Dear Brian, Joe, and Nate:
By making a blanket notification to travelers that "because of the situation affecting [__________] (fill in the blank with your destination)" you were allowing no-penalty cancellations, you did so much more than protect public welfare.
You also seemed to be indicating, by the wording, that the precise destination was markedly affected by this pandemic. We did not have a lot of bookings affected, but the one that did cancel perfectly illustrates how damaging your thoughtless wording could be. Our booked guest received an email that alarmed her and made her think that Faywood, New Mexico was known to be affected by the COVID-19 virus. She cancelled because although she could not find any information to confirm, and I indicated to her that we knew of no reason to think we had the virus jumping around in our remote rural area, she feared coming to our cabin in the middle of nowhere and opted to stay in her heavily populated area. Did you do her a favor? Did you even think of us?
There you sit, in disgusting and dirty San Francisco! You must think the rest of the world is like your corner of it. You MUST think that all of your "partners" are in urban, heavily populated, highly risky areas. Well, we sure aren't. People who book and stay with us are almost 100% driving here (isolated), and they provide their own food and eat in their rental cabins (isolated), and they come here to hike or walk or drive our roads and enjoy nature far from the crowds (isolated). Far from making a blanket decision, you should’ve gotten off your rich butts and thought through how to avoid disserving "partners" largely unaffected by the risks of modern urban life.
Now, you have smugly, self-righteously informed us of how prudent and correct your decision was. You say you know this has caused incredible hardship. What do you imagine that hardship might look like? You will lose income from bookings, but will it take you close to personal insolvency? Will you be worried about whether you can pay an essential bill? Will you be postponing needed repairs to your home or perhaps to the truck you use to haul trash? Will you be worried about whether you can pay the premium on your Medicare supplement? I expect not, but I will. You are right, things will come about. But right now, I wish YOU had to pay my electric and propane bills. I'm not holding my breath for your check, though. You'll be too busy checking metrics to gauge how well your CYA communication has worked.
Seriously, "guys," it wouldn't hurt you to rub shoulders with your hosts in flyover country. We are real people and this is the real America.
Nan
