Airbnb canceled a non refundable stay for a guest 3 hours after the guest checked in but before they set foot on the property

[Ryan2770]

On Friday we lost power in the town where we host a house on Airbnb.  I have guests checking in on Sunday, so  I informed them of the outage Saturday Morning when I learned of it.  They were initially understanding but then demanded I give them solutions as one of the adults needs a cpap to sleep.  The guests made a 1 week reservation which gave them a week discount, and they chose the non refundable option.

At the same time they complained to Airbnb support, and I received a message from support asking me to review the situation.  I did not agree to giving the guest a full refund as we were 24 hours away from the stay and the power outage was being actively worked on. 

Still, I offered to let them check in a day later with a refund for Sunday night.  I did not get a response directly to my offer. 

Sunday morning comes and crews were restoring in the area.  The guests hadn't responded to my message from the day earlier offering a later check in.  I sent them another message letting them know I was submitting a reservation change request that they had no obligation to accept, and I let them know I applied their week discount to the potential 6 day stay. 

They still did not reply. 

Prior to check in the power was restored and I let the guest know.  I received no response.

At 5:58, nearly 3 hours after our scheduled check in time, I received a message from Airbnb informing me I violated Host terms and the guests were receiving a full refund and the stay was canceled.  Support is not responding to my messages at this time.  If I call in they tell me my case has been escalated and I'll receive a call, but it seems support acts promptly only for complaining guests?

What could I have done here that violated terms?  What in this situation allowed Airbnb to cancel a reservation 3 hours after check in but before the guest even set foot in the place???

[Ryan2770]

Wish I could edit the title, but it should say 3 hours after check in time.  The guest never set foot in the property, so they couldn't have made any complaints about the state of the house, and regardless they made a non-refundable booking.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Ryan2770 I think that sadly your biggest mistake was honesty. It appears that it is far better to not tell the guests anything and travel hopefully that the problem will be fixed before they arrive. I can see why the guest, if power is essential to them, would panic and ask Airbnb for a refund +find another place to stay. All in all a hard lesson I feel.

[Ryan2770]

But the decision was made after power was restored.  There were zero issues with the home at check in time, everything was 100% operational.  The guest even sent me a message that they'd be coming and going as they pleased and would not accept a change to the reservation when I sent them the notice that power had been restored earlier in the day prior to their check in. 

What policy did I violate that allows a full cancellation of a non-refundable booking?

[Ryan2770]

Response from Airbnb's "Support" was that I indicated power was out during the guests check in, which is false.  Power was restored at the guests check in. 

Support closed the ticket, and in the ticket they even said "I understand that this event is outside your control, and given that you are able to restore the power in the listing. We did not proceed to take actions to suspend your listing." What the hell is this, a threat? 

They just shut down the conversation. 

I have started a BBB complaint and am going to continue pursuing a payout for this from Airbnb. 

The support is a joke.  I'm going to be pursuing listing on other platforms.  If anyone can chime in on how to force Airbnb's hand here, I'd love to know, but I fear they just don't care.

[Ryan2770]

New information to me is that the guest was able to instate "aircover" because the power was out during their stay.  Key word is during.  So they lied to Airbnb, didn't provide evidence and got a cancellation.  Meanwhile Airbnb is asking me to show proof power was back on!! 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Ryan2770 All very strange - At least your local power company should be able to supply proof as to when the power was turned on. Perhaps an internet trip to the small claims court is in order - I think its allowed in the USA terms but worth checking.