Airbnb COVID cancellations

[wendlle]

Perhaps some posters from the last couple of days could just have a bit more patience and compassion. Our hosts in Italy (booking for May and not through Airbnb) are refunding but are not allowed out of the house to go to the bank. It is a very mixed up world at present

Who actually goes to the Bank anymore? And why would they need to for a refund?

If we can't travel due to a TRAVEL BAN then we should get a refund. End of Story.
I've got two hosts now refusing a refund. Absurd!
I have changed my mind completely on using this service ever again.
The company haven't updated their extenuating circumstances since March 19th and it is now the 24th and so much has happened since. Time for them to step up and ensure everyone for the next 6 months gets a full refund on travel we can't use.

 

[bPeteb]

Who actually goes to the Bank anymore? And why would they need to for a refund?

What a strange response. I understand you’re angry but that’s just not right. Lots of people still use banks. Possibly lots of Italians. Same as everyone doesn’t have a mobile phone, or use the Internet. As RB had said this was not through Airbnb. Their hosts use a bank. They’ve said they need to go their bank to issue the refund.

Back to the topic. we also have a ‘non-refundable’ Airbnb booking, in Cape Town, but not until July. Who knows what will be happening by then.

Our holiday cost a lot of money. We’ll hopefully get credits/refunds for most of it. TID may or may not cover any of our losses if (when) we have to cancel. People are losing their jobs and their livelihoods. Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people will die. That’s our perspective on this

 

[equus]

If we can't travel due to a TRAVEL BAN then we should get a refund. End of Story

You also need to look from the other point of view. If someone can't sell their services, then they are out of pocket too. They may have incurred expenses, or refused a booking from someone else (because of your booking) who would have been able to travel.

Ultimately, you should consider the terms and conditions of any booking, and ensure you have appropriate insurance cover in place (otherwise you are self insuring).

 

[dajop]

I've got two hosts now refusing a refund. Absurd!

Did they have a cleaning fee? At a very minimum you should get that back.

 

[dajop]

You also need to look from the other point of view. If someone can't sell their services, then they are out of pocket too. They may have incurred expenses, or refused a booking from someone else (because of your booking) who would have been able to travel.

I think sharing the risk is not unreasonable. Whilst airbnb are a big corporation, many host are pretty small. Maybe 10-20% cancel penalty so host at least gets some income to keep things going.

I wonder if those refusing refunds are hobby-ists with only 1 property (or a small number of rooms) or the professionals - who have a number of different properties they are renting?

[full disclosure as per previous posts, I am a "hobbyist" host]

 

[onemore]

Who actually goes to the Bank anymore? And why would they need to for a refund?

If we can't travel due to a TRAVEL BAN then we should get a refund. End of Story.
I've got two hosts now refusing a refund. Absurd!
I have changed my mind completely on using this service ever again.
The company haven't updated their extenuating circumstances since March 19th and it is now the 24th and so much has happened since. Time for them to step up and ensure everyone for the next 6 months gets a full refund on travel we can't use.

I am wondering if any of them are dropping their prices, if so how can I find out?

 

[Jurahn]

They may have incurred expenses, or refused a booking from someone else (because of your booking) who would have been able to travel.

Ultimately, you should consider the terms and conditions of any booking, and ensure you have appropriate insurance cover in place (otherwise you are self insuring).

With the current border "closures" and mandatory 14-day self isolation rules, as well as non-essential travel having to be (or should be) cancelled, no one will be able to travel, or at least will be very strongly discouraged from doing so, therefore I think the part about refusing a booking from someone else is now a moot point because it's highly unlikely they will be able to fill those dates now anyway.

I always have travel insurance, even for domestic travel, and buy it as soon as I start laying out money whether it be on accommodation or flights, so if I can't get full refunds from my two Airbnb hosts, I will have to look to my policy with TID to see what they will cover.

I think sharing the risk is not unreasonable. Whilst airbnb are a big corporation, many host are pretty small. Maybe 10-20% cancel penalty so host at least gets some income to keep things going.

I do feel sorry for the hosts and I don't think sharing the risk is unreasonable either, and I would have no problem with a 10%, or maybe even 15%, cancellation fee, but 50% is far too much - it's not as if we're choosing to cancel, we've been left with absolutely no choice but to do so. A friend of mine who lives locally has several listings on Airbnb, her bookings have been absolutely decimated and it is her main source of income. I would still love to get away for a week on my own, so am hoping to be able to book a week for one of her listings, and at least that will help her out a bit, but if I can only get 50% back on my existing bookings, I won't be able to afford to do it.

 

[Jurahn]

I received an email from Virgin today advising that all my flights have been cancelled, Judging by current flight searches, VA have withdrawn ALL services from Tassie until at least mid-June, so thought I’d give my Airbnb hosts a try, seeing as there’s been no sign of movement yet on the COVID-19 deadline date - delighted to say both have agreed to a full refund. One hasn’t received the notification yet to approve the refund - she said the same thing happened with another booking a few days ago, but apparently it eventually updated itself and the guest was able to finalise the cancellation and get the refund. Will have to keep an eye on it and if she doesn’t receive it within the 48 hour timeframe, she said to submit it again.

 

[dajop]

delighted to say both have agreed to a full refund. One hasn’t received the notification yet to approve the refund - she said the same thing happened with another booking a few days ago, but apparently it eventually updated itself and the guest was able to finalise the cancellation and get the refund. Will have to keep an eye on it and if she doesn’t receive it within the 48 hour timeframe, she said to submit it again.

