Guest did not show up on check-in date due to wife needing surgery

[Michelle3092]

We host an expensive airbnb on a lake (sleeps 14, good size) and it's high season for us, July and August are the only two months out of the year we get full week bookings.  We also have a strict cancellation policy, not that this matters because it's check-in time. The night before our guests are due to show up, they let us know that "their arrival would be delayed because my wife needs knee surgery".  3 days later he let us know they would have to cancel their trip completely.  He opened a case with Airbnb and Airbnb has now contacted us asking if we will refund.  Apparently they did not purchase the travel insurance.  We are extremely sympathetic to the situation but honestly cannot afford to lose a week like this (still catching up from unemployment situations of our own).  Are we obligated to refund?  Anyone dealt with this situation that also did not refund?

[Anonymous]

@Michelle3092  No, you're not obligated to refund - not contractually, and also in my opinion not ethically. This is precisely the situation that travel insurance is meant for, and by not taking it, these guests basically decided that you would be their unwitting de facto insurer. You can be earnestly sympathetic to the wife's surgery without paying out of your own pocket for a non-refundable booking.

If the guests happen to be fellow Americans, I wouldn't be surprised if what happened was that the cost of the surgery blew out the budget that the primary guest had allocated to the vacation. That's a common misfortune that people should think about at the ballot box. But what's really inappropriate is that an Airbnb rep intervened on the guest's behalf instead of reinforcing your cancellation policy and reminding the guests that they waived the insurance option. Airbnb is a $113 billion company, and if it believes these guests should be exempt from the policy they agreed to, it has the resources to credit them out of its own deep pockets rather than snatch it from yours.

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Michelle3092 

What @Anonymous said, and in addition, knee surgery is not ordinarily done without notice and planning eg as an emergency.

[Jane472]

In my experience, AIRBNB always advocates for guests and NOT hosts.  I had a disabled guest (who didn’t identify as such) who did not take a full shower for four months and then turned my bedroom into an apartment.  The room smelled for weeks after she left.  She ignored my pleas to ventilate the room. I had to do a ton of laundry.  I lost bookings because the room still smelled.  I finally replaced  the mattress that she spent most of her time on (she weighed over 200 lbs).  She claimed she was working remotely which turned out to be a lie.  AirCover was bull**bleep**.  Since I couldn’t send a picture of the smell I did not get reimbursed for the mattress and all the expense of trying to remove the smell.

AIRBNB Chicago had a webinar on Host Safety and Trust.  I asked a question about AirCover that took over two months to be declined.  They said one of the hosts would email me AND THEY NEVER DID.  Airbnb can’t be trusted!!!

[Emilia42]

@Michelle3092 

No, you are not obligated to refund. Easier said than done but take emotion out of it. Regardless of your or your guest's personal situation, you choose to uphold your cancelation policy. Why else would we all have one? You have a strict cancelation policy to protect your income. Your guests had the option to get travel insurance to protect their vacation.

[Mark116]

@Michelle3092  Assuming it is even true, since knee surgery would be something scheduled far in advance unless there was an accident.  But, either way, I would not refund.  You could offer them to reschedule at a later date, this way they would still get their vacation and you still get your money, potentially everyone wins.  If they are not agreeable to this, then the lesson is on them to purchase travel insurance.

[Helen744]

@Michelle3092 Be aware that if this guest moves the booking to a time outside your current  policy time strictures they may then be able to get their refund.I would seriously look at refunding a nominal amount and as the days are now open hope for another booking and if the costs are properly recovered from another guest refund some more, but realise that this is only in the way of 'fair play' I think to gain twice from one booking is immoral but if you are left without a booking and unable to book again then it is up to you.I would maintain the amount of days that it cost you to get another booking and refund the rest. H

[Michelle3092]

Hi @Helen744 we are in the middle of the booking right now, there is no possibility of securing a re-booking at this point so we would take a massive loss on it, the dates are not even open because it hasn't officially been cancelled yet by Airbnb or the guest.  

[Helen744]

@Michelle3092 It is important that you get a rep asap. Point out the message that indicates that the guest cannot travel and the reasons why. The rep must then cancel the booking . This way your days are open on the back end at least and your payment can go through . thinking about it I would offer to host the other members of the party, although this is /was a grey area H

[Anonymous]

@Helen744 it's not necessary to have a rep cancel this booking, because the host is already entitled to a 100% payout for it. Actually I would strongly discourage contacting customer service for any reason other than to decline an undue refund. They might get confused and process it as a host cancellation. 

[Helen744]

@Anonymous  .Yes there is always  that possibility. Better to let them think it was their idea . H

[Susan1188]

@Anonymous @Helen744   I agree with Andrew, they "checked in" (by letting check in day lapse) that completely changes the ball game, host cannot re-rent.

I once had a situation where I called CS to agree to refund for a guest cancellation, out of empathy for the guest, and the rep cancelled the reservation as if *I were the one requesting the cancellation!*
It showed up on my statistics and I got reminder messages for weeks about how baddy bad I was for cancelling.

[Mark116]

@Helen744  Why would she try to push through a cancellation at this late date, which will refund the guest at least partially if done on the host end where she will then lose money she says she can't afford to lose?

[Helen744]

@Mark116 . I have done this when a guest has told me that they will not be arriving for a listing or shortening their stay . As long as this is in the messages from the guest then CS will cancel as it is the guests ' stated wish ' and have done so penalty free for me twice. This will then open up remaining days for re booking. Yes you do not get to claim the reopened days but you get to have the rest of the booking already used paid for and continue trading rather than have blocked days. Of course as all advice on this board this is up to the host. A long booking of course makes it more worthwhile and in the 'high season; makes it more worthwhile in fact if time is short or a weekend is hoving into view then being booked by a paying guest is always better than being blocked by a arguing guest . Your choice as always. We need to keep moving. H

[Helen744]

@Mark116 so she can rebook. I believe this is penalty free to all hosts if the guest has requested the cancellation already in'the messages' but not literally cancelled H