Are Airbnb's booking policies sexist?

[pileapetals]

Last April, I cancelled an overseas holiday due to Covid (planes weren't flying, was the responsible thing to do anyway, etc.) Airbnb credited my account instead of giving me a refund at the time (a refund was not an option).

This year, I find out I'm pregnant and due date is end November. Airbnb's credit expires end December this year. As I'm pregnant (ie. lower immunity) and still have no idea when I can get my covid shots, it's unreaslistic to expect travel whilst pregnant, and definitely don't see myself taking a holiday in December with an infant just a few weeks old.

So I call Airbnb and ask for the credit to be extended for a year so the credit doesn't go to waste. Airbnb flat out refuses, saying "you agreed to our terms and conditions". I escalate the case, and get passed from one male representative to another male rep. I again explain why I would be unable to travel given the ongoing uncertainties relating to travel in my current condition. The rep insists that they won't do anything and the voucher will just have to expire. Though he's fully aware of my condition and the enhanced risks that Covid poses to those pregnant, he further adds that they won't do anything because their policies need to reflect "equality and impartiality".

Implicit in his statement is that he cannot make an exception for pregnant women because it's not something that can be applied to male customers. I find his statement and Airbnb's booking policy extremely sexist. By his definition of what is equality and impartiality, maternity leave should not exist in the world because that's a benefit that is extended only to the gender capable of giving birth, and health insurers cannot extend coverage for screening of prostate cancer since that's only a test applicable to men but not women. What a horrible world that would be!

In my view, Airbnb's booking policy makes no consideration for the one of the most basic biological phenomenon on the planet: pregnancy, the very thing that gives us all life.

I can let the voucher expire worthless and waste my money, but I don't see why I should, especially since I've done nothing wrong here?! Unless Airbnb's view is that my one crime is being pregnant whilst in a Covid world?!

AIBU to think they are being ridiculous for refusing to extend the voucher validity here?

YABU. Why don’t you use the credit in the UK? You are pregnant, not seriously ill.

And this is yet another example of a parent (to be) who thinks they are special for having a baby.

Your baby will be special to you and your family/friends. He or she will be of no interest to the rest of the world and the world does not have to change to accommodate you.

Nope.
Not in my name, ta.

And yeah sure, pregnancy gives life, but it doesn’t stop us using an Airbnb voucher for a wet week in Devon, does it?

@pileapetals

It's not the pregnant part that makes travel risky - in a non-Covid world, I'd have no issues using the voucher somehow. But with Covid, which is beyond my control, and with no timeline for my own vaccination, travel is something that can put you/your baby at risk. Sure you can say "oh people are vaccinated so even if you aren't, you'll be fine". But as a potential parent, that's definitely a risk there.

Re: question on why I don't want to travel domestically whilst pregnant, I have been classified by the NHS as a high risk pregnancy. So I don't want to risk getting caught out in an unfamiliar place if there is a medical emergency. Believe me, I'd LOVE to travel if I could. It was one of my favourite things pre-covid. I just don't think I should only think for myself and what I would enjoy since I'm responsible for the wellbeing of someone else right now as well.

Yes. Like the million trillion gazillion billion other women who get pregnant. It's going to be a looooooong pregnancy if you're going to see offence and -isms everywhere just because you're having a baby.

Do you not go out to work then, or to go to the shops or get your haircut or anything, or see anyone, because you’re pregnant?

OP, your reasons for not wanting to travel ARE pregnancy related. You became pregnant in a pandemic, albeit in the final stages.

Your choice. Nothing to do with AirBnb.

And even if you are a high risk pregnancy, there is nothing to stop you going away in the UK - you could go somewhere close-ish to home and still have a break.

I assume the refund policy is clear about when refunds are permitted. It is why I decide carefully before booking something that clearly states no refunds are available. Last year I chose to pay for airport parking with no refunds. I couldn't use it as I did not fly due to covid. I accepted that it was my choice to take the risk.

I m not sure how the information given over the phone could be interpreted as being sexist. It was a restatement of the terms and conditions of booking s- there are no exceptions, no refunds and therefore everyone is being treated the same.

Just read your update. A lucurious weekend in a big UK city, e.g. London, would be Covid-safe (protocols in place) and be in close proximity of excellent medical care if needed.

Why aren't you using it to go away within the UK?

