Beware of Hosts with non-refundible cancellation policies

[MiKayla38]

This past week, we canceled our Airbnb reservation in Kansas City, Missouri due to a record-breaking blizzard. Our home city was also shut down by winter storm Blair, and the Department of Transportation issued a "no travel" warning in both cities. Given these extreme conditions, we reached out to our hosts regarding a cancellation for their listing in Kansas City, Missouri.

Unfortunately, despite the weather emergency, our hosts refused to offer a full refund. We were under the impression that Airbnb would mandate refunds in cases of extreme weather events, as confirmed by Airbnb Support. However, we learned that a blizzard and an official travel ban apparently do not meet Airbnb's criteria for extenuating circumstances.

Adding insult to injury, not only were we denied a refund, but our honest, poor review of the experience with these hosts was removed, preventing future guests from seeing our concerns. We've been booking with AirBnB for over 7 years, and we've never had such a poor experience with hosts, even those with non-refundable cancellation policies.

We strongly urge potential AirBnB guests to avoid hosts like these who prioritize profit over the safety of their guests. This experience has also shown us that Airbnb does not adequately protect its guests and seems to favor hosts instead. Moving forward, we will only book with hosts who have a flexible cancellation policy, or we won't book with AirBnB at all.

[Frances3408]

@MiKayla38 . Hi MiKayla. As a host I can sympathise. It would be helpful if hosts were able to obtain host insurance against booking cancellations but neither Airbnb nor any insurance company I am aware of, properly covers us. increasing weather volatility exposes all of us- fires or snow.

So we are left as self employed people either not getting paid at all (so not necessarily talking about profits when we have already paid fixed costs, cleaners etc) OR reducing our risk through our cancellation policies (anything from flexible through to strict and non refundable).

Would you have been able to take out travel insurance yourself for this trip? 

[Kia272]

@MiKayla38  As a host, I would have handled it differently, but you agreed to the terms when you booked. Weather events happen all the time, so it's not an extenuating circumstance. 

AirBnB's guidelines for extenuating circumstances are clear, and available to you when you book. 

Travel insurance is also available for situations such as this. 

I'm sorry this happened, but trying to blame hosts is a stretch. As indicated in your post, you were aware that you were booking a non-refundable property. And leaving a poor review for the host was just plain wrong.

You are obviously upset about the situation, but taking it out on the host is just mean, and can also affect their livelihood. 

[Shelley159]

Hi @MiKayla38 

You can filter for free cancellation in the filter category "Booking Options". The number of listings with free cancellation is growing, because Airbnb strongly encourages hosts to select this option.

[Joan2709]

@MiKayla38 

So sorry this happened...

A host can offer a courtesy refund if they wish, but they are not obligated to. A non-refundable option is offered at a discounted rate to guests vs a regular booking, as there is more risk if you have to cancel. This is similar to booking a flight/airfare. You pay a discounted rate for a non-refundable ticket vs a refundable one. You should have received a refund of the cleaning fee:

We always suggest if choosing the non-refundable option that guests purchase the travel insurance offered just in case of an issue like this; especially in the winter months.