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I’m about as anti smoking as they get but I don’t assume that. There are no magic walls that separate property either. I don’t know how far away “the tenant” was but the guest really seems out of line to me.
One of the bad things about everyone now smoking outside is that it’s ruined the outside in many cases. One can’t walk in a crowded city without being assaulted by cig smoke. I have a neighbor below me, some distance, but he goes out multiple times daily and nightly to smoke and cough. If the wind is right I get to smell it too. Same when the next door neighbors have friends over who smoke. Outdoor dining was preferred until all the smokers went outside. Now the outside is starting to be regulated as well and the numbers of smokers keeps declining in the US.
Nevertheless, the lady in the OPs post must be one unhappy person.
Technically, the order does not go into effect until tomorrow and the booking was already made. In any case, the guests booked, asked about cancellation and are apparently too inept to do so.
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As the traveler it is their problem to resolve with Air. The host should not spend any time on it.
That is so wrong. If a host is not permitted to host due to govt. restrictions, it’s the host who needs to cancel. This is what hosts all over the world have been doing if their govt. has prohibited them from hosting.
In many cases, the guests are happy to just change the dates.
Wrong! The host is NOT prohibited from hosting. The GUEST booked a stay in a different province. They are the one’s who are in violation so they need to resolve it.
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Why should a host spend their personal time calling Air to fix a problem that they DID NOT CREATE? Why should a host risk their stats by issuing a host cancellation? Ridiculous!
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The guest can darn well sit on the phone for gosh-knows-how-long and fix it.
I also live in BC. I follow the suggested Covid travel restrictions and have personally called Airbnb to make sure every guest gets a full refund and I don’t get fined or lose my superhost.
I cancelled from Nov until the middle of March and now 7 bookings until May 27 when the new announcement is made.
I offer my guests a discount when they book next time.
Every guest has been understanding.
I rarely wait on hold more than 3 minutes.
Ok, sweetie. None of that changes that the Guest needs to cancel and sit on hold with Air for their refund.
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It is not the hosts’ problem, not in the least little bit.
Well, some hosts don’t actually consider it a big problem to try to make things easier on the guests.
If I were a guest and restrictions had just come down after I booked that meant the host couldn’t honor my booking, I’d be a whole lot more likely to book in the future with the host that said, “I think I can cancel this without incurring penalties, since it’s a govt. mandate. Let me check it out and get back to you” than the one who said “Your problem. Work it out with Airbnb”.
Sad you can’t even acknowledge that you were wrong and the guest booked before the legislation changed .
And yes it absolutely does. If it’s not legal for a host to host a booking the host has to cancel . It’s called running a business.
It took less than five minutes for me to cancel each booking - the fact that you wouldn’t do this for your guests sadly say much more about you as a business owner and your approach to looking after your customers.
First, the legislation did not change last Monday; there was an announcement that the legislation was going to change on Friday. The details were very unclear and the announcement kept changing throughout the week. So it would have been premature for the op to cancel when this discussion started.
Second, the restrictions might not even apply to that guest. We did finally get our list of what constitutes ‘essential travel’, and it is a long list. There are still lots of reasons why a person might be traveling, and it’s not up to hosts to police this. In fact, the police don’t even want to police it. I think the guest needs to decide whether to cancel based on their own reasons for travel.
I think it’s a mistake to base one’s judgement of another host’s choices on how things are in a different part of the world. We have a whole different set of circumstances and we should be following the advice and restrictions of our own health officers.
Agree to disagree. You believe the host should do it. That is merely your opinion. The actual BC code places responsibility on the TRAVELER.
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My time equals money. That is running a business. How nice that “you get through in 5 min”. Many experience otherwise. This is well-established. And, who knows what undertrained bonehead one might get.
Of course you should follow restrictions fot your own area.
Our advice was based on what @Icklemiss said was happening in their area.
However, if the restrictions now mean that @Icklemiss cant now host this guest then they can cancel the bookings.
You may not want to ‘police the restrictions’ as you refer to it. But in most countries business owners whether it is an STR , pub, shop or restaurant for example are responsible for ensuring they operate under current legislation.
In practice for STRs it’s not difficult. If someone wants to travel in your area they provide written proof that they meet the restrictions . If they can’t hosts don’t accept the booking
You are correct some hosts won’t want to do so, either because they would rather accept the money and turn a blind eye or because they don’t believe in Covid restrictions.
I gave you repeated clarification on what is happening here in BC. You continue to assert that a host who FOLLOWS THE GUIDELINES and MAKES DECISIONS BASED ON THE LAW AND AIRBNB POLICY is being selfish and ignorant.
You keep referencing YOUR laws. Your laws are different from ours, because your situation is different from ours.
…edited to remove incorrect information…
BC’s rules keep changing, and we keep adapting to the changes. Now that there are variants of concern coming into our province, we are asked to stay close to home, except in certain circumstances.
This doesn’t exclude the use of STR, and if it did, then the legislation would specify it. Unlike other jurisdictions, BC has placed no such restriction and there is no associated fine. I mentioned that someone who shared their space with a traveler might have a different risk assessment and choose not to host, and I was criticized for that. I say bug off. I will continue to follow the local laws and recommendations, and adhere to Airbnb policies, thank you very much.
Absolutely correct. Unless prohibited, by law, there is no reason why an STR cannot operate while perimeter restrictions are in place, we’ve been doing it off and on for fifteen months now and it was only during the Spring of last year where we were closed by decree (i.e. law). All these essential travellers have got to stay somewhere!
Well, that clarifies that then, meaning my original comment (post 3) still stands. It is up to the guest to cancel if, a) they feel unsafe travelling or b) they feel they are not included in the list of essential journeys, nothing for the host to do.
Having been subject to various confinement orders over the past while, and currently under one now, which severely restricts our movements to solely within our province, I had a quick swatch at your actual order.
It’s pretty limp really, minimal enforcement and an exemption list with so many get outs that it makes you wonder why they bothered. I hope it works for you folks.
Um, no. Your fourteen day per 100k figure is around 180, a lot higher than most of the UK and higher than our little petri dish of a city in Spain (138 per 100k). I’m sure once your vaccination program picks up a bit of speed this figure will reduce. It’s what we are hoping to happen here.
