Cancelation due to emergency

[Daria175]

Hey guys,

Got a reservation for 3 days and on the day of guest's arrival my country imposed travel restrictions and banned entrance for foreigners. So my guest didn't arrive and sent me a message about the issue and asked a refund. I agreed to refund almost all amount and was waiting for his answer but he disappeared for 2 days and his reservation was valid all this time, he didn't cancel it and didn't contact Airbnb support to do this.  So dates on weekend was blocked, I couldn't host other guests and then finally after 2 days I received a message from him that he is okay with refund. But actually I am not okay with this anymore and now don't know what to do. Meanwhile, I received full payment for his reservation. Here's a question: what should I do in this case? I do understand what is emergency circumstances, in the past my guests canceled reservations according to them, but it was on the arrival day. Also I couldn't rent my place again because of guest's long reaction so I am kind of confused now. 

[Anonymous]

@Daria175  If the guest booked before 14 March, he would have been eligible for a refund direct from Airbnb under Extenuating Circumstances. But if you received the booking more recently, he doesn't have a leg to stand on:  everyone has known for months that we're in a global pandemic with significant odds of our plans being thwarted by travel restrictions, and it's the traveler's own responsibility to check cancellation policies and follow the indicated procedures.

What happened in this situation does not constitute an "emergency"; for anyone who hasn't been living under a rock, it was a totally foreseeable inconvenience. 

[Emiel1]

@Daria175 

As the guest did not cancel, he lost probability for a refund (refund by cancellation policy and/or refund manually by you). So reservation is over and you can consider the case as closed. The guest can contact Airbnb if he does not agree.

Best regards,

Emiel

[Kath9]

@Daria175,  just act as per your cancellation policy. Unless your guest has been living in a cave, they booked with the full knowledge about potential travel restrictions, and if they did not even have the common courtesy to cancel their reservation after you agreed to a refund, then they deserve one even less so. I would politely explain to the guest that because they did not actually cancel their reservation, they have unfortunately missed their chance to receive a refund.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Daria175 

First, the cancellation from guest due to travel restrictions is not what I'd consider an emergency. Second, including Airbnb (and hotels, motels, train/air/bus tickets etc.) there is always a valid window allowed for cancellation/refunds. Any agreement to refund is always based on the condition/assumption that a refund request is OFFICIALLY SUBMITTED before the cut-off date/time. 

[Daria175]

Thank you so much guys for help and response! I am on the same page but wanted to double check whether I am doing the right thing or not.  In the end of the day I also lost whole summer weekend.