We are also representing hosts in arbitration agasint AIrbnb for COVID related refunds agasint eh strict cancellation policy of hosts. You can get on our arbitration update list and receive more information here. https://www.traverselegal.com/contact-us-airbnb/#form

Have you not read any of the other posts, Jessica? With respect, how anyone could continue collaborating with a company that treats people so badly in the wake of an ‘inevitable’ emergency/problem is beyond me! If I were you, I would avoid the hell of having to deal with Airbnb by seeking income elsewhere.

Now the guest has threatened me with squatters rights and wants me to take her to housing court

I am a host as well as a guest. As a host, I think the guests should get full refund because they are the ones actually losing money out of pocket when it is no fault of theirs. They’re losing money due to canceled flights (airlines are not immediately refunding as per my knowledge) and if they already started the journey, having to book new flights at very high costs to get back home safe. The purpose of charging the guest under general cancellation policy is to compensate the host for the lost opportunity (some other guest might have booked the place). But with COVID-19 when almost nobody can travel, this reasoning is not valid. As a host, the cost of towels, tea, soaps etc can not be compared at all to the costs that the guest has to bear.

JB

I had only one cancellation in March and it was 2 WEEKS before the cancellation policy went into effect for the virus. I received my 50% payment 4 days AFTER the guest was supposed to arrive and 10 days after the cancellation. This was still BEFORE the new cancellation policy as the guest did not state it was cancelled because of the Corona Virus.

Now, after having received my payment a few weeks ago, Airbnb sends me a message about how they are doing their best to accommodate the guests in these hard times and have set aside millions of dollars to compensate the Hosts OUT OF THEIR POCKET.

Of course in the same message to me, one paragraph under this magnanimous announcement it continues on to say they were taking the money BACK from the Host (me) to cover the refund they are giving the guest.

So, they are making the HOST take money out of their pockets so that this billion dollar company doesn’t actually lose any money. I make a few thousand dollars a year hosting. This means always being on call, cleaning, replacing, changing sheets. It means buying new sheets, new toiletries, ammenities, replacing things broken, taken, used up. Buying new towels, soaps, coffees, etc OUT OF MY POCKET and Airbnb makes money off every reservation with absolutely no out of pocket of their own.

This Virus cancellation policy is only for the benefit of Airbnb. It is NOT partnering with the Host to help with the lost income.