Hi everyone.
tl:dr a guest complained with airbnb right after check-in and got a full refund even though his claims about violations are contradictory and lack substance. The reservation was for 37 days and my booking policy is "firm" (doesn't allow for refunds after check-ins). What can I do about this?
I received a guest today. Right after having made a step into the apartment the guest complained about the "door downstairs being a bit weird" and about the state of the floor in the corridor outside of the apartment.
The floor indeed has problems. It's a wooden floor and there was a water damage, recently. Now the floor is partly uncovered and, indeed, does not look very inviting. Note that this right outside the apartment that I am letting.
Even more than the immediate complaints, I was baffled by the fact that the guest didn't check out the apartment. He just stayed with me in the entrance, listened to my introductory information and told me he will "have to check with Airbnb".
I did not think much by it, yet I was wondering where this guest is going at. An hour later I received messages in airbnb chat:
"Because of the floor and the broken door, I don't want this apartment anymore"
I didn't know what to reply, so I just stated that the wooden floor outside of the apartment will be fixed and that I am not aware of any broken door.
An hour later I receive the message from Airbnb that the booking was cancelled, the money was fully refunded. That there were violations and that I have to fix those in order to avoid this kind of situation in the future. The violations now are:
* a door that can't be opened
* the bathroom door is missing a knob
I replied that I am "pretty sure that there are no violations" and that I want to talk about it in detail. However, with this one message from Airbnb support the booking was already cancelled. Thus, whatever I will reply probably won't help.
And this was exactly true. I explained how those "violations" have been made up by the guest, how is motivation of wiggling out of the deal are documented in the chat. But to no avail.
What can I do about this?
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I want to add: There are all kinds of imaginable reasons why a guest doesn't want the apartment anymore. I have a strong suspicion about the reason of this particular guest - of course he would never tell me.
When a guest actually doesn't want an apartment and only realizes upon check-in - there are plenty of ways to meet half-way. I don't want a guest that doesn't like this apartment! However, the way he escalated to Airbnb support and more so: the way how Airbnb support just acknowledged his claims did not leave any room for truthful negotiations of interest.
Basically, the cancellation policy is kind of mute, if guests have an implicit right to withdraw from a reservation by just complaining on check-in. Even worse: I am left with suspicions - I will never get the actual feedback from the guest. If the apartment did not suit his needs, I could warn other guests in future by putting additional information in the listing.
And lastly, I feel wronged by the Airbnb support. When I pointed out the lack of substance in the complaints of the guest, they just re-iterated that there were violations. This can't be right.
