partial cleaning fee refund due to dishwasher full of dishes

[MariaCecilia22]

hello, i have a guest requesting for a partial refund due to a full dishwasher when they arrived and they had to turn on the machine themselves. our cleaning lady said that it was empty when she left after cleaning our home. i feel this was an oversight and would like to honor the request of our guest but not sure how much refund i should give in exchange of the guest turning on the dishwasher. everything else in the house is clean and organized and she even said it herself, it was just the dishes that were in the dishwasher that the cleaning lady forgot to turn on,  an honest mistake on the cleaning lady.  the cleaning fee is $136.00. thanks.

[Bianca-And-Clint0]

First of all, the cleaning fee they are paying is for the cleaning that occurs after they leave.  If you are offering a refund, it shouldn't theoretically be coming from the cleaning fee they are paying.

Second of all, schmoozing goes a long way.  Can you stop by and say hello? Drop off a bottle of wine for the inconvenience?  If they are reasonable, that simple effort you make should smooth things over.

If they are unreasonable, there is nothing you can do.

[Rowena29]

I'm inclined to agree with @Bianca-And-Clint0 

To me - asking for a refnd for something like this is just ridiculous. For pushing a button? To even ASK for a refund over something so trivial seems to suggest she might be a difficult guest.

If you live nearby>i'd be inclined to go over there and do a really over the top apology. You know, insist on emptying the dishwasher yourself and putting everything away because she has ALREADY been so inconvenienced.  A bottle of wine is not a bad idea. If she still asks for a refund, Id be saying , How much do you think it's cost you, in effort and inconvenience, pushing the on button?

She sounds to me like the sort of guest who goes looking for things to be wrong so she can get money back.

If you really feel you should give her money, I wouldn't make it more than $10 max.  And explain the "cleaning fee" is cleaing up after her when she checks out, including all the linens being washed etc etc. 

Other hosts may have more creative ideas 

Good luck!

[MariaCecilia22]

@Rowena29 it's weird to ask for a refund for pushing a button and washing 1 pan... apparently was left unwashed. if i'm the guest would not ask for a refund for doing such a simple and easy task..  

[MariaCecilia22]

She is indeed a difficult guest and now is asking for a partial refund for the entire reservation after staying at my house for the entire duration of the reservation. She said that the house is too cold (71 degrees)... not sure what to do with this one... 😞

[Robin4]

@MariaCecilia22 

It looks like you live in the main house on the property which is right next door so you are in close proximity to your listing. 

As others have said, I would go over and apologise profusely for finding the cottage in a slightly unprepared state. Just state that it was an honest mistake for which the cleaner is very sorry and offer her a box of chocolates or a bottle of either red or white wine as compensation. 

If she said she would like a partial refund you can say...

"You can understand Airbnb get a lot of these refund requests for the most trivial of issues and they don't look particularly favourably on them these days. Most get rejected as its almost seen as a form of extortion, the compensation required doesn't fit the inconvenience, and neither of us want to be involved in that do we. I wouldn't want you to end up with a black mark against your name so, rather than go through the hassle of involving Airbnb I am offering you a reasonable gesture for the inconvenience of running the dishwasher. I hope you can see that, what would you like chocolates or a drop of wine, or is there some other small gesture I can make?" 

She will at that point feel a bit of an idiot for bringing the issue up and probably say look it was no big deal and you can then say, fair is fair I want to do something for you! That then makes you look good, puts the guest in your debt.

It does work Maria, I had one guest who on check-in wanted to have a shower and go out and I had forgotten to turn the hot water heater for the bathroom on.  He said it inconvenienced him and he felt it was worth a refund. I apologised profusely and told him by the time we had finished talking the water would be hot and would a bottle of red soften the inconvenience. It did and although he gave me 4 stars and mentioned it in the review, no serious damage was done!

