City shut down the water In the street

[Nicole1378]

Hi,

City of Toronto doing construction on the street therefore they shouted down the water in the whole street these days. Guests booked 5 days and they asked full refund for 5 days as they don’t have water to use since they checked in, otherwise they are gonna give me bad reviews. What can I do? 

[Ana1136]

@Nicole1378 first of all, you are the one that should offer a refund, not wait for the guests to ask, water is essential. You should have called Airbnb and canceled their reservation giving them a full refund as soon as you found out about this, you would have saved yourself from all this hassle now. I would offer something like 50% refund, they are not even able to take a shower in 5 days. But, asking for a refund in exchange for a review is extortion and it is against Airbnb policy, their review will be removed if they leave one and you have evidence for this. The fair thing to do is give them some refund, imagine you going on vacation and not being able to even shower or flush the toilet, not good. 

[Gordon0]

I'd be asking Airbnb to re-house the guests urgently. 

[Mark116]

@Nicole1378   In this instance, I would say the guests are reasonably asking for a refund, assuming they also intend to vacate the unit.  No water for 5 days in the heat of summer would not be something I would tolerate.  If you are appropriately apologetic....not under your control, the city has done it without notice, very sorry, anything I can do to help you....you may not get a terrible review.  But, you need to call airbnb and get them to help you with a penalty free cancellation and getting the guests moved to a different place. 

[Ricardo741]

I would give them a refund. I would also purchase a 400+ gallon tank to store water and install a water pump. You may want to contact local authorities. I like your listing and it seem as if there is not much you can do about the water crisis unless you want to supply your guest with water and store some as well.