Happened to me!! Guest writes to cancel due to predicted rain the next day. We say no. So 7 minutes later, voila a death!! Airbnb says must be coincidence!! All they had to do was produce obituary from online without even showing they are related!!! I call it theft of services!!
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Unbelievable!! did you ask to move it up higher? That is wrong on so many levels! No coincidence.
did they look at the date of the obituary and see that the death occured before the day before cancellation for rain? Of course if the obituary is online then the death date has passed.
I talked with 3 supervisors!! They said they called funeral home and someone with that name died. I said did you know if they were really related? They said it would be too insensitive to ask!! I told them it was insensitive to steal $378 from me!! Reading this blog, it happens a lot!! They do little investigation of deaths as to not hurt feelings. There is an ehow article on faking bereavement. College profs say deaths of grannies SPIKE during finals. Appalling airbnb too afraid to investigate and furthermore will not let you see proof to challenge it.
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What about the fact that the death on the obituary happened before the day he called and said the weather report said it would be raining? Certainly obituaries donât get published within minutes of a death.
Hearing all of this just makes me sick
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Itâs really dismazing to see that they wonât back up a host even when they see the âdeathâ claim is 7 minutes later.
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âŚperhaps there is less effort and interest on Airâs part because they get their $pecial (uh, non-refundable) $hare any which way.
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Damn⌠there is an epidemic of dying MILs because I had a guest cancel for the same reason and Air backed them up. I was pissed.
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It seems happening a lot at the moment,a few weeks later I got another cancellation due to dead in family three weeks ago,this time from woman who said her mother died,but she has not made a claim yet.Her stay is July so plenty of time for me to get another booking.And two weeks later a guy emailed me to change his dates to October (4 days before his stay),claiming his father is in hospital.I said no sorry,it is short notice and if you want you can cancel your booking and make a claim.He cancelled,but again he has not made a claim yet.In four years hosting I have never had cancellation due to dead in family.
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I think this is particularly onerous for larger houses ( like mine ). The bigger the guest group, the more chance of an emergency happening to someone, or a someone of a someone. Last year there was a sister-in-law with an surprise early baby delivery. I declined to give a refund for a house full of 12 guests. In the end some came and some stayed behind, and it never went to airbnb, but I donât know what would have happened. I did document and keep it all on the message board and contact customer service ahead of time as a precaution.
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If it ad gone to airbnb, you would have lost. Period.
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Hi Jana I had the same issue twice in a row hostsforum.com/t/airbnb-overrides-strict-cancellation-policy-and-make-hosts-pay/6527
Not necessarily. I have been granted a SUPER strict cancel policy and air indicated to me they would back meâŚbut it never came to a final conclusion. This âsecretâ cancel policy is not available to everyone.
Totally true, airbnb will not investigate. Hosts. DONT MATTER, just like sellers on ebay. My guest messaged me on airbnb thst she wanted to cancel for rain, I refused. SEVEN MINUTES LATER, her father in law died. Airbnb issued refund.
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Vrbo will back you, but NEVER AIRBNB!!
If it was indeed BS, your guest âgamed the systemâ, knowing quite well Airbnb probably deals with a 1000 scammers per hour and doesnât have the inclination nor resources to get too deeply into any one case. Like the sue game, better to settle than fight it, because it will âcostâ (legal fees, bad publicity, time, etc) more in the long run; unfortunately, because then this pragmatic appeasement encourages even more scammers. Vicious cycle.
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Georgy,
How did you get invited to a SUPER strict policy? Was it available when you first put up your listing? Or did Air email you and offer it?
You and Mearns are the only ones now I have heard of that have it. Anyone else out there have it??
Is there a way for you to Private Message me?
I saw a listing in Costa Rica that had Super Strict as well.
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There is no specific time frame