Cv19 cancellation

[Ian29136]

In uk things are starting to look more positive. However the host I wish to use doesn't have any specific covid policy except 50% refund and 0% if close to travel. But has said if lockdown is in place airbnb may offer refund.  If there is any restricted uk travel in July would I be entitled to any airbnb refund, whether that was lockdown or families mixing etc? Thanks

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Ian29136 I believe that legally you would be entitled to a refund (if you are booking in the UK) but Airbnb seem to be going against CMA advice at present. As a host this disappoints me as I believe it will discourage people such as yourself booking a place to stay and hence damaging our business. We make it clear in our listing that if the stay is cancelled due to illegality we will refund all re can BUT we do not control the Airbnb service fees.

[Helen3]

As you know Airbnb is providing full refunds fOr UK hosts and guests cancelling under lockdown so this is not true @Mike-And-Jane0 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Helen3 I know you can't believe everything in the papers but the Guardian is usually pretty accurate.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/jan/17/airbnb-refuses-to-pay-refunds-for-getaways-cancelled-b...

[Anonymous]

@Ian29136  Airbnb has changed its cancellation policies several times since the pandemic began, so it's anybody's guess what exemptions will apply in July.  I would strongly discourage anyone from booking a home under the assumption that they'll be eligible for an exception to its cancellation policy due to an unforeseen turn of events. 

Instead, I recommend using the "Cancellation Flexibility" search filter to find hosts that are voluntarily offering refunds. 

[Helen3]

Hello @Ian29136 

If you want the flexibility to cancel due to Covid choose a host with a flexible cancellation policy.

Your host is correct if you choose to book with a host offering a strict cancellation policy Airbnb will follow our government Covid legislation and look to refund if there's a lockdown or tier restrictions. If you have multiple households you maybe ask to reduce numbers to comply with tier restrictions. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Ian29136 See the guardian article higher up this thread. I don't think Helen is quite right in saying you will get your money back.

[Helen3]

They've done it for many of my guests just sending through a cancellation notification @Mike-And-Jane0 

it's also what they say in their Covid EC guidance for the UK.

sadly uniformed CS staff may advise otherwise 

[Alexandra199]

I have refunded all guests when they have had to cancel due to Covid 19 restrictions/lockdowns. When they request a refund I agree to refund in full. This then tends to trigger a refund of the service charge by Airbnb. Some guests have had to call CS to make sure this happens but so far all the guests have had their service charge back.

I have decided not to change my cancellation policy, I am happy to refund when guests have to cancel due to Covid 19 but by changing my cancellation policy to flexible this would allow guests to cancel their booking for any reason and I cant manage that as a business. In order to make my policy clear all I could do was add my covid cancellation policy to the description part of my listings. This is not ideal and I feel Airbnb need to provide a more flexible cancellation policy to cover what I offer.

[Mary996]

I have only had 'essential workers' staying @Alexandra199 and no cancellations, but like you I would not want to change my policy. I agree it could be abused. Am happy to leave things as they are and to have the discretion to offer a refund ,or, if the Guest was non essential then to comply with Gov guidelines to refuse the booking and refund.