Cancellation due to illness in family

[Patsy7]

Recently I got a cancel notice from a guest.  His mother in law's health took a turn for the worse and they need to get her into hospice care.  He emailed me a month ago asking what my cancellation policy was.  I asked him to cancel right away and I would refund all his money.  He could re book if it was still available and her health was still good.  

He chose not to take my suggestion and cancel.  But today he tells me he has to cancel.

I don't want to add to his burden and I won't starve because of the lost income.

But taking all the financial responsibility doesn't seem fair either

If the guest doesn't use their stay, can't the hotel occupancy taxes at least be refunded?  Couldn't the fees we both paid to Airbnb be refunded if they are able to prove that the illness is real with a doctor's note?

Couldn't there be some kind of insurance for this type of cancellation?

Patsy

[David-and-Fiona0]

It may seem cruel but at some point the guest has to take on the responsibility for their own lives. You did everything you can to warn him that he should cancel. You did your bit and yes all travellers should take out travel insurance in this day and age of budget carriers, natural deserters and political unrest.

[Patsy7]

Thank you David and Fiona

I am aware that I can keep his money.  I just have this thing about Karma.

Patsy

[David126]

If they contact ABB claiming extenuating cicumstances they will most likely get a full refund

[Patsy7]

David

Thanks for your response.  If Airbnb does allow the refund, then the responsibility, although not the financial burden, is off my shoulders.  

Patsy

[Dede0]

@Patsy7 Message the guest and offer to refund half of what you ar etechnicall owed. That should satisfy both them and your urge to accomodate "karma". Seriously, the guest was offered an easier out but didn't take it. Do them the favor of a gentle lesson.

[Helen3]

Sorry @Dede0 I wouldn't agree with this advice.

As has already been advised above. Just confirm to your guest that he needs to cancel his reservation. Tell him he can make a claim under extenuating circumstances with BNB for a refund, but that the sooner he does this, the sooner you might be able to relet the space.

Its only a click or two of a button for him, so if he can message you to say he isn't coming, then he can click on a button to tell BNB he isn't coming. They will then ask him for proof of his MIL's illness to consider the refund.

Good Karma for you in telling him this option is available. It's up to him to follow through with BNB if he wants to be considered for a refund.

He can of course also claim in his travel insurance.

Please don't offer him any refund of your own volition. Unscrupulous guests have been known to claim illness or death to get funds returned to them, when they cancel a booking.

[Louise34]

Hello ~ I've just received a cancellation by a woman who says her daughter-in-law has just been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.  It is for a booking 6 months from now, so even though my cancellation policy is strict, I am considering giving her a full refund. However, I was just about to process the full refund when I read that Airbnb will deduct the amount from my next payout. I don't think I should lose income from my confirmed bookings in order to issue this refund. I have asked the woman to request a full refund directly from Airbnb due to extenuating circumstances. It is not fair that Airbnb is holding her money and expects me to lose income from other bookings in order to give her a full refund. Can someone confirm that is what Airbnb expects me to do? 

Many thanks, 
Louise

[David126]

Where AirBnB have the booking fee then it is held for you and comes out of that, where there is a refund after you have been paid seems that they now want it back asap rather than taking it from your next booking. These things can change and difficult to keep track.

Certainly best to let Guest handle this sort of situation.

[Louise34]

Thanks ~ I haven't been paid yet... 

[Helen3]

Hi @Louise34

I would suggest you follow the advice that I provided to the original poster who was in the same situation as you ( a post or two above yours)

Advise the guest to contact Airbnb and cancel. If there are extentuating circumstance, they will refund the guest. You don't need to do anything except advise the guest to contact AIRBNB.

Your listing will then be open for future guests.

[Hilary-And-Ed0]

Unlitmately, the guest knows the cancellation policy.  You kindly offered to refund before if he cancelled, but you don't need to do that at this point.

[Heather118]

When I have customers reaching out about possibly cancelling for whatever reason, I always tell them to make sure they go through the cancellation on their end as we hosts get penalized if we take action to cancel a reservation. If they haven't followed through in a short time, which depends on how far out the reservation is I send them a reminder and also let them know that until they cancel nobody else can book those dates and you wouldn't want to miss out on a booking as a host.  I also let them know that if they don't cancel within the time period that they will be responsible for paying the full cost of the reservation and that I won't be able to help them after that.

heather

[Patsy7]

This is Patsy the original poster.  I did refund fully and knew it was the right thing for me to do.  Problem was because it was short notice, I lowered the daily rate quite a bit to hopefully not have a complete loss.  The next day a guest booked 6 of the 7 days.  I was happy and even more sure I had done the right thing.

Next reality set in.  It was 6 (or more) young men from the UK here to party until they couldn't stand any longer.  They left my place a pig sty.  Broke my water pitcher.  I asked for the water pitcher $25.00 to be replaced.  He gave me the only 1 star review I have ever gotten, because of my request for replacement of the broken item.  Usually I don't charge for breakage of dishes or glassware.  I have extras, but the place was so dirty and had so much trash and dirty dishes left for the housekeeper she had an awful time trying to get it ready for the guest coming in that afternoon.  But it gets better.  Later I find out that part of the party got back home before the others and probably in drunken stupors threw the deadbolt and when the remaining group got there they pounded on the door and screamed and created quite a ruckus which the sober neighbors heard in the middle of the night even if the not so sober friends who had locked them out and weren't able to hear them.  

My experience with Home Sharing with regards the guests has been 98% positive.  The only times I have gotten burned was when I went out of my way to help out a last minute one day guest whose sister needed a place to stay after a chemo treatment who gave me a poor review because it appeared to her we were unorganized!  From those two issues I have decided that I will not make special accommodation as people do not understand or appreciate they work involved at the last minute and I will not lower my rate drastically again as it brought in a lower class of guests who used and abused my home.

But I still love home sharing, meeting guests and knowing that families and friends can stay together and have a more meaningful visit since they aren't separated by hotel rooms and can cook and eat together in my kitchen.