Is this Extortion or Someone Being Nice?

[Stephanie365]

My last guest decided to cancel after his first night and wants a refund for his last two nights.

The reason: He said my cats were being too noisy. What he actually heard was me making more than one trip to the restroom.  I am very quiet, but in an old house, floor boards do creak.

In my "potential for noise" I do mention my cats. I also mention you will hear normal household noises.  These are also mentioned in my house rules under "Things you must acknowledge". 

At first, he tried to contact me off the platform, by texting my phone directly saying there was a problem with his stay. I responded to him on the platform...
"What was the problem? AirBNB requires we communicate through the platform."

He messaged back, "OK, not a problem. I was kept up for much of the night because of the cats running around above the bedroom. I hate to complain, especially because your place is lovely and you've been very friendly, but I'd like to cancel the rest of my stay and be refunded for the last two days. I'm happy not to give a negative rating if you'd like, since I read your materials and know that's important to you."

I responded with, "I'm very sorry they disturbed you. But I am a bit confused. Honestly, with the exception of when I got up around 1 am and they followed me around, they were sleeping with me (and my knee kept me awake most of the night) so I'm not sure when they were making noise? What time was this?"

His response: "Between 10:30 and midnight, and then again at 1am"

My reply: "I am very sorry I disturbed you."

His response:  "No worries, these things happen. I'm going to take off. I'd appreciate it if you can please fully refund me the remaining two nights of my stay. I'm happy to resolve this between us without complaining or leaving a negative rating, since I saw that Airbnb unfairly downranks you for that!

On one hand, I apparently did disturb him when I got up during the night.
On the other hand, he booked a home share with disclosed potentials for noise and he wants a refund for what was disclosed.
He's mentioned not leaving a negative rating in the same context as receiving a full refund for the remaining two days.

Thoughts?

[Sarah977]

@Stephanie365  Extortion, for sure. 

[Pat271]

Yup, he’s making a not-so-subtle threat.

[Anonymous]

@Stephanie365  Were you meant to infer that you'd get a negative review if you didn't refund the guest? Yes. Was it explicit enough that you could invoke the extortion policy to get his review removed? Maybe, but I wouldn't bet on it.  Did you walk right into this with the last paragraph of your House Rules mentioning reviews? Absolutely.  He called your bluff on that one.

I don't think he's entitled to a refund here, but I would've offered it upfront anyway. If a guest is unhappy with their stay, you want to encourage them to get the hell out.

[Stephanie365]

@Anonymous   My house rules don't mention reviews. Nothing in my listing information mentions reviews EXCEPT if you feel that driving an extra 5-10 minutes to restaurants will negatively impact your location rating, then please book closer to town. I got tired of meeting my guests in the driveway and asking them how they were enjoying their stay and having them say, "Oh it's lovely here. I just didn't realize you were quite so far from town" and then getting the dreaded 4* for location in my review. What exactly do they think "Off the beaten path" means? <face palm> 

Literally the ONLY reference to reviews I have in my home is an article published by Forbes magazine that addresses the confusion between Hotel Luxury Star ratings vs AirBNB's performance star ratings.  This article is in my Welcome Manual for guests to read if they so choose. There is nothing in the article that tries to influence a guest's review.  I feel that if a Host puts their personal note addressing the review system, it might come across as trying to influence a guest's review. By leaving a 3rd party resource to clarify how the review system works, it removes any possible bias a host's personal note might imply about how a guest should review me. 

What you might be confusing is under "Things you [the guest] must acknowledge" is that there are pets in the house. They might make noise (and I will do my best to stop it) and that I cannot guarantee an allergen-free home because the guest suite and my home share a common HVAC system. 

[Anonymous]

@Stephanie365   Direct quote from your House Rules:

"I would much prefer you give me the opportunity to address any issues to ensure your stay is enjoyable than to read about your easily rectified disappointment in your review after you've left."

Clearly your guest picked up on this, as well as the language in your Welcome Manual, as indications that reviews and ratings are a big concern for you. That emboldened him to use review anxiety as leverage. He overplayed his hand, to be sure, but he also correctly identified this text as a thinly veiled effort to influence your ratings.

