Extenuating circumstances

[Aida-Ruiz0]

I booked an Airbnb for New Year’s at Lake Tahoe and we were all very excited because we were going to be celebrating my mom‘s birthday, and my sister having another baby! unfortunately, three days before a reservation, my sister went into preterm labor. at the end, which is very sad, we ended up losing my niece. so unfortunately, we were not able to leave the hospital or go on our trip because we had to prepare for funeral presiding and take care of our family at home. I feel like this would be extenuating circumstances where we are unable to make it it’s not like an injury or an illness. This is a horrible thing that has happened to our live lives and we were not in the celebrating mood . I expressed deeply to the host of the situation in detail of what was going on, and she coldhearted declined  to cancel my reservation and give me a refund or even give me a partial or even allow me to reschedule it for a different time in the future. I feel like this reflects poorly on Airbnb and the hosts as well!

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Aida-Ruiz0 Your loss is horrible but this is an example of where insurance is essential. You could try one thing though - Cancel the Airbnb and hope that if it re-books then the host will refund you. Unlikely at this short notice but perhaps worth a try. As a minimum, cancelling before the check in time should get any cleaning fee refunded to you.

In defence of the host they may well have a mortgage to pay and other costs weighing on them. Rescheduling would not solve the loss of a booking at new year. 

[Helen3]

What an awful situation for your family . I  would definitely contact your travel insurance to see if you can make a claim @Aida-Ruiz0 

it isn't cold hearted of the host not to cancel your booking. If they did they would suffer financial penalties and have the dates blocked .

you would need to cancel at your end and claim on your travel insurance.

tragic as your circumstances are you can't expect the host to be out of pocket when they held the dates in good faith for you.

you could ask if they would offer a proportional refund for any dates they are able to rebook .