Does it really? Where did you get that figure from?
JF
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We blocked out all of April. I wouldnāt be surprised if we have to because the reservations in May and several people have already canceled because the commencement of their children has been canceled. (we live in a college town). Itās hard doing without that income, but since we use it for our own vacationing and we arenāt going to be vacationing soon, well, you see where Iām going here. Itās just not worth the risk.
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Yeah, they need to know that there are every day more and more cases of healthy young people with no underlying conditions dying from the virus, especially in the US. And already huge numbers of young people being in critical condition. Some of their selfish little asses rather likely with get one or two very painful life lesson taught.
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I hate airbnbs extenuating circumstance policy but f#### me this is an extenuating circumstance!
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I have gone to great lengths to be very careful and have my properties sanitized and available for those trying to get home. In the last week I have had 5 last minute reservations and all were under 25 yrs old "on their way home or flying into Denver for one night to celebrate a birthday or An example: We coming from Zion National Park to Chattanooga Tenn. by way of Denver??! Booking one night to party-Marijuana with no regard for the Emergency shut down, no restaurants or brewery open. After they arrive they find Denver is not set up for fun Denver and ask for their money back because of the virus and emergency stay at home order after leaving and contaminated your property but we deserve our money back because this is really ruining our fun???
Thankfully Airbnb is assisting with these problems. I spoke to a help specialist, she addressed all of the guest stays with issues. I ask how she wasā¦she hasnāt seen her family in 30 days, they are taking shifts to assist us. These people are giving so much to handle our problems. It is hard on so many in ways we canāt even imagine.
On the bright side;
One of my properties I manage is owned my an actress (not famous or wealthy), now out out of work and all her bookings canceled. As she was wondering how she was going to make ends meet she received an inquiry from a Veteran to rent for three weeks for recuperation after surgery. This was a beautiful exchange for both parties, a safe, clean home to recover and my client has some income!
It will get better.
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Thanks for sharing your experiences and your happy story.
Wow I really feel for those poor Airbnb frontline staff who are putting up with endless abuse by hosts and guests for a situation they didnāt create and have no control over. @brendab and probably getting paid peanuts.
It seems like USA is one of the few areas still be allowing STRs. In the UK all hotel, camping, second home, B&B and self catering stays were outlawed last week to help minimise travel of the type you describe to help halt the spread of the disease.
With the US overtaking China in terms of cases itās pretty shocking you guys arenāt in lock down.
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My state has shut down non essential travel, but there really is no enforcement that I can see. I have cancelled my remaining upcoming bookings for the next month. I just signed up/agreed to allow my listing for use by first responders and healthcare workers with AirBnb and changed my listing description to this:
Per statewide stay at home order we are only accepting reservations for 1st responders, healthcare workers, essential workers and CV19 self quarantine only right now. PLEASE INQUIRE AND EXPLAIN THE REASON FOR YOUR STAY DO NOT INSTANT BOOK
I left it on IB because it will not get found otherwise. I will cancel any reservations that come in that do not fit the description which is all I am legally allowed to offer right now.
That being said I just searched my town on Air and it seems like business as usual for most hosts. The County supervisor has put out clarification on what is and is not essential (my listing as described above is legit) and the locals on FB are vowing to turn in hosts to the county hotline number. Like they would have any idea if the stay fit the requirementsā¦ Our friendly little mountain town does not want visitors right now.
RR
Curiously, we are on a full lock down with all STR and hotels closed by government decree until at least 11th April, and when I did a search locally for next week it was almost like business as usual.
That said, Iāve got three nights open on BDC as it was a No Risk booking. This means even though the guests cancelled, we still get paid if BDC canāt fill it. Hopefully no muppet will try and book a feckin hot-spot for next week!
JF
***3/27/20 Wow, a lot can change in a week. 50 cases nationwide at the start of the month to 85,000 now. Not enough hospital beds, ventilators, PPE for medical staff >>>even with flattening the curve. After learning of COVID infected 20 and 30 yr olds with no underlying conditions requiring hospitalization, we have halted all reservations completely until this is over. Actually cancelled a few ourselves. This is a travesty in the United States. Because we did not stop this virus in its tracks sooner, flatten the curve enough, and prepare our medical equipment, tent triages, extra beds, extra personnel, etc. many people will perish needlessly. I have been blowing up the WH facebook and twitter with demands that they invoke the DPA to manufacture more ventilators and PPE for medical staff on the frontlines. Itās coming and the itās going to hit the fan in the next three weeks (on the west coast of the US) and then spread across every state. COVID-19 can live on some surfaces from 3hrs, to 3-9 DAYS. O_O Please be safe and shelter in place, and donāt endanger your lives for a bit of money.
Some relief: If youāre in the US and really strapped, self-employed folks like us will [now] be able to collect unemployment benefits (at your same wage) for four months, or acquire small no/low interest business loans, or pull some equity out of your house, whatever it takes. Rent payments can be halted for three months in most states (and paid back later) and mortgages across the country can be suspended for twelve. We will make it through this. Best to everyone and be safe.
Nobody in the travel industry gave full refunds, no questions asked, like Airbnb did. The did that at the cost to the hosts. All major hotels only refund 100% to people going to or from seriously affected areas (then: China, Iran, Italy) a month ago. Airbnb didnāt even allow 25% retained, or a fee (like they keep $50 if we cancel). Any of which could mean food on the table for many Americans, (where 80% of the pop lives paycheck to paycheck).
When you have a multi-billion dollar MNC like Airbnb promoting their brand by refunding money-off the backs of the little guy- then this query seems quite a valid one, IMO. Had Air simply allowed us to handle the cancellations ourselves, or honored anything about our cancellation policies then that could have meant a greta deal to thousands of people. What Airbnb did to their hosts was heartless and wrong. I do not believe for a second that it was for āthe greater good.ā It was to make them look good.
āAirbnb was a stand-out.ā They did this for positive PR, period. Yet we are the ones who paid or it, even though we are not multi-billionaires. Agreement that Airbnb hosts got the shaft has been echoed by business analysts.
Personally, if we ever come back to hosting in the future, it will be with a dedicated booking website and on advertised on multiple platforms. We should have done this sooner, but simply never found the time. Weāve got it now. Who knows how long in the future that will be before this normalizes. 6months? A year? Not sure how long it will take for me to ever want to have strangers in my home again is the more pressing issue. Right now I wonāt even touch any delivered packages for at last a day. They sit on the porch or get blasted by bleach and then opened right there.
F*** COVID-19!! You aināt taking me!
Incorrect! Iām longtime Hilton member and I received notice before AirBNB changed its rules that Hilton would be providing penalty free cancellations without question. I did some checking and most hotels offered similar. I received similar from American Airlines.
Iām sorry that you are so upset BUT as Iāve stated before, these are extraordinary times, and taking advantage of (benefiting financially off of) people who are complying with requests to stay home and doing what is best for everyone around them is just wrong.
I actually have more respect for AirBNB for doing what they are doing.
I donāt have any respect for people who are crying because they couldnāt keep $ for circumstances that they had no control over.
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I donāt think making a statement like
is productive in any way, shape or form. That is NOT what happened with a great number of our cancellations. FYI, our demographic is 90% under 25 year olds and they cancelled because their concerts were cancelled, not to stay sheltered in place for the good of humanity. Some were driving from one hour away. I am the OP and urged everybody to do the right thing and still say, as many in the travel industry echo, we got screwed by Airbnb.
Good for the Hilton that they gave refunds, as the article I posted shows that Hilton was an exception, but they did not do that for everybody.
I donāt have any respect for people who cow to billion dollar corporations that screw over the people who helped make them. Nor do I care for anyone who judges others in crisis. Some may be in financial dire straits now because of what Airbnb didā¦that I REPEAT with a caveat [almost] no other hotels or travel industry did. Youāre welcome to your opinion on Airbnb if you truly think it was some ānobleā gesture to humanity, and I am welcome to mine: I donāt think it was. I think it was for publicity, period.
But you are most certainly not welcome to insult me or anybody else on this forum with callous self-righteous accusations as if someone is swindling or ātaking advantageā of people. Airlines *rescheduled travelers. Hotels gave *partial refunds. As some have stated, for one person itās $100, for a host it could mean losing their house. People need support right now, not lectures. There are many in the industry who concur that what Airbnb did was ill-advised and left hosts out to dry.
A more productive solution would have been 100% travel credits for future use, for example. Then do the 100% refunds after lockdowns went into place or examine on case by case basis if guests canāt return at a later date. That would have satisfied many aspects while devastating few.
They need to stay home too, we all do. This sucks for all of us, everyone is losing money. I have been watching my neighbor to my STR loading stuff into her shed and garage the last two days and I just figured out why, her business is closed and not going to re-open. Hopefully you can hang in there itās going to be a long ride.
Good luck
RR
Yes. We have self isolated now for weeks. Nearly all of our cancellations were also weeks ago, before the shelter in place mandates. We, too, hadnāt taken it as seriously then as we do now and cancelled and refunded anybody else on the calendar from last week onward. We hosted one medical field personnel driving up for some advanced training and then shut everything down. Possibly for a year. The whole world is going to be different after this. I know so many business owners who are needed to float the next six months and see what happens, but human life is more important than how we will all fare financially. Scary times.
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At this point it does not matter, those mandates were a month too late sadly. Be safe
RR
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I donāt think making a statement like āNobody in the travel industry gave full refunds, no questions asked, like Airbnb didā is productive in any way shape of form when it is NOT true.
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Most on this forum have lost much of their AirBNB business BUT unlike you I choose not to whine or complain about AirBNB because I believe they are doing the right thing.
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I stated I think taking advantage of people financially under extenuating circumstances is wrong. If you believe that is an insult then we have different morals.
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Doing refunds like you suggest are problematic because many people are out of work, and will likely not have the funds to travel for awhile, and many may no longer have a need to come to your specific AirBNB. Many need that money NOW. Having hosts keep the guests $ for services not rendered is a harsh and selfish (my opinion) way to deal with the financial and health crisis we ALL are experiencing.
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The Guest pays the fees, of course they look after the Guest in the hope that after good treatment the Guest will return to the platform with trust. They will always have hosts who will always drink the Koolaid. Any host who wants to continue in this business needs to be spread across as many booking platforms as possible and their own direct booking system / site. I have had so many direct bookings after they have researched me online.
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Okay, I was asked to go light on you and amended my reply, but youāre clearly not someone who takes responsibility for his words. You most definitely insulted me, and you have an absurdly
condescending tone as well as degrade to name calling
This what I object to. Calling people crybabies and or undeserving of respect (from you, who cares?) or just crooks out to get something for nothing is out of order.
I have a different opinion. I think Airbnb made a decision that benefitted them and their image at the expense of others, and I am certainly not alone in that opinion, there are a half a dozen articles making the same assessment.
This was also a subject brought up and a policy implemented before the shelter in place and before job losses. A lot happened in a few weeks and am acutely aware of how financially devastating this will be now. Part of that is because Airbnb had a knee-jerk reaction at its *outset. When we were all still talking about filling in our calendars, not NOW when weāre all hoping to survive a deadly virus.
Perhaps you didnāt even read the original post. You argue like a politician and I donāt care to pursue this with you any further. Weāre done here. Thanks