Guest wants refund

[Deryn0]

Hi Fellow Hosts,

I'm one year in to my hosting experience and have had nothing but great experiences so far.

Today something came up that I'm not sure how to handle though, and I'd love your input.

A guest booked a month ago for a two night stay this weekend. Today, four days before arrival, he cancelled, saying that he's been called up on a tour of duty in the military at the last minute and needs to cancel his trip. I have a MODERATE cancellation policy, so, according to that policy Airbnb has refunded him 50% of his stay. Now he's asking me to refund the rest.

It's medium-busy season here, not as busy as summer, but my weekends are all booked. So, I know if he'd cancelled sooner, or if my booking had been open for the past month, my space would have been booked this weekend for sure. Now I'm looking at an open weekend, and while I sympathize with his situation, I think that splitting the cost 50% is more than fair. I don't think I should take the full hit.

How do you handle this kind of situation? I feel like because he's in the military, many might see this as an extenuating circumstance. Should I offer him a refund? Or stick with my cancellation policy? Refund him only if i do end up booking the space for the weekend?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions you might provide.

Deryn

[Willow3]

As a military spouse, I see both sides of this.  The military really doesn't give a flying fig about a service members personal life/plans. My husband was put on the schedule to show his aircraft to a Boy Scout Troop... on our wedding day.  Sure we were simply doing a civil service, but he had requested the day off a month in advance... but "needs of the Navy" and all that.  Fortunately a friend swapped events with him, so we did actually get married.  

So yes, we've had to cancel plans at the last minute, and we've eaten the cost.  And it's not fun.  But neither is losing income.  So it's really your call.  I think I personally would refund, with a copy of his mobilization orders.  Sadly, it's too easy to use the "active duty" card and request special treatment.  I wish I trusted my fellow military families more - but sadly, I've met too many of them.  

[Kimberly54]

Hi @Deryn0@Willow3, Deryn, copy of the orders absolutely justifies the refund. 

I have a military family as well, and while I'm certain that it has been used by some as an excuse, use 'appreciative inquiry' and assume honesty.  These people do an incredible service to this country.

Just get the document.  That will make your decision easy!

[Fred13]

~IF~  it is legit, verified by seeing copy of orders, I would also refund for the same reasons as others have given.

[Deryn0]

Thanks for your input @Fred55 @Kimberly54 and @Willow3! This is a big help. He said in his request that he can submit the orders when he gets them, but he doesn't have them yet.

So, now, thanks to your responses, at least I know what he's talking about! It didn't make sense to me before. I didn't know what orders he was referring to.

OK, so. He doesn't have the orders to send in to me at this time.

Anyway, as a plain old Canadian civilian, what business do I have verifying US military orders? How will I even know what I'm looking at? (Especially since I didn't know what orders were 5 minutes ago!) 

I'm thinking for now I will refund the cleaning fee. And if I get a booking this weekend, I will refund him the rest. And if not, and he books at a later date, I'll offer him a discount at that time.

If he wants to submit his orders to Airbnb and ask for a refund for extenuating circumstances, I will leave it up to Airbnb to review the documents and decide.

That feels like a fair compromise to me.

[Ange2]

I understand the dilemma but why don't guests buy travel insurance it costs a few dollars and saves the pain on both sides, you can sign up for it on most credit cards so it's easy and there are carriers that cover military personnel,  jury duty and there is even a “Cancel for Any Reason” coverage.