Unfair cancellation policy

[Steven14]

hi,

it doesn't  happen often, but I have had two bookings cancel very close to their reservation.

In both cases the guests have claimed exceptional circumstances and have gained a full refund - this has left me with some finicial difficulties. Is it rair that the cancellation policy can be subverted in this way? Surely guests should use travel insurance to recliam their money. What I really find amazign is the attitude of airbnb. They explain that they are a carign organisation and thats the guests had a valid reason for cancelling, but they still retain all of their fees! I am becoming concerend at hostign anyone staying for a longer than a short stay, and I think this policy of refundedign guests needs to change.

[Marit-Anne0 · Accepted solution]

If you have set your cancellation policy to flexible or moderate, then guests are of course free to cancel according to this policy. This is the case also with booking engines and hotel booking sites, not only airbnb.  The difference is that most airbnb hosts are private owners rather than hotels and more vulnerable to loss due to a cancellation. You could change your policy to strict and this way receive 50%, but you would also risk getting less bookings as many travellers like to have some flexibility.

Personally, I have always had a strict cancellation policy and not had one single cancellation.  

[Gail-and-Beth0]

Even with "strict" cancellation policy setting,  AIRBNB can and will override the policy and refund the guest 100% of fees due or paid to host, for what they believe are qualified, "extenuating" cancellation conditions, such as medical emergency.  This has happened to us several times, on very short notice -- We were unable to re-rent the space and took 100% loss.  This is unfair to hosts and reinforces an 'entitlement' mentality amongst guests, who have the option of purchasing travel insurance or working with hosts to reschedule versus cancel their stays, thereby owning their responsibilities and choices.  No online brokering site should be intervening with the stated policies of property owners, especially where alternatives exist.  If AIRBNB wishes to cover these situations with its own insurance, so be it, but they should not be taking money out of host pockets.  

This also reinforces 'hotel' mentality and culture, which is a problem in and of itself -- These are private residential properties, not commercial enterprises -- as the opposition to short term rentals are so vigorously claiming.  Hosts typically do not have the cost structure to support this last minute intervention, and many are critically dependent on the income for meeting their obligations.  AIRBNB and we believe these rentals are part of free market economy and should not be banned or overly regulated, and yet, AIRBNB has policies (and some policy gaps) that do not support the short term rental cause.  Example of a gap is not enabling hosts to attach legal rental agreements (with click wrap acceptance by guests) for enforcing quality controls and protecting properties and our neighbors.  Example of overstepping and overegulating (as many cities are doing or trying to do) -- Overriding hosts' cancellation policies and reversing or cancelling rental payments.

[Melodie-And-John0]

Hi @Gail-and-Beth0 , I agree, extenuating circumstances isn't new, just millions a week are and they wont end when covid goes away.  In fact, they might be more prevalent now that people know its in there 24/7/365 the minute they book.  We've always been most flexible so cancellations up to 24 hours before arrival have never paid us and always paid Airbnb so its the en mass thing that is new to us.  To be fair, we have benefited greatly from being most flexible, we get and host many stays that we may not have gotten otherwise.

BTW, we are by the nature of being paid hosts of properties we alone represent commercial and are just as legit a business as Marriott with even more extensive choices to choose from as a " larger hosting community".  We are and you should be proud of accomplishments as small business leaders in our own communities and to be sure, when Bearpath Lodging or your STR does good, we don't share that wealth after the fact with Airbnb or anyone except The IRS. 

When all is said and done, Airbnb is really just a modern day travel agent with benefits that go far beyond collecting fees for us  from guests and what they do with their fees isnt anything we can have any concern over.   They aren't partners, we aren't franchisee's, we're parasitic in nature as clients to each other but that's really where their responsibilities end and ours begin.  Having higher expectations with this type of relationship may not be healthy for those that can't afford the risks that follow the possible great rewards.  I wish it were not so but it is. Stay well, JR

[Serafina0]

I agree that it feels unfair to hosts when Airbnb overrides a cancellation policy because of extenuating circumstances and but keeps its fees. There's something cynical about it that really bothers me. We all agreed to it when we decided to be hosts, but it can be a bitter pill.

At the same time, as a traveler, I'm much more likely to book via Airbnb if I know that under certain exceptional circumstances I can get a refund, and I'm sure I'm not alone.

[Tom-and-Lisa0]

You should get a refund....just not at the expense/hardship of hosts.  It's called insurance and nearly every other segment of the travel industry (airlines, cruises, tours) use it. Why not Airbnb???

[Rose123]

At the same time, as a traveler, I'm much more likely to book via Airbnb if I know that under certain exceptional circumstances I can get a refund, and I'm sure I'm not alone.

