Unplanned power outage/Airbnb refund to guests comes from host's takings

[Frances52]

Just wanted to share my experience in hopes it'll be helpful to future hosts who may have similar situation.

We had a recent unplanned power outage from evening 5pm till following day 12 noon in the area. 

We live in a rural area and have been hosting for 7 years. We occasionally have minor power or water outage. We have powerbanks, portable gas stoves, camping lights etc ready for such eventualities. 

I just encountered the first time a guest has contacted Airbnb and then messaged me:

"Hey Fran, just so you know we reached out to Airbnb support to see where we stood as clearly it's not your fault that there was a power cut so wanted to see if there were any insurances etc as would be unfair of us to expect you to rebate us for the issues. They've said they will likely get in touch with you 👍" I replied okay, I would watch out for Airbnb message.

So, Airbnb has called me and said according to "Airbnb policy, guest can be refunded 30% of cost of first night stay," and if I was okay with that. I said, yes. Then, after I had agreed, I was told that this 30% would be deducted from our future earnings as payout for this booking has already been sent.

Bit cheeky way of phrasing things, isn't it? I don't know whether Airbnb would have compensated my guest if I had not agreed. I imagine not. Airbnb would probably have asked guest to try and negotiate a refund from us.

I don't mind refunding 30% to my guest for the inconvenience even though not our fault.

But I wanted to understand what exactly is covered by Aircover to both hosts and guests. So, I  scoured this community support site to see what other hosts have experienced or done in similar situation. 

I also debated whether to let my guest know that this refund comes from host and not any 'insurance.'

My conclusion: 

Aircover only covers guests for 'serious' issues. (And even then, I suspect the refund would be deducted from host, e.g. if there was misleading listing, not providing important amenity as stated in listing).

Also, I think it'll probably be helpful to share with guest what is actually covered by Aircover for guests. And that the partial refund comes from host, so he will know in future whether he wants to do so or not. (Given that from his message, I get the feeling he did not set out to penalise us for something beyond our control.)

So, anyways, I'm sharing with you my fellow hosts,  including screengrabs of Aircover wordings for both guests and hosts.