Corona virus email

[Marcus21]

I just want to say after a lousy January, February and now with March looking just as bad if not worse..

THANK YOU AIR BNB FOR YOUR LATEST BEAUTIFULLY COMPOSED EMAIL!

(re corona virus cancellation)

I don’t know if you have one of these beauts, I can’t be bothered to transcribe verbatim but basically... It goes like this:

‘we understand you may be worried about the possibility of a pandemic...being wiped off the face of the planet..or the impact that that’s  having on your calendar..

so...we thought now would be a great time to let you know we are giving guests more opportunity to cancel making that stress/uncertainty worse! 

feel better??

grrrreat!!

let’s run through what happens just so you really Do go out looking for that train to hop under...

in the event of a cancellation...

you...lose all your money ..and they..keep all theirs..it’s not your fault no..but it’s not theirs either so...

well..it’s you that loses your money..we tossed a coin..

here’s the good news though...we...aren’t going to penalise you for cancelling..because you didn’t! ...see how that works! ?

and more good news...those days youve lost all your money on? Well they can go right back to blowing in the wind on your calendar! It’s going to be a great time for them to be there now everyone’s got it we could be facing extinction..No way do we want to take the chance to rent property away from you at this pivotal time!

and the last bit of good news...?

your superhost is totally unaffected..

you were worried weren’t you??

Thought we’d take away your earnings and your fictitious award too!? ...ohhhh you guys!   Silly!!  ....that’s what we love about you...

STAY UPDATED!

HIT THE TAB FOR STUFF YOU ALREADY KNEW!”

thats it basically. 

My ex works as ward matron at infectious diseases...she said

“the corona is predicted to kill 10,000 world wide..the last flu pandemic killed 125,000...who bothered about that?”

I don’t know how much of this is really as serious as it appears and how much it just sells papers.. and I understand that air bnb needs to clarify things and I have read their policy on the help centre and it seems totally fine to me..sensible enough..but this email hints it may be really slackening off..one thing I will transcribe from this latest masterpiece is now guests can cancel if their “travel is restricted”

today I had my first cancellation citing the virus..I got my money as per cancellation policy..  this ladies work cancelled international travel..and I assume..she got paid out by them..it all went as it should..work called it..work lost.

but if guests in this situation (for example) or a whole lot of others get information like you can cancel penalty free if your travel is “restricted” and they for example  DIDNT get paid out..well..I think we are going to see a 400% rise in guests arguing cancellation policy..one hopes these claims will be fruitless but meantime?

so yes THANKS air bnb for setting my mind at rest with this charming communiqué!

jeez! Who writes these things? For a global gazillion dollar Corp..you could get better! 

someone who genuinely thinks about the impact and phrasing of an email for example.

(probably not me based on this rant yes..)

[Sarah977]

@Marcus21  I think the phrasing of Airbnb communiques is written by ex-daycare teachers. They read like we are children who can be easily placated by the promise of a cookie, or tricked into having a choice like "Do you want to wear the blue pajamas or these cute red ones with the bunnies?" when the child is, in fact, objecting to having to wear pajamas at all.

[Kevin1322]

@Sarah977 

are you sure you aren't related to my wife 🤣

[Sarah977]

@Kevin1322  You never know. DNA testing for paternity is relatively recent. That's why, in the Jewish religion, you are only considered Jewish if your mother was. Who knew for sure, except Mom (and even then maybe not) who Daddy was?

[Kevin1322]

@Sarah977  Sounds a pretty sensible to me.

My wife used to deny being our own kids' mother when they played up  🤣

Keeps them on their toes.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

I would like to see all my reservations canceled during this pandemic.

[Kevin1322]

@Branka-and-Silvia0  we had Chinese guests last week, French guests and German guests this week who flew in. More German guests this weekend, guests from Italy in the summer.  

It's worrying, sure. But we need the money. What can you do? 🤷

We are all in the same boat.

[Kevin1322]

@Marcus21At least the Asteroid is going to miss us this year.

Probably.

That didn't help much, did it? 😬

[Cathie19]

Hi @Marcus21 . I don’t disagree with your concerns and the sentiments of @Branka-and-Silvia0 .

Nor the wording as listed by @Sarah977  as jested by @Kevin1322.

This virus, “ currently” is not as lethal as a seasonal flu epidemic. True! No one is disputing this...

BUT one of the differences is, if you catch a cold or flu-like symptoms under a normal environment, unless you are seriously ill and need hospitalisation, you can come and go about your business or R&R as you like. No restrictions.

BUT, within the current climate, where the Covid-19 virus is evolving with unknown factors or a vaccination, employers and governments are requiring self isolation for 14 days on the return from travel to certain countries or areas. This is also even tighter for some educational & health care workers, who may only have to have travelled outside Australia.

