Need Help - Guest is asking for refund since she didnt use apartment.

[Navid12]

Hi there! I need som guidance

I have a guest that wanted to check in the same day that she made the reservation. She made the reservation around 6pm.

I asked her if she can wait until 8:30-9pm until I arrived from work to give her the keys. She said OK.

She didnt respond to anymore of my messages and when I arrived at the apartment at 9pm to show her around. She said that she rented a hostel instead for the night. I told her that since I am here I will give her the keys to the apartment for the next day.  Now she is requesting refund for the first day since she is claiming that she " didnt use the apartment".

I think that since she received the keys she has basically accepted to rent the apartment from the starting day, as well as not mentioning anything regarding renting a hsotel. What should I do? Should I give her the refund? 

[Anonymous]

@Navid12   No, she is not entitled to a refund. By sitting on that booking, she precluded any other guest from staying last night. What the guest pays for is not just use of the property, but also guaranteed access to it. Similarly, venues don't refund your concert ticket just because you don't show up, and airlines won't refund your fare just because you didn't make it to the airport.

If you were a longtime host with many established reviews/ratings, I'd suggest firmly denying her absurd request. As a new host with only 1 review, your listing is more vulnerable to a retaliatory rating, so you might tread carefully. Perhaps as a small compromise, you could offer a token percentage of the first night as a rebate upon checkout, under the condition that the property is left in a clean state with no damage.

I would avoid presenting this as a "refund," and absolutely don't transfer the funds before the stay is over.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Navid12 

As a new host I think reviews are critical. I suspect a refund of the first night is sensible (albeit annoying) but be careful to ensure the guest recognises that YOU have not received all the money that she has paid (difference is probably 25%) so discuss with the guest how much you can refund carefully.

[Yulianna0]

@Navid12, I suggest to keep all conversations with the guest via Airbnb messenger, hope you do it already:) 

You can tell her, that you are not managing payments, the system does. So to deal with payments she has to contact CS. 
Do not accept any requests, do not pay anything in cash.

It can be also good to contact help center to explain situation from your side. Be proactive and very calm and polite. 
There is no reason lo loose money. And in any case, refunding does not protect you from negative review. 
Respect yourself first of all. When someone is making stupid things, let him do it at his cost.