Cleanliness complaint from guest - asking for refund

[Tina8201]

Hi I have had a guest check in yesterday and send me around 20 pics of little things she could possibly find In the house and said the house was absolutely filthy after 4 hours of checking in and claiming to have spent 3 hours cleaning it herself and demanding nearly half of our payout back as a refund immediately.  We cleaned the house ourselves as our normal maintenance team were unavailable and we checked everything was to standard. She said she had stayed at plenty of airbnbs and paid top notch prices etc and left good reviews but she only had 1 review from last month on Airbnb. I contacted Airbnb as her feedback and expectation on getting a big refund were unreasonable. I was advised by Airbnb that it’s best I sort it out myself with the guest because if the guest contacted Airbnb they would be entitled to a full refund and this would impact my rating as a super host. So I was left with no choice but to refund her requested amount. How do hosts get protected against extortionist guests who are just after money back for their stay? Maintaining a super host status for nearly 3 years and good reviews on both our properties, I was shocked by the limited support that was available. These type of guests know how to play the system and get away with it. It’s totally unfair on hosts.

[Emiel1 · Accepted solution]

@Tina8201 

" So I was left with no choice but to refund her requested amount"

You could have shortened the reservation ("change" option) and give the guest the option to move out asap, reason: "as our accommodation does not seem to meet your needs etc... "

Stay in charge, do not leave it to the guest to be in control.

[Tina8201]

Hi @Emiel1 doesn’t this impact your rating? I didn’t mean to mark this as a solution I was trying to send this as a reply

[Linda108]

@Tina8201  Perhaps you are correct that this guest knows how to play the system but even though you have 3 years of experience and glowing reviews you don't know the system.  By that I mean, you are not standing up for yourself.  What damage can a single guest do at this time with all your good reviews?  Any prospective guest would see it as an outlier.   @Emiel1  is correct in suggesting the shorten stay option, unless you thought the guest was justified,  which I would imagine you did not.  Don't let guests bully you.  Not sure what you expect Air BNB to do as you have vastly more experience than any CS you would speak with.  Both your listings are lovely and your other 40 guests agree.  Keep that in mind.

[Tina8201]

Thanks @Linda108 this is the first time I have experienced such behaviour and didn’t know you could shorten their stay. Does this impact your rating though as a superhost? 

[Sarah977]

@Tina8201  You have your priorities somewhat skewed. Getting rid of a bad guest as quickly as possible and not allowing yourself to be taken advantage of are far more  important than some outlier review or rating. And refunding scammer guests sets a really bad precedent and they will go on to do this to other hosts, because you have taught them that it works.

I can fully understand being taken by surprise by such a thing, and not knowing in the moment how to handle it. I had a couple of incidents in my early days of hosting like that (not sure how to handle a rule violation, it wasn't a scammer/ refund issue).

I'm not sure what you mean by it impacting your ratings as a Superhost. The guest can leave any rating she wants to, and kowtowing to scammers and bad guests will not prevent them from leaving a bad review- these types usually leave bad reviews even if you try to pacify them with a refund. 

[Sarah977]

@Tina8201  "Shortening" a reservation through the process Emiel explained doesn't carry any penalties to you as a host. It isn't the same as cancelling, if that's what you were worried about.

[Tina8201]

@Sarah977 thanks I didn’t know you could shorten a reservation like that. Know better for next time! 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Tina8201 Customer services were also wrong in that the guest should have given you the chance to 'correct' the cleaning.

[Tina8201]

@Mike-And-Jane0  Yep that’s what our maintenance team also told me today that the guest should have told me asap to correct it if it was a problem and not wait 4 hours before informing me and then saying they have done it themselves spending 3 hours and now you pay us. 

[Huma0]

While agree with what the other hosts have said above, the problem is that the way Airbnb policy is written is not entirely clear. It's no wonder then that inexperienced/ill trained CS reps are ready to hand out refunds willy nilly. 

See: https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/3028/travel-issues-eligible-for-refunds

where it states "

• Space isn’t safe or clean upon arrival, such as dirty linen or safety hazards"

as an issue eligible for a refund.

It just tells the guest to:

If you need to submit a claim, be sure to:

1. Gather evidence: Document issues with photos or videos
2. Contact us: Get in touch within 24 hours of having an issue
3. Stay in touch: We’ll be in touch with next steps specific to you

There is nothing in this article about informing the host, let alone giving them a chance to rectify the situation.

If you then click on the link, it will take you to a more detailed breakdown of the refund policy: https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/2868/airbnb-guest-refund-policy

Again, cleanliness is listed: "(c) at the start of the Guest’s booking, the Accommodation: (i) is not generally clean and sanitary (including unclean bedding and/or bathroom towels);"

The guest is told they must contact Airbnb within 24 hours. If you scroll down quite far, you will also find: "(e) unless otherwise specified by Airbnb or Airbnb advises you that the Travel Issue cannot be remediated, you must use reasonable efforts to try to remedy the circumstances of the Travel Issue with the Host;"

However, there is no mention of WHEN the guest needs to do this by. Rather, it indicates that the priority is to contact Airbnb to ask for the refund and that Airbnb might decide the issue cannot be resolved by the host. 

The policy also states that the guest can only get a refund if they leave the property, BUT that a partial refund may be offered even if they decide to stay and that it is solely up to Airbnb to decide this. Especially note that this may apply even if the guest did not report the issue within 24 hours:

"If you choose to stay in the Accommodation, you may still qualify for a partial refund at Airbnb’s discretion as described in this policy (regardless of whether you reported the Travel Issue up to 24 hours after check-in)."

Certainly, in these types of circumstances it seems better to try to sort it out directly with the guest, if that's possible, rather than to get Airbnb involved. I would have offered to refund remaining nights, but only if the guest leaves, i.e. shorten the stay using the resolution centre. If a guest wants a full refund due to cleanliness issues, then they should either let the host inspect/resolve the issue or leave ASAP, not clean the place, stay and expect money back.

I find that bad guests often don't leave reviews, but this type of guest is unlikely to leave a glowing review even if they get their refund.

[Valerio209]

It happened to me, too. My latest guests complained about the state of cleanness of the apartment adding preposterous minor things so as to refund-scam me. The apartment was absolutely up to standard, and I've rented many places so I have a thorough understanding of the standard one should abide by, the pictures they sent showed absolutely minor things, like dust on a plant's leaves and drops on the shower mirror, along with other incomprehensible ones. I would like to fully contest their request, how should I do it?
Thanks in advance.