A US woman has called out an Airbnb host in Florida for their “lack of empathy” after they refused to give her a refund for a holiday she booked for her family before Hurricane Milton struck.
Kaitlynn Thayer, a mother of five, took to TikTok to air her grievances with an Airbnb host who owns a beachfront property in Amelia Island. Hurricane Milton made landfall near Sarasota County’s Siesta Key on 9 October, spawning dozens of tornadoes, 28ft waves, strong winds, heavy rainfall, and devastating storm surge, leaving 23 dead and over a million homes without power over the weekend.
In Amelia Island, where Thayer booked her family Airbnb rental, an evacuation order was put in place in some areas the same day Milton arrived, with storm surge projections of over five feet and high tides.
Thayer posted a video on social media that has now gained over 160,000 views, explaining how she requested a refund of the first two days of their vacation in Florida, arriving on 11 October rather than 9 October, so they could wait out the more severe impacts the hurricane would have on the area.
However, despite trying to negotiate with the host, they refused to offer the family of seven a refund despite the incoming dangerous storm.
“PSA to all Airbnb owners,” Thayer started. “If there is a hurricane coming towards you and somebody says ‘hey, I don’t wanna cancel my vacation, I would just like to push it out a few days to make sure that, one, you have power, two, you have enough resources from locals if you lose power, three, it doesn’t feel safe to drive into a hurricane, and four we are travelling with children that need to have state-approved papers to travel across state lines’, and you still make them forfeit their money, that is a lack of empathy and humanity.”
While the family booked and paid for the Airbnb back in June, when they realised the seriousness of the Category 3 hurricane that would impact Florida, they called the host a few days before they were due to leave to ask what their options were now Milton was on its way.
At first, she claimed that the host was “trying to ignore the situation,” but gave her the benefit of the doubt as they continued to talk over a few days, but the host eventually decided that she was not refunding any money.
She offered the family to change their vacation dates, but due to laws surrounding travelling with foster children, she was unable to accept this as a compromise.
“As a business owner myself, I just can’t fathom charging someone for services they didn’t receive,” she said.
She also noted that should something happen while they were there, they did not want to take resources that could have helped locals and also did not want to be a liability for the property owner.
Initially, she called Airbnb, which said there was not much they could do, but once parts of Amelia Island were placed under an evacuation order, Thayer said in a follow-up video that Airbnb’s executive team actioned a full refund for the family.
Thayer said that all they were trying to do was “keeping our children safe, being responsible foster parents and, at the same time, not pay for a vacation we are not taking”.
Airbnb has a ‘Major Disruptive Events’ policy in effect in parts of Florida that allows guests and hosts to cancel or implement a refund during certain events that could prevent or legally prohibit the completion of a reservation, such as evacuations due to hurricanes.
However, hosts are not subject to offering refunds just because of a hurricane, there has to be another event, such as an evacuation or large-scale utility outages to prompt a refund.
An Airbnb spokesperson further explained to The Independent: “This policy means hosts can cancel eligible stays without consequences, and guests who have an eligible booking can cancel for a refund.
“Hosts and guests can see eligible bookings on their Airbnb account via their Trips page. Our 24/7 customer support team is also available to help with any questions.”
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