Hi @Helen427
You are right- the weather is not the guests fault and as mentioned above when this happened to me I gave mine a full refund- considering her situation and the fact that she was upfront with me from the beginning and more hopeful than expecting.
However, travelling without insurance is not my fault nor « the weathers » and if I were to have lost more than a day reservation I would have been upset about this. As a micro business who relies (but not depends) on Airbnb earnings to help subsidise our mortgage payments- have two, it is very stressful but my personal economy is neither here nor there.
If we were a traditional hotel then the cost incurred would be taken from the guest’s insurance or her directly- granted I do not offer the same as a hotel but why should the system not also protect me as a independent provider? Airbnb puts a lot of emphasis on reviews and protecting guests over the hosts as that is the main source of their (airbnb’s) money. Yet when a guest cancels the Airbnb « admin costs » are not returned, however, I am expected to return my portion and if I do not, i get hammered on the phone for it. My point is that the whole system is skewed and neither party really wins until more balance is provided.
I think it’s absurd that someone who has not even set a foot in my home can review me on « check in », « cleanliness », « accuracy » - whether the review is complimentary or not is irrelevant as it’s fraudulent and false and goes against airbnb’s policy that reviews should « represent author ‘s personal experience », at most what they can comment on is « communication » but the system does not allow for this alone. In fact when I requested a review be taken down for something like this the only bylines quoted to me where the « contents policy » and those set by Airbnb regarding « reviews » were completely ignored, even after highlighting them back to the rep. The review is still up there.
Guests are people but so are hosts- only difference is that it’s the guests money at risk* but for the host, it’s their space (sometimes privacy), time, safety and resources that is at risk. As a provider of the service, we rely openly on reviews, face value, etc and have more at risk- yes, we opened ourselves to it as we accepted the terms of use but without the hosts and their spaces, Airbnb is simply a marketing platform without any real estate. There company would not exist or at least not at its current value as now they also benefit from experiences.
*in the case guest felt the space they booked is not for them Airbnb has been known to relocate them, granted they follow the correct protocols.
Whatever @Jane563 decided to do on the matter is completely up to her, her good nature and how much she will consider the cancellation policy but saying she should return the money as the weather is not the guest ‘s fault (my opinion also at least for the first night, given how communicative the guest initially was in the matter) is ignoring the fact that Jane’s opinion matter as her personal economy was potentially affected by the situation and there are so many insurance providers out there happy to coordinate as to protect both parties and thereby bringing that much desired balance hosts seek.
Thank you and sorry if for any reason my tone is forceful- normally I need to have a very cooperate voice for work and sometimes this has a tendency to come across outside of it.
Have a great day!
Yadira :),
