Why are Hosts filing arbitration claims? Will Airbnb retaliate if you file? Can we win?

You contacted us because you wanted to know what was happening with Airbnb hosts who are bringing arbitration claims against Airbnb as a result of the COVID refunds that started happening in March, April, May, even June of last year, and that are continuing through today's date. So today's video is designed really to answer the questions that we know you have and bring you up to speed as to what's happening with these American Arbitration Association demands that are being filed by our clients who are Airbnb hosts against Airbnb in order to get money damages and other relief from Airbnb as a result of their violation, from our point of view, of the Terms of Service and the Extenuating Circumstances Policy, as a result of their failure to follow cancellation policy that you and your guests had already agreed to. So who are we? My name is Enrico Schaefer. I'm an Airbnb host who's been filing claims against Airbnb in arbitration as a result of these refund and travel credit issues dating back to April, May of last year. I got involved in this because I'm both an Airbnb host and because I'm an attorney, a litigation attorney, who specializes specializes in gig economy, internet, and technology issues. So it just happened to be that I was the, the right person in the right place at the right time to take a look at these issues, and I very quickly determined that what Airbnb was doing vis-à-vis the hosts was wrong. I am working with the Gibbs Law Group, who is one of the top law firms in the country handling mass arbitrations. Class actions, and specializes as well in gig economy cases. So, Traverse Legal, the Gibbs Law Group, are working together to represent hosts like you, and our job from our point of view is to hold big platforms like Airbnb accountable to you. There's a terms of service in place. You have no choice but to agree to it. Airbnb ought comply with it. And that's what these cases are all about. So let's take a look at what's happening. We are representing and have been representing Airbnb hosts, and we know you have a lot of issues with Airbnb, whether it's host guarantee claims or having future reservations canceled for no particular reason with no explanation, not knowing why you're not receiving payouts, discrepancies in payouts, all these different issues that are going on every day with Airbnb. Our focus is on these COVID-19 travel credit cases, and you know because you lived it just like I did back in March, April, and then continuing through today's date. So when COVID hit, Airbnb decided it was in Airbnb's best interest to avoid their customer service obligations as a result of guests contacting them about refunds or about COVID They didn't want to have to staff that. We believe they wanted to increase their IPO valuation. They had an IPO coming up in May, which was later pushed back to November, and they wanted to look better for their investors. And they wanted to obtain a competitive advantage over VRBO and Booking.com, who were respecting the cancellation policy of hosts, the contract, the rental contract between hosts and guests, and weren't getting in the middle of it. So Airbnb took your host payouts, they promised refunds to your guests, they interfered with your relationship with your guests, which many of our hosts were already working things out with their guests, and then they converted the refunds that were promised to guests, your host payouts that you should have received, into travel credits where you didn't get your host payout and And the guests did not get a refund. Airbnb, who's supposed to be holding that host payout for you, essentially as a fiduciary to you for your purposes, they have no interest in that money. In many instances, they didn't pay you and they didn't pay the guests. So they didn't honor the cancellation policy that you had agreed to with your guests. In many cases, that was a strict or super strict or moderate cancellation policy. which split risks of cancellation, including for pandemics. So that's what's happening in these cases. Again, I don't have to tell you, you already know what happened to you. You know the story. We do too. I've talked to hundreds and hundreds of hosts, thousands of hosts if you include my online discussions with hosts. So we all know what happened, and this is a chance. For hosts to work together for the first time in history to change the game, to change the game. Airbnb has been able to get away with what it does day in and day out, which is basically whatever it wants for whatever reason it wants without ever telling you why. The reason they get away with that is because an individual host complaining has no impact. But That's no longer the case. We have thousands of hosts out there who are bringing pressure against Airbnb as a group to get a seat at the table. A table, by the way, that belongs to you and is sitting in your kitchen. So thousands of hosts are working together to create accountability and transparency, not only on the COVID-19 travel credit, what I call the travel credit scam, But also for the future, also for the future. You contacted us to learn more about what's happening, and we're inviting you right now to join this cause. So let's take a look at the, the, the arbitration issue. So Airbnb in the terms of service invites, demands, requires you to arbitrate all your disputes with them by filing an arbitration demand with the American Arbitration Association. Airbnb says in its terms of service that it is committed to resolving all your disputes in consumer-friendly arbitration. In fact, they try and require you that as the avenue by which you can bring disputes. That's what's happening here. Our law firms are filing arbitration demands representing hosts under the terms of service and filing those with the American Arbitration Association. So we're handling these cases on a contingency fee basis, and what that means is that you don't have to pay an hourly attorney fee. We will take a percentage of the recovery if and when we win. We do not get paid unless we win your case. We know you have questions. I've talked to a lot of hosts, and the 3 most common questions I get are fairly predictable. The first one is, will I be thrown off the platform if I retain your law firms to help me arbitrate