Cheers......Rob

[Rowena29]

"You can understand Airbnb get a lot of these refund requests for the most trivial of issues and they don't look particularly favourably on them these days. Most get rejected as its almost seen as a form of extortion, the compensation required doesn't fit the inconvenience, and neither of us want to be involved in that do we. I wouldn't want you to end up with a black mark against your name so, rather than go through the hassle of involving Airbnb I am offering you a reasonable gesture for the inconvenience of running the dishwasher. I hope you can see that, what would you like chocolates or a drop of wine, or is there some other small gesture I can make?" 

---

 excellent strategy @Robin4 !!!!!!!!!!

[MariaCecilia22]

@Robin4,  I actually don't live next door but i have a friend who assist me in hosting. in this situation i won't be able to stop by... thanks for your suggestions, i was able to solve the issue and everything seems to be okay now and the guests want to stay and complete their 2 night reservation.. win-win situation for now.. until it's time to write a review and i'm sure i will get ding for this little oversight.. 😞

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

Ahh... humans are so spoiled today... and I noticed those from a few highly developed countries are the worst. Everything is an "inconvenience",  even pushing the button is a hard and unpleasant task to do. I don't know in which castle they live and how much servants and slaves they have around them but this is ridiculous.

We had a guest last month, she booked our studio for 35€ per night and then said we should work on more comfortable mattresses and a bigger bathroom. Yeah, right... it is easier for us to turn down the 60 cm thick supporting brick wall than for her to actually look at the pictures in our gallery and to choose another apartment with a bigger bathroom.

There is no hope for our planet.

[Susan17]

My thoughts exactly, @Branka-and-Silvia0. Always fascinating (and quite sickening) to observe how so many spoiled, entitled prince and princesses in the world today, seem to believe that even the slightest inconvenience for them, should result in cold hard cash coming their way (preferably accompanied by grovelling apologies, to make them feel even more powerful and important). 

A sorry state of affairs, indeed. 

[Michael3577]

Interesting the use of the word "entitled".  That goes both ways. My experience so far as most hosts think they deserve your money and also your silence.. not to mention a cleaning fee; they then say that you left the place unclean. 

Nobody's forcing you to be on Airbnb.

[Susan17]

And nobody's forcing you to be on Airbnb either, @Michael3577. Although with your last review, that's probably a non-issue for you now, as very few hosts are going to entertain you with that feedback on your profile anyway. 

[Robin4]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 @Susan17 

Hi ya Branka, hope you aren't freezin' to death over there!

You are spot on, we are in the era of entitled guests.....but the trick is to learn how to handle them. We have to be firm and yet make someone else look the bad guy. I use journalistic licence like a bloody Rhodes scholar!

I tell the guests all sorts of 'porky pies'!        I stretch the truth .

I will tell a guest that Airbnb will only protect both them and me if all guests that stay are registered with Airbnb!

I will tell guests that Airbnb frown on frivolous guest claims and in most cases reject them.  

Airbnb bend the truth of the situation to suit their own ends.......so do I.

I am the host, not Airbnb, look at my reviews and see if my listing description lead any of them astray!

We have to stop letting guests walk all over us.....and if that means stretching the truth.....so be it!

Cheers......Rob

[MariaCecilia22]

Well at this point it has turned for the worse . Last night I got a  message that the house is too cold. Yes it’s cold up at lake arrowhead during the winter but she had the heater on and the fireplace going. Now she said that if it’s not resolved then she might have to check out early... as far as the temperature of the house.. it gets really hot in all the bedrooms when the heater is on, so I only keep temperatures in the 70s + degrees.  I want to check for myself and test the temperature to see if it’s really cold at night with the heater on. I want to make sure this is not some lame excuse of getting out of paying for the two days she booked. 

[MariaCecilia22]

Latest update: Guests decided to stay after all.. i guess it was not too cold  enough for them to leave and cut their vacation short. I understand they have a little 6 month old baby but the heater and the fireplace were on.. except last night they turned off the fireplace  when they went to bed. I informed her this morning to keep the fireplace and heater on at all times because Lake Arrowhead gets pretty cold.  It seems the issue has been resolved and the guests is okay now. Thanks for all your support. I was stressing out as I don't want unhappy guests. I always  strive to provide the best service and a comfortable, clean and safe place.