Airbnb cannot back up its Host Relief Act

[Brooke229]

When all of this started about a month ago, Brian Chesky (CEO of Airbnb) was feeling the heat. In an effort to get gig worker hosts and ongoing media coverage off his back he quickly released a statement indicating that the Host Relief Act would provide 250M in relief grants to hosts that qualified. 

I think it was something up to $5000 each. Has anyone seen a dime?

I am here to tell you now, I am an eligible host. Not a single cancellation. 100% occupancy rate. Super host and in a popular location as well.

I've made a lot of money off Airbnb and I've made them a lot of money as well.

Called the first time to apply for application for grant, after asking the Airbnb representative a series of reasonable questions (when can we expect it? how much will each person get, etc), not only did she have no idea what I was talking about but she also got beligerant and hung up on me.

Ok.

Called back. 2nd rep had to do some lengthy research but did in fact find the grant information. Sadly, she nor I realized IT WAS COMING OUT OF THE EMPLOYEES POCKETS ACCORDING TO THE GRANT STATEMENT! 

She kept her composure, ensured that I am in fact eligible and would be receiving an application in days to come.

It's been two more weeks and nothing.

My dudes. This is a joke. We have been duped. Homeaway is already calling me and trying to sway my business over to them because they know that Airbnb has not protected us as hosts, this needs to be dealt with. 

Some of us have lost THOUSANDS in a matter of weeks with absolutely no liability to Airbnb itself it is disgraceful and I'd like to hear what some of the rest of you have to say about it because I'm disgusted.

[Sarah977]

@Leslie253  I doubt that they are doling it out in dribs and drabs because they don't have the ability to determine who gets what or to efficiently send it. They are trying to keep their bank balance looking acceptable to their investors. If they bleed a ton of money all at once, their bottom line dives. Beides, the longer they hang onto money, the more interest they earn on it.

[Paul1242]

I believe this is all smoke and mirrors nothing from Airbnb will ever materialize.

[Brooke229]

To the people saying check these things out:

obviously this is the first thing most of us did and you personally must not have experienced struggle yourself because if you had you’d already have found out for yourselves that these efforts are moot 

[Ciel-Red0]

Brooke.....we all know about the money running out for the SBA loans.  I am the one who said "check it out" because there are NEW FUNDS just passed in Congress that are coming in ...I don't know exactly when.  And I am one of the ones ( if you bothered to read my posts as I have read yours) that absolutely is struggling because of the loss of income from my Retreat that started 3rd week in February!!...and of course applied for the SBA and every grant available!  I am simply telling you to check out the new funds coming into the SBA program.  Go on line and you will find out when. I think "Lucy" was trying to tell you this as well.

Apparently you do NOT have to apply again.  The applications that were not funded the first time will get a second look.  But I guess ...if I were you....I would go ahead and apply again anyway.  And don't forget the PUA.  Good luck! We all need it now. 

[Brooke229]

Yeah again sir, already applied for all that and unemployment 

nothing

serious joke

[Sheila22]

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/22/airbnb-hosts-getting-almost-nothing-from-250-million-relief-fund.htm...

[Chris225]

I just received an email today for cancelled reservations in March. We have a flexible cancellation policy. Guests cancelled well in advanced. Wanted to share.

[Rodney11]

Hello everyone,

This conversation is very USA focused, and I am saddened to see that most American hosts do not have a lot of relief options available from their various levels of gov't. Here in Canada, the federal gov't has rolled out a bunch of programs to assists small businesses and independent operators. There are programs for larger employers, but I'll focus here on the programs for small businesses and independent operators/contractos.

The CERB pays out $2,000/month for 4 months to any Canadian citizen who has earned $5,000 in the past 12 months or in calendar 2019. So if you operate and AirBnB and you earned at least $5,000 in 2019 (and you declared the income on your tax return), you qualify for the CERB. There are some other restrictions, but they are not very onerous, so most AirBnB operators who rent out a few rooms in their personal home qualify for this. You can even continue to earn up to $1,000 every 14 day period and still qualify for the program. So I can still accept guests with a payout of up to $1,000 every 14 days while receiving $2,000/month in CERB.

