Guest wants to leave a day early

[Nicole103]

The guests have been staying since 21. July and due to check out on the 31st. Guest says she's had facial surgery and needs to leave a day early as she has post surgery drainiage problem. I have sympathy, but my view is that she's suggesting a full refund (my most lucrative night as its a Saturday) under the circumstances. What should I do?

[Melanie58]

Your booking policy shows your cancellation policy is "flexible" which means a full refund one day prior to arrival, less fees.  The guest isn't really giving 24 hrs notice, but they are under stressful circumstances.  It also appears you would have granted a 15% discount since they were staying a week?   

I guess my inclination would be to get it sorted out as quickly as possible so you can put the night back up and maybe have a last minute booking, but since you already granted a 15% discount, I wouldn't refund your "full price" - I would take whatever the total charge was for the nights, divide by 10, and then consider the premium you typically put on the weekend price and deduct that - so say it cost $1000 for the 10 nights, that's $100 per night, but if you typically charge $20 more on a weekend, then maybe bring it down to  a refund of $80.  Something like that.  You can just alter the reservation and ask them to accept it.  I wouldn't do a 50% refund or anything like that, just something kind of obscure based on the reasoning above, and send the alteration and say "I am sending you an amended reservation to accept which removes your last night stay and refunds the amount owed for that night.  Please click accept to cancel the last night and receive the refund."  If they ask questions about the amount being refunded, simply explain that they received the 15% discount which brings the rate down, and that you charge a premium price for weekends.

[Nicole103]

Thank you Melanie for your detailed and very helpful answer! Its quite a protracted process to try and get a relatively non urgent problem like this solved (trying to contact the community is a bit like trying to contact Amazon - not easy but I guess it must be designed like that for a reason!)

I have taken your suggestion and sent the guests an ammended booking, but the amount refunded was set by the website, so I just went with it. 

While I have your attention, these is another question: I have smart pricing on, which is why I guess the 15% discount you remarked on was applied. It certainly isn't something I did via a special offer or anything. Can you explain if you think smart pricing is a good idea? do you use it? I have it set on wanting to host as often as possible. As I only started last year with Airbnb when my nightly rate was £80 no matter what day of the week, I#m planning to see how the income looks at the end of this year (with smart price on ) compared to last. 

Do you think that super host status affects Airbnb's smart price algorythm? Does the lisiting value get affected by that? 

Also, what does the level number mean next to your name (level 7 in your case)?

Thanks in advance! Nicole

[Melanie58]

Here are my responses:

Q: I have smart pricing on, which is why I guess the 15% discount you remarked on was applied. It certainly isn't something I did via a special offer or anything. Can you explain if you think smart pricing is a good idea? do you use it? I have it set on wanting to host as often as possible. As I only started last year with Airbnb when my nightly rate was £80 no matter what day of the week, I#m planning to see how the income looks at the end of this year (with smart price on ) compared to last.

A:  I am a relatively new host too - newer than you!  Your place looks so nice!  The 15% discount is set in your "pricing settings" which is where you set the smart pricing on or off, but it is in another section called "long term discounts". You can set a weekly or monthly discount.  I have set a weekly discount of 10%, and a monthly of 0% because I do not take monthly guests (my max stay is 10 days right now.)

Q:  Do you think that super host status affects Airbnb's smart price algorythm? Does the lisiting value get affected by that? 

A:  I have heard people say that they think smart pricing is very bad for their area - I suppose it may vary from place to place.  So far, I have found it to be reasonably good and more convenient than coming up with my own strategy or paying for a third party pricing service.  I have only been hosting this month.  I like that it puts a premium on weekends.  I also read in the information that instant booking and smart pricing help you show favorably in search results, though I do not know why or how.  

Q: Also, what does the level number mean next to your name (level 7 in your case)?

A:  I think it means I am a lonely lady who spends too much time on the internet answering random questions lolz.  

[Andrea9]

@Nicole103

When ammending a booking the software makes an automatic calculation that you can easily override by typing in the amount you wish.

[Nicole103]

Thx Andrea! What does level 10 mean? Have you answered 10 community questions? Curious!

[Mike77]

10,000 community questions.

😉

Mike
AirBnB Treehouse for Rent
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/7292887

[Andrea9]

10.000! so many - yikes, need to get a life LOL!

[Andrea9]

You're welcome @Nicole103  🙂 and 

Level 10 - that's scary...  loads more than 10 answers but I have no idea how many. I joined early this year and have learned exponentially from knowledgable experienced hosts myself which made reacting to my own hosting situations so much easier too. 

[Ephraim0]

Hi Nicole,

What a beautiful Chalet with great reviews. In such circumstances I find that we as hosts are at the guests mercy. Certainly she is not entitled to any refund. And personally I can't understand guests that won't own up to what their reposnsibilities and are OK with placing these sorts of burdons on hosts. But not all people are decent and honest. IMO the risk of having a guest leave a less than satisfactory rating outweighs the loss of a nights stay. Think of it as paying for advertising and issue her a refund. Certainly she is petty to even have the nerve to hint at it. But you have a flex policy and even if it's less than 24 hourse I would just issue the refund with a smile and write off the loss.

Best,

Ephraim

[Nicole103]

Thanks Ephraim - you are right, I have done the deed and refunded via an amended booking. Poor lady just had facial surgery and hasn't left the chalet for her entire stay, maybe she just really wants to go home and who would blame her. 

Just need to take the good with the smooth, no point adding to her stress!

Take care and all the best