Guest wants refund due to "bad smell"

[Piotr48]

Hello everyone,

I would like your advice on the following situation. I currently have guests staying in on my apartments.

Day 1, 3pm: guest says she checked in and everything's fine

Day 2, 9pm: guest says she detects faint smell of gas in the apartment but it doesn't bother her too much. I'm offering to call gas service and send my friend over to check it. Guest says the smell is probably coming from the bathroom and to check it after her departure.

Day 3, 11am: Guest says the smell is bad now and it's not gas but plumbing in the bathroom. Says she will be leaving today at 4pm because she can't stand it and asks for refund (no amount mentioned).

The guest was supposed to stay 4 days. She refused my help and now she wants a refund. What should I do? 

[Anonymous]

@Piotr48  I would send the guest a booking alteration request to advance her checkout date and refund the unused night. And definitely check up on that plumbing issue before the next guests come in.

[Sarah977]

@Piotr48  I hope your conversations with this guest were made on the Airbnb messaging system- that way if she tries to get a full refund for her entire stay, there is a record of her refusing to have someone come check it out.

As Andrew suggests, refund her the unused day, and hope she doesn't pursue a further refund. If she does, that would indicate that she planned these complaints from day 1 to scam a free stay.

And in the future, if a guest makes a complaint like this, as a host, you have every right to send someone over in an emergency situation (like if it really could have been a gas leak) or access the apartment to check out something that could be serious, with 24 hours notice. The guest doesn't have the right to refuse to allow a host to do this.

[Piotr48]

@Anonymous @Sarah977 Thank you. I have this conversation saved on ABB. When I told the guest it's not fair to ask for refund when I offered to solve the problem, she said she didn't want anyone to come over because she had 3 dogs staying with her (rescue pets apparently according to her profile) and she thought it wasn't safe. She left today at 4pm (check out is until 11am) and asked to be refunded for today.

[Pat271]

This is sounding scammier and scammier. 

What is your cancellation policy?

[Anonymous]

@Piotr48  If you're not looking to free up a calendar date for a last-minute booking, you can send a partial refund via the Resolutions center rather than request an alteration. The guest isn't strictly entitled to any refund at all, but it's usually better to get in front of it with a reasonable offer than to deal with all the drama that comes when they escalate a complaint to Airbnb.

[Sarah977]

@Piotr48  3 dogs? I didn't take the time look at all your listings, but I see the first one states No pets, so I would assume they all do? So, she makes a seemingly bogus complaint, and has ignored your house rules and had 3 dogs in a no pets listing. 

Why did you let her continue to stay or  what did you say to her when she gave this as an excuse for not letting someone come over to check out the complaint?

As you say all communication was via Airbnb messaging, it would be obvious that she's admitting to breaking your no pets rule. Now that you have brought up this violation, I wouldn't refund this entitled person anything.

[Piotr48]

@Pat271 it was a non-refundable reservation

@Anonymous yes, I was thinking about partial refund as well 

[Christine615]

How is she there with three dogs? Did you know she was bringing them.

She didn't want someone to check because I'm betting there was animal damage and you'd see the dogs.

No refund and bill her for any damage!

[Piotr48]

@Christine615 I will check the apartment first before I send her any refund. I allow pets at my place, but she never mentioned them before. 

[Pat271]

I would bet she just didn’t want you in there to fix anything. She just decided to leave early, knew that from the start, and wanted some money back. This is very common.

[Deborah350]

And if she complains to Airbnb she is likely to get your listing closed down, a full refund and your bookings cancelled due to safety issues. I would tread carefully and arrange to have it checked professionally.

[Mark116]

@Piotr48  I agree w/whoever said it sounds scammier and scammier the more details you provide.  

If you wanted to give her 1/2 the cost of one night day, that would be the absolute maximum I would offer.  

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Piotr48  I would go there the second she mentioned gas leak the first time. I wouldn't care if she said NO, it is an emergency and the whole building can blow up and the listings suspended. It's serious.

3 undisclosed dogs? Oh yeah, she is a scammer. I hope the smell is not from her dog's poo

[Piotr48]

Well, she is not going to get any refund. Dog hair all over two sofas.