Hurricane Dorian

[Anthony847]

Hi, i wondered what to do in this situation but my guests would like to leave early from my Florida house as the hurricane is coming in and have requested a refund of the last two days via Airbnb. This has not happened before so i wondered if i just accept the refund as a good host or reject it as they can claim on their insurance and i should not be the one losing the money? I am concerned if i do not refund them that they will leave bad feedback and i have worked hard to achieve good feedback i don't want it ruined over this?

[Linda108 · Accepted solution]

@Anthony847  Direct the guest to Air BNB who will probably evoke the extenuating circumstances policy and refund the money.  Do you really want guests while you ride out a possible category 4 hurricane?  I doubt they have insurance.  And yes, you will bear the financial loss 😛   Take care of yourselves and be safe.

[Anthony847]

Thank you Linda appreciate the quick reply, i do not stay at the house myself i just rent it out and live in England. So just to confirm if the guests apply for extenuating circumstances even if i have a strict policy it will be deducted from me the host?

[Anonymous]

Yes, under Extenuating Circumstances cancellations, Airbnb takes the money directly out of your future payouts, so guests never come to understand the value of travel insurance.

[Nicky109]

Of course not!  But neither do I believe that Airbnb should offer a full refund to every guest staying in Florida 6 days ahead of a possible landfall!  They look quite ridiculous when the updated forecast shows it nowhere near the west coast of Florida and even moving further off the east coast.  Guess who pays for this amateur hour forecasting?  We, the hosts, do!    

[Linda108]

It just registered with me that you are remote hosts and you are "across the pond" at this time.  Good to know you are safe.  Do you have a co-host or someone in the Florida area that can help more directly about the situation?

[Anthony847]

I do have a management company that live a few doors down so got that covered thank you

[Sarah977]

I don't know where you folks are getting your news, but the updated forecast I just read says it has moved from a category 3 to a category 4 and is headed right for the east coast of the Florida panhandle on Monday or Tuesday. Just because it's not at the moment predicted to hit the west coast,or anywhere else in the vicinity doesn't mean there won't be flooding, closed airports and highways, and all manner of adverse circumstances. And hurricanes can easily change course- it's not an exact science to predict what path a hurricane will take, or whether it will peter out or gain strength.

 No guests in their right mind would be travelling to Florida right now and if they're already there, I don't blame them for leaving. They may have thought of their holiday as an adventure, but I doubt that any of them are up for that  much adventure.

[Nicky109]

If you were on the ground in Florida rather than thousands of miles of way in Mexico you would be in a much better position to comment!  You clearly haven't looked at the updated track as of Saturday morning and in fact if you understood the hurricane area you could have seen two days ago that the track was jigging east. Anywhere South of Tampa on the west coast right down to the south of Florida including the Florida Keys is now completely out of the cone and won't even experience tropical storm force winds.    I am situated just south of Tampa and our weather forecast for the next 7 days is hot and sunny with light winds.  Tampa airport is fully operational.  And you think guests would not be in their right mind to come here?  Seriously you are just part of the problem with the media hype that comes with all these storms.  Too many people who 'think' they know what they are talking about but never actually live through the weather here.  You seem to be under the impression that the whole of Florida is going to be hit by category 3 or 4 winds - it just doesn't work that way. And in fact now it is a pretty exact science - our local meteorologists are quite brilliant and keep us safe year after year with their forecasting.

Airbnb have completely over reacted and in fact because they obviously haven't got weather experts making these decisions have canceled guests in completely the wrong area!  As of this morning it is the Carolinas and Georgia  who look as though they are going to be impacted.  

What bothers me more about Airbnb is that they actually haven't followed their own 'extenuating circumstances' policy - take a look - 

It says

'Natural disasters that prevent the guest from traveling to or from the destination, or that make it unsafe to host guests.'

There is no natural disaster here that prevents a guest traveling or is unsafe for guests.

You honestly think we would be staying or put our guests lives in danger?  For Airbnb to cancel guests and give them a full refund 6 days ahead of landfall is completely unacceptable to me.

[Linda108]

@Nicky109   I think the decision will be made by Air BNB based on media information at best and the guest's perception at worst.  And that decision will be made by people probably over 2000 miles away, so @Sarah977  has some valid points.

@Anthony847  Here is a link to a news story about the impact of the hurricane in Orlando.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/weather/hurricane/os-ne-when-will-hurricane-dorian-hit-orlando-20190...

I would imagine your management company has much experience with these type of circumstances.  

@Sarah977  has good points about the surrounding issues related to your guest's situation including transportation impact.  It seems from the many posts related to Air BNB use of the extenuating circumstance, especially related to weather related issues,  that it is not a good idea to object.  All it gets you is a negative review and you look like an unsympathetic host.

[Nicky109]

I am afraid I don't agree.  People like Sarah are just part of the problem.  Would you expect me to pass a comment if an earthquake hits you in California?   Perhaps as you are always on the edge of the next earthquake Airbnb should cancel every reservation in California going forward?  Crazy eh?  Well that's what we are dealing with here.