Then also consider that a guest has full disclosure, with no covid19 travel insurance; then throw in the mix that they could get stranded, quarantined or even slightly delayed, en route through a holiday or business trip, AND,  they AREN’T even the person who is sick... just in the wrong place or lodging at the wrong time. Those 14 days isolation, can keep starting over in isolation, until sorted..... travellers left in a ground hog day situation.

So that’s loss of time, loss of airfares, loss of accommodation and no insurance for a pandemic named or even a threat of pandemic to cover any of it, even IF they manage to travel within their scheduled time.

I’m travelling April and May. 

- using planes, trains, feet,  cabs and rental vehicles to get me through countries and continents. 

- my insurance for Covid19 is non existent, but I have prepared well and we will travel and be flexible.

- BUT I have many strong commitments that require me to travel without any delays and to return to Australia on time.

- I also have my own Airbnb to run on my return........

- so the dilemma begins for many a traveller.

So I think we ALL need to breathe and although financially not happy, see both side of the coin.

[Pierre85]

cancellation for extreme conditions is normally covered through your credit card insurance. Just a thought, aren't we moving an insured risk to uninsured people? aren't we concentrating the risk onto our small shoulders? 

Fundamentally I have 4 staff waiting on cancellations to affect their livelihood; I will recommend to them to breathe as you say.

[Lisa723]

@Cathie19 

"This virus, “ currently” is not as lethal as a seasonal flu epidemic. True! No one is disputing this..."

You are misinformed. Estimates of lethality for this virus vary a lot so far, but some indicate it is 10-20x more lethal than flu. Additionally, there is no vaccine and no natural immunity in human populations.

The good news is it seems to spare healthy young people, but this means for older people and those with other conditions the mortality rate is high.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/29/health/coronavirus-flu.html

[Cathie19]

Hi @Lisa723 .

I totally agree my initial statement is incorrect, and should have picked up on it earlier. Thank you. I did not check it after writing it late at night, to clarify why I said it. (Should have known better... ) 

I meant to link the comment to the number of persons infected, as shown in the attached photo. The statement was meant to state that the flu is more transmissible in early stage prior symptoms, but it was badly worded, saying the opposite. The fatality rates however vary. Nor does the initial statement express other differences, including the reason to self isolate to “slow down” the number of cases at a time, to mitigate the extreme overload on all medical facilities due to the intense medical treatment required, specifically the number of seriously infected cases that will require hospitalisation, in ICU. This overwhelming burden on each countries hospitals and health care systems, can only impair normal operations. Most countries would not have the ability to build hospitals within a week like China, to assist with this overload!

For aside from Covid19, anyone else needing to use hospital facilities due to a fracture, elective surgery or chronic heart conditions, or needing 24 monitoring in a bed in ICU or needing a ventilator > I hate to think..... they just may not be able to get in! 

Also, as it’s evolved, the fatality rate has increased from c. 2% to now 3-4% when looking at the overall population. But as you pointed out, is minimal in the young, and rises in mature aged people and is highly significant in the elderly.

This link is an excellent article from WHO showing Flu and Covid19 “likes and differences” and levels of infection including the mortality rates globally.

https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200306-sitrep-46-covid-19.p...

I hope this assists in repairing my error. I best stop writing late in the evening. Thanks again for picking it up.

🙂

[Seivar0]

So it's not just me then...have you noticed a downward trend over the past few months? I'd be keen to know steps you've taken to tackle this.

[Susan17]

It's worth noting here, a quote from Clara Liang, Airbnb VP and GM of Luxe and Professional Hosting, from an interview with Skift during the VRMA (Vacation Rental Management Association) conference in New Orleans last year..

"Property managers particularly dislike Airbnb’s so-called extenuating circumstances policy, which lets guests cancel bookings up to 24 hours in advance of arrival. That’s a big-time problem on two counts. First, property managers often make revenue guarantees to the owners of houses that they’re then on the hook for when a customer fails to show up. Second, property management companies also try to make money by selling guests trip insurance, which then gets undermined by Airbnb’s policy.

Liang said Airbnb had good intentions with the policy. *But it realized that some consumers had been abusing the policy. “Changes are underway,” Liang said*

Well, at least they're finally publicly admitting EC is an abusive policy, but the reality is, consumers are only getting away with abusing the policy - and consequently, the hosts - because Airbnb blithely permits and enables the abuse to proliferate. 

[Adriano78]

@Susan17you are true!   the airbnb abusive  EC policy  relieves the guest, it is very easy today to make false medical certificates or all sorts of false certificates.
With a false medical certificate the guest is refund by airbnb at 100%, if the plane is very delayed or canceled the guest is refund  at 100% !!!!............
the host is considered by Airbnb as an insurance company !!
as@Pierre85 i must reduce my exposure to Airbnb , block the calendar on Airbnb and advertise on Booking, expedia, Homeaway