Issue with guest. Being bribed for a 5 star

[Alexandre878]

I would like some feedback on how to handle this situation. From the beginning I had a feeling she is trying to search for a refund due to her parents not able to come to to covid and to respect 1 family covid bubble. Here is out conversations all by text message. Found it weird she switched from airbnb  to text message. Please note this happened during our biggest storm of the year.

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Thank you for your responses in advance.

Alex

**[Private conversation hidden - Community Center Guidelines]

[Colleen253]

@Alexandre878 It's too difficult to get the full picture of what happened here, through those posted images. A brief written synopsis would have been more helpful. But here are some quick takeaways for you. Bribing for a good review is against the T&C and a guest or host should be reported for that. However, you mention that the communication went off platform. Unfortunately, that is also against the terms, and the only way to prove the attempt to Airbnb is through on platform communication. Always, always, stay on platform. You do not need to provide a refund for something that is out of your control, such as weather. Refunds are more appropriate if a listed amenity is unusable, though. I think I see mention in your screenshots of amenity issues.

[Alexandre878]

Hi Colleen thank youvfor the reply here is a summary:

20h03 received call from customer she can make it up to the cottage due to snow

20h30 we look for hotel because my snow removal company does not answer.

20h35 she tells me hotels are closed and I find a snow removal company

21h20 snow removal company arrives they are in the cottage. 

The personne who takes care of maintenance also went with the snow removal company to shovel snow around the hot tub bbq and deco eventhough we have a 20h curefew due to covid.

Today she sends me this message screenshot provided:

So I just wanted to touch base on the space as you know air bnb will require me to write a review. Although we enjoyed the space we have a few issues. It was not until 9:45pm that we were able to enter the residence on the first day due to snow not being removed even though check in was at 4:00pm. This left us on the side of the road for hours which was a huge concern considering there is a provincial curfew at 8:00pm and this put us as risk for a fine. The hot tub and backyard area was not cleared of snow until the following afternoon almost 24 hours after check in making it not accessible the first night which included the fire pit, spa and BBQ. The space is beautiful and newly renovated and was very accommodating and clean. With all the wood in the space there is a carpenter ant issue and they were all over the walls ceilings floors etc. We killed approx 40ish ants during our 4 night stay and found them in our bedrooms. There were poison ant traps throughout the space which was a concern as the space is pet friendly we had to remove these as they are armful to pets. The stairs are beautifully refinished but not to code and steep. The dog was unable to go up them and had to be carried. The stairs were also held up by shims which was a little unsettling. We are happy to leave you a 5 star review because I know how important they are and overlook these concerns however we would like a bit of a refund for these issues. Overall the stay was good.

I replied:

Thanks for letting me know I understand your point of view and I appreciate you sharing with me.

For the check-in if it was a 16h this would of been not an issue for the snow as snow started at 16h and accumulated really fast between 18h and 21h. I got a call from you at 20h03. Please note even at 18h there was still no snow. Like I had said in a previous post it snowed 22 cm in 2hours that caused road closures in the area.

For the snow cleanup I asked them not to go not to early because you were going skiing in the morning. So after you left around 10h15 I told them to go do the cleanup because the driveway was free.

For the aunts that's the first time I hear somebody kill so many. I'm there often also and never seen so many. The poison in the traps are not harmful for dogs and are there for prevention because obviously we live in the woods and aunts are always around.

The stairs yes they are steep and haven't been re-done and looking at a way to make them closer to code but are ok as per insurance company.

Here are some pictures from the day of the storm and please let me know how much of a refund you'd like.

I also believe I did everything I could due to the circumstances.

Thank You

We also leave shovels in case.

As for the amenities she mentionned the balcony where the bbq and hot tub are that the snow was not removed the first night. The snow had started at 18h after there check-in time but my snow removal crew says it was done and the same time they came to open the road at 21h15 and the guests are provided shovels. I offer snow removal regardless as an added service for free since my guests appreciate it and mycrew go randomly around ever 2-5 inches of snow but not at 21h15 but since they had to go it was done.l which she denies. On camera I see him going in the back with shovel. However I have no camera in the back to respect privacy as per Airbnb T&C.