I am sorry but I expect a professional response from Airbnb.  Listening to the media who we know are always hysterical with these events is simply not acceptable.  But you continue to miss the point which is that Airbnb are contravening their own 'extenuating circumstances.'

[Susan1404]

@Nicky109- I tend to agree with your outlook.  I live in central Georgia and if I believed everything that the weather media stated every time a large weather system came thru, it would greatly decrease my desire to rent my cabin.  Just this morning I had guests contact me who are driving up from Florida for arrival this afternoon.  They were gravely concerned there was no gas to be had in the area.  The fact is, we are having no shortages and no panic because we are too far inland.  I calmed their worries and after they realized it could mean at least a partial forfeiture of their rental fees if they canceled, they decided to continue with their trip as planned and seemed quite cheerful about it, since they were getting out of Florida.  I think for those who live in what can be a weather ravaged area at times, neither host nor guests should be completely left high and dry if cancellations occur due to weather events.  Perhaps a 50% split would be best for all parties involved.

[Sarah977]

@Nicky109  I also happen to live in an area which is subject to hurricanes, so I'm not talking out of my hat. And whether or not I felt confident that a hurricane a few days away from landfall would hit my town, I would fully understand if guests chose to cancel their reservations.

You said "You seem to be under the impression that the whole of Florida is going to be hit by category 3 or 4 winds." But that's not what I indicated at all. I said that hurricanes can change course or wane or intensify contrary to predictions made several days before it is due to hit.

2 years ago there was a hurricane south of me that was the most forceful hurricane ever recorded. It was predicted to hit us hard. Residents and visitors were leaving town in droves- there was a line-up at the only gas station in town that went for 2 blocks. Most people were heading inland 5 hours to Guadalajara. I made all my preps, securing everything that was outside, packing food and water, etc. but as my home is not near the water or high up on a hill, but is in fact quite protected, and I have a safe spot to be, I felt I was better off at home than on the highway with thousands of panicked motorists. I had no guests at the time. 

It was predicted to hit here at 8PM. In fact, at the last minute, the hurricane changed course and hit full force a 3 hour drive south of me and all we got here was a few drops of rain and 5 minutes of strong winds. It continued inland to Guadalajara where all those people who had escaped to were caught in pounding rain, extreme flooding and road closures. And there were people who had changed their flights from Puerto Vallarta, on the coast, to Guadalajara, but the Guadalajara airport had to close.

[Nicky109]

Hi Sarah,

I apologize if I spoke out of line if you are indeed experienced with hurricanes.  However, for that very reason, it is very important that all parties concerned remain calm and do not jump to conclusions when the storm is more than a week out as it was when Airbnb decided to fully refund my guest.  

The point you make about the storm you experienced two years ago fully supports my point about everyone panicking way too soon.  If Airbnb had not canceled my guests they would be sitting here today enjoying beautiful sunshine and calm waters and it will be like that for the rest of the week.  Instead those that have left Florida and headed north are now in significantly more danger than if they had stayed here.  Just as turned out during your storm.

My issue is with Airbnb who have not followed their own policy regarding extenuating circumstances which are quite clear - it not be possible to travel to the area or the area to be unsafe.  Neither was true when they refunded the guest nor is true now nor will be true next week.  Airbnb completely overreacted and it's quite possible that if guests have traveled north instead of coming here they will now actually be in more danger.  Why they chose to ignore their own policy is beyond my comprehension but I don't see why we should suffer a financial loss due to their poor decision making.

[Sarah977]

@Nicky109   Thanks for the reply. I guess I just feel that simply because those of us who live in areas which are prone to natural disasters may take it in stride and not be panicked, but just take sensible precautions, I don't expect those who aren't from here to feel the same way. Like I said, when that monster hurricane was due to hit here (it had actually surpassed a Cat 5 in wind strength!) I took my own precautions for the safety of myself and my dog and wasn't particularly afraid (I also happened to grow up in the Midwest US, in tornado alley- every spring there was at least once or twice when we had to take dinner down to the basement, along with transistor radios, bedding, etc, so I know that hurricanes and tornadoes are survivable if you have a safe place to ride it out, as opposed to say, a forest fire, which one can't hide from).

But my daughter in Canada phoned me in a panic, asking if they were evacuating the area, and telling me I should leave no matter what, without understanding that it would be more foolish for me to attempt a 2 hour drive on a coastal road (the only way out) jam-packed with fleeing motorists than to stay put in my "safe spot".

However, I'm also aware that even if one stays safe throughout an event like this, the aftermath can actually be horrific- downed trees and power lines, flooding, communications systems down, disease from flood waters, etc. No one can accurately predict that.

So yes, it might be silly for Airbnb to allow free cancellations even if we have reason to believe a natural disaster won't affect us, and we know that it wouldn't have impacted guests' enjoyment of our homes, but most guests would insist on being able to cancel anyway due to what might be unwarranted, but normal human fears for their lives, so Airbnb has to cover their butts in case they refused to allow the cancellation and it turned out to be a situation which actually did result in loss of life or injury.

Believe me, I disagree with a ton of Airbnb policy, and they refund guests for bogus extenuating circumstances all the time, I just don't personally mind this one, I understand it.