Automatic cancellation for Covid positive test - no proof necessary

This is so much baloney. I’m sorry it’s happening to you. It sounds like a good reason for a host to ask for proof of vaccination at booking. Yes, I know there are breakthrough infections but it’s better than the nothing we get from Airbnb.

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Proof of vaccination is not really going to help because people sometimes get Covid despite getting one. One of my family members did. I called the customer support again and now they are saying that there was documentation after all. Interesting how four customer service reps yesterday told me there was none. And they have no way of knowing that it was one of the actual guests. Oh well, cancellation policy out the window!

What vaccination will help is to put this pandemic into the manageable, endemic category. Yes, they might all be vaccinated. They might all get covid anyway. But requiring proof of vaccines to do things like go to a concert, fly on a plane, or book an accomodation would help speed up the process.

I’d be happy to do my part except I don’t have the kind of listing that lends itself to such policies.

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What I meant by my comment is that requiring vaccination status would not have made any difference in this particular situation.

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Except that the majority of people who get covid are unvaccinated so requiring vaccination can still lessen the chances of covid-related cancellations.

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that is also an unknown reality. Who knows who the 10 people are in the group? Unless names are taken when booked of all 10, then the only true guest is the person placing the booking.

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I feel your assumption is presumptuous. A 3 day stay in a large high quality home could mean a loss of $3500 income, with no replacement at last minute. That is an amount that is nothing to sneeze at.

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But it is still a total waste of time to fight Airbnb over it because it is stated policy and has been for more than a year. All of us, as hosts, have already agreed to the policy because we are currently renting on Airbnb. We are all taking the exact same chance of this happening to us by renting on Airbnb. It just is.

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What are the chances that 10 people are traveling together but none of them have been in contact with the one who is positive for Covid?

I am glad they cancelled. It is the responsible thing to do. In the middle of a pandemic.

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The guest is not sick. It is an unknown “somebody” who may or may not be part of a group of any 10 humans.

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That’s my point. Rather than spending hours contacting Airbnb and posting here, I would have used that time more constructively.

For more than a year and a half, businesses that have been insensitive to the Covid issue have been outed and shamed online. It’s just my opinion, of course, but I would rather spend a few hours finding replacement guests and attending to any issues with the rentals.

Just me - I’d rather be positive than negative.

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If the guest was traveling with that “somebody” then they were likely exposed because they are obviously friendly enough to travel together. I thought we all understood how Covid spreads by now. I am really confused about this reaction. We are in the middle of a pandemic. It wasn’t that long ago that most of us were not hosting any guests at all. If there is any risk of Covid whatsoever, those guests should not travel. Hosts should not host them. It is not worth it.

Every single one of us on this Forum should be prepared for last minute cancellations due to Covid because

  1. We agreed to it.
  2. We are in the middle of a pandemic. People are dying and not just the people with Covid. People are dying of all sorts of things because there is no room in the hospitals because the hospitals are filled with people with Covid.
  3. Sometimes things don’t work out as planned. Especially things like reservations. Especially on Airbnb. Also, see number 1 and 2 above for priorities.

Yes, I read posts where hosts spend inordinate amounts of time, getting more and more stressed out and frustrated and angry, trying to deal with CS about $50 worth of damages, or a $75 refund that was given to a guest. It’s like the hosts don’t value their own time.

You’ll read “I’ve been calling Airbnb twice a day for the last 5 days, spent hours on the phone and they just keep telling me that someone is working on my case.” So relax, give them time to work on the case. Get on with life. If you don’t hear back for a week, remind them you’re still waiting for a response. But don’t let it consume your mind and your emotions.

Obviously there are things a host isn’t simply going to let go, like missing $3000 worth of payouts, but it’s best to pick your battles.

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I am not unsympathetic, I understand how disappointing and frustrating this must be, so please hear the following with that in mind.

It could be as simple as a lag in documention, especially from someone who may be sick, to get the documentation together, because they don’t feel well. And after digging around quite a bit since you posted, my inclination is to think that they are getting documentation from the guest but they are not going to share it with the host. So, in true Airbnb style they just lied about it so you won’t ask to see it.

I think I saw your post on Twitter where you say that the guest didn’t have to provide proof. TBH, I think it is more accurate to say that you fear that the guest did not have to provide proof and that you think it isn’t fair if they didn’t have to.

It is also relevant that the CDC policy is to err on the side of caution even if someone has not been tested much less can provide documentation, because of the obvious weight of the situation. And I hope that guests who think they might have Covid but aren’t sure or don’t have proof don’t come to stay with me. And I hope they don’t stay with you either. But I am sorry you lost your booking at the last minute.

I am sure that this won’t be the last of posts about this kind of cancellation, but it will be easier on us if we expect it, because we should.

No not when a person rents houses that hold 10 or more people.
Often they come together from different parts of the country.
It is just an excuse to stick the homeowner

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Silly me, I thought they might just use three too many towels to stick it to the host. :joy:

I couldn’t find the exemption to either the Airbnb policy or the pandemic in general for houses that hold 10 or more people. But it looks like there may be a special extenuating circumstance of being able to cancel an impending Covid melting pot. :wink:

Exactly. This was a reunion, planned and booked six months ago. I am out more than $3000. I have done all my complaining here, on Twitter, and on Facebook and am getting nowhere, as I guessed would be the case. My town is packed with tourists and my house has no guests. Thanks for being understanding and not telling me to clean my house as it is spotless!

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I don’t find your sarcasm adorable, nor cute.
I think it is very serious when AirBnb makes bad financial decisions that affect dedicated and hardworking owners.
I don’t find smugness regarding Covid enlightening either.
I had a beautiful and young friend/acquaintance die this past week. She had a bad heart and got covid last December.
She exposed me because we worked out next to each other.
She had struggled to recover since then.
She is now dead.
I don’t take Covid lightly.
Nor do I take lying and maneuvering guests at face value. Covid is a fact and is here and limitations occur.
AirBnb has zero idea who is staying at a house, other than, …sometimes if they get it right, …the person who booked and paid.
That’s all they even occasionally know.
When Uncle Doofus gets Covid in California, and can’t meet up with Niece Missie in Florida and the 8 other relatives flying in from NJ, NY, Mass, and Ohio, , there is no valid reason that Missie should cancel or get a refund for Uncle Doofus’s Covid illness nor exposure.
Until Airbnb tightens their rules and educates their CS, they will continue to be unilateral to Owners and Hosts.

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It is ridiculous. I won’t open any dates nor valuable time, nor anything even less than 2 months prior to a date on AirBnb. I can book out 90% of the time without them. So when I give them dates, I have to be aware that they hold the cards. I also get a signed contract and if it were a significant amount of money then I would take the guest to court . I don’t trust Airbnb and I dont rely upon them for anything. I know they will do whatever they want to do.

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Sarcasm, by definition, is not adorable or cute. You may be confused about that, but I’m not.

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