A guest asking for a partial refund - DO i REFUND?

Francoise6
Level 2
Vancouver, Canada

A guest asking for a partial refund - DO i REFUND?

I had a Guest book for 3 people for 3 nights from Thur 9 March to Sun 12th March.

 

They checked in & then the guests said her phone was not working, so she had to go to Downtown.  I found this strange as she claimed her phone doesnt work - but she was recieving other messages on AIRBNB, given away by the distinctive Airbnb message sound.

 

She booked a Private Room for 3 nights for 3 Guest at $300 x 3 nights or $33 p/n per person.

 

After one hour the guests came back & said the place is not suitable and left - I suspect because they found a better deal or place on Airbnb.

 

5 days later the same guests messages me wanting a refund.    They also told me i could have opened up the calandar to accept other guests for Fri/Saturday, which i could not.  Also im not sure if she is implying she stayed Thurs which she did not, as some kind of leverage over leaving a negative Review.  

 

I have still not recieved any Cancellation from the Guest.

 

 

Its a little annoying for Guests to use and abuse Airbnb - they would recieve 0 refund from a Hotel!

 

I don't want to be blackmailed into having a review left by someone who didnt stay.

 

What to do - do i offer Refund or Partial Refund or nothing at all?

 

 

 

7 Replies 7

In this situation I would stick to my cancellation policy. If the guest found the rental was not suitable for her then she should have followed Airbnb procedure which is to contact them and cancel her reservation. Since she did not cancel then the booking remained in force. She can leave a review, but you also have the option of leaving her one. You could simply put on her review that "This guest left early" or something like that. You can ask Airbnb to remove a review left on your page should it be untrue and you can also leave a POSITIVE comment under her review should it be bad.

 

Never let a guest blackmail you. If she mentions anything in her correspondence to the effect of getting a refund or giving you a bad review then you should take that to Airbnb immediately.

 

I hope it all works out for you.

David126
Level 10
Como, CO

Nothing at all

David
Monica4
Level 10
Ormstown, Canada

Do not refund. There is a reason for the cancelation policy that you have chosen, and this is it. It doesn't matter if the guest group is smaller...the same cancelation policy applies. Explain that to the guest on Airbnb's message system so that there is a record of the request and your answer. If you are left a negative review you can at least point to the messages which are viewable by Airbnb in order to request the removal of the negative review.

 

It does look like an extortion attempt. Don't give in.

Wendy-and-Frank0
Level 10
Stonington, CT

Do nothing.

Christine1
Level 10
Glenbrook, Australia

@Francoise6

Hi Francoise,

[I was unsure from your description if the guests simply departed without immediately lodging a proper online cancelation.]

Sorry for the awkwardness of this situation. It appears that the guests have seen the accommodation, decided it was not what they wanted or expected, but were too reserved to discuss their concerns face to face, while they were on the premises. They probably did not want to offend you or cause conflict. There can be many reasons for this desire for a change to have come about. 

No doubt you may be correct about hearing ongoing phone messaging. If a cancellation was imminent, the guest may have been trying to line up alternative accommodation, that would be understandable if they were deciding to leave. 

For your part it may be worth reflecting on any communication that occured prior to the booking, to evaluate if these guests got the information they really needed before confirming the booking; maybe you can learn from the experience and prevent a repetition of this sort of thing with future guests.

It may also be useful to request information from the guest about the reason for their cancelation. Do this in a way that does not indicate that you are seeking to allocate or accept any blame. Instead explain that you are trying to learn from the experience and you would value their frank reply/feedback. The answer is likely to be useful, no matter what is revealed.

You cancellation policy can stand, and the reviews need to be honest and fair. Any refund application needs to be initiated by the cancelling guests, and this is what you can respond to via the correct communication channels on Airbnb.

I would also like to suggest that you take the opportunity to email some links to cancellation instructions and guidelines to the guest to educate them about the correct procedure for managing cancelation requests. You only need to deal directly with a refund request if it is sent via the correct channel, ie, the resolution centre. 

Stay polite and professional in your email correspondence. From time to time guests may act in slightly clumbsy and unsettling ways.

As for their reason for making a refund request;

Your tariffs are reasonable on a per person basis, but human nature being what it is, they are  putting the request  for a refund because there is a slight chance you might say yes, so of course it is worthwhile $$$$ just asking.......... : )

Don't let it upset you, continue to be gracious and try to find out what the real reason was for their actions. As a host, that's the really useful bit of info that you can benefit from.

I hope this response has some positives for you.

Best regards, Christine.

 

Regards, Christine.

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

Hello @Francoise6

 

What reason did your guests give for saying the place was unsuitable? If your listing is accurate and everything was working as it should be, there is no reason to refund your guest.

 

Did you contact Airbnb at the time to let them know what had happened? It's always important to do this, so there is a record.

 

I would contact the guest via Airbnb messaging and say that any cancellation needed to be made by them at the time,  through Airbnb who then handle the cancellation process.  Unfortunately they didn't do this, so there was no opportunity to see if there was a possibility to relet the property so you could have considered a partial refund.

 

By the way it doesn't matter if your guest stayed or not in terms of leaving a review as she checked in.

 

As a side note - Airbnb specifies that both hosts and guests should provide a clear photo and information on their profile, so do have a look at updating your profile.

Ann200
Level 2
Los Angeles, CA

Do NOT refund!