Full refunds in June

[Graeme48]

Just got an email from air, to advise that guests who wish to cancel bookings in June, will be getting a full refund and me.... zilch.

The new policy of being “better partners” didn’t last long.

[Rodney11]

@Ellen82 & @Cathy545 , I'm sorry to hear this situation is affecting you negatively. All my bookings for the year are out the window too.

I've always approached AirBnB, and any booking platform for that matter, with the following mindset:

AirBnB = on line retailer
Guests = customer

Hosts = product

AirBnB, like most on line retailers, is going to refund the customer 100% when they are not satisfied with the product, even if it has nothing to do with you as a Host. 

The only thing you can do as a Host is protect your "product's" value. For me that means choosing a Strict cancellation policy (despite AirBnB constantly prompting me to switch to Flexible because it attracts more guests), setting my pricing 10-15% above AirBnB's recommended minimum, using smart pricing, make my property available through other channels, make my property convertible to other uses like LTR, and put away 10% of my revenue in a contingency fund.

I know it won't do much for your existing and cancelled bookings, but hopefully these tips, many of which I picked up from other Hosts in the community, will be useful to you going forward. All the best on that front!

[Ellen82]

Thank you, Rodney for your message. I like your way of presenting the your mindset: easy to understand put in those words, we are the products and they are the online retailer. In any event, I have always had the strictest cancelation policy, thought it is not helping me now. I also always set my price 15% above the suggested amount. 

I feel like AirBnB is not supporting hosts like they should. I like Karen7 response of how ABNB should shoulder some of the burden. 

[Karen7]

I think Airbnb should shoulder some of the burden as they have made a ton of interest off the money and help out the hosts and share it with them. Also, they could offer a "no charge" to guests who are willing to re-book in the future with the same hosts, withing a certain reasonable time frame.

[Katrina79]

I’m giddy after reading my email this morning. For me I had so many bookings lined up in advance for weddings, grads, reunions etc for the summer. All my future reservations are hopeful people that want to hold onto their reservation until last minute. Continually getting cancellations last minute keeps my calendar blocked and I’m unable to find a longer term guest. This was the predicament I was facing. Now I can cancel all my guests until the end of the year if I like. Thank you Airbnb! Finally! This is the most helpful policy they have come up with for myself since the start of the pandemic! 

[Katrin115]

@Katrina79 I may be wrong , but I think you’re only allowed to cancel June without penalty 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Katrin115 

The email says to the end of the year so @Katrina79 should be ok as long as she moves fast

Cancel penalty-free by 30 April. Whether you’re unable to host or you want to open your calendar for longer-term stays, you can now cancel any upcoming reservations this year booked before 15 March. You won’t pay a fee, have your calendar blocked, or have your Superhost status affected.

[Sheila22]

@Katrina79  I found longer terms guests on other platforms.  Just make sure your calendars on other platforms are NOT synched with your Airbnb calendar.  You can also just go through a local real estate agent or advertise on normal rental website for long term rentals.  I have not ever found that Airbnb is the best place for LTR anyway, as it doesn't usually attract those kinds of renters -- sometimes it does, but not often.

[Rodney11]

I feel like there are (at least) 3 issues at play here: 

1. Ethical:

My personal belief is that the ethical thing to do when facing a global pandemic that halts all travel for the foreseeable future is to contact my guests and request they cancel their stays with me (regardless of check in date), using COVID-19 as the reason, so they get a 100% refund from AirBnB. I contacted all my booked guests around Mar 15 and made such a request, giving them until Mar 30 to cancel, approving their COVID-19 request, no questions asked. After Mar 30, my Strict refund policy would be enforced, if they were outside of AirBnB's check in date cutoff. All but 2 guests took me up on this offer.

2. Business:

I believe COVID-19 will disrupt pleasure travel and STR for at a minimum 12 months. I would rather spend my time shifting my business to LTR for locals who are not subject to travel restrictions. I think my time is better spent re-focusing my business than negotiating with my remaining STR bookings to keep their reservations in the hope that pleasure travel will resume this year. This also runs the risk of having AirBnB undercut me by continuing to push out the 100% refund date as the pandemic travel restrictions drag on, to say nothing of how the global economic downturn alone will drastically reduce those able to afford to travel. I may see some compensation from the $250M fund set up by AirBnB; I'm not counting on it to sustain my business. I will continue to list on AirBnB because it does not cost me anything and they have a large guest market share, but I doubt it is the platform that will supply me with LTR guests. Offering guests hassle-free 100% refunds will hopefully leave them with a good impression of AirBnB and my listing if/when they decide to re-book any travel through this platform, though I realize that is a long-shot. 

3. Legal:

I was originally not interested in the talk about a class action suit against AirBnB for arbitrarily overriding Hosts' cancellation policies because I thought it would go nowhere. AirBnB seemed to have everything tied up with their EC and the part of the agreement where Hosts agree to waive the right to class action suits in exchange for an individual arbitration procedure. However, @Susan17 has posted very interesting links to some mass arbitration actions that seem to have turned the tide against companies using arbitration clauses to short-circuit plaintiffs ability to leverage the courts in resolving grievances. I'd be curious to see what others think on this matter.

Anyway, that is how I have personally dealt with this situation, at least so far. I enjoy seeing the intelligent ideas and feedback from other Hosts in the community, and I'm sure that will continue to have some influence on my thinking and approach to how I host in general, and on this matter in particular.

[Sheila22]

Yes.  It seems there is serious movement in the direction of mass arbitration.