Hi lovely! So the best solution here is for you to buy travel insurance, no matter who you book with. Then you are taking responsibility for your trip, and you don't have to worry about what a big company might do - in this case, it could just have easily flipped the bird on it's own guests! Simple, easy, and not too expensive solution. Moving forward, you might find better rates on the same properties on competing websites, because the hosts that will survive this (and it's not all of them) will be making the switch. Best of luck and thanks for being a great guest, it sounds like! 🙂

[Leon78]

there are plenty of other hosting websites

[Stephanie365]

I had a recent guest who is also a Superhost.  She cancelled 12 hours before she was due to arrive , which meant she forfeited the first night's stay. She then attempted to exploit the "extenuating circumstance" loophole and asked me to refund that as well. She claimed her mother, who was to accompany her on the trip, was "deathly ill" with the flu. I told her if I was able to rebook at least one night that weekend, I would refund. 3 hours later, she rebooks the suite herself. Needless to say, I didn't refund her money. And when she and Mom arrived, Mom (who is 80) was fit as could be considering 12 hours earlier she was on death's door.

Of course this woman also brought a fake service dog to my "no Pets" property, including the mail-order service dog vest. Legit service dogs don't require their owners to chase them down when they wander off. 

[Cam32]

Hi, I had a guest cancel the very same time they were supposed to be walking in the door for New Years. I was never told they were given a full refund and now Airbnb is telling me I owe Airbnb the full amount since they gave me the payout but then Airbnb decided to give the guests the full refund after. Airbnb is telling me I owe Airbnb $1400 and therefore my future rentals I won’t get paid for. It’s completely BS as our family has already used the money in our bank account unknowingly to pay our bills. This is how we make our living and I refuse to work for free in the future because someone decided to cancel their vacation! This isn’t a vacation for us... this is how we feed our family. I think that Airbnb should be responsible for the cancellation because they are the ones who decided to refund the people and without notifying me. 

[Clive0]

I agree that the cancellation policy regarding extenuating circumstances is grossly unfair to hosts as mentioned by others. AirBnB expects us to take the entire risk for extenuating circumstances like hurricanes which are not our fault. We are not huge hotels!. We lost a lot of money after hurricanes  Irma and Maria. AirBnB staff just quote the rule book.  They do not care about hosts losing money. It is an indicator of an Uber like toxic culture with respect to hosts.

[David5641]

On the host side, they will always find the extenuating circumstances policy unfair. But if it is the host that will cancel, they will always ask for the penalties to be removed. One may argue that refund is different from a penalty, but the idea remains the same. Both just doesn't want to lose money. So, if the host does not want to lose money if they cancel, guests are too. And that is fair.

[Gail-and-Beth0]

Super Hosts don't cancel reservations without an exceptional circumstance occurring because even one cancellation results in loss of Super Host status.  It's a huge deterrent.  Book with Super Hosts, if you want this assurance.  Super Hosts also receive no special consideration from AIRBNB for any challenges or policy decisions, that we've experienced -- We lose rental income when extenuating circumstances are claimed, often without any possibility of recovery through re-booking, whether the issue is real or falsified, because AIRBNB doesn't do the work to properly validate claims.  Contrary to your thinking, this is not a level playing field, there's nothing reciprocal about it.  Hosts lose money and we're not hotels or other enterprises who can absorb those losses.  We're just people renting our private properties -- We depend on the rental income to pay our bills.

[Sam397]

I have had several cancellations for a variety of reasons and every time it was considered extenuating circumstances. There is no doubt that they favor the guest when it comes to deciding on whether its extenuating circumstances.  They look at it as if its not the guest fault they will  give a full refund, they dont care that its not the fault of the host either or that they will lose money.                                                           I dont know about other host but every reservation I get costs me money before the guest even arrives. For every reservation I have to pay someone to  go over the details and make sure everything is good, then there's a confirmation email that has to be sent and then another email with check in information plus answer any questions they may have or take care of special request the guest may have. I admit sometimes its not much but it's always something and it does add up.. That's why I think the only fair thing is to split it down the middle that is of course after AirBnB takes there cut (isn't that funny how AirBnB thinks that the guest should get a full refund but they still keep theirs)                                               Bottom line is this, the BnB is going to pick the guest over the host every time, guest has other options and the host dont, so the guest is the lesser of two evils. The few hosts they will lose because of it wont affect their profit because theres twenty more taking his place. I myself am done with their BS, I am going back to renting on a monthly basis. One by one Im going to stop taking bookings and then when I have no more bookings I will rent it out monthly. I just had people move into the first one on Monday and will start on the next one shortly. There is more money that can be made using AirBnB, but by the time you figure in the hassle of having the house cleaned, buying the supplies, and putting up with all the crap that goes with hosting its just not worth it. Besides I have a feeling this virus is going to get a lot worse and will kill our bookings for a long time.  

[Tom-and-Lisa0]

I agree with these comments.  While I have had only a few cancels over 5 years, Airbnb's policy and unilateral control seems so wrong to me that I can't help think there isn't some legal principle or precedence that would override.  And that they keep THEIR fee just seems so onerous and hypocritical. Yes, I know we agree to Airbnb's policies when we open an account, but even so, I wish some attorney would examne this and see if a class-action suit couldn't be brought to force a change.  I remain amazed that with travel insurance having big profit margins that Air hasn't parterned with a company to offer trip cancellation/interruption insurance.  Making hosts the default insurer for cancellations is just plain WRONG!!!