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Actually we allow bookings one year in advance and don’t have an issue under normal circumstances with any of the several major booking sites we use, in addition to returning guests, referrals, Google & Facebook. It is only AirBnB who overrides host cancellation policy and that was just for one remaining booking made before March 14 but not yet arrived. In hindsight we should have caught that and forced the guest to either cancel in advance or to rebook so she no longer had that pre-March 14 booking date which put the payment in jeopardy.
However, it turns out AirBnB not only took all of our income (a hefty first month’s worth we should have been able to collect) but to add insult to injury they did not offer the guest a full refund unless she supplied documentation that she herself had COVID. They changed that because before they were offering those who booked before the pandemic full card refunds no-questions-asked. So they get to keep our money and offer the guest future credit for travel before 2022 so another host can benefit. Why not simply offer us the ability to issue future credit to book solely one of our many rentals here at the resort so that we are not totally hurt? This is now even worse than their original policy which already caused a public outcry and forced their CEO to do damage control
Wait, so your solution to someone who calls AirBnB out on a lame or unfair move is they should drop AirBnB? In other words, if you stay with AirBnB you may never complain? LOL, that’s a good one, even for this forum. We’ve been with them for almost 10 years and if they do something against their own policy we will most certainly let them (and maybe others) know. Even the reps at AirBnB sympathized and recognized that this was unfair – but thanks for the “suggestion” though.
I have had issues with AirBNB at times but I accept that I signed up with them, and for the most part I agree with their policies and approach.
I made the suggestion that time spent less complaining, and more time focused on other platforms that work better for you, might be a happier alternative.
As for January, I said that (for my listing) the demand is high and you should be able to book a replacement. If you can’t find a backfill it might be less about the platform and more about the accommodation.
Uh, no problems booking January whatsoever. We have multiple problems and always book peak season solid.
Problems with a policy that was already unpopular with a public outcry that required the CEO to apologize and do damage control which they then turn around and make worse by not giving the host their payout but keeping it for themselves? Yes, I definitely do have an issue with that. And I called them on it and even they sort of agreed. Some reps even thought the policy was still full refunds if booked before March 14, which I bet she could’ve gotten had she called them but they must figure if the guest will take the credit online without calling to complain why offer it to them? They should give credit with the same host at least.
But if you use public forums to hear nothing but praise and don’t like to hear issues and complaints, maybe the problem is that you are in the wrong place? Consider that. Thanks for you time and good luck!
