welcome back to my channel I'm Matt the creator of Airbnb uncovered dot com and
Airbnb super host on this channel I uncover some of the best kept hosting
secrets as well as share with you everything that I've ever learned after
hosting over 3,000 guests on this video we're gonna talk about a rather
difficult topic refunds during kovat 19 the kovat 19 pandemic is
making things extremely tough for Airbnb hosts especially when it comes to
deciding whether or not to offer full refunds as I see it you basically have
four options for guests who are asking for a full refund when your refund
policy does not allow for it the first is not to provide any refund
at all the second is to provide a credit for a future stay the third is to
provide a partial refund beyond your refund policy and fourth is to provide a
full refund
sadly for many of us the stark reality of kovat 19 means that our finances are
hurting so badly that we just can't afford to provide a full refund even
though we'd love to to soften this blow I'm allowing my guests to keep their
non-refundable amounts as a credit towards a future stay you have to be a
bit careful when offering a credit and you'll need to put in place a few
stipulations to protect yourself I recommend that you stipulate that the
credit is non-refundable non redeemable for cash non-transferable subject to
availability and dependent on my hosting business continuing I'm also
recommending that guests who are ineligible for a full refund to continue
to visit the Airbnb Cove in nineteen extenuating circumstances policy page to
see if their reservation qualifies at a later date since Airbnb is continuously
updating this policy but outside of this I'm pretty much staying true to my
cancellation policy and not breaking it if a guest is looking to receive a
refund for travel that is after May 31st then they're asking me to break my
refund policy I know this sounds very bureaucratic and non hospitable and I
didn't come to this position lightly but bear with me and let me explain this has
been and is one of the hardest decisions that I've ever made if you're in this
boat you know the same feeling and the angst and stress that comes along with
it I've rationalized staying firm on my cancellation policy in a few ways the
first is that hosts cannot be expected to act as a travel insurance provider at
the time of booking guests were presented with your refund policy and if
you're watching this video it means that you likely have a strict policy or at
the very minimum a flexible one guests knew their reservation was largely
non-refundable at the time of booking and if they wanted to hedge their bet
then they should have purchased travel insurance
again I know it's out heart sounds harsh but it's true
the second way I'm rationalizing this is that Co vid 19 is no one's fault the
entire world is in this together and as such we will bear the costs in one shape
or another this is already happening with large relief packages from
governments around the world over the coming years collectively we're gonna
have to pay this back through taxes and your Airbnb isn't much different
generally speaking your guests had the funds to travel at the time of booking
and this suggests that they're likely not as financially vulnerable as those
who are truly living paycheck-to-paycheck
my thinking here is that these guests can afford to cover some of the
financial costs since they could afford to travel in the first place you are
however supporting them by providing more than half back it's the full
cleaning fee and half the nightly rate this is a pretty fair arrangement for
something that is completely out of both guests and host control plus I'm
offering the non-refundable amount toured as a credit towards a future stay
by this point you're probably thinking that I'm being greedy and unfair how can
I know that my that all my guests financial situation is decent I don't
and I'm fully expecting to make exceptions when I see that this
situation merits one to help me decide I send a message to you my guess
explaining that I'm financially unable to provide them with a refund although I
really wished I could I base my decision on whether or not to provide a full
refund based on the guests response their profile and the messages that I've
received up until that point this is where full refunds and partial refunds
come into play depending on the situation of my guests and my ability to
secure replacement bookings than in some instances I'm providing a full refund or
providing more than the 50% of the nightly rate as the refund
sadly after dealing with dozens of guests over this issue I can tell you
that some of your guests are going to get down write nasty with you while
others are gonna be so understanding that they're going to gladly split the
cost fifty-fifty with you and not question it
sadly the nasty ones have outweighed the understanding ones though it's a tough
decision but I have to balance the needs of putting food on the table and doing
what I'd rather do which is to give a full refund question how are you dealing
with refunds in your hosting business share it in the comments below so that
we can learn from each other I decided to make this video because making the
decision to not refund my guests beyond my refund policies was without question
the hardest decision I've ever made for my hosting business and I know many of
you are facing the same struggle so I wanted to share my experience with you
as I see it you have basically four options no refund at all provide a
credit for a future stay offer a partial refund beyond your refund policy or
offer a full refund I hope this video will help you choose the option that is
the best for your unique hosting business if you found this video helpful
then please give it a thumbs up read it five stars if you're asked and subscribe
to my channel please don't forget to click on the notification bell stay
tuned for a new video coming out on Tuesday thanks again for watching and
bye for now
you