Demanding a refund and possible negative review

Fiona343
Level 2
Newry, GB

Demanding a refund and possible negative review

Hi guys 

I'm having a issue with a guest demanding a refund and threatening me with a really bad review, would be grateful of some feedback. 

So the 4 guests /2 couples arrived at our apartment on Sat evening to discover there had been a leak in one of the bedrooms. We had really bad weather the night before & the bed was wet so it could not be slept in. he contacted me and I apologised for any inconvenience caused and asked what he wanted to do... would he like to find somewhere else to stay, he said no it was fine as the other large room had 2 double beds but he did say it was not ideal. He stayed that night, used our heat, Wi-Fi and full use of the apartment apart from that 1 room, he texted me the next morning to thank me for the stay and said all was great. 

This morning I received another text telling me that he was writing his review and was wondering when he would get his refund because of the inconvenience caused. I rang air bnb for help as this has never happened me before and they advised me that he was not to get a refund as he stayed in my listing and had beds to sleep in. I had a think about it and decided to refund him 50% as it was a very small inconvenience for him and thought it would be nice to do that but now he is constantly texting demanding a full refund and being nasty in the messages?? Am I wrong in only giving back 50% refund ?? 

12 Replies 12
Karen74
Level 3
Morristown, NJ

You have done more than enough to accommodate.  I see you are a superhost; if he leaves you an unfair - bad review, you can request Airbnb take it down.  If they do not, you can reply with an explanation of the circumstances.  Does this person have other reviews?    Remind him that you will be reviewing him as well.  As a host, I would not want to rent to someone who tries to extort money from the host.  This is a red flag to me. 

John1080
Level 10
Westcliffe, CO

@Fiona343, he's going to leave a negative review no matter whether you refund 50%, all or nothing. After the reaction, I would refund nothing and just calmly respond to the review factually stating the facts about the inclement weather - it happens to us all. 

 

Possible guests who read your reviews will see that it is a one-off and you will recover from it. 

Yolanda214
Level 2
Orlando, FL

I think you did the right thing by giving the guest a 50% refund.  As one of the stated, they are going to give you a negative review either way most future guess will see it was a one off incident and book anyway with you.... just move on and keep your positivity rollin😊

Lisa723
Level 10
Quilcene, WA

If you can document the attempted extortion Airbnb should take the review down and/or terminate the guest's account in accordance with its TOS:

 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/548/what-is-airbnb-s-extortion-policy

Paul154
Level 10
Seattle, WA

Ouch @Fiona343

You do the right thing and get kicked when you're down anyway 😞

Because of the rating system, hosts should never refund,. After accepting the refund guests can still poorly review you. It is not against Airbnb policy. 

Why pay for a bad review?

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Fiona343   This kind of scenario is why hosts should always try to keep communication with guests within the Airbnb messaging system. That way, it's easy for Airbnb to check the message stream to see that a guest is trying to extort a host for a good review, or any other thing. So you shouldn't be texting with guests unless it's just for something inconsequential like them letting you know they're running behind schedule and may be a half hour late for check-in, for instance. If a guest texts you the kind of thing you're experiencing, it's best not to answer by text, but to move it to the message stream "Hi XXX, I wish to keep our communication on the Airbnb messaging system, so please respond here, rather than texting." If they respond by sending another text, don't answer it. S ome guests are hip to not wanting Airbnb to see what they are writing, which is why they try to take it to texting or phone calls.

And you can also try to get them to reiterate what they said by text on the messaging- "Hi XXX, so just to confirm as per the text you sent, you'd like a refund of XXX amount and if I agree to that, you offered not to leave me a bad review?"  

Quincy
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hello @Fiona343,

 

I am so sorry to hear about this!

 

How did everything go in the end?

-----

 

Please follow the Community Guidelines // Volg de communityrichtlijnen

Donna119
Level 2
Napier, New Zealand

you have the support of Airbnb behind you. Direct him to them so they can deal with it. you have done the right thing . well done.

Maryann19
Level 2
Matawan, NJ

i am having a similar situation. this past week (thanksgiving week), i had 12 people stay in my house. there was a partial power outage in the bedrooms only for 4 of the 5 days. i gave them a 20% return for the inconvenience. they now are saying they want a 65% refund and making up other problems with the house that i know to be false (because i live in the house when i dont rent). i do not have a huge number of reviews, as i only started renting less than 2 years ago. UGHHH

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Maryann19 Was that a typo? They had power outage in the bedrooms for 4 of the 5 days? Or 1 of the 5 days? If it was 4, I think they're entitled to more than a 20% refund. If it was 4 days, was there some resaon it couldn't be remedied quickly?

not a typo - it was partial. meaning the power was off for an average of 2 hours per day for 4 of the 5 days but only in the bedrooms. you think that warrants more? i thought that was a very small portion of the time.

i did get an electrician to go over within a few hours of them telling me what happened. he successfully got it back on and then it went out again for a couple hours the next day. the holiday made it difficult to find anyone to go (i tried 4 other electricians!) for the remaining 3 days

Helen56
Level 10
San Diego, CA

He actually threatened you with a bad review!!!  Don't give him a refund. Report him to Airbnb.  And please give him a very bad review and tell future hosts that he threatened you.  Seems like he had a nice bed to sleep in and the rain wasn't your fault.