How to deal with guests who want to cancel because of air quality due to wildfires?

[Adeline60]

I have an AirBnb next to Yosemite National Park, and wildfires impact the air quality as well as the park experience.

I have several guests writing to me expecting a cancellation with full refund. Thing is, it's not my fault if there is a fire, which is a very frequent occurrence at this season in the Sierra Nevada. 

Any hosts had similar experiences?

If so, I would love to know how you deal with such requests.

[Letti0]

@Ann475  You can't review her you didn't stay or cancel the day of booking. 

[Ann475]

I was not planning to review her "place", only the details of reserving and the issues with requesting a refund.

I did have many interactions with her. 

I guess one must stay in order to provide a review, no options offered to review only planning and cancelling process. Oh well. 

[Letti0]

@Ann475  You have to have an email sent to you from AirBnB to review a host. You are not eligible to get the email needed to do a review based on what I said above. So you cannot review her on anything.  

[Mary1523]

I would be interested in understanding if you would expect a full refund if you had a booked hotel, car hire or airline tickets for the same reason? ie poor air quality which impacts a health condition? What is your expectation? Although for those such bookings, there is less issue of financial loss as they have lots of 'stock' to sell, not just a quantity of 1 eg a whole house. It is back to the point that someone else made that maybe travel/guest insurance is a way to address this.  I completely understand if property is near affected areas and makes travel to/fro unsafe or residing around uncomfortable and could classify as 'disaster'. But winds move smoke around far from a danger area - might be bad for 2 hrs, then for another few hours it could be fine, then change again. I have a rural property that encounters this including regular dust storms thanks to the drought in Australia. Poor air quality can be found in many of these places including cities etc so how far does one go?  It may end up that those guests with a health condition affected by air quality are a higher risk to rent to. I may start asking guests this and not accept their booking, or make it really clear on my listing that those with such health conditions need not book as I lose out if they cancel. If this is our new reality, then expectations need to be clear on both sides. At the end of the day, I would really hope that guests be fully informed on actual situation and liase with owner before making any decisions because most of the time I would suggest, the situation isn't as dire/impactful as they may think. I speak from experience of 2 cancellation requests this week alone due to bushfires even though they are no where near the region.

[Sasha80 · Accepted solution]

I let my guests cancel just this morning with a full refund. Feels like the right thing to do on account of the air quality. 

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Sasha80

We are in wildfire area in Mendocino County.

I always message my guests and offer a cancellation with full refund if there is a fire affecting our air quality. It is challenging enough for us to be here in thick smoke. We are a getaway destination for our guests, think smoke, heat and no view out the windows,  no fun being outdoors? Giving a full fare cancellation is only appropriate, imho,and we've always done it. In fact, we open our calendar for booking a little at a time during fire season, to make sure we are not booking too far in advance of such an unknown. 

[Philip283]

We just got cancelled 2 days ahead of our thanksgiving family get together in Woodland hills with no explanation from the host! I see Airbnb is asking hosts to open their homes for free to those displaced by the Malibu and Woolsey fires in Ventura County. We have spent thousands in airline travel to bring us all together, now we are screwed. A motel thanksgiving? No thanks! I believe these hosts are working out cash deals with the displaced people from the fires. Greed talks, ethics walk! F U Airbnb and your greedy hosts, we will never use you again! I am sorry for people that lost their homes, but insurance will take care of them. Bottomline, if you had a prepaid reservation, honor it or go to hell!

[Collin49]

Have y’all considered that business insurance should cover your losses for the same extenuating circumstances that allowed the guest to reasonably cancel their trip?  AirBnB does need to sort this out long-term because it affects the long-term retention of both hosts and guests. Hosts chose to invest and rely on a vacation rental property for income and that comes with theassociated risks that are now rearing their heads.

[Dave52]

It rained literally every day when we went to Kauai and stayed at the hotel in Princeville.  It rained on their sunset happy hours and it poured on us at the pool and we had to run inside.  Twice!! Now I look back on it, we should have acted like an airbnb guest and demanded a refund and if we don't get it, threaten a bad review!!

[Chelsea271]

If someone needs to cancel due to being uncomfortable for their own physical safety it seems fair to me to give them a full or at least a majority refund, if they aren't even going to be staying.  Why should they have to pay for a service they won't even be using?

[Lisa6354]

It’s definitely no fault in it. The fact it that Will not be a good trip under such circumstances. I want my guest to have the best trip possible and it’s unfortunate that they have to cancel their plans and i’m sure they were looking forward to their trip. Of course it’s only right to refund them the full amount. Good karma

[Brian2036]

@Lisa6354 

We should also give last-minute refunds to anyone who decides that it’s just too hot in the middle of August, too cold in January, pollen count too high in May, or they saw an article about alien abductions in the National Enquirer.

It’s only fair to screw the hosts.

We’re so rich we own more than one house and we ought to be glad to have the opportunity to cater to people who couldn’t find their own behinds with both hands, signs, arrows and GPS.

[Lisa6354]

I am saying if there is a fire enabling my guest to even get to my Airbnb then of course the only thing to do is refund. That’s a given. If people were just more kind and understanding in these conditions. I definitely said nothing about canceling right before trip for silly things like pollen count really? Anyway come on people Greed is evil

[Brian2036]

@Lisa6354 

If it’s impossible to get to the property of course Airbnb will issue a refund. The property is unavailable.

If you want to issue full refunds because a guest decides that the air quality is not up to their standards you are certainly free to do so.

 I remember when the air in Los Angeles was often so foul that it was painful to breathe. I don’t think anyone got any refunds for that. It’s just the way it was in Los Angeles and anyone who was paying attention knew it.

[Stephanie365]

"Dear Guest,

I do understand your concerns. As I'm sure you understand the wildfires are beyond my control. If you feel the need to cancel, please do so. You will be refunded in accordance with my cancellation policy which you agreed to when you booked. For any monies you are not refunded, please file a claim against your travel insurance policy.  I'm sure your travel agent will be happy to assist you."

By phrasing it in such a way you're assuming they were smart enough to have travel insurance, it takes away the perceived burden that you are responsible for insuring their stay.  If they come back with, "We don't have travel insurance", they're already admitting they failed in their due diligence. 

My response in that case would be, "Oh dear, that is unfortunate! I thought everyone purchased travel insurance these days. It is cases such as these for which travel insurance was created.  In the spirit of being a good host, what I can offer is this: if you cancel your reservation, I will refund any days I am able to rebook. Please advise what you wish to do."