Bushfire risk

[James3967]

So we host a place in a very high bushfire (wildfire) risk location. We thought we would try and do the right thing and limit the risk by having a reservation policy that on days of Extreme / Catastrophic fire risk (official government grading system) we would not be able to host people as the risk to life if a fire happens in the area is too high.  Days of extreme / catastrophic fire danger during summer occur maybe 5-10% of the time. 

We've just had to cancel our first booking because of this. AirBnB has told us that this is not sufficient reason to cancel the booking and is charging us $70 / putting a black mark against us?!

This is dumbfounding! Essentially they are saying we should continue to host despite adverse weather conditions where the government shuts national parks and strongly recommends people leave the area! 

I suspect (hope) that they simply do not understand this and will reverse their decision. Has anyone else faced this issue?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@James3967 It feels like you should consider shutting down over the summer months. To have a 5-10% risk of cancelling on someone who may have spent a fortune on travelling to you is really unfair. If the risk was 0.5% it might be acceptable but 5% is not.

[James3967]

Thanks Mike!

Yes we did consider that, but to be honest all our guests (so far) stay with us for a quick city escape to the bush only. It is not your typical AirBnB - it is a tiny house in the bush. The drive for them is 1hr drive or less and they typically stay 1, maybe 2 nights only.  So a cancellation is a disappointment rather than a significant inconvinience.

We are crystal clear in our reservation policy that the reservations will need to be cancelled in the event of an extreme or catastrophic day and we can normally provide 4-5 days notice (In this particular case we actually warned the guest 6 days before as we could see the windspeeds / temperatures were looking bad).

It would be disappointing to not be able to offer people that escape when 90-95% of the time there would not be a problem!

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@James3967 Then if the folks are local why not treat them as adults and allow them to make their own decisions. If you state clearly that a full refund will be authorised in the event of extreme/catastrophic fire risks being declared then that will allow them to take the decision without bringing money into it.

[James3967]

You clearly know nothing about the general level of understanding of bushfires from folk who dont live in the bush, sorry but that it is a ridiculous and highly dangerous suggestion. 

Our last two guests asked if they could light camp fires!! FFS!

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@James3967 

We have a no open flames anywhere rule here, as the fire danger is so high. With the frequent droughts it is even more urgent to be extra careful. When guests imbibe around a campfire, or indulge in other substances, it is potentially much more hazardous.  I have no desire to play parent or supervisor, or to ruin the fun, so no fires allowed. Our guests tend to understand why, and we do explain those risks in our listing. 

[James3967]

We do as well… it is crystal clear in the listing, but people do not read it fully! My point was that most people do not understand the risk and so leaving it up to them is dangerous.

Anyone who knows anything about the bush and fire risks would not have asked that question, regardless of if they had read the listing/rules or not 🙂

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@James3967 

This is an important discussion. We are former firefighters,  in Northern California, a fire prone area. Fire here is natural, normal and necessary, as it is in most of the western states. Our home is remote, in the heavily forested mountains, with chaparral mixed in.  As you likely know from the news, catastrophic fires here are not unusual, and after the last century of fire suppression, more serious than would normally be necessary. We are aware that remote residences such as ours, and those at urban/wilderness interfaces are compounding the potential. We spend most of the year maintaining and improving our firebreak, and maintaining the width and safety of our private access road. 

During the fire season we open our calendar week by week, and not longer term, as we are unwilling to expose our guests to the risk of a fire in the region. The potential of evacuation or living with dense smoke as we all do when there's a fire anywhere near us, is not something we would wish to expose our guests to. 

That means we welcome last minute bookings, only, and it is wise, imho. It removes the issue you explained. We offer a total refund without question in case of fire or other "act of god" emergency. We feel a responsibility to public safety, as our guests come here for the safe and pleasant experience, which we are pledged to provide. We do the same in winter, when snow and ice may present issues that the public may not find easy to deal with. Last March we were here at home for almost 3 weeks with all 3 of our 4WD vehicles stuck in the snow.  At the first hint of this storm we closed our calendar. 

Like you, we believe that public safety is paramount, and take this seriously. We maintain a full pantry for ourselves and anyone stuck here in a storm. Our fire and ambulance services come by air, and are limited by supply, which in a rural area - mountainous or otherwise - are dealing with regional as well as local need. 

The platform cannot take care of all of us; however, a better way for you to handle these situations is to not take longer term reservations during high risk times. Instead of you cancelling a reservation, it would be easier bureaucratically for the guest to cancel, as there is not a penalty to you as a host if they do. 

Best wishes and excellent holidays to you!

[Breanna]

Love this detailed reasoning and information @Kitty-and-Creek0!

Have you had to close your calendar fairly often over the years or has it been quite rare? You also mentioned only taking last minute/week-by-week bookings, which avoids the hefty cancellation fees, which is a great shout during seasons where you could expect extreme conditions.

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Breanna 

Good question - We do this calendar trick every year in fire season, taking last minute reservations and not opening much in advance. Returning guests know that we are careful this way, and to message us.  It totally affects our home on the search, but we cannot take any chances with our guests' comfort and safety.

This season we were super fortunate, but if you were to search for Mendocino County and Northern California fires you'd see what can and has happened. For several years we lived with dense smoke and watching flames on distant ridges. 

We keep a close watch on the winter storms, and are cautious then as well. At times we've gone to pick up guests in our 4WD and brought them to the house from a safe parking spot. 

[James3967]

Thank you,

this is a very sensible option. Unfortunately we only get 3-4 days notice of weather conditions. if we only give 3 days notice, I doubt we would get any visitors at all given the location, but we will try.

Leaving it up to the guests is absolutely the wrong thing to do. Most city people do not appreciate the true danger of bushfires and would have no idea what the fire danger ratings etc mean / what to do if things get bad. Therefore I would far prefer to err on the side of caution.

BTW AirBNB HAVE (rightly) accepted it as a no-fault cancellation, but we will reconsider how we approach bookings to avoid the same annoyance in the future.

Thank you all!

James

[Mary5479]

@Kitty-and-Creek0 

well said! 

Firefighters in california are very respected. 

A coworker had a similar experience with airbnb and it also drove me nuts. looks like Airbnb has a very narrow extenuating situation scope and it excludes majority of mother nature events.

A storm blew off a power line to the ground and it’s right in front of the house, and my coworker called Airbnb to cancel and Airbnb support refused. Since a downed active power line isn’t an extenuating situation by Airbnb though it could electrify a guest. my coworker cancelled the reservation and got a 50% charge for the “host cancellation”. Coworker spent days and had to get a fire chief’s note to Airbnb to get that penalty waived. 

Isn’t this making you feel better @James3967 

At least you have not got a ding for the cancellation