I have the "strict refund policy" with airbnb, but they went ahead (without consent) and let groups cancel at the last minute with 100% refunds due to the "extrenuating circumstances" of forest fires in BC. I can understand doing this if there was a fire affecting the area of the rental property. But there are no fires or highway closures anywhere near my property and yes its smoky everywhere in southern BC, but isn't that similar to cancelling due to pouring rain, or 40C heat waves or blizzards/bad winter driving conditions?
Airbnb did not inform hosts the booking policies that we agreed to are no longer valid, we had no idea this could happen. Suddenly groups are cancelling last minute and getting 100% refunds. Its totally unfair airbnb did not inform hosts and give us a chance to look for other bookings weeks ago when the fires started, as its almost impossible to fill spots at the last minute. There should at minimum be a $50 non refundable cancellation fee to cover the hours we have spent messaging back/forth with groups screening, booking and cancelling.
I read the "extrenuating circumstances policy. It does not mention anything about forest fires being covered under that policy. It does state the extrenuating circumstances policy does NOT cover predictable natural disasters such as "hurricanes in Florida during Hurricane season". So why does this policy cover forest fires during fire season in BC? Like I said I can understand last minute cancelations if there was a fire or highway closure affecting the area of the rental or getting there. But there's no fires near my property, no highway closures affecting any travel routes. There's fires and smoke in BC about 80% of summers, so I think people who are booking vacations just need to accept that. Just like people booking winter accomadation accept there's a big chance of blizzards and dangerous road conditions if travelling around BC in the winter.
