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Travelers have run out of money due to Airbnb’s response to the latest Covid-19 crash.
File photo.
Photo: 123RF
Those who booked travel while New Zealand was at Tier 1, only to find they were unable to travel in or out of Auckland as a result of the virus resurgence, were not receiving full refunds from Airbnb.
The company is allowing those who made a reservation on or before March 14 to travel by October 15 to receive a refund, including the company’s service fees.
But Airbnb will not offer a similar waiver to people caught when Auckland entered a level 3 lockdown on August 12.
One Aucklander, whose group booked on July 22 when the country was at Level 1 and had gone 82 days without community broadcasting, said he and his friends had lost nearly $ 370 as Airbnb would not refund their service fees for the reservation. cancelled.
Some confusion between them and the host initially meant they had only received $ 85 of their $ 2,191 reservation.
But after RNZ contacted the host, they were happy to issue a full refund and asked Airbnb to do so.
However, Airbnb has kept its service fees of $ 368.14, essentially its margin for the reservation.
Another Aucklander, Simon Joe, who on July 31 booked accommodation in Hamilton for his badminton team for the tournament in mid-August, said his host only offered a 50 percent refund of the nightly fee and Airbnb, again, was they had stuck to their service fees.
The group still had out-of-pocket expenses of nearly $ 340, despite the fact that it was illegal to leave Auckland under the level 3 lockdown for anything other than essential travel.
He contacted Airbnb, but they did not budge.
“They basically said that because I had booked the accommodation after March 14, I could not apply due to extenuating circumstances under Covid-19 and that their normal refund policy would apply at that time and in their policy they indicated that the service was not refundable at that time, which is ridiculous, to be fair, “he said.
“That was my biggest scruple with them. That they didn’t take New Zealand’s circumstances into consideration with that policy and that the banner said ‘No, that doesn’t apply, it doesn’t matter.’
Airbnb declined to show up for an interview with RNZ.
They also ignored our specific questions about their policy, including whether the company would make any adjustments for those in New Zealand affected by the latest lockdown; how many New Zealand customers contacted them regarding the lockdown affecting their plans; how many requested refunds; and how many were rejected.
Instead, Airbnb Australia-New Zealand’s senior policy and corporate communications manager Jason Tin referred RNZ to its Covid-19 mitigating circumstances policy that only applied to bookings made before or on March 14.
“Our extenuating circumstances policy is intended to protect guests and hosts from unforeseen circumstances arising after booking. Following the declaration of Covid-19 as a global pandemic by the World Health Organization, the policy of Extenuating circumstances no longer apply because Covid-19 and its consequences are no longer unforeseen or unexpected. Remember to carefully review the host’s cancellation policy when booking and consider choosing an option that provides flexibility, “the policy states.
But Consumer New Zealand said it was investigating the legality of Airbnb’s response to the Covid-19 resurgence in New Zealand.
Jessica Wilson, head of research at Consumer New Zealand, said that in her opinion, those who were surprised by the return to level 3 should be reimbursed.
“Auckland’s move to Level 3 meant they were prevented from traveling so the contract they had for the accommodation could not go forward and that was not the fault of either party. We believe the most it would be reasonable to charge would be a small fee to cover actual expenses incurred, kind of like a small administration fee, “he said.
Consumer New Zealand was analyzing the legality of Airbnb’s response to the level 3 lockdown in Auckland, he said.
“We have real problems with the approach that they have taken,” Wilson said.
“They initially when the [level 4] lock hit [in March] they were good and responsive. But the policy change we believe in now is really troublesome.
“We believe it raises legal and company compliance issues under the Fair Trade Act. We are currently reviewing these cancellation fees charged by hosting websites as we believe they are likely to be unfair.”
Anyone who is concerned that they have been charged an unfair fee should file a complaint with the Trade Commission and Consumer New Zealand also wants to hear from those affected.