If you are an AirBnB operator who has registered your business, and who has paid between $15,000 and $1.5M in salaries in 2019, you qualify for a $40K interest free loan, 1/4 of which is forgivable if you pay the loan back by Dec 31, 2021. There are some other programs available too, but these two programs are the most pertinent to most AirBnB hosts here. There are certainly gaps in the gov't programs in Canada, but not to the extent that it seems there are in the US.

IMHO, I think that these programs exist because in Canada we have legitimate socialist options in our political sphere. I fear that the US, with only one centre-right, pro-capitalist party and a second extreme-right pro-capitalist party, does not have any socialist-like political pressure to ensure gov't programs distribute relief more equitably. It appears a lot of the bailout money is going to the US military-industrial complex, e.g. at least $17B to Boeing, according to Mother Jones. I may be showing my political biases here.

@Ryan111 I would argue that you can't pay your mortgage because of COVID-19 travel restrictions, exacerbated by AirBnB's inability, or unwillingness, to compensate their hosts in equal measure to their guests. I feel for you. Personally, I believe the ethical thing to do is cancel all, and not accept any further reservations for the foreseeable future from anyone but locals who do not contravene existing travel restrictions. From a purely business standpoint, the guests are AirBnB's main revenue stream, so they are going to do whatever they can to keep them satisfied, even at the expense of the Hosts, apparently.

As for a class action suit, when you signed up for AirBnB you agreed to the following: 

19.11 No Class Actions or Representative Proceedings. You and Airbnb acknowledge and agree that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, we are each waiving the right to participate as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class action lawsuit, class-wide arbitration, private attorney general action, or any other representative proceeding as to all Disputes. Further, unless you and Airbnb both otherwise agree in writing, the arbitrator may not consolidate more than one party’s claims and may not otherwise preside over any form of any class or representative proceeding. If the “class action lawsuit” waiver or the “class-wide arbitration” waiver in this Section 19.11 is held unenforceable with respect to any Dispute, then the entirety of the Arbitration Agreement will be deemed void with respect to such Dispute and the Dispute must proceed in court. If the “private attorney general action” waiver or the “representative proceeding” waiver in this Section 19.11 is held unenforceable with respect to any Dispute, those waivers may be severed from this Arbitration Agreement and you and Airbnb agree that any private attorney general claims and representative claims in the Dispute will be severed and stayed, pending the resolution of any arbitrable claims in the Dispute in individual arbitration.

So you agreed to forgo the right to class action in exchange for an arbitration process. While this cuts Hosts off from a class action resolution, there has been interesting developments on the mass arbitration front, as highlighted by some very relevant posts by @Susan17. There may be a lawyer out there who wants to take on a class action suit, not because it will succeed, but because all hosts who sign up for the class action can then form a large pool of Hosts seeking arbitration, thus overwhelming AirBnB's arbitration system and forcing them into a settlement with all Hosts.

If anyone knows of such a legal action taking place, please let me know.

[Ciel-Red0]

Thanks for all this information Ryan....Makes me want to sell and move to Canada!  With regard to your comments about Airbnb:  "the guests are AirBnB's main revenue stream,"  I would add one very important note:  WITHOUT HOSTS THERE CAN BE NO GUESTS! So where is there thinking in all of this? It makes ZERO sense to me!

[Sarah977]

@Ciel-Red0  Hosts are expendable. There is a glut of hosts. Airbnb doesn't care about hosts because there will always be more hosts who want to list (although that may change after this COVID mess, which it took to wake a lot of hosts up to actually read the TOS they agreed to when they listed, and realize that Airbnb is not the fuzzy warm partner they erroneously imagined the company to be.

As far as the Canadian govt. looking after its citizens in time of crisis, in order to finance a strong social safety net, taxes are high, something Americans rail against. Countries with socialized medicine, welfare and disability payments which actually provide enough for a person to live on, albeit with no luxuries, and helping people financially through hard times require higher taxes. The cult of the individual in America, as opposed to the idea that all need to be willing to pay and work for the common good, is a big difference between the US and Canada. 