Luxurious

question on why I don't want to travel domestically whilst pregnant, I have been classified by the NHS as a high risk pregnancy. So I don't want to risk getting caught out in an unfamiliar place if there is a medical emergency

That’s just silly, all your records are easily accessible by all NHS offices and hospitals. You’d get the same care whether at your local hospital or one 500miles away.

🤣🤣 first baby op?

So are you literally going to stay within the locality of your hospital until November?

That is ludicrous, unless you’re seriously ill or on a donor transplant list.

@ChristmasArmadillo

First pregnancy then, is it? You’ll look back in five years and be mortified at yourself.

No she won't. In five years she'll be too busy being outraged whenever she doesn't get anything she wants because 'I have a FOUR YEAR OLD'. Women who think they are The First Pregnant Woman aren't cured by giving birth, they just become The First Woman To Have a Child

You can't just make up bs reasons to be offended because you didn't get the response you wanted.

Why would they not give you a refund last April. We were in the middle of a lockdown and travel/holidays were banned. Surely you were legally entitled to a full refund?

YABU you can still travel you just don't want to and it's not their fault you got pregnant

Go for a week away in a city that has the best hospital in Britain.

Go for a week away down the road from your house

Ask a friend /family if they want to buy the voucher off you.

Book a surprise holiday for a loved one.

Do 2 weekends away.

Give it to me.

I'm a lawyer, and I agree with you OP.

The comment from Air B&B about "equality" - equality laws are based on equality of opportunity, not some imaginary minimum standard.

I would actually tackle this in an entirely different, easier way though. I would say that Covid initially frustrated the contract with Air B&B, and the remedy for frustration of contract is the return of all contractual outlays, with no further liabilities owing on either side. The contract is frustrated through illegality/impossibility.

And if you had been deemed to have accepted their contractual amendment, your contract has been further frustrated by impossibility/illegality.

This is a very well established point of contract law - I don't know why Air BnB are messing around with, other than I assume their business would crash if they dealt with it properly (as many businesses have had to do).

I'd do a Small Claim against them to get their money back. I'd also mention the sex discrimination ground and proceed on both grounds.

Utter chancers. This is appalling. It is not your pregnancy which has caused the difficulty with the contract, but Air BnB's attempt to negotiate new terms and to extend the contract for an indefinite and lengthy period on terms which favour themselves.

Is it also discrimination that an airline wouldn’t take you after 28 weeks pregnancy or a ski resort wouldn’t let you on a ski lift. I lost out on a spa weekend I’d paid for because I fell pregnant and couldn’t go in the steam rooms (that doesn’t apply to men either). Sometimes circumstances and terms/conditions just are what they are. It would have been nice if they’d extended/refunded it out of goodwill but since there are plenty of places you can use your credit safely, I think it’s quite reasonable now for them to say use it or lose it.

If the partner of a pregnant woman asked for an extension due to be unable to travel due to the pregnancy, would they extend their credit?
If they would, the policy is unfair. If they wouldn't, it is a fair policy.

Your update changes nothing, it is still your choice, your issue, not the fault of air bnb so why should they extend the credit because you chose to procreate? You are choosing not to use the credit, your reasons for that are irrelevant

I increasingly dislike Air BnB as a business model but I don't see that they've been unreasonable here. You chose to get pregnant during a pandemic, I'm not sure for how long you would expect them to accommodate you.

Pregnancy being the very thing that gives us all life is the kind of statement that would make me roll my eyes and lose any sympathy I may previously have had.

@CirclesWithinCircles

I'm a lawyer, and I agree with you OP.

The comment from Air B&B about "equality" - equality laws are based on equality of opportunity, not some imaginary minimum standard.

I would actually tackle this in an entirely different, easier way though. I would say that Covid initially frustrated the contract with Air B&B, and the remedy for frustration of contract is the return of all contractual outlays, with no further liabilities owing on either side. The contract is frustrated through illegality/impossibility.

And if you had been deemed to have accepted their contractual amendment, your contract has been further frustrated by impossibility/illegality.

This is a very well established point of contract law - I don't know why Air BnB are messing around with, other than I assume their business would crash if they dealt with it properly (as many businesses have had to do).

I'd do a Small Claim against them to get their money back. I'd also mention the sex discrimination ground and proceed on both grounds.

Utter chancers. This is appalling. It is not your pregnancy which has caused the difficulty with the contract, but Air BnB's attempt to negotiate new terms and to extend the contract for an indefinite and lengthy period on terms which favour themselves.

They'd laugh in her face. The "equality" comment isn't part of the T&C.