Glad that they have agreed to it. Please let me know how you go with the refund, and whether airbnb are also refunding their service fee. Our current advise to guests requesting to cancel (on Airbnb) is " If you would like to cancel, it may be worth waiting until Airbnb update their policy. We are happy to organise a refund of our fees, but until they update their policy, I'm not sure if you will get a refund of their service fee." Stayz (Homeaway) will refund their fee in full if host refunds in full.

 

[Jurahn]

Glad that they have agreed to it. Please let me know how you go with the refund, and whether airbnb are also refunding their service fee. Our current advise to guests requesting to cancel (on Airbnb) is " If you would like to cancel, it may be worth waiting until Airbnb update their policy. We are happy to organise a refund of our fees, but until they update their policy, I'm not sure if you will get a refund of their service fee." Stayz (Homeaway) will refund their fee in full if host refunds in full.

No worries, will keep you posted.

 

[Jurahn]

I received an email from Virgin today advising that all my flights have been cancelled, Judging by current flight searches, VA have withdrawn ALL services from Tassie until at least mid-June, so thought I’d give my Airbnb hosts a try, seeing as there’s been no sign of movement yet on the COVID-19 deadline date - delighted to say both have agreed to a full refund. One hasn’t received the notification yet to approve the refund - she said the same thing happened with another booking a few days ago, but apparently it eventually updated itself and the guest was able to finalise the cancellation and get the refund. Will have to keep an eye on it and if she doesn’t receive it within the 48 hour timeframe, she said to submit it again.

And sure enough, my host never received the notification to allow her to approve the refund, and bang on the 48 hour mark, Airbnb send what is obviously an automated response advising that she has declined the request!!! The website will not allow me to resubmit the full refund request using the COVIC-19 reason either. I will have to try to follow up with Airbnb somehow (the host is doing the same, however she said it has been almost impossible to contact them) , as the payment for the remainder is due to come out in a few weeks, and I don't want to be out of pocket for that as well, and have to try to get it back!

 

[Pvcmenace]

I was in Austria, and booked an Airbnb while in Vienna on 14th March for a 16th check in, for a place in Linz for 8 nights to lock down in. Things escalated quickly and I departed. Cancelled with Airbnb they refunded their fee. I talked too the owner he refunded the whole amount even though I stayed for a night. When I got home i sent him 40% as a thank you.

Booking.com on the other hand can go jump off a bridge in my opinion!

 

[Jurahn]

And sure enough, my host never received the notification to allow her to approve the refund, and bang on the 48 hour mark, Airbnb send what is obviously an automated response advising that she has declined the request!!! The website will not allow me to resubmit the full refund request using the COVIC-19 reason either. I will have to try to follow up with Airbnb somehow (the host is doing the same, however she said it has been almost impossible to contact them) , as the payment for the remainder is due to come out in a few weeks, and I don't want to be out of pocket for that as well, and have to try to get it back!

Update - I am delighted to report that my legend of a host immediately got on to Airbnb when I advised her what had happened. She was able to get through straight away, my reservation has now been cancelled and a full refund is being processed. What a relief, and I will definitely be booking with her again!

@dajop, it appears both refunds include the service fee too (the refund request page indicates that if the host agrees to a full refund due to COVID-19, Airbnb will also refund the service fee).

 

[Mort]

Curious, I have a similar situation for a booking in late April. I contacted the host and they kindly informed me they would approve a full refund (would have been 50%). I sent off the request and 2 days later received the "host has declined" which I thought was odd as we had had a pleasant message exchange with an agreement for the refund with a plan to rebook when things settle down.

I have followed up with them now to see if they actually received the request.

 

[Jurahn]

Curious, I have a similar situation for a booking in late April. I contacted the host and they kindly informed me they would approve a full refund (would have been 50%). I sent off the request and 2 days later received the "host has declined" which I thought was odd as we had had a pleasant message exchange with an agreement for the refund with a plan to rebook when things settle down.

I have followed up with them now to see if they actually received the request.

I'd say it's quite likely then that they didn't receive the request, I'll be interested to hear if that's the case. . There are several recent entries on Product Review which mention the same thing, so it appears to be some sort of glitch in Airbnb's system. I assume if the host doesn't respond to the request within the 48 hour timeframe, Airbnb just automatically sends a "declined" response to the guest.

 

[Mort]

Seems like that might have been the case.

I contacted the host last night and they responded that they were still happy to provide a full refund but had not seen anything.

I contacted AirBnB this morning, outlined the issue and noted that most of the correspondence could be seen on their platform.

Just received a txt that a full refund was processed and a message from AirBnB confirming that they could see the host had offered a full refund and that it has been processed.

So happy outcome

 

[Toula92122]

Instead of naming and shaming those hosts who you feel are not doing the right thing, why not promote those who have been a pleasure to work with and deserve to be recognised for their compassion? That way we could build a thread for those who deserve rewarding in the future when it all returns to normal.

 

[onemore]

Yes, that is a much betterer idea, then they will be rewarded by more business, as I told a mechanic that did the dirty on me, "you obviously haven't heard of the power of word of mouth".

 

[renatts]

AirBNB have just updated their policy. At a glance it seems to be the same, but the date has extended to 31st May.
Guests can decide themselves between a cash refund or a travel credit, which includes all surcharges.

this covers almost all of my holiday, so that is a bonus for me. Hopefully it’s helpful to others.
I’m just deciding whether I take the travel credit, cash refund, or negotiate different dates with the hosts. It took us months to decide on all of our accomodation, and the order of our trip, so we might look at moving the exact itinerary to August or October to make sure the hosts at least have bookings in the future.

 

[wendlle]

So My dates are now covered as they are in May. But it will not let me select Covid-19 as I asked for a full refund a few weeks ago and was declined by two hosts.
What do I do now? I don't want 50% I want my full refund.