Each week we see posts from hosts who receive a frivolous refund claim, or have been threatened with a poor review if they do not approve some sort of a refund.
When it comes to a stay refund the guest feels they have the upper hand because......
1/.....The host won't want to receive a negative review and comply.
2/.....Airbnb will have more sympathy with the guest than with the host.
I prefer to turn it around and put the guest in the hot seat!
I have been fortunate, it has only happened to me twice. The second one I had a fair idea was coming. We had a power blackout one afternoon for about half an hour when a vehicle hit a local power pole interrupting the supply.
It didn't adversely affect the guest, the cottage stayed a comfortable temperature and the TV operates on either mains power or battery. But this was a difficult guest, they had more expectations than satisfactions. We have all had them, haven't we!
Two days after their departure they sent me a message in the message stream about the same time I receive a refund approval notification from the Resolution Centre. The guest was after a refund for the afternoon of the power outage.
This is how I handled it........

I was pleasant I never gave the guest a hint at any time that I was annoyed with them, but the guest now knew I was aware of their claim and how that might affect my review.......I turned the tables on them!
Now, the guest was entitled to something but, 60% on one night for essentially no inconvenience was a bit steep, but as I said I expected it so, I threw it all back on the guest......if they expected any sort of refund, I expected a good review.
It worked, in both instances I didn't get a review......but the guest didn't get a refund either, I never heard anything further and the problem disappeared. I was prepared to refund something dependent on the review I got, but this way worked out better for me.
I even got a congratulatory response from the Support Team.......
So, if the guest wants to make a claim for a frivolous refund, make them earn it.
Cheers.........Rob
**[Private conversation with Customer Support removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines]