What host may have to deal with now?

[Sam397]

I have had 3 guest contact me in the last few days to let me know that they were going to cancel stays that didn't start until the end of April and May. I never received any cancellations so a few hours ago I contacted these people and told them I hadn't received any cancellations from them and asked if they still planned on doing that.

One told me that he requested a cancellation but was told by AirBnB that I declined the request and that he should wait until the dates fall under the extenuating circumstances. I never received a request for him let along declined it. The other two told me they were still going to cancel but were going to wait until they could do it and get a full refund.

So I have spent the last two hours telling them how I cant re book the house until they have cancelled. I told them that if they canceled I would refund any money that BnB didn't as soon as I got the notice.

As of now there is one that hasn't replied back and the other two said they were sorry but they were going to wait to cancel. One told me she was going to wait until she got hold of CS on the phone. I told her that they shut the phone service down and she said that she was still going to wait, but assured me she would try calling them every morning until she got hold of them. The third one just said sorry I'm going to wait. It was like they thought I was going to rip them off by not refunding them the money after they cancelled. So it looks like after everything thats happened host will now have to have there listing tied up possibly for weeks maybe months by a guest who must not trust that the host wont rip them off(as if we could) basically killing what little chance we had to re book the listing.   

 I know there will be those who are going to say uh oh here we go again, someone who cant stop bitching about how BnB has done them wrong, or blaming BnB for all their problems but that's not what I'm doing. The truth is I may not be over it but I am over debating whether it was right or wrong on this forum. Its just to sensitive of a topic for so many people and there are going to be some that let their emotions get the best of them and say things that they shouldn't have said.(myself included)  I myself think that that's one thing forums are good for is to let people vent about something that has them upset, but there comes a point when everything has been said and it no longer does any good to continue discussing it. IMO we have reached that point on this subject. So like I said I am not complaining I am simply giving people a little heads up about what they may be having to deal with in the near future.. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Sam397 

I am guessing but I assume the guests, if they cancel, would be approx 18% down (your 3% and Airbnb 15%).  If they wait for the policy to change they will get back 100% (assuming current policy just rolls on past April 14th.

[René281]

Most guests will now wait until Airbnb will extend the extenuating circumstances policy. Because some hosts are very greedy and refusing to give a full refund. And until the extenuating circumstances policy are updated, the hosts calendars will be occupied with this worthless bookings. These hosts will not only loose potential money, they might also get bad a reputation (guests do talk and share experience about difficult hosts) which might lead to less bookings. Many hosts are also saying that insurance companies will cover the guests expenses, this is in general not true. Most of the insurance companies don't offer coverage in this topic on a basic level. Also, hosts with only one source of income (Airbnb) should be aware that this line of strategy for having a passive income contains a big risk.

[Bonita5]

@René281  @Mike-And-Jane0 

I think you can cancel your guests due to covid  extenuating circumstances.
And no penalty for being a Superhost. 

maybe confirm that with Airbnb ... the call wait time isn’t yo bad .  Just call, put on speaker, listen to the special music, and go about your chores.  They answer . 

[Elizabeth1850]

(replying to just the message above encouraging hosts to cancel and that everyone gets their money and reputation back)

I am sorry I know this information was meant to be encouraging but as of this writing it does not line up with my experience also others I have read about. Hosts cannot cancel like you are saying because the dates are not within the very restrictive policy ending only April 14. Also yes it is possible to come off hold eventually but you will not get a decision maker. So that's time wasted. If you have had a different experience with both of these personally, please disregard this comment. I felt I had to chime in because my experience was the opposite, in case there are others reading.

(100% agree with original post)

[Sam397]

I tried to cancel them myself and was told to talk to the guest and have them cancel, and then said i would be penalized for canceling.

[Marti3227]

The same here, and after I did that they said I can't cancel the guest must, so I descusted it with the guest he agree but couldn't canceled, best part without letting me know he pitched up for his stay, then he left me a bad rewiew because I wasn't expecting him and looked confused, still want his refund,

And all of the other guests that did get it right to cancel because they were not allowed to travel and everything else was canceled, no sport events anf gatherings were allowed, all of the cancellations are against me and made me now the bad host, even under circumstances they want to cancel my listing because apparently I canceled to much recervations,  even though it was all the guests that canceled under circumstances. 

[Mary475]

Not if it’s past April 15th... 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@René281 

Because some hosts are very greedy and refusing to give a full refund. 

No. Its because Hosts are applying ill thought rules which Airbnb set down and they are being made scapegoats for the fact.

Airbnb are only looking after themselves. In this discrimination free environment only Hosts are allowed to be discriminated against it seems. I'm far more in agreement with their being no discrimination and Gusts/Hosts sharing the lost fees. 50/50 would be acceptable, but I would benefit Guests more in a 66/33 share. 

These hosts will not only loose potential money,...

