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.

[Colleen253]

@MariaCecilia22  has the refund gone through? You could try calling repeatedly until you get a CX who will listen and accept your evidence. Maybe it's a matter of not giving up quite so easily. Maybe take  @Robin4 's suggestion and put the emphasis on 'guest extortion' which it CLEARLY is, and also Airbnb's willingness to be complicit. I know you just want this to go away, but it seems sometimes that Airbnb deliberately makes it so frustrating and stress inducing, that the defender will just  give up and go away. After all, it's no skin off their nose, as in the majority of cases, they keep their service fee and it's the host who loses. 🤷‍♀️

[MariaCecilia22]

No not yet,  but get this... no one can touch the claim because the senior case manager handling it is on vacation till Thursday.. so I have to wait till then.. what???

[MariaCecilia22]

Bottom line is the guest wanted a refund from the get-go and went down hill from there. CX will not side with me due to the fact that the guest provided a  picture showing 69 degrees but mind you she also sent me a photo showing 71 degrees. But of course shared only the 69 degrees photo. she also shared the dishwasher with dishes but the dishes show wet, so how can they even tell if the dishes were dirty? I have so many photos and videos but CX didn't even bother or is not interested in hearing my side or see my proofs but I went ahead and sent it anyway so they can see that I am not lying about the 77 degree temperature in the master bedroom. It started with 70 when I turned on the heater and the fireplace and after a n hour or two,  it was up to 77  degrees. 70-73-75-77 as the highest temperature, after that I lowered the heater.. cause it was getting so Hot in my house.  just so disappointed no support from them at all. except them paying the 25% for the stay and 25% of the cleaning fee. I still have to eat the other 25% each charges.

[Patricia55]

@MariaCecilia22 

So sorry about this... Where we are (NE of England), we'd consider a temperature of 69 degrees, in January, pleasantly warm! Otherwise, we'd put a jumper on.

I just don't understand people 😞

[Robin4]

@MariaCecilia22 

I know it's no consolation but, we bleed for you, we know how you must feel.

As an aside, but still to illustrate how Airbnb puts guests over hosts, there is another current post about a host who accepted a 14 night reservation. He offers a 12% discount for stays longer than a week. 5 nights into the stay, the guest cancels the remainder of the stay and because the host has a flexible cancellation policy, the host got paid 6 nights out of the 14 at the discounted rate. The guest also got refunded 8 nights at the discounted rate so the host got shafted into providing a 6 night stay for a 12% discount!

I am serious, can you possibly see any logic or justification for that......Airbnb do!

I am removing any long term discount offers from my listing and I will say in my listing description that any long term discount will be offered as a refund at the completion of the stay.

We can't even get Airbnb to do their maths properly!

Cheers......Rob

[MariaCecilia22]

Wow! Well they just responded and informed me that it’s my duty to refund the guest 50% of the payout reservation and as a courtesy they will give 25%  off of that 50%. Hey are also asking me to refund 50% of the cleaning fee because the guest pushed the button to turn on the dishwasher and washed 1 pan. In order to just lay this to rest I just agreed for them to refund the 25% of the cleaning I will refund the other 25%. I also expressed my disappointment  for not asking me once for my evidence showing what I discovered which is basically the guest was lying about the temperature so I went ahead and send a bunch of photos  for the record. I just want this to be over with, this guest was a total nightmare!!!!!! 

[Emilia42]

@MariaCecilia22 

This is making my blood boil! Please take some time and get as much feedback as you can about writing the review. Refund or no refund, you will surely not get 5 stars from this guest. I would never, ever want to host a person like this and your review needs to keep me from doing so. Robin's review is too soft, in my opinion, and this guest would slip through the cracks. 

[MariaCecilia22]

Oh yes for sure I will get No star if that is even possible or 1 star .. so disappointing , you bend over backwards and you still get cheated out of your money, and Airbnb is no help.. if anything they give your money away.. so sad.. 

[Colleen253]

@MariaCecilia22 What is further aggravating is that yes, the guest will no doubt leave you one star (let's hope I'm wrong here, but given integrity of this guest....) but it and the review will be allowed to stay, however if YOU were to leave the guest one star in every category, you can be very sure the guest will complain and they will remove it all. But the good thing here is that the review matters more than the stars for the guest, and also, hitting the 'do not recommend' button. Most hosts won't get to see the stars, if they don't have IB. I suggested a review in my previous comment. Listen to what others have to suggest as well, then come back here and run it by everyone before posting. Be sure also to come back here for help with a well composed rebuttal, after the guest has done her review. You have an entire community behind you here.

[MariaCecilia22]

 I think your suggestion is apropos..

complained of various discomforts, however decided to stay anyway, and requested a refund upon full completion of stay. Would not recommend to other hosts'. 

it is true, honest, and straight to the point.. 

[Michael3577]

Hell, every booking I've stayed, I had to handwash half the dishes. Never complained because if I complained about every issue I've had, I'd cap my head off.

I've just thanked Airbnb gods when someone has a set of pots and pans with lids.  Where do all the lids go in airbnbs?

[MariaCecilia22]

haha it's like the socks situation in the dryer.. where do they all go?... but on a serious note you just happen to be a good guest who is not so high maintenance.

if you are ever in lake arrowhead stay at my place all my pots and pans have matching lids. I promise..

[Mark116]

@MariaCecilia22   So sorry.  There is nothing wrong with 69F in the first place, so airbnb basing a refund off that is ridiculous.  77F, you should be getting money from the guest for an insanely high temperature like that!  I'm only seeing this whole thread today, but I had a feeling it would end up as worse than the guest wanting part of the cleaning fee refunded.  Maybe you can try opening a new case with someone else, others  have said  this sometimes works. 

[MariaCecilia22]

@Mark116, actually she took 2 photos, 1 showing 69F and maybe 45-1 hr later she sent another another photo showing 71F.

Well, it has turned for the worse... I am being robbed...

Honestly, the house is not cold and we often have to turn down the heat cause it gets too hot in the winter.. I don't know what her problem. is..

Maybe she was just really triggered with the full dishwasher and " dirty dishes" Not sure if that is true either.. cause she sent the photos mid wash... and I am not sure if she's really telling the truth because the photo she sent shows were kids' utensils, plates and cups and other regular cups and plates . The last guests before her were all adults No Kids and the cleaning lady always clean out the dishwasher and puts away the dishes before the new guests arrive.

[MariaCecilia22]

Update:

guest got the refund and left a review.. I’m too nervous to even leave one. So in 14 days the guest review will be posted.. and I’m sure it will be a low score.. let’s hope not too bad since she got a refund..