Same thing happened to me. I rent a cottage and we lost power during the hurricane. So, I offered the guest to stay at the other property I listed on Airbnb which had full power, is bigger, comfortable and beatiful. This guest was a whining creature, **bleep** and difficult. He decided to leave and filed a claim with Airbnb. I responded that I am not in control of natural disasters, nor in control of FPL, that I had provided him with accomodation when we lost power, so I did not cancel his reservation, and that there was absolutely no reason why the guest should be refunded. Airbnb showed no interest in assisting me and refunded the guest $ 800.00, explaining that these were " unforseen circumstances" for the guest. I immidately wrote them back saying that these "unforseen circunstances applied to me as a host". On top of that, I had been laid off during the hurricane. THOSE ARE REALLY UNFORSEEN CIRCUMSTANCES. However, Airbnb showed no interest in assisting me and refunded the guest $ 800.00. I received no income for the next 4 bookings.
Airbnb has always been just, but on this instance I could have sued them. But, I had more important things to do.
I am still in a shock about the treatment I received from Airbnb when in fact, the only person who had suffered a severe loss was me.
I finally called Airbnb for the fourth time and they gave me a credit of $250. But I still had to pay the guest $800.00
An awful experience
Maria