Host emergency cancellation: Host has only 7 days to provide documents to ABB or will pay fine

I think there is a difference between a guest cancelling because they were worried about risks and a guest cancelling because a host asked them to.

If I was your guest and you wrote me and said “Just a ‘head’s up’ there is a possibility repairs will not be complete, and you may want to re-book at a host that can offer you certainty… I will not charge you cancellation fees on accommodation, and if Airbnb tries to charge you duplicate service fees let me know and I will re-imburse” – when Airbnb asked me why I was cancelling, I would not choose “Host requested” because you never did. You told them you would hold them harmless if they cancelled, and you extended the courtesy of h=giving them a head’s up, but you never asked them to cancel… you left it to them to decide how they wanted to deal with the risk.

1 Like

Wow – I was unaware of this, am surprised that guest-centric Airbnb would act (actually no act) this way. Hosts acting this way and Airbnb not enforcing their words really detracts from the integrity of the platform. Thank you for providing this information.

1 Like

If there is a risk that a property won’t be inhabitable for an already confirmed booking, hosts should put on their big boy and girl pants and cancel themselves, not ask the guest to cancel.

A confirmed guest should not have to choose between a risk that the listing won’t be ready and the inconvenience of having to find another comparable listing to book, regardless of whether the host fully refunds them or not.

If a listing becomes uninhabitable due to an emergency situation, the host should be able to cancel without penalty under the EC policy. If hosts accept bookings without knowing if renos will be complete, etc., that should not be put on the guest’s to cancel.

1 Like

I have my favourite little beach house on a Bahamas out-island, and I’ve been going there for decades (not Airbnb) – I actually lived on that island for a year.

If I had a reservation for this Christmas and the house was damaged by hurricane this fall and they weren’t sure it would be ready for me I sure would appreciate being give the choice (as guest) of taking the risk of maybe being told in December that I can’t come and maybe it will be okay rather than have the hosts simply say “the house may be ready for you, but because there is a possibility it might not be, we’re cancelling your reservation.”

In fact – if they unilaterally cancelled on me I would be disappointed and write back to them and say “I’m prepared to take that risk – you’ve done your duty and warned me, but I would rather live with uncertainty than face the certainty of not coming when there is a possibility the place will actually be fixed by Christmas.”

And that is why I would leave it to the guest to decide.

1 Like

You are talking about an atypical situation- a trip that is non-essential and which you could simply say " Oh, well, guess I’ll have to skip that trip to the Bahamas this year if it’s not repaired by then."

I highly doubt that most guests would be in that position. They would have flights booked, vacation time off work arranged, there may be a group involved who have all done that, and trying to find comparable accomodations in the middle of high season a month before check-in date, when anything of a comparable price is already booked, is the more common scenario.

I’m not saying it’s not okay to give a guest a heads-up and a choice, but if they aren’t willing to take the risk, it is the host’s responsibility to initiate the cancellation, not the guest’s.

2 Likes

Maybe 5 times I have got the guest to cancel, a few times saying covid, a few times saying extreme heat or fire danger. Often with five days of arrival. We have moderate policy.

I’ve put it on the message that they will be fully refunded if they cancel the reservation. If there is any question about how much the guest will get I contact Air CS and ask or point out that this refund is in full, and cancel is by guest, not me.

The reservation refund happened right away and I never heard from them again, so the must have gotten enough to satisfy, not sure about the timing, though for monies.

1 Like

Sorry it’s highly unfair for hosts to put guests in the situation where they have to choose whether to cancel when a host indicates there place is not likely to be available. @Spark

You cannot expect the guest to not choose the host initiated cancellation option when the host tells them their place may not be available.

It’s disingenuous to say the host will hold them ‘harmless’ and to say the host never asked them to cancel.

You are putting them in a no win situation…wait until closer the time and risk not being able to find alternative accommodation or cancel and risk your host not covering the guest cancellation fees.

2 Likes

I have only suggested to a guest to cancel once. This was at the beginning of the pandemic, in late March 2020, when little was known about the virus, it was spreading like wildfire, the death toll was terrifying, and lockdowns were being put in place all over the world without warning.

