New Mandatory 48-hour Grace Period Under Strict Cancellation Policy Destroys My Ability to Host.

[Michelle838]

I have sent this message to Airbnb support...I imagine some low level minion will read it and send me a canned response. This forum is really the only place I have to vent. If this is problematic for you, please let them know as well. They'll probably just ignore us, but at least we will have let them know why we're disappearing from their site.

"I am in stunned disbelief at the new changes to your strict cancellation policy. I host timeshare properties. Once a guest makes a reservation with me, I can not cancel it for any reason, so if a guest cancels on me I have to eat the loss. Even the 50% refund of a strict refund policy means I occasionally have to take a big hit when a guest cancels, but a free 48 hour grace period will absolutely ruin me. I will be unable to be an Airbnb host if this change is implemented.

If hosts want to offer 48 hour penalty free cancellations, by all means, allow them to offer them. But forcing me to do this literally destroys my business. You claim in your glossy email that everyone who has piloted this change loves it. Well of course they do. Everyone who this would work well for opted in to the pilot. You obviously gathered no data from those of us who chose not to participate in the trial--those of us who chose NOT to participate didn't join in because WE CAN NOT DO IT!

I feel angry and sad all at the same time. I loved hosting. I loved helping my guests create amazing vacation memories. I take great pride in giving outstanding customer service. What I cannot do is offer something that I can't do. You have taken hosting away from me. I feel blindsided. Airbnb, you yanked the rug out from underneath me with no warning whatsoever.

Angry. Sad. Frustrated. Discouraged. Disregarded. Made to feel irrelevant. Thanks a lot, Airbnb. It will take me a while to extract myself from bookings, but as soon as I possibly can arrange everything I will have to be done with my time as a host.

Thanks for the memories and the new friends I made through this program. I can't overstate how disappointed I am to see all this come to an end.

Michelle Smith"

[Dd4]

I agree, the strict should still be an option, particularly for superhosts or hosts that have a certain number of reservations and never ever cancelled.

And personally I'm angry about the fact that I wasn't informed that this change was taking effect.

I accepted some reservations for summer 2019 with this new policy without knowing it has changed!

Now I just snoozed my listing waiting for an update from them.

[Letti0]

@Dd4  You are aware this is only for the first 48 hours after they book they get the grace period to cancel free. After that intial 48 hours your cancellation policy falls into place.