Airbnb friends displaced by Hurricane Ian’s path have relied on their hosts to decide on to refund them as a result of the corporate’s cancellation coverage particularly excludes points associated to the storm season in Florida.
Ian, which landed in Florida as a class 4 hurricane on Wednesday, dumped as much as 12 inches of rain in some cities, leaving tens of millions of houses and companies with out energy as timber fell and blocked roadways. The storm is without doubt one of the costliest in U.S. historical past, with an estimate of tens of billions in complete harm.
Floridians are conversant in hurricanes as they land practically twice as usually as Texas, the second most hurricane-prone U.S. state, which is why Airbnb covers some pure disasters in its coverage however doesn’t present refunds for climate “frequent sufficient to be foreseeable” in that state. Particularly, the corporate cites Florida’s hurricane climate amongst its exceptions, following an analogous coverage as different short-term rental companies like Vrbo and Expedia Group.
Hurricane Ian’s arrival is one other instance of the fragile steadiness between friends, who should pay upfront, and hosts, about half of whom lease out their properties to make a dwelling. Within the early days of the pandemic, Airbnb’s cancellation coverage got here underneath scrutiny as friends weren’t given refunds, forcing the burden of lodging onto hosts as an alternative.
Ultimately, the corporate rolled again the coverage and allowed full refunds, angering hosts dealing with mounting payments.
Disgruntled Airbnb friends on Twitter generally complain about all the pieces from deceptive advertisements to cleansing charges, however hosts have additionally turn out to be more and more disillusioned. On message boards and Fb teams, hosts share tales about their very own difficulties.
