With the coronavirus outbreak causing people to stay home, many lodging services like Airbnb, have been responding with new policies to help alleviate financial stress during the current pandemic. Since the policy change, Airbnb offers refunds to guests unable to realize their reservation because of the current pandemic. Any reservation made before March 14th for any date between March 14th and May 31st can get a full refund.
Airbnb hosts have been left feeling disgruntled over the policy as many believe they weren’t properly compensated. Airbnb tried to offer as many resources as possible: on their resource page, they bring attention to the federal relief act, have links to loans, unemployment assistance, mortgage relief, etc. However, hosts wanted more from Airbnb, and its lack of action led to hosts threatening a class action.
As part of the anger, an “Airbnb Host Class Action” Twitter account was recently set up and via this account, many hosts have been venting their frustration, explaining what they’ve been experiencing, and voicing their opinions on what is fair for a situation like this. Airbnb’s reaction to the dismay was sending a letter to the House of Representatives, for “economic relief,” looking for a third party to help them. Although on March 30th, Airbnb finally backtracked their actions, and realized their mistake, changing their policy to better help accommodate hosts as well.
Anger Toward Airbnb’s Cancellation Policy Explained
Airbnb is known for being a highly customizable service for both guests and hosts alike. There was an option for hosts allowing them to be able to make their own cancellation policy where they could set the price they believed was fair, particularly focusing on the time they put in preparing for the guest. However, when Airbnb initiated its own cancellation policy in lieu of coronavirus, the host policies were nullified, leaving many with expenses they didn’t believe they deserved. The hosts felt as if they were given the freedom to choose their own policies by the company, but when the freedom was taken away, Airbnb didn’t properly respond.
In Airbnb’s March 30th letter, CEO Brian Chesky expressed remorse for the decision to initiate a new cancellation policy, especially how it affected the company’s relations with their partners. They announced $250 million was being made available “to help accommodation hosts impacted by COVID-19-related cancellations.” The new policy offers hosts a 25% compensation for cancellations, and to cover all bases, the policy also includes any cancellation before the letter was issued (between March 14th and May 31st). The response has been met with mixed feelings from the host community. Many are happy with the news while others believe it’s too little too late, and suggesting they will be looking for other lodging services to partner with, for after the coronavirus outbreak and when bookings return to normal.