[Susan990]

This is Extortion and the reason it exists and is presented to you is that the ABB review system invites it !!!  I really thought that when they went public that this barbaric draconian fascistic review 'thing' would be replaced with the international rating review system. I am still waiting..

[Stephanie365]

@Anonymous , yes I have that in my rules asking guests to contact me to allow me to address any issues (for example, adjusting the temperature, providing additional towels, needing an extra trash bag, etc.) rather than stew about it being too hot or too cold and only mentioning it in a review after they leave.  It is nothing more than a reiteration of AirBNB's statement that if you have a problem, contact your host. 

This is not about review anxiety, but about letting guests know it's ok to contact me about an issue than to suffer in silence. Because I want them to enjoy their stay and not be bitter because they only had 4 wash cloths for an overnight stay and needed 6.

It is also about leverage that if a guest doesn't tell me about a problem and complains about it in a review, I might have recourse to have that review removed because they didn't follow my house rules and allow me the opportunity to address the problem.

[Anonymous]

@Stephanie365  I've never heard of a review being removed because the guest didn't report their problem in the way the host preferred. Do you have an example of this tactic working out?

Honestly, everything before that sentence sounds very professional and hospitable. But that "easily rectified disappointment" line sounds bitter and condescending, and the last bit about reviews makes it sound like you care more about your status on Airbnb than about the guests' experience. Not trying to judge you personally here, that's just how it comes across from the guest perspective. If you took that whole sentence out, it would be a much better representation of the awesome hosting style that your guests rave about. Warm and caring, but still very much the Boss. But leaving it in switches the tone into defensive mode and makes you appear unnecessarily ready to fight anyone who dares to perceive a flaw. Like the kind of language a certain closeted Scientologist celebrity might put in his pre-nup.

[Brian2036]

@Stephanie365 

This is not someone trying to be nice.

Do your cats wear combat boots? If not, I doubt that he ever heard them.

 I would guess that his reason for leaving early has something to do with a change in his personal itinerary.

Anyway, you probably should agree to the partial refund and expect a bad review, because I doubt that Airbnb will refund their fees.

[Bonnie--Bon-Bon-0]

I would make sure in your review for this person word for word repeat what this guest said and report this to air bnb 

[Laura2592]

@Bonnie--Bon-Bon-0I don't know if I would. It could get the review removed.

I would probably just say "so and so was polite, but had difficulty sleeping in our pet-friendly space. We encourage our guests to fully review the listing prior to booking to ensure its a fit-- this guest would likely not be recommended to hosts in older properties with pets or children. Communication was a bit concerning.  We wish this guest the best."

[Kelly149]

@Stephanie365 Some subterfuge might work. ‘Sure, of course, I’m happy to refund, but ABB accounting for hosts is odd, we don’t get paid for several days after stays & then they take several days to process refunds (these are all business days so the whole process can take up to 2 weeks). I’m happy to pay back your stay after it all clears just lmk, thanks’. Of course only say that if you are willing to refund and just want to hedge bc of reviews. 
Or say no. & remind him that guest reviews are important too

[Stephanie365]

I did mention it takes some time for the funds to reach me and that I would be in touch.

I decided to be equitable and split the difference; He wanted a two night refund; I don't feel he's entitled to any refund in accordance with my listing description and my cancellation policy. So I sent a 1 night refund with a note saying I was splitting the loss with him.

Now we will see if he leaves a bad review and if AirBNB backs me like they said they would and remove it if/when he posts it.

[Summer64]

Would definitely refund him for the nights he didn't sleep at your home. As for the nights he did, I wouldn't refund. If he leaves a negative review, he leaves a review. I would also explain that he did stay there and that by refunding him the nights he isn't staying, you are losing money as those nights can't be booked at this later date. I would encourage him to leave a review that he believes is fair. Then, after he reviews you, I'd review him and warn other hosts. My thoughts. I would probably contact customer service now (before he leaves it) and put on record this incident. Then, if he leaves a horrible review call back and you're on record (pre-review) of the reason that he left a bad one. This might actually be good in the long run. If he leaves a bad review and complains about the noise, respond letting guests know he threatened one if you didn't refund him. This will show others you're willing to ride out a bad review and no one will try this again.