New host. Guest wants full refund after checking in.

[Susan4255]

I am new host and I hope I can learn from all of you. 

thank you in advance!

Short after checking in, the guest, who is absolutely new to airbnb, was asking about AC. We don't have AC and the listing didn't say we have AC. So I told him that. 

Then after another 25 minutes he said it is not what he expected and the place is dirty. 

I offered partial refund immediately and sent my PM over (costed 50$ for him to drive over)

Giving the situation he offered him "Full cleaning fee refund of $99, a partial refund of $100 and having someone clean the place to his satisfaction immediately. "

The two night stay net me $380, with $200 off, $50 for PM's trip, and $120 for cleaning after he left, I am basically provide housing for free, but that is not the point, just to show my genuine efforts to solve any issues that they presented.  

The PM said the cleanness issues were insignificant--- at lease from his experience managing 20+ airbnb units locally. There were a hair on the bed, a finger nail on the floor and some sign of hand on fridge door.  The guest also mentioned dust under the bedframe. 

Now the guest has left and want full refund. I believe the key issue is about the AC. I don't think it is fair to offer full refund. 

So the question is what I should do at this point to minimize the impact. 

What is the likely outcome if I refuse the full refund request and he goes to airbnb? Would airbnb side with me and deny his full refund request, or more likely airbnb will give him full refund anyway?

Please help. Any suggestions is highly appreciated!!

[Z-2]

@Susan4255I will offer him refund when he was unhappy about AC and showing they want to leave in the first place. I don’t want to keep unhappy guests, it’s only hurts your review. For two days reservation, it is not worth it. Now, they left, the chance of they leave bad review is high. Since the listing is new, I will full refund to try to avoid the bad review. But will write a bad review for them in the last minute.

Also I know there are many houses without AC in CA since the weather is good.there. But some people get used to AC and will assume you have one especially you mentioned the house is newly remodeled. I suggest you put No AC in you description or in the first message you reply guests when they made reservation. I have a house no dishwasher, even though I didn’t list them, but when guests find out, they are still not happy about it. So I tell them in the first message for reservation. So if they are not happy about it, they can cancel it free in 48 hours. 

[Susan4255]

Thank you for your advice. I will setup an automated email about AC from today. 

[Kia272]

@Susan4255  Regardless of how you handled the rest of this, I would not call those minor cleaning issues. I'd be really grossed out by a hair on the bed, a nail clipping on the floor, and fingerprints on the fridge. The implication is that the place was not thoroughly cleaned. 

Your property manager is not doing his job if he is allowing turnovers like this without a thorough inspection of the unit. I'm not surprised that he found the cleaning issues "insignificant" if he's managing 20 local AirBnB units. He should not be paid for the trip over as he allowed the situation to happen. 

I don't believe your guest is being reasonable in asking for a full refund, but you do have to put yourself in the shoes of a guest who arrived to a not-very-clean unit, and then had to deal with the comings and goings of the PM, cleaners, etc. 

You are out cleaning fee you refunded plus the cost of your cleaners as the result of your unit falling short of expectations. That's on you, not the guest. 

[Susan4255]

Thank you so much for your help!! Very appreciated!

I don't want to criticize the PM as yet. I am not 100% sure if the cleaning issue is real, since they were talking about AC right after checking in (check-in time implied from smart lock record) and then there is a 25 minutes blank before they talk about dirty in general. 

Also if those were big issues, that means every guest can book your place, be unhappy for one reason or another, and then cut some finger nails and allow drop it on your hardwood floor. Your refund policy then become a total joke. 

I am not saying this is the case, there could be merit in the whole claim. I am just trying to learn how to deal with this kind of things.

[Marie6762]

I agree with kia272 that previous tenants’ hair, fingernail and handprint - 3 gross-outs in 3 separate places -plus obvious dust are a big problem.  I’d completely lose confidence in cleanliness and overall quality of the accommodation- wouldn’t you?  AC or no AC I might just want to be outta there!

[Mark116]

@Susan4255  Airbnb may or may not side with the guest, given that some of the issues...hair, smudges....have been documented, they may side with the guest and even put a note in the record about cleanliness.

It sounds like, from what you have explained, that the discount amount means you're already practically hosting the guest for free, so why not just tell him to cancel and give him a refund?  

The real issue here is that he can still, whether you refund some/all/none give you a review, which if he gives 1 stars will hurt the listing.  If its only a 2 night stay, maybe a refund is a better way to go, because there is a good chance you can end up with Airbnb giving the refund anyway. I hope this makes sense.

[Brian2036]

@Susan4255 

I think you refunded enough already. Maybe too much.

The old “hair on the bed” scam is common and very easy for the guest to fake. Same with the fingernail clipping.

 If anyone went through their house with a forensic vacuum cleaner they would find hairs from everyone who had ever been in there.

 I think this guest was planning to try to get a free stay before he arrived and immediately began looking for everything he could think of to complain about.

If he had left immediately Airbnb probably would have given a full refund, but he stayed and he should pay.

 I hope you clearly identify this thief in your review. I certainly don’t want him here.

[Sarah977]

@Susan4255  Regardless of whether the guest was lying about the cleanliness issues, your property manager's attitude that hairs, nail clippings and hand prints are "minor" is really bad, and I would venture to say the guest was telling the truth if the manager brushes off things like this.

One of the most important things to guests is that the place has been thoroughly cleaned and you will end up with bad reviews if you retain this property manager.

I would want my money back, too, if I found hair and naail clippings- that's just gross.

[Z-2]

@Sarah977 With all due respect, you will ask money back just because there is One hair on the bed? Even a good cleaner can miss that sometimes.

[Sarah977]

@Z-2  I wouldn't leave simply because there was one hair somewhere, but hair in the bed is gross and if a cleaner "misses" that, in conjunction with nail clippings and hand prints on the fridge, the cleaner is obviously doing a lax job and if the PM thinks that's normal, it's not a caring property manager and their attitude will lead to bad reviews. 

That was my point, not whether one hair found somewhere is worth a refund.

[Susan4255]

Sarah--Thanks!! 

I am not here defending the PM. I really need help/input/advice from hosts with much more experience than I. 

Going back to why I hired him. I started with managing it on my own. Hired cleaning people myself for about $150-$180 per turnover.  So it become economically prohibitive as I could not pass on  the real cost of cleaning. The PMs team is only $120 and things have been smooth so far. The PM explained that he could get a more reasonable price because of his volume. It is almost an employment relationship between him and the cleaning team. And  I am just a job, which means they tend to do less quality work.  The reality is: there is a shortage of cleaning providers and the PM brings in the cleaning relationship. 

So now if I hire another PM, which is not easy as there isn't an over supply of PMs but an over supply of ABNB housing----I am not certain if the new guy would be of better value. I am uncertain the new guy would be better in quality either. 

Maybe I am just better off renting the whole place to a long term tenant. This is so hard. 

[Lorna170]

@Susan4255   There are a few of your reviews that mention that it gets hot in San Jose and that you do not have AC.  I did not see where your lack of AC is mentioned in the listing.  AC is pretty much expected (even for my 1930's cabin) so you may want to consider what your options are, or make it VERY clear that there is no AC.  Since this guest initially complained about the lack of AC, and if the fact that there is no AC is somewhere in your listing, then you should not have been refunding the guest.

I would also have a chat with your PM.  If you have more than one guest complain about the cleaning, and the PM is dismissing it as minor, then he should not be paid to drive over there, and he should not be charging you for a second cleaning.  

[Sarah977]

@Lorna170  The host doesn't offer AC and it is crossed out in her amenity list, so guests have no legitimate reason to expect it or use that as a reason for a refund.

Of course it wouldn't hurt to mention the lack of AC in the listing description if it tends to be something taken for granted in the area.

@Susan4255  The very first line of your listing description is exactly what you don't want to say- "trying to be the cheapest place in town". You don't want guests to book because it's the cheapest place- those are exactly the kind of guests who will scam for refunds.

[Susan4255]

Absolutely. I will remove the cheapest thing today. It is not the right filter. Appreciated.