Hilton Head tourists, you may not get a refund for your rental canceled by Hurricane Ian

Many Hilton Head Island visitors are facing the choice to cancel their trips this week and into next amid uncertainty on how much damage Tropical Storm Ian could leave behind.

But even if a vacation was planned well before the storm, some short-term renters don’t consider the natural disaster an “extenuating circumstance.”

According to Airbnb’s extenuating circumstances cancellation policy, hurricanes that affect the North Atlantic — including South Carolina — from June to November are “foreseeable” weather events excluded from cancellations due to unusual circumstances. The policy applies even if rentals are booked in advance of hurricanes or tropical storms forming.

While some natural disasters are covered in the company’s policy, those exceptions include only weather events without the well-defined seasonal seasonal cycles of hurricanes.

Vrbo’s online policy has fewer specific guidelines. The company encourages property owners to consider refunds in the case of natural disasters through cancellation waivers, but they are not guaranteed.

Mark Bonn, a tourism and hospitality researcher at Florida State University, said non-refundable cancellation policies aren’t unusual for short-term rental management companies, even when a cancellation is because of a trackable natural disaster like hurricanes.

Since short-term rentals are perishable, meaning they can only be offered for short times before being removed from the market, companies and individual property owners risk losing out on profit if they reserve their spot for customers who don’t show up, Bonn said. Stricter cancellation policies essentially act as a form of insurance for property managers.

“Perishability is huge in short-term rental management,” Bonn said, “so most companies are really great about handling their cancellation policies.”

Most companies or owners will seek to compensate customers in other ways, like credit or offering to reschedule, Bonn said. That way, the renter still has some guaranteed revenue and the customer isn’t turned away from doing business with them in the future.

But even though Airbnb and Vrbo as rental platforms have refund policies for extreme weather owners can choose to follow, the owners can independently opt to refund if they like. Karen Doohan, owner of Magnolia Beach Rentals on Hilton Head, said she aims to treat her guests how she’d expect to be treated in similar circumstances.

“We had guests booked for Friday, and I actually reached out to them on Wednesday once I saw (the storm) was definitely headed our way,” Doohan said, “and I offered to rebook or refund them if they were uncomfortable.”

Some property owners choose not to refund visitors because they expect tenants to purchase travel insurance for their trips, Doohan said, but many travel insurance policies won’t cover vacations canceled by a storm unless an evacuation is ordered.

“There’s a lot of fine print in most travel insurance,” Doohan said. “From my perspective, I’ve found that when we do the right thing, it comes back to us tenfold.”

Diane Gard, who had her rental fully refunded by the property owner she’d rented from, said owners who act kindly in situations like Hurricane Ian are doing themselves a favor in the future by building goodwill with potential customers.

“The renter was a little reluctant, but who knew on Monday (when Gard canceled her trip) where this thing would go?” Gard said. “Owners who display empathy in these circumstances deserve some recognition. It seems like so many did, the safety of everyone is most important.”

Hurricane Ian is likely to impact hundreds of short-term rentals during a busy period of Hilton Head’s tourist season. In September 2021, 6,500 short-term rentals were available on the island, according to data from AirDNA, making September the third-busiest month in 2021 for rentals.

September is also one of the most expensive months to rent on Hilton Head, potentially losing many tourists hundreds of dollars if rentals are not refunded. In September 2021, the average listing on Hilton Head Island cost $359 per day, according to AirDNA.