After making the responsible choice last year to cancel all reservations when the pandemic hit and subsequently not receiving any compensation, I received $25. I took it as an opportunity to review my cancellation policy to better protect myself to reflect the new realities of travel.
Fast forward a year later and I made my place available for the month of April and received three bookings, two of which my guests responsibly cancelled due to the lockdown in the province of Ontario. The third one admitted her travel was unnecessary and that she was coming to walk around with her boyfriend. Now she booked a non-refundable option but would not cancel the reservation because she did not want to lose the money despite her choice to book a non-refundable option. Again being responsible, I chose to cancel and the guest was refunded.
I am not the brightest, but I am failing to see how after I adapted and my guest booked a non-refundable option, how she is still being refunded. At first I was upset over the money but at some point it’s not about the money. It’s about the safety of my community and I couldn’t believe the position Airbnb put me in. They refunded some person who booked a non-refundable option and did nothing to respect my cancellation policy or do the right thing and cancel all reservations in Ontario.
This didn’t sit well so I asked them to donate the money to Black Lives Matter (I am a Black person so figured this money could go to some good) instead of refunding this low life guest. They refused, stating their policy. I was laughing at their “support” team. The guy clearly was in no position to even have a conversation and was reminiscent of a robot, programmed to repeat the policy and failing to understand what “human” is.
Companies like these are greasy and hope the collective group robot think pushes your billion-dollar company to higher profits while putting the lives of people at risk. The fact that they are allowing hosts to operate in Ontario at the moment is baffling. They are literally putting profits before the public good and this goes for housing as well. Simply ruining communities.
Wow, I just heard a very similar experience from a guest on this random Airbnb horror stories podcast I came across called “Once Upon A Bnb”. Airbnb needs to get it together, this is ridiculous.
You posted, “The fact that they are allowing hosts to operate in Ontario at the moment is baffling. They are literally putting profits before the public good and this goes for housing as well. Simply ruining communities.”
Airbnb is an international booking platform only. It cannot possibly keep up with every travel restriction in the world. Guests and hosts must own their actions.
An unscrupulous host is going to post their listing on a private website, Facebook, Craigslist, or other if Airbnb blocks rentals in Ontario.
Again Airbnb is a booking platform only—the host has an ethical responsibility to do the right thing.
You said, “she did not want to lose the money despite her choice to book a non-refundable option. Again being responsible, I chose to cancel and the guest was refunded.”
You cancelled thus overriding your own cancellation policy so she received a refund. Don’t blame Airbnb.
Airbnb announced their support & donation to BLM. The money from the cancellation you initiated, was refunded to the guest so not available for donation.
Btw since Ontario was on lockdown during the reservation, the trip cancellation may have qualified under the extenuating circumstances policy so would’ve been refunded regardless of your actions.