I have a moderate policy and was expecting her to cancel, but when she hadn’t by about 9 days before her arrival date, I messaged and said I didn’t think it was a good idea for either of us, considering my place is a homeshare with shared kitchen, to plan on coming. She agreed with that.

I knew that Airbnb was issuing full refunds to guests, including the service fee, so told her this, as well as if she had any hassle cancelling under the Covid policy, to let me know and I would work it from my end. She thanked me, and I never heard back from her so I can only assume it went smoothly.

In fact, she was coming from San Francisco, which locked down 2 days after this, so she would not have been able to come anyway.

1 Like

All of that applies to the my trip to the Bahamas – I would still prefer that the decision whether to live with risk is mine, and in my own decision making everything you cite I would take into consideration. I would not feel “put upon” when given the choice “Do you want to live with the risk of cancellation or do you want go elsewhere where you are offered certainty.” That’s putting me – the guest – in charge of how this plays out, not the host.

As I said, I don’t see anything wrong with giving the guest a choice, I see something wrong with the host asking the guest to cancel if the guest doesn’t want to take the risk.

2 Likes

This is a fair point.

My problem right now is…I have guests coming just before Thanksgiving. (Everything until then is cancelled, or I had blocked the dates anyway owing to a trip I’m taking).

I doubt very much the electricity will be OK in the cottage by Thanksgiving. The nice thing to do would be to cancel guests now, but I can’t provide enough paperwork yet within 7 days to make AirBnB happy.

My electricians’ assistant has been sick as a dog all week, so we are 3 weeks away from even an inspection, let alone wiring work. But all I have is emails and texts which are not specific enough for ABB.

In fact I will cancel the guests as soon as I have the documents ABB wants. ABB sends you a list of what they expect to see.

In the meantime I am trying to find other electricians which is likely to be unsuccessful, but I will try.

Ceiling repair will probably be needed too.

Under the PRIOR cancellation policies, if the host approved a full refund when the guest cancelled, the guest received a full refund of Airbnb fees.

Under the current policy if guest cancels within the free 48 hour period or if the host cancels, the guest receives a refund of the Airbnb fees. If the host approves a full refund, fees MAY be refunded. Based upon a recent customer service experience the guest and/or host must request the fee refund else it will not be issued.

When Airbnb announced the most recent cancellation policy imposing heavy fines against the hosts, it was presented as the changes protected the guests from last minute cancellations. Airbnb took the opportunity to protect/keep more of the booking fees.

Also Airbnb does NOT adjust their fees if you offer a discount or refund. Their fees remain static & based upon the original booking amount.

1 Like

what is this?
nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

If a host asks a guest to cancel a guest can indicate this when they cancel as one of the options .

Been there for the six years I’ve been hosting .

I see it it as a good thing to stop unscrupulous hosts trying to get guests to cancel on their behalf . @gypsy

It can also be abused by mad or foolish guests. Guest contacts host demanding refund and is turned down? Cancel but say the host asked them to.
Host offers refund for any nights rebooked when guest wants to cancel but tells the guest they have to cancel to open up the calendar for a replacement booking? “Host asked me to”.

Be extremely careful to keep all messages about cancelling on the AirBnB messaging system.

1 Like

Thanks for the heads up!

I have only done the guest cancel ask when nothing technically was " wrong" just pointed out there may be an inconvenience, or something such as extreme heat, uncomfortable for them. In the covid instance a departing guest tested positive and told me, so I notified my next guest and she canceled her stay. I let them know I won’t cancel but they can if they decide not to come due to our conversation. I have no idea if Air ‘host initiated’ button is pressed because these canceled reservations all went through with 0 problems.

Yes but if the guest does this Airbnb gives hosts 24 hours to accept or deny they initiated the cancellation @PitonView

So you can just deny the request for a host initiated cancellation.

I didn’t know that! I still stand by the advice to keep all things cancellation-related on the platform, but nice to know the host has some protection.

1 Like

This is one of the sneakiest guest-pandering things Airbnb does. So many hosts are not aware that accepting that request turns it onto a host cancellation with the attendant penalties and that those requests should always be declined.