Full Refund if we also relocated bc water heater broke?

[Cody52]

Hello Community,

Im hoping to get some advice and/or input. We had a guest stay at our home and all was going well until we were told by our neighbors they smelled a gas leak and the gas company came and shut it off to our house, impacting a hot shower. This was on their last night of staying at 9pm. We contacted the guest and they said they were not returning to the home until 1am and wanted to shower in the morning (understandably). They asked and we gladly got them a hotel as close as possible which cost more than our nightly rate. No problem. However, they also want a full refund of the night at our place. Is this reasonable? It seems we would then be out really two nights worth of income for not having hot water for 25% of a day. Yes it is a horribe siutaiton so we want to do what is right but also not lose out. Thank you

[Marit-Anne0]

@Cody52

As long as you found alternative accomodation and paid for it, they should be more than happy. Asking for a refund in addition is very unreasonable.

[Cody52]

Thanks so much for the response. We were also kinda feeling it should be one or the other and not both. I was likely going to offer a small discount for the inconvenience. 

[Ange2]

@Cody52  "they also want a full refund of the night at our place"  

Why?  What is their reason?

Nothing was wrong on the first night as far as I understand from your post.  But, it is a known fact that some guests will try this on, particularly if the host has bent backwards to correct any problems, it's the "give them an inch, and they try to grab a mile" syndrome.  Here's how to contact Airbnb if you need it.

[Paul306]

I had a guest demand a full refund for two nights even though he broke my shower. I sent a plumber the same day. I offered a part refund because the plumber was two hours later than expected, but the guest still pushed for a full refund. 

Airbnb took the side of the guest and Deducted a portion from my next booking. 

I am a super host with nearly 50 four and five star reviews and was scammed by a guest with only one past review. 

The lesson? Don’t expect Airbnb to support you as a host. 

[Gordon0]

Hmmm. I originally thought 'unreasonable', but then questioned whether having to move all your stuff from one place to another wasn't worthy of a gesture of good will. 

[Ange2]

@Gordon0  In my opinion finding and paying for a hotel was a good will gesture, they could have left the guests to fend for themselves or refused to pay for anything over their own night rental fee.  I believe that good will should go both ways.  For the guests to ask for a refund for the problem free night is not a decent way to behave and shows absolutely no good will towards the hosts who from all accounts went out of their way to make sure the guests were comfortable and paid for that out of their own pocket.

[Gordon0]

You are very welcome to your opinion, but I disagree. If I'm bumped off a flight (it's happened several times) I'm given a new flight PLUS compensation. Likewise, if I'm asked to leave a hotel for any reason, I'd expect to be compensated for the hassle factor.