[Ciel-Red0]

Hi Sarah,

I just wrote a long and beautiful reply to you and just like the other day....it was erased. So all of you writing on this thread, .remember to "copy" your words before you hit "reply" and then get   get shut out and lose it all.  It's very curious that this has happened on three occasions to me here on this particular thread at Airbnb. ??? 

Sarah, I do understand about the difference between the way Canada's system works and our country.  I get it....because one of my very good friends is from Toronto and lives near me here in the states and goes back and forth to her family there. And there are drawbacks for sure to living there....the wait for medical treatment is just one.

 But on another note...and more importantly....your words, "the hosts are expendable"...are certainly proving to be accurate here on Airbnb.  If you have the time read my previous three posts here and you will quickly understand why the way Brian Chesky and his partners Joe and Nate have been treating ALL of us....is particularly depressing for me.  His so-called "partnership with the Airbnb hosts" does not exist and has not existed for many years now.  It will be going on 10 years I have worked for this company as a 5-star host....hours and hours of hard work and huge company expenses for our Retreat...and all to what avail?  Nothing from this company....just nothing....the solid bookings we consistently made for years dwindled to unsustainable amounts due to their greed of always wanting more and more and more and more and faster and faster and more and more...until they had millions of hosts working incredibly hard, putting all their heart and soul, and creative geniuses into it, for a fraction of the money and business we the hosts have brought to Airbnb and hence to Brian, Joe, and Nate. A crisis hits....a once in a century health crisis...in which over 200,000 people have now died worldwide....and we...the people that built the reputation of Airbnb and its owners...the very people who essentially keep its motor running.....are not cared for ...and instead it seems from all I'm reading here and watching on CNBC....they were puffing smoke.  I am truly, honestly heartbroken over this because I started shortly after the company started and it used to be so great....so great....always felt like a partnership....until their greed took over and they just could not stop and with it any chance of a partnership failed.  Now Brian and his partners are left with loads of money ( off the backs of all of us) and it seems perhaps their eye remains on the brass ring instead of on the hearts of so many people that worked so hard for them.  I am firm believer ( as most I know) in the law of karma so perhaps eventually those three men will understand what they've done to so many of us....people that have poured their lives into businesses to support theirs for years and years...( 9 for us)....and left us hanging in the horror of this once-in-a-century pandemic crisis..without a way to keep our businesses, pay our mortgages, or feel we have a company that has our back. It's a stab in the back for us.  We need help and from all that I've read here, that help from Brian Chesky and his partners, Joe and Nate...is not coming. We never even received an email application....nothing....this after 9 years of our creative genius to help his company succeed, and with nothing but over 300 5-star reviews.   I am merely a blip on the coin to him...nothing more...nothing....not even a word of thanks...nothing.  

[Rodney11]

@Ciel-Red0 

If you think the wait times for medical specialists in Canada is the only drawback to living here, you've obviously never experienced a winter in Winnipeg!!!!

[Rodney11]

@Sarah977 hits the nail on the head, @Ciel-Red0 ; Hosts are expendable. Especially individual, small operator Hosts, ever since AirBnB embraced the large, corporate "hosts" with multiple properties and lower standards for guest satisfaction. I really recommend you have a read through @Sarah17 posts, she is an excellent resource for research on AirBnB's business practices. 

Regarding the difference between taxes in the US and Canada, many studies I have seen show that once you take into account all taxes: income tax, payroll deductions, sales taxes, luxury taxes, carbon tax, etc. that exist in either country, the average Canadian pays somewhere around 5-10% more in total taxes than the average American in the same income bracket. Depending on the provincial jurisdiction, some Canadians actually pay less tax than Americans, for example in Alberta where there is no provincial sales tax. Once you add in the fact that Canadians do not have to pay for any basic medical insurance, the actual net income differences become arguably negligible. Though that doesn't even consider the social cost of the estimated 82 million Americans who have no, or inadequate, health insurance. The Canadian public health insurance program is universal, so no one can be denied due to pre-existing conditions, employment status, or any other factor, and it is portable so any individual's provincial health insurance will cover them if they travel to another province and require medical attention.

