Death Certificate Required

[Stephen119]

 I contacted support this week following the sudden death of a close family member. I needed help to  cancel a two night booking which clashed with the funeral. I am based on the west of Ireland and needed to travel to the UK for it.

I was told that in order to do so, I would need to provide a death certificate. This was a close family member, I am one of her only surviving relative and I am a beneficary  in the will. Not only do I have no time to get and provide a death certificate, I found that being  asked to do so compounded by grief and intruded on an already difficult and sensitive situation.

My immediate  response was to consider removing myself as an Airbnb host, I gainec superhost status very quickly and have only five star reviews.

 However, the date of the funeral was changed which allowed me to retain the booking. But, this has left a very bad impression with me and I am seriously considering my position as an Airbnb host.

I wonder if anyone else has had this experience and how they feel about being asked to do such a thing.

Stephen

[Paul154]

Sorry for your loss. Providing death certificates is very common. You'll need this document many times in your future. When my last parent died,  I'm glad I got 3 copies.  I used all of them.

It's just business, nothing personal.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Stephen119

I'm very sorry for your loss.........while I've never been in that position, in order to qualify for extenuating circumstances to avoid cancellation penalties I would expect any company, not just ABB would ask for some sort of proof.

What if it was the other way around? A guest had to cancel last minute - should that guest automatically get a full refund if the reason given falls under extenuating circumstances, even though the guest cannot or refuses to supply proof or evidence of their claim? 

While I am sure there are plenty of people who would not dare think about using a dead family member to avoid penalties........... when money is involved businesses can't just "take your word for it." 

[Stephen119]

The situation has often been "the other way around". I have had guests cancel bookings up to the same day and I have never quibbled about fees if they want them back. I have a a flexible refund policy.

In this case, I was asking Airbnb if they would help me find alternative arrangements for a guest 10 days in advance of the booking.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

I think ABB will always help guests find alternate accomodations if needed but the evidence was for ABB so they could allow no-penalty cancellations for you (host). Unfortunately host cancellations are not given the same leeway as guests get for listings with the flexible cancellation policy selected by the guest. Hosts are held to a much higher standard.

[Cathie19]

Hi @Stephen119. My condolences for your loss. It is never easy or timely.....

As stated by @Jessica-and-Henry0 & @Paul154, death certificates are required in business, worldwide:

to be reimbursed for change of travel -airline ticket cancellations or for travel insurance. Don’t give up on hosting over this moment, if you were happy hosting before.  Your headspace will become more positive, as grief settles....

🙂

Cathie

[Rebecca160]

@Stephen119I am very sorry for your loss.

And sorry that you had to deal with an additional headache from Airbnb. There are extraordianry events  that will come up in hosts's lives that will require last minute cancellations. Accidents, deaths, hospitalizations, etc.  If such an event occurs, and you contact Airbnb about it, they should responds with' "So sorry for your loss, we will rebook the guest at another accomodation immediately. "  That is the only acceptable response. I am extremely disappointed with the response that you received.

I do not know about Ireland, but here in the USA, it can take up to 6 weeks to get the death certificates. My sisters and I ordered 25 certificates for each parent, when they died, and were glad that we did, as we needed originals to close accounts, settle insurance, etc. Seems that we had just enough.

[Letti0]

@Stephen119 I am sorry for your loss. I was told by the Funeral Director to order at least 10 or 12 death certificates for SS, insurance, military, banking, etc. He processed that for me when my father died, but for AirBnB I think a Funeral Homes webiste with you listed as a family member or a newpaper obit should be more than sufficient proof.