Guest with asthma

[Lydia-Jane0]

A guest checked in and within 30 minutes had an allergy attack; I live out in the country, high desert, and it is quite dusty.  She's on-line now looking for another place and getting in touch with AirBnB;  anything else I need to do?   I feel badly for her and me:  I had asked her to come view the apt. before reserving it but she chose to not do so.  Hope I don't end up taking her to hospital!  

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

@Lydia-Jane0   There's nothing that you need to do from an Airbnb perspective - guests are generally responsible for managing their own health issues with respect to the local environment, and taking out the appropriate travel insurance policy for predictable emergencies. You have every right to uphold your cancellation policy, or you may offer a refund via Resolutions if you want to.

Business matters aside, I can only hope that the fact that your guest has busied herself with changing apartments, rather than seeking medical attention, means her present condition is not severe. If that's not the case, perhaps persuade her to get in an ambulance and deal with Airbnb later. They could take weeks to reply.

[Lydia-Jane0]

@Anonymous Thank you very much for your helpful and reassuring response.  I guess I'll try to follow up with the Resolution Center to find out what my options are regarding a cancellation like this one.  Sadly for me I had another guest waiting to book for the same timeframe, and lost out on her booking.  Darn, after so many months with no bookings at all I was really looking forward to this one.   Very kind of you to take the time to respond to me!

[Helen3]

As was on IB can you not cancel as you feel uncomfortable with the guest @Lydia-Jane0 

In the meantime, do turn off IB as you have vulnerable members in your household.

[Huma0]

@Helen3 

If @Lydia-Jane0  does that, she won't receive any payment for the booking, which I don't think is fair.

I really believe that it's a guest's responsibility to research the location they are travelling to and determine if it is suitable for them. The host shouldn't be the one responsible for that. It's outside of their control. Although a mention of this on the listing might help avoid similar problems in future, why is the asthmatic guests choosing the desert for her holiday?

The guest made an error, not the host so why should the host not get paid anything, especially given that she lost out on another booking?

As a good will gesture, she could refund some of the stay, but she shouldn't have to refund it all.

[Huma0]

PS I've only had two guests check out early.

One was a long-term guest and a total nutter. I was happy to refund the rest of her stay and be rid of her.

The other was staying for two nights but told me after the first night that she was an extremely light sleeper and couldn't stay in a room where you could hear any traffic noise. I politely declined her request for a refund because the traffic noise is very clearly stated on the listing, which she said she had read.

I'm sorry she had a bad night's sleep and had to relocate, but sorry it's her mistake not mine. People need to use some common sense when booking a listing. If you are a very sensitive sleeper, wouldn't you ask about noise before booking a room in an urban area?

[Sarah977]

@Huma0  I'm also a light sleeper (although traffic noise doesn't really bother me unless it's extreme), so I wouldn't think of not travelling with earplugs, duh.

San Miguel isn't just desert, it's at 6200 ft elevation, so a bad choice of vacation destination for someone with breathing issues.

[Huma0]

@Sarah977 

Yes, I can imagine. I don't have any breathing issues but still had problems staying in towns at high altitude in Mexico.

RE the traffic noise, clearly that was something that guest could not cope with, so I wonder why she didn't ask about it before booking (or simply read the listing like she said she had). It's not like I live in some rural area and, even if I did, I could still be near a road.

Now I make a point of reminding every guest who books that room, or the other one that faces the road, about it. It's lucky I do, because even my next guest decided to switch to the room that faces the garden as soon as I reminded her. Clearly, she had not read the listing either.

[Sarah977]

@Lydia-Jane0   What I don't get is how the guest thinks that moving somewhere else in San Miguel is going to solve her asthma problems. I've lived in San Miguel- it's all high desert, it's all dusty, and the elevation can trigger breathing problems in those who are vulnerable to that. I don't know how changing accommodation would solve the issues she had at your place.

Sounds like a typical case of a guest not bothering to do any research on where she is planning to travel to.

[Lydia-Jane0]

I have tried three times to reply but keep getting kicked off.  Very frustrating!  

[Sarah977]

@Lydia-Jane0  This forum can be glitchy. What most of us who post here a lot do, is copy the post we've just written so we can just repaste it into the response box if it doesn't post the first time. I know it's frustrating.

[Helen3]

As an asthmatic I would never book to stay in high altitude/dusty location  @Lydia-Jane0 

Believe me,  if she is online looking to book an alternative place she is not having an asthma attack. If you are having one, you need to seek hospital treatment immediately.

If she is looking to stay in an alternative place in the same location then obviously her asthma is not the trigger and  having re-read the posts again, @Huma0  is right, if she wants to leave then she should cancel.

[Huma0]

You know, I often find it odd that people who otherwise seem intelligent and hold down jobs where they have to make all sorts of decisions still manage to make such strange choices when booking an Airbnb.

I've had so many guests wanting to book when they are allergic to cats, even though it's clearly stated that I have three of them. It even says on the listing DON'T book if you are allergic to or have other problems with cats.

I've also had guests who are scared of cats, and I mean terrified. The last time this happened was when a husband booked for a week for himself and his wife. It was clear as soon as they arrived that she was frightened out of her wits. I asked him very bluntly why he would book a listing with three cats if his wife had such an issue with them. He just responded, "Because I liked your furniture." Turns out the listing they had just come from also had a cat and they had ended up hiding in the bedroom because the cat meowed at them and tried to get some attention, which they took to mean it was going to attack them.

[Lydia-Jane0]

Thank you all for your responses, I've had trouble replying, kept getting error messages....  Yesterday I got a text from guest saying AirBnB had agreed to give her a full refund.  AirBnB called me but I was unable to talk at that time and they did not call me back as promised.  I thought "How could AirBnB agree to a full refund without even TALKING to me?  What is the guest made the whole thing up???"  Makes no sense.  I checked this morning and the funds were still there so I transferred them out.  I don't mind giving the guest a partial refund, but do not think I should have to refund all of it:  she had the option to come review the place prior to her reservation, and declined to do so.  She has a potentially chronic health issue, yet booked into a high desert location, with seemingly no thought for her condition.  I will give AirBnB a thorough questioning on what is happening here and why they would promise to give her a full refund without even talking to me first.  Sheesh!  

[Anonymous]

@Lydia-Jane0  If Airbnb had genuinely told the guest they were fully refunding the guest out of your payout, this action would be visible in your account. I wouldn't rule out the possibility that the guest was either mistaken or lying.