Should I give a refund after 3 weeks?

[Richard168]

Hi all,

We are fairly new to the air bnb community and were wondering if other folk have had a similar problem

We had two guests staying over for three nights and on the eve of their arrival our boiler broke down and we were in that awkward situation of not being able to cancel at the last minute AND not being able to offer them a hot shower after their travels.

The long and short of it is that we tried our best to get the shower fixed - which wasn't possible and arranging for them to have 7am showers at our friends' place etc. I offered them a refund for the remaining two days if they wanted to move to another Airbnb accommodation. However they chose to stay on for the additional days.

I tried my best to accommodate these guests' needs over that weekend including offering them complimentary breakfast, spending time explaining bus routes, things to do in painstaking detail because of this inconvenience.

Three weeks after checking out they are now asking for a refund of 50% of the total fee. Am I obliged to offer a refund now and what is air bnb's stance on this?

Any nuggets of wisdom would be much appreciated!

[Julie131]

Did they give you a review yet?  What did it say?

[Richard168]

Thanks Julie! They haven't left us a review yet. It's over the 14 day period so I am guessing that they can't leave us one now...?

[Julie131]

I am pretty sure they only have two weeks to do a review so that won't be an issue.  They probably got annoyed that they were being "reminded" by AirBNB that they need to do a review so they are lashing out.  Did they request this refund through the Resolution Link?  If so, you might want to just bite the bullet and give them the refund and put it behind you.  

[Richard168]

They did request this through the resolution link. I see exactly what you mean regarding closing the chapter. I just wanted to check what the more experienced community thought of the issue. Ta again!

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

You are not legally obligated to give them any kind of refund (review or not) because they stayed on the property for the duration of their stay.   If you want to provide some sort of discount because you feel bad because of the circumstance, by all means.  50% seems like a lot to me for having to step over to a pal's for a hot shower and they chose to stay additional days knowingly.  

For future reference, when you have a property issue, this is considered an extenuating circumstance (look that up in the Help Center) and you can contact Airbnb right away to assist you in re-housing the guests.  You needn't have handled this alone - it's why you pay Airbnb for each reservation.  Look up and bookmark the Contact Airbnb Community Help Guidelines which you can find here in the host forums for all the ways you can get ahold of them (use the "search for anything...." box in upper right).  

[Julie131]

I only asked about the "review" because you can be pretty much certain that if they hadn't given a review yet and they asked for a refund and didn't get it, they'd leave a scathing review and as this is one of this gentleman's first bookings, he probably can't take the hit to the ratings.  

As someone who knows the system a little bit better (being more experienced), I would probably contacted AirBNB and insisted that new accommodations be found.  Not having hot water is a big issue, even if you made arrangements with a friend.  Those are the kind of issues that people go home and stew about and then get annoyed with.  That would just be too risky for me.  But it is in the past, and is a learning experience.  Boilers break and things happen.  

[Richard168]

That's super helpful Alice & Jeff! While I do want this ongoing saga to end, I do feel that we went above and beyond the call of duty this time- and the guests were pretty demanding...ahh just the perfect storm! And my friend was absolutely adorable with them having them over for two showers....

We are going to have to make a call on this pretty soon!

[Andrew90]

I would work through Airbnb and keep them involved even if the customer has not reached out to them already. They might even keep you both happy.

I personally think that your not obligated for addition discount as you already accommodated the inconvenience.

If you do I would think 25% would sufficient with al you have already done.

Andrew

[Richard168]

Thanks Andrew. Yes, they have made the request through the resolution centre. It's good to have different views cos it allows us to see what we are obliged to offer/what feels fair to us given the situation. Ta v much!

[Bob39]

The fact that you offered them a refund of the second and third days, and they chose to stay on, means to me they already turned down a refund. They could have left, knowing they would not have hot water at your place. But they chose to stay. To me that's the decision right there. I would say no, don't give them a refund unless Airbnb forces you to. It's past the 14-day review period so no reviews can be written that haven't already been. If the lack of hot water was really a problem for them, they should have left on the first day and taken your offer of the refund for the other two days. But they chose not to - they chose to stay, knowing full well there would be no hot water.

[Richard168]

Thanks Bob, your clear/direct stance is really helpful...i/we feel a lot better from the support from all you guys!