Do i need to refund guest who has someone in his party of 6 who has tested positive

[Ashley1160]

I have a guest arriving soon who says that 2 of his party have tested positive and he wants to cancel and get refunded. I have a strict cancellation policy as it's my house and not only does it take a huge amount of work to get it ready for guests but also i often have to book somewhere else for my family to stay so we are left out of pocket if we get a cancellation. I THINK I don't have to refund him but I'm unclear if this falls under extenuating circumstances - it's not the person booking who is positive but two of his party (of six of his friends). Would I need proof?  I don't even know how I'd do that given that i don't know their names? 

Any advice gratefully received!

Thankyou

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Ashley1160 if they haven't registered the names of these people as guests then surely no refund is required. It could be any two people dragged off the street testing positive.

[Kelly149]

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2701/extenuating-circumstances-policy-and-the-coronavirus-covid1...

this policy says that they can be refunded if the "guest" or "host" has covid, doesn't specifically indicate if ADDITIONAL guests or staff or family members or other folks affiliated with your listing are included or not.

If it were me, I'd tell them that I'm sorry their group has run into an issue, but that the cancellation policy will apply. They do receive the cleaning fee back if they cancel and they could perhaps get abb to refund any taxes paid. And if you wanted them to cancel sooner, rather than later (if they cancel prior to 24 hours before reservation begins then they don't get to review you!!) then it can be worthwhile to offer them a time sensitive bonus (I'll refund an additional 20% above the cleaning fee if you cancel before 5pm today, etc)

[Colleen253]

@Ashley1160 “Dear X, unfortunately the covid extenuating circumstances policy does not apply for this situation, so a cancellation will be subject to my strict cancellation policy. If I am able to refill your abandoned dates, I would be happy to refund in full. Note that this would be dependent on an immediate cancellation on your part”. 

Hopefully that will spur your guest to cancel immediately. They may still go to Airbnb and plead on the basis of Covid, with success, because CS these days are so clueless. But maybe not. good luck!

[Ashley1160]

Thankyou all for your replies, really really helpful!