Cancellation by guest after check-in

[Sophie446]

Hello, i am sure lots of you had the same situation as i have right now, but its for the first time for me.

my guest booked my aprtment for 32 days. He asked me about discound except of weekly discount i had offered and sent him special offer. 
he checked in and after 7 days ( late in the evening) he is informing me that he wants to leave the place next morning as near the apartment is construction and he says it is noisy.

he requested refund, but according to cancellation policy i have a right not to refund. 
what would be your advice , how should i react ?

would appreciate if you could give me some recommendation.

best wishes

Sophie

[Emiel1]

@Sophie446 

The "long term stay" cancellation policy does not provide a refund for the the unused nights if the guest cancels the reservation. Noise from construction work can be very disturbing, although not under your control, you can warn guests about it before they book (if possible).

Maybe shorten the reservation (If not yet cancelled), using the "change" option, and give the guest some refund (amend the price in the change form to what you think is a fair deal).

[Sophie446]

@Emiel1  Thanks so much !! 🙏🏻

[Brian2036]

@Sophie446 

Just be careful how much you agree to refund.

There are guests who are experts at cheating hosts by booking for more than a month, then leaving after a week and demanding a refund equal to the remaining nights at the normal daily rate.

This can sometimes result in giving them a totally free stay.

[Sophie446]

@Brian2036  OMG!! Exactly he even calculated the amout he wants to be refunded by me. 

[Brian2036]

@Sophie446 

You got one of the bad ones then.

Next he will be threatening you with a bad review if you don’t pay what he wants.

Please don’t pay him. He was planning this before he arrived.

 I don’t think he should get any refund, but if you give him anything at all you should make him pay 

$29 for every night he stayed plus cleaning fees.

Please note his attempted fraud in your review. These people have to be stopped.

[Sophie446]

@Brian2036  No, i’m not going to refund anything . 
I will take into consideration your recommendation !!

How even they dare such thing to do 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Colleen253]

@Sophie446 “Dear Guest, what happens beyond the walls of the accommodations is beyond my control.  However if you wish to cancel, I do understand. As per the terms of the contract you signed at booking, you will not be due a refund for your remaining nights. I will however be happy to refund you for any of the nights I am able to rebook. Please cancel as soon as possible to release the dates so that can happen. 

No, you don’t have to keep your word for this scammer. But you should get him out ASAP as who knows what he may try next. 

[Brian2036]

@Sophie446 

They do it because they can.

 I had it done to me and I didn’t know how common it is until I started using this forum. I actually felt sorry for these people before I found out that they had done it before and are actually traveling around the country doing it over and over again.

It’s a fun way to get out of paying rent.

[Sarah977]

@Sophie446  It's one thing for a host to choose to have a weekly or monthly discount if they are trying to attract longer term bookings, but be aware that guests who start out asking for further discounts than what you offer are red flags that you should be extremely wary of and probably decline. These discount askers usually turn out to be bad guests in other ways. 

Guests should look for listings within their budget, not find a listing they like and then try to chisel the host down on the price. You aren't responsible to cater to a guest's financial situation.

[Sophie446]

@Sarah977 Totally agree with you 🙏🏻

[Helen3]

You didn't say are there noisy building works going on which could impact on your guests stay ? If so mention this up front on your listing

also if the guest is only staying a short while and cancels any days would under your full rate not your double discounted rate .