Guest cancelled due to extenuating circumstances - hurricane

[Sandi14]

Hi all,

I'm a new host and I asked earlier about cancelling reservations for this coming weekend for guests due to hurricane Matthew's expected impace on our beach area of North Carolina. I shared the info with my guest, telling her that she could cancell her reservation due to extenuating circumstances and that it would be refunded in full.

However, due to my own listing's cancellation policy, she is only showing that she will receive a partial refund. It does allow me to offer her additional refund, up to the total amount that I have received (which I haven't actually received yet but must be being held somewhere on my behalf???) I started to do this process, to refund the remaining $250, which would include the $8 Airbnb service fee. Is this the appropriate way to do this process? Or should the guest file a claim thru Airbnb themselves requesting the full refund?

It looks like they would then be required to provide documentation and how long does that take? I don't want it to be a hassle for her, as I am the one who told her it wouldn't be a problem based on feedback from the community yesterday. please help.

Thanks so much.

[Abigail9]

Hi.  I've just had to cancel due to a forest fire and the evacuation of our town.  The reservation says that my guest has been fully refunded but it says that Airbnb holds a 100$ cancellation fee from me!  It says I can file a claim for extenuating circumstances but, I can't find any email to do that.  Only a phone number that I searched around to find and I've been disconnected once and on hold for quite awhile....any advice?

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

All the system sees is that a host has cancelled on a guest so it invokes penalties on your account. You never ever cancel without going through Airbnb and explaining the reason. Do a search for Airbnb contact and explain the situation- hopefully they will agree and remove the penalties from your account

[David126]

So you both contacted AirBnB explained the extenuating circumstances, requested cancellations accordingly and this happened?

[Karen-and-Will0]

@Sandi14: You may recall I posted on your last inquiry.  You must call Airbnb and explain the hurricane issue to ensure its refunded 100% and not placed as a cancellation on your history record.  Preferably the guest will call and request.  Airbnb will then turnaround and call you immediately to make sure you are in agreement.  Don't cancel via the computer.  If you do it will end up on your record and the refund won't work correctly.  Someone must call and the Airbnb rep will do it all for you.  My guest cancelled the day before his expected arrival due to tropical storm Hermine and even though I have a strict policy, since we were in agreement Airbnb refunded 100% and no one was hit with any fees or cancellation hits on their records.  Airbnb was great about it all.  Hope this helps.

[Sandi14]

Hi Karen,

Thanks so much.

I did finally find a phone number and called them and a nice woman in Florida (Heather) helped me right away. Believe it or not, less than an hour after cancelling the first reservation, someone else requested to book the same weekend before I even had the chance to block my calendar! So she also handled that for me too.

Here are the numbers, in case anyone else needs them:

+1 (415) 800 5959 / +1 855 424 7262 (emergency toll-free number)

[Karen-and-Will0]

@Sandi14 Glad to hear it all worked out well x2. Hope you get through the storm safely!