Early departure of guests

[Lindsay-And-Pam0]

Hi Airbnb Community. Can you offer some advice on this situation. This is our first hiccup after 4 years of hosting and 150 5 star reviews. Our guests arrived today for check in and were very happy with the accomodation. It’s summer in Australia and On dark they forgot to close the doors and turned the lights on and were inundated with flying ants. They contacted us ans we went down to the cottage and most had died and dropped on the ground. We took measures to kill the balance of the them which weren’t many by now but now the wife says she can’t stand it she has to leave. Well Ok we say we will pay for a nights accommodation for them, will have the place cleaned and refreshed for them ready for the next day. She’s saying we will need to organise a refund ? So I’m happy to refund a night but they had booked 5 nights over New Year’s Eve and im not sure I should be refunding it all when really it’s not even my fault and im prepared to make it right. Any advice ? 
ps. I’ve just checked and they’ve packed up and totally left. 

[Emiel1]

@Lindsay-And-Pam0 

Did they cancel the reservation ?

If not, shorten the reservation to what you think is a fair deal (you can also amend the calculated price in the shortening form) and sent it to them.

[Colleen253]

@Lindsay-And-Pam0  I don't think this situation warrants any refund at all. What happened was a direct result of the guest's actions, and you did what you could to help them out. In fact you went over and above in your response.

The guest needs to actually cancel,  if they haven't yet, and be held to the cancellation policy they agreed to. If they haven't, you can do as Emiel suggested in shortening the booking. Sounds like you will be in for a bit of a further battle with the guest, who has made some assumptions that appear equal to their lack of common sense. Hold your ground. 

[Jason114]

On one hand, if this has happened more than once, it may be a good idea to put a sign on the door. Otherwise, in addition to what @Colleen253 is saying (which I tend to agree), please consider mentioning the situation respectfully in the guest's review. As a host, I sincerely appreciate these reviews for two reasons. First, it tells me when I may be dealing with an unfair guest. Second, some people really need to understand basic consideration and manners when dealing with others. Treating others rudely this way should be called out. 

Of course, do what you can to avoid these situations all together. But if you're being treated unfairly by the guest, it should be mentioned in their review.