Thanks for letting me know to ask the guests to communicate by airbnb

[Lawrene0]

It looks like you took the bribe, @Alexandre878 ? You said in that string of messages that you would send the refund after you receive the review.

My feedback would be not to offer this. It does no one any good to cave in to review extortion -- not you and not the rest of us who will host that guest in future. 

If it happens again that a guest attempts to extort an unjustified refund, keep it on the platform, and let them do their best. You will have a valid, provable reason to get the review removed. 

[Alexandre878]

Yes and I realized it that did not feel right. Being new on Airbnb this will help for the future on how to handle this type of situation.

[Alexandre878]

As this just happened and reviews haven't been given or refund issues should I contact airbnb

[Lisa723]

@Alexandre878 yes. Report that this guest is violating Airbnb's terms of service by attempting to extort you. But first try to get them to say it on the Airbnb platform, e.g. say "I just want to confirm your proposal, you are saying that in exchange for a refund of $xyz you will leave a five-star review, correct?" Airbnb may not accept your off-platform messages as proof.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/548/airbnbs-dispute-moderation-for-reviews

[Alexandre878]

I've done what you said but no answer will see. Thank you

[Alexandre878]

I was able to make her copy paste into airbnb the following **

**[Private conversation hidden - Community Center Guidelines]

  

[Lisa723]

@Alexandre878 your content has been hidden. If she has confirmed her extortion attempt in Airbnb messaging, then in your shoes I would just stop responding to her and then if she leaves an uncomplimentary review report her to Airbnb and have it removed.

(If you want people here to be notified that you have responded to them you need to tag them.)

[Ann72]

You had guests checking in and had not plowed and cleared pathways and amenities before their arrival, @Alexandre878 - or so it appears.  Even though it's strictly against the terms of service, honestly you're lucky the guest gave you the opportunity to avoid a bad review.

[Alexandre878]

Yes it was plowed check-in was at 16h but guests arrived after curefew at 20h03. Snow really started to fall after 18h by 20h (in less than two hours) 1 foot of snow had fallen. I Posted picture 16h and 18h when there is no snow. 

[Lawrene0]

The curfew is what made everything difficult -- guests arrived after the curfew, after the snow had fallen all over the already-ploughed lane/paths. Montreal's covid curfew is something most of us can't imagine, as you have seen in the replies. I expect customer service will have a hard time imagining it, too, @Alexandre878 . Take that timeline you have written for us and condense it to a brief and clear explanation. If you find yourself contacting customer service, it will help. 

[Colleen253]

"I expect customer service will have a hard time imagining it, too," That quite possibly is the understatement of the century @Lawrene0 🤣

[Colleen253]

It certainly sounds like this guest is trying to play you @Alexandre878. Wouldn't most guests coming to a mountain chalet to ski be prepared to deal with and get through a snowstorm? Anyway, it sounds like you did what you could and were supposed to do regarding snow clearing and making the place accessible, and most guests would be reasonable and take the situation for what it was.

So you know, if a guest checks in and has an issue with the accommodations, then they are supposed to message the host (on platform) and give the host a chance to rectify any situation to the best of their ability. If that fails, and guest is unhappy, then they need to contact Airbnb, and vacate the place to be eligible for a refund. If they stay, then they are accepting the accommodations and need to pay for what they are using.

https://www.airbnb.ca/help/article/2868/airbnb-guest-refund-policy

Re the ants, you should make mention of them in your listing/things to know/house rules, as well as the traps that are there to keep them down. Both so that guests are not taken by surprise, and so that you have leverage should they cry 'refund' to Airbnb later. 

The rest of what the guest is claiming sounds possibly like more refund engineering, re the stairs and the dog, but you're the judge of that. Unfortunately, I see this ending badly for you in some way or another. Even if you refund the guest, you stand a good chance of them leaving you a bad review anyway (that's what these kind of guests typically do), or they will somehow wrangle a refund by going to Airbnb. If I were you, I would not give in to the extortion attempt, and do write these guests an honest review, so that other hosts know what they are in for.