Refund for power outage?

Answered!
Pete69
Level 10
Los Angeles, CA

Refund for power outage?

Thankfully I haven't yet activate my listing because we had a power outage in my area from 2 AM to 11 AM. This had me thinking what if this happened when a guest was staying.

 

Would you issue a full or partial refund?

 

What if there was a moderate outage of just one or two hours? Knock off 10%?

1 Best Answer
Karol22
Level 10
SF, CA

Usually guests don't blame you for this kind of issue. But it varies based on situation. Feel it out and see if the guest even requests a refund. In most cases they wont. If it goes on for too long they may want to check out early, which you may need to be understanding about.

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61 Replies 61

@Pete69

Power outage is no one's fault...not usually. Many guests realise that and don't actually ask for a refund....especially say 2am -11am when most of the time everyone would be asleep. I wouldnt consider a full refund for something that was completely out of my control. Depends on the level of "discomfort" you believe it has caused (eg fridge food )and only really do a partial refund for the days effected. For 1-2 hours I wouldnt even consider it, to be honest.

Sandra126
Level 10
Daylesford, Australia

If you get outages regularly, make sure there are plenty of torches and candles available.

For a short outage, I would not refund, especially during daylight hours. If guests were inconvenienced, I certainly would. I do have gas and wood as well, so it depends on how your energy is sourced.

@Sandra126 Candles really???

Pete69
Level 10
Los Angeles, CA

Sounds good.

 

We get outages here about once or twice a year. Last night it was high winds. Sometimes it's too many people running their air conditioning. Anyway it was a reminder for me to get some power outage lights and flash lights for the room & bath just in case.

David126
Level 10
Como, CO

Just be aware that if the Guest contact ABB they are likely to be given a full refund.

David

Yes, I just happened to me. There is a hurricane going on in Puerto Rico and ABB still refund them the money. 

 

Natural disasters. Natural disasters, acts of God, large-scale outages of essential utilities, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, and other severe and abnormal weather events. This does not include weather or natural conditions that are common enough to be foreseeable in that location—for example, hurricanes occurring during hurricane season in Florida.

 

''its hurricane season in Puerto Rico'' ABB still gave them the refund.  

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

If I had to give a refund every time we had a power outage around here, I'd never make any $ hosting. It's a regular occurence, especially in the summer- couple drops of rain, a little puff of wind, and black-out time.  Then there's tree branches falling on the lines, the multitude of bad drivers running into power poles, and a few years ago it went out every Sunday for 2 months because off-duty electrical company workers were using their days off to steal the copper line they'd been paid to install during the week in a new area which was hidden away from public vision 🙂

Sounds like that's a horrible spot to host an airbnb then if it happens so frequently... Common sense tells you that, a guest won't know this. 

Fred13
Level 10
Placencia, Belize

An occassional power outage is also a reality on every guest's life, so they do tend to understand. As a general rule, best to minimize the automatic use of the word 'Refund'. Perhaps offer a little gift or make a kind gesture for their patience and understanding, that oftentimes comes across more endearing than money.  🙂

Sandra126
Level 10
Daylesford, Australia

Someone here on the forum a long time ago mentioned a little neat trick (he was a remote host, I can just **bleep** over and give a gift or help). He had hidden somewhere in the house a treat of some sort (bottle of wine, maybe) and hidden it really well so it wouldn't be found in normal use of house. If somehting happened which needed smoothing a guest issue, he told them how to find their treat. I do like that. He could also tell them at checkout how to unlock their treat if he felt that way inclined!

Rebecca181
Level 10
Florence, OR

@Pete69 I live on the Oregon Coast and had my first power outage with a guest here due to fierce winds. I chose to offer a full refund to my guests, even though they did not ask for one. I did this because even though the power was out only a short time, there were inconveniences caused to the gal that had booked that interfered with what had been a long-awaited, belated Valentine Day's weekend for her and her partner. One thing after another was going wrong electrically prior to the power going all the way out, including the hot tub going whacky. It was a real pain for her, and for me as the host as I tried in vain to figure out what might be going on. 

 

Looking back, if I had not been so fearful of the dreaded 'bad review', I might not have offered a full refund. Even Airbnb Customer Support said I went way beyond anything they would ever expect. But it was just a gut feeling that this guest would have a better all-around experience with a full (not partial) refund to console her, and I do think it was worth taking the financial hit. It is the only time I have ever offered, or ever had, to refund. She did leave me a 'good' review - all 5 stars EXCEPT in the most important category, 'Overall' - Not because of me or the Cottage, but because of the weather. That one hurt a bit, I must admit. So just know that you can't necessarily 'buy' a five star overall review by giving a  guest a refund.

 

These days I don't fear losing my Super Host status as much as I used to, and so I may have offered instead a partial refund or a 'treat' of some kind, as @Sandra126 mentioned, above. But that's how I handled it the one time a power outage happened to me while hosting.

Guests should not be entitled to a refund for a weather-caused power outage. The hosts can not be their insurance policy. Airbnb needs to start requiring that guests purchase travel insurance for when something happens either before or during their trip.

@Erika-and-Tye0   I agree. Hosts shouldn't have to take a financial hit for something outside their control. It's one thing to give a refund because your own water heater went on the blink and the guests couldn't have a hot shower, it's quite another if there are area-wide power outages due to weather, construction, etc.

I agree.  I had a guest request a refund when a mudslide affected the freeway near our house.  It added 30 minutes to the approach to go an alternate route, but I don't see how that is anything more than an inconvenience.  It isn't anything we control.  I did end up refunding them though, mostly because Airbnb doesn't really offer anything to help mitigate this problem (like offering travel insurance, which would give hosts something to point to that would put the onus back on the guest to decide their own risk tolerance).