my case against Airbnb? Which is really an interesting question to me because Airbnb invites you to bring arbitrations, and yet hosts are terrified. It's almost like, don't hit me again. Almost an abusive relationship between hosts and Airbnb where the lack of equality between the parties is reflected in this very thought of, will they penalize me if I bring an arbitration case? Now, there's lots of reasons why Airbnb doesn't penalize or retaliate against hosts who file for AAA arbitrations, and the reason for that is, is because they really can get in serious trouble if they do. It doesn't help them with their public relations. You have a contract right and an invitation to bring arbitration claims, and they've asked you to waive your right to a jury trial. The only way they can do that is if they participate in arbitration in good faith. So look, we've been filing these claims since back in April. We've been litigating them with Airbnb against their attorneys for, for almost 10 months now. No host listings have been penalized for pursuing arbitration claims. We represent hosts who have claims over $500,000 and hosts with claims of $10,000 or less. We have hosts who are Superhosts, hosts who are very tied to Airbnb. They're community managers. They're, you know, they have access to the C-suite. They are bringing claims. And the reason why that's happening is not because hosts want Airbnb to go out of business. In fact, it's the opposite. We want Airbnb to step up to its obligations and to do what it's been promising for the last decade, which is to enter into a true partnership with hosts, just as they say that they're doing, as they're doing their public relations campaigns, to enter into this partnership not only for the good of hosts, but really, I think, from our point of view, for the good of Airbnb. Sometimes companies can't see beyond themselves. and they don't know what's right. I know, and you know, that the difference, the competitive difference in the marketplace between Airbnb, Booking.com, VRBO is going to be where are the hosts listing their properties, where are the best hosts listing their properties. And if you are a really good 5-star host, Airbnb needs you. So will you be thrown off the platform if you retain us to arbitrate your case, if you file for arbitration? We've seen zero evidence of that. We don't expect that at all. All right, the second question is also a very good one, which is, can we win if we file for arbitration? And so we know that hosts have settled their claims for 90% on the dollar in some cases after filing for arbitration. Hosts have litigated their arbitration demands before arbitrators all the way to a final hearing. Evidence is taken, testimony is given, And they have won on these very claims. So every case in arbitration gets their own arbitrator, so there's always some variability, but yes, you can win these cases. And probably the, the most important thing for you to know here is we don't get paid any fees unless there's a recovery on your behalf. So we wouldn't be doing this if we didn't think that these cases could be won, if we didn't think hosts had legitimate viable claims. In fact, we believe we'd much rather be us than them. All right, third question: Why should I join this effort? Should I join this effort with other hosts to try and bring accountability to the Airbnb platform? Airbnb hosts are working together and they're demanding this partnership that's been promised. Look at you are the ones that are taking the risks. Right. We've got the mortgages. We took the loans. We're hiring the cleaning crews and the maintenance crews and the contractors and the construction people in order to create this sharing economy ecosystem. Right. Airbnb is just a platform. They're just supposed to be software. Right. That's what they tell the municipalities when they're trying to avoid regulations. Hey, look, we have nothing to do with the rental contract is what they tell the regulators. We have nothing to do with the rental contract, purely between the host and the guest. Now, I know, and you know, that's not true in reality. While they have that in the terms of service, on the back end, they're playing judge, jury, and executioner with your host payouts. So here's the point. Together, hosts are bigger than Airbnb. Individually, we've got no leverage, but working together, We can get a seat at the table. We can change the game. And not only are we looking to get compensated for the violation of your cancellation policies, for the violation of, of your agreement between you and your guests, their interference with your guest relations, but we want to change the terms of service moving forward. They are not fair as drafted, and they're not fair as implemented by Airbnb. And by bringing these claims, getting a seat at the table, we've got this unique opportunity that may never happen again to change the platform. Your business model is built on this platform. You need accountability and transparency. Without that, your risk level goes way up. We're trying to manage that back down to an appropriate level. All right, so look it, if you want to be part of this movement, if you want to assert your rights to file a demand for arbitration and have attorneys represent you in that effort, then all you have to do is let us know. We'll send you a contingency fee retainer agreement for your review. If you have any questions, let us know. Once that gets signed, we're going to prepare and file your arbitration demand, and we will be on the front line of that effort throughout the case. We will need you to help quantify damages and identify the reservations at issue. We'll be getting information from Airbnb to help with that effort. We're going to need you at the hearing. We're going to need you at the hearing because really your story, the way hosts tell their story to the arbitrators, that's the deal. You're the one, you're the one that really wins your case because you do such a great job of saying why this was so unfair and inappropriate. So let us know if you want us to retain you. Let us know if you have any questions. We are here. And we're here for the long haul. Spread the word. Our time is now. We can make a difference. We can change the game. My name is attorney Enrico Schaefer. We'll be doing more of these videos, and we'll see you next time.