No. The hosts WILL lose actual, real, existing money. Airbnb have the hosts money, they like it, they will keep it as long as they can making them interest until it suits them to release another Covid-19 EC so that THEY control when they want to give it back to guests. Go Ahead - Go and cancel now outside of the applicable dates, you can't, you're being manipulated. Airbnb will be very happy taking their interest payments in the face of Extenuating Circumstances, even though that may only be less than 1%, its far less than the 29% losses and cost to Guests if they paid on their credit cards.

Also, hosts with only one source of income (Airbnb) should be aware that this line of strategy for having a passive income contains a big risk.

I would agree. Many Airbnb hosts will no longer host with Airbnb after this last example of their 'community' actions. They will just host elsewhere instead.

[Bonita5]

@Sam397 @I think you can cancel your them due to covid  extenuating circumstances.
And no penalty for being a Superhost. 

maybe confirm that with Airbnb ... the call wait time isn’t yo bad .  Just call, put on speaker, listen to the special music, and go about your chores.  They answer . 

[Huma0 · Accepted solution]

@Sam397  I would absolutely not just cancel from your end. The 'no penalties' to hosts currently only applies for the period stipulated in the COVID-19 extenuating circumstances policy, i.e. to mid April (and some hosts that do qualify reported that they got penalised anyway). As you are talking about guests in late April/early May, you are not covered by this and would be penalised as per normal, e.g. losing Superhost.

You need to get the guest to cancel, or Airbnb to do it on your behalf. Unfortunately, right now there is not much chance of that because Airbnb is TELLING guests to hang on to the booking and cancel last minute as they will be extending the COVID-19 policy beyond mid-April.

I have had exactly this same experience and the guests then don't understand why this is not a fair solution. I also offered additional refunds, but I guess they do not believe me either! One guest said that by keeping the booking and cancelling at the last minute, I as the host would 'lose nothing'. It's like they think the property lives in some fantasy land where the mortgage, bills and local taxes pay themselves while they sit empty.

I am not expecting Airbnb bookings in the next few months, but I would like to take in long-term renters if that is even an option in the now severely overcrowded rental market. However, I cannot do anything with my rooms  held to hostage.

I would suggest you do what I am doing. Advertise your rooms elsewhere. If you know the guests have no intention of keeping the bookings, cover yourself by trying to get new renters in from another source. If, by some bizarre chance, a guest ends up keeping their booking, you can tell them, "Sorry, but you told me you were definitely going to cancel, so I had no option but to fill the rooms." If you have to face Airbnb penalties for this, then so be it, but don't expose yourself to them now by cancelling bookings that fall outside of COVID-19 EC.

[Brenda328]

I posted this a couple of days ago on another thread and I'm sure many of you are already aware of this issue.

There is another reason that Airbnb does not want guests to cancel future reservations immediately - cash flow.  Remember many guests book months in advance.  That means that Airbnb is potentially holding the guest's payment for several months until it is paid out to the hosts.  I have many reservations that are made 9-12 months in advance so Airbnb has the guest's money that entire time.   Many of us hosts have $50,000 - $100,000 (or more) in bookings where Airbnb is currently holding the guest's payment.

Most likely Airbnb does not have that money just setting in the bank collecting 1-2% interest (on an annual basis); Airbnb is probably actively using that money for their operations.  Nowhere in our agreement (to my knowledge) does Airbnb ever indicate they are holding that money in escrow or in a secured account for us as hosts.

If they are paying out guests right now, even at 50%, for reservations throughout May, June, and July that is a huge hit to their cash flow.  Normally that money would not be paid out until the guest actually arrived in May, June, or July.  So even if they do intend to fully refund those guests, they want to issue those refunds as close to the actual check-in date as possible.  Their business model depends on anticipating when payouts are going to occur.

Even if they do have $3,000,000,000 (yes, that is billion with a 'b') in the bank right now, that money disappears quickly if they are paying out reservation cancellations far in advance of the scheduled check-in date and they don't have additional booking revenue coming in to replace it.

If this continues, I hope they are sufficiently capitalized to pay us our funds when they are due.  Right now Airbnb is essentially borrowing money from us hosts from the time the guest makes the payment until we receive it.  I hope they are managing our money wisely.

[Susan17]

@Brenda328 

I'd take that "$3 billion in the piggy-bank" with a very large pinch of salt...

Airbnb Halts Hiring And Marketing - Investors Say Its Future Uncertain

https://www.businessinsider.com/airbnb-halts-hiring-marketing-report-2020-3?r=US&IR=T

Airbnb To Halt All Marketing, Most Hiring, As Losses Mount

https://www.theinformation.com/articles/airbnb-to-halt-all-marketing-most-hiring-as-losses-mount

[Sam397]

@Brenda328  you know I never thought about that, with the big rush of refunds they gave out they are probably are running out of cash, and what better way to spread them out then to make it where guest cant get a refund  until right before the stay starts. And that would also explain why they are telling guest there refund was declined when they hadnt even sent the notice out. But if thats the case host would be getting screwed because their listing would be tied up for the time they were waiting. AirBnB wouldnt intentionally do that to a host would they?

[Isabel348]

thank you for illuminating me with your explanation Brenda