeks ago. We offered our guests a mutual cancelation and most of them already canceled. Others contacted Airbnb and we are still waiting for their answer for days. I am happy for each cancelation and I hope the rest of my bookings will be canceled as well. Maybe we will rent long term. Maybe we will keep our property empty until everything is over. We don't know yet but we plan to survive 🙂

I am happy Airbnb allows penalty-free cancelations and my opinion is - it should be free for all bookings until September so hosts can rent their places long term if they want to until this pandemic is over.

We all need money but for us, our health is the most valuable thing we have.

Be reasonable, this is not the flu, THIS IS VERY CONTAGIOUS and it can easily kill you so take care.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Steve2538  this policy is not unilateral. Hosts can also cancel penalty-free due to COVID-19. Many hosts are happy about it because they are too afraid to host now

Extenuating circumstances were always fully refunded and this pandemic is EC

[Steve2538]

Again. Someone else missing the point. Please pay attention! I’m not disagreeing with the fact that this pandemic is a terrible thing, and yes, many hosts won’t want to host. Those were NOT the issues I was addressing however. Please refer to my earlier messages. This Pandemic is EC for everyone! Not just guests, and AIrBnB. It’s EC for hosts too, but they have been left shouldering 100% of the consequences of this situation. That is NOT right. I’m amazed you can’t see that. 

By unilateral, I meant that AIrBnB made the unilateral decision to void our cancellations policy. 

[Patricia55]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 

I have never been happier to receive a guest cancellation than in these recent weeks. Such relief!

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Patricia55  Me too 😄 :)))) It was actually funny, I thanked them and they thanked me haha

[Patricia55]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 

Yes, same here 🙂 It was all sweetness & light 🙂 I mean, we're all hoping for the best for each other, all over the world, of course 🙂  I just hope those guests may come to stay with us, at some point in the future (keeping finger & toes crossed)...

Take care of yourselves. x

[Lawrene0]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 , @Patricia55 : I know! So much thanking! : )

[Steve2538]

Coronavirus and it’s health consequences are NOT the issue I’m discussing. Your comments, and rather insolent unsolicited advice, is not  relevant to the issue I’m addressing. Please try and focus on the issue I’ve raised, which is that AIrBnB have screwed us hosts. They’ve used us as an unwilling insurance provider for guest cancellations. They’ve unilaterally rescinded our cancellation policies. They have dumped the entire cost, 100% on the shoulders of us hosts. I can survive this (luckily), but many, many hosts will lose their rental businesses, and some their rental properties. Try engaging with that!

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Steve2538 

I really do not feel like I am bearing the cost of these cancellations. Guests will not stay and will not be paid. It is like they never booked, like out of season. All bookings stopped anyway, the borders are closed, there are no tourists in Zagreb so it is not like they kept my calendar blocked until the last minute and I lost other bookings because of them.

I would be angry if I would be penalized for my cancelation during a pandemic, or if my guests would stay and then be refunded or if my guests would be refunded based on some lies, or if my guests would be refunded after eviction for breaking house rules or similar ...  but not if they can't travel  due to all these restrictions in EU

of course, some hosts will be in financial trouble, many people will be, not just host and not just financially.

[Sarah977]

@Steve2538 "Coronavirus and it’s health consequences are NOT the issue I’m discussing. Your comments, and rather insolent unsolicited advice, is not  relevant to the issue I’m addressing."

The issue you are addressing has been and is being addressed as nauseum in about 50 topic posts on the COVID19 section of this forum. Everything you have posted here is being said about a thousand times there. Your comments here are not relevant to the topic of this thread. Please don't interject your agenda on a thread where hosts are discussing a different viewpoint.

[Steve2538]

Haha. Sorry, I hadn’t realised that all messages on a thread have to conform to the views of the thread head. 

Ill leave you guys to your sanctimonious, self righteous, backslapping moral high ground. Let’s not criticise AIrBnB, whatever we do! Bless them, and their insufferable cant about the AIrBnB ‘family’. 

[Gordon0]

You could always start your own thread/rant, @Steve2538.

[Sarah977]

@Steve2538 Of course all views don't have to conform to the views of the OP on a thread, the point is that there are about 50 topic posts which echo your sentiments and it's disrespectful to be trying to turn every thread into exactly the same rant.

And if you had been a regular contributor to this forum, instead of just starting to post here when you had an issue, you would know that virtually every host on this thread has been quite vocally critical of Airbnb policies, attitudes and customer service for a very long time.

[Helen350]

@Steve2538  - You were off topic, that was the reason you were asked to desist. I'm sure all here are accepting of your views, & everybody's views, just that it's best to post them on a thread for THAT topic - not off topic.

- Any ad hominem attacks & it's goodbye to the whole thread! (Well, not completely; the thread will stay, but no new comments.) You can say anything on these boards, but the rules are to do so respectfully & politely.... & ON TOPIC! : ) 

[Irene879]

@Steve2538 

Maybe you should start your own thread. There you can lay out your concerns and argue with people who agree or disagree with you.

This thread, by @Branka-and-Silvia0 ,  clearly lays out their stand on the issue.

Please, quit beating this dead horse, and start a thread of your own to support your views.

It's easy, give it a try.

[Sarah327]

Initially the situation didn't seem real. Everything had been happening abroad in other countries but now the reality has set in.

I am in no way adverse to guests choosing to cancel their booking but I am surprised Airbnb offered this option, penalty-free, so quickly. Why not simply defer travel dates like many holiday companies in the UK are doing.

It would benefit Airbnb more than us hosts but at least there would be the potential of income later in the year/next.

I have offered all my guests this option:  to defer. Firstly, because I am becoming increasingly concerned about encouraging people to our rural area where there are no known cases of Corvid-19.

Some have decided to cancel, others have ignored my message but most concerning of all I have a woman who will be 6 months pregnant when she is booked to stay at the end of this month who appears to still be arriving along with her husband and toddler.

I want to cancel them as I do not know where they are going to buy food for one. Also where will they go if no restaurants etc. are open. As I live next door to my listing how can I social distance from them when they will likely stay onsite all day.

I am astounded she hasn't chosen to cancel herself when pregnant women fall into the high risk category. 

The only reason I am hesitant to cancel as I don't want to appear as though I am telling someone what to do, if this makes sense. It's a situation like no other and has been rapidly changing over the last few weeks.

Perhaps I follow up my previous message about deferring with a prompt for her to respond with a decision?