What I find intriguing is that the US actually has the single, largest gov't social assistance program on the planet, the 3/4 of a Trillion dollars it spends yearly on it's military budget, yet it cannot find the money to provide all its citizens with basic medial insurance. Truly staggering. But, whoops, I'm letting my political stripes show again, sorry!

[Tiffany-and-Jim0]

Help me understand:

1.  $250M in relief

2.  500 000 email invitations sent

3.  "Email invitations will continue through May"

At a 10% response rate to the invitations alone will consume the entire fund. 

So how is this helpful?

Airbnb quoted timeline below. 

Timeline for next waves of hosts to receive payments and emails

1. 20 April 2020 - 20K hosts
2. 21 April 2020 - 145K hosts
3. 22 April 2020 - 150K hosts
4. 23 April 2020 - 184K hosts

[Rodney11]

@Tiffany-and-Jim0 , you are confounding two different programs. Here is what is (supposedly) happening:

Program 1 ($250M in relief).

This is money that will be paid out to compensate Hosts based on their cancellation policy, for bookings made before Mar 14, with a check date between Mar 14 and May 31, that were cancelled by the guest due to COVID-19. AirBnB will automatically be issuing these payments, there is no invitation or application for this program. The payouts for this program were supposed to happen according to the timeline you quoted, though that now appears to be delayed. The 20K, 145K, etc. refers to the running total number of hosts who should have been paid out by the date listed. A quick back of the napkin calculation shows that this means an average payout of USD$1,358/Host from this program (based on 184,000 Hosts being paid out of a fund of USD$250M).

Below are the Hosts who will (theoretically) qualify for a payout under this program:

1. Hosts with a Strict cancellation policy. If the cancellation happens less that 7 days before check in, the Host will receive 25% of the total value of the reservation. If the cancellation happens more that 7 days before check in, the Host will receive 25% of 50%, or 12.5%, of the total value of the reservation.
2. Hosts with a Moderate cancellation policy. If the cancellation happens less that 5 days before check in, the host will receive 25% of the first night, and 25% of 50%, or 12.5%, of the total value of the remaining reservation. If the guest cancels after the check in date, the Host will receive 25% of 50%, or 12.5%, of the total value of the remainder of the reservation.
3. Any Host outside of the above parameters will receive nothing.
4. Some Hosts have also mentioned that if the reservation was done as "Pay Less Up Front", these will also not qualify. I have not been able to substantiate this information.

You can find more details on this program here: https://www.airbnb.ca/resources/hosting-homes/a/250m-to-support-hosts-impacted-by-cancellations-165

Program 2 ($5,000 Superhost compensation)

This is a program that will compensate selected Superhosts with a grant of $5,000 if selected. AirBnB will use an internal process to determine which Superhosts will receive an emailed invitation to apply for the grant. AirBnB will then review the applications that are returned by Superhosts, and from these it will again use an internal process to determine which Superhosts are selected to receive the grant. This will all be determined by AirBnB; you cannot apply yourself for a grant, you must be invited by AirBnB to apply and then hope your application is one of the lucky few selected by AirBnB to receive a grant. Applications are supposed to go out to Superhosts throughout the month of May.

The funds for these grants come from $1M donated by AirBnB employees, $9M dollars donated by AirBnB's founders, and $7M donated by AirBnB's investors, for a total of $17M. A quick back of the napkin calculation shows that 3,400 Superhosts stand to receive a $5,000 grant. Given that most estimates put the number of Superhosts at between 280,000 and 400,000 (based on numbers from Condé Nast and NYT), this means that Superhosts stand between a 1.2% and 0.8% chance of receiving a grant. You can find more details on this program here: https://www.airbnb.ca/superhostrelief

I hope this clears up the different AirBnB host relief programs for you.