Cancellation and Full Refund Due to National Emergency Caused by Civil Unrest

[Jacob612]

Hello,

I booked a trip to Peru with my family recently. However, the Peruvian government has just declared a National Emergency due to political protests as a result of recent events. It is likely to be dangerous, and I am trying to cancel my stays for a full refund.

I have read the Extrenuating Circumstances policy, and it clearly states that a National Emergency such as this declared by the government is covered. However, the  support person is claiming that the areas of my stay are not covered, while only certain areas are.

I am calling BS on this, because the policy clearly separates local and national emergencies. AirBNB has no right to determine what areas are affected by a National Emergency, and which are not. A National Emergency is a National Emergency. Where does it say when/how they can be selective about this?

Additionally, the hosts will not want to give a full refund if they can help it, even though the Extrenuating Circumstances policy overrides the host policy. A partial refund is currently possible, but that's not the point. The situation seems pretty clear cut, and I haven't found anything in AirBNB's policies that say otherwise.

I might try calling the credit card company and dispute the charge if I can't get help with this.

[Helen744]

@Jacob612 the thing is to ring the airport or look up the local travel advisory and check all details and communicate with the host . Apologise and inform them that you would like them to cancel under their extenuating circumstances policy with Airbnb. Many extenuating circumstances no longer apply,but if you have overshot the time for cancellation according to the hosts policy ,which you agreed to, then it is really important that you are accurate and communicate with your host.  sooner rather that later.... H    P.S    We are hosts not Airbnb advisory and can only advise

[Helen744]

Jacob it is pretty clear that you are entitled to a full refund   H Good Luck

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Jacob612 will your travel insurance pay out?

[Jacob612]

I looked under the travel insurance, and here's what I found:

Item #12 of the Trip Cancellation policy says I can cancel if there were acts of terrorism within 30 days of prior to my travel, assuming that there were no such acts within 30 days prior to the date that I bought the policy.

I cited violent protests in Cusco, as well as an attack by protestors on the airport I will be traveling to, as the reason for this cancellation. I also linked the Embassy's page, which lists Cusco in the "Do Not Travel" advisory level, which cites Cusco, as well as a number of other cities in Peru, as hazardous, citing Crime and Terrorism for the reasoning behind the travel advisory level.

AirBNB basically closed my case and force me to either travel into a dangerous area where I can get hurt or killed, or cancel for a partial refund because my host refuses to acknowledge how dangerous it is currently.

[Jacob612]

I was able to get 1 of the 2 cancelations refunded because the host agreed. However, the 2nd host is insisting that things will be back to normal by time of my trip and clearly doesn't want to refund me fully.

The Peruvian government declared the National Emergency on the 14th, and will last 30 days, meaning it will end on January 13th. The stay is from January 10th-14th, meaning the stay is within this time frame.

The problem is that according to the cancellation instructions, there should be a cencellation option for Exenuating Circumstances as  shown in the photo attached, but there isn't. This tells me that someone responsible for enabling this option at AirBNB's corporate offices is not doing their job. Not having this option is a clear violation of their own policy.

My customer support person is doing their damnest to help me, and I'm thankful for that, but they can only do so much. I need to be able to take a more forceful approach, because this is not a situation where I should have to get the host to agree with my cancellation and Full refund, nor should I negotiate the refund.

 

[Jacob612]

Just some additional information as proof. The first was from the Embassy's website. They expect me to go somewhere where there is active crime and terrorism, claiming that it will be safe again in a couple weeks: