Early check out due to wildfire smoke

[William319]

I have guests that are checking out early (after 6 nights on a 12 night stay) due to air quality from the wildfire smoke. It has been bad but is forecast to improve significantly from this evening.  They are requesting a refund for the 6 nights not used.  What is the best way to address this?

[Anonymous]

@William319  I would grant them the refund.  Your AQI (225) is among the worst in the world at the moment, to an extent that the guests' exposure over the last few days may have already been harmful to their health. It's understandable that they would choose to cut their trip short and leave the area, and I wouldn't categorize this as a problem they could have foreseen - nor would I consider tomorrow's weather forecast to be relevant if they've already made their choice.

The easiest way to address this is to open the booking, click "Change or Cancel," and submit a date change request moving up the checkout to today's date and offering a reasonable partial refund. You could do it the easy way and just return the pro-rata nightly rate for the 6 unused nights, or alternatively you could just refund the amount of nights that you might have a decent chance of re-booking. 

Seeing as how your beautiful listing has only 7 reviews so far, a good rating from these guests carries a lot of weight.

[Nanxing0]

To be frank this is a case that an unexpected incident/disaster caused your property to be inhabitable. It's unfortunate but usually in such case we as hosts should grant the guest full refund for the remaining nights and try to help guests relocate. See if your insurance can cover the loss though but it shouldn't be placed on guests.

[Helen427]

Hello @William319 

Have you considered asking your guests if they would like to come back & stay another time when the fires have settled down?

 If they are otherwise happy to be there & they have been good guests have that conversation, you never know the spinoffs who they may share stories with to encourage others to come stay at your home bc of good old fashioned caring hospitality.

You can then do an "Alteration" to your reservation & calendar & neither party loses service fees.

 It's easy enough to block off dates for when they decide to come back & do a zero pricing for them.

There's also a wealth of information here in CC about how others have addressed similar issues if you use related words in the search box.

Always remember, "Good Faith & Good Will" for a good working relationship.

Across the miles in Auckland we had yellow, orange & red tinged skies earlier this year and throughout history as a result of the fires in Australia.

The landscape will change where the fires have been, new shoots will regenerate and coal may appear in years to come.

Take some photos and pop them in your listing as a reminder and talking point with guests.

All the best.