I am disgusted by this host's behavior and lack of empathy during a natural disaster in Texas.
I reserved 3 nights in this accommodation starting on Friday 12 February through Monday 15 February. Once the extreme arctic freeze hit Texas, the roads became non drive-able and covered in ice so, in the interest of personal and public safety, we made the decision to cancel our reservation. Public authorities were asking Texans to stay home and off the roads and the Governor of Texas issued a disaster declaration that same day so we cancelled due to the natural disaster that was occurring.
We had already paid for the booking in full several weeks before so we reached out to the host and asked, given the circumstances, if we could change the dates and not lose our money. They said no. I politely asked them to reconsider given the disaster that was occurring in Texas and they abruptly said no again. I then had to escalate the issue to Airbnb just to get my pet cleaning fee returned. Airbnb asked this host to consider refunding our payment due to the natural disaster extenuating circumstances clause in airbnb's cancellation policy, and they still said no. This is unacceptable.
Where you spend your money matters. There are many airbnb hosts who showed up for their community during this natural disaster, this host did not. This host capitalized financially on the disaster and left us no other option but to lose our full payment. I would not recommend staying here or supporting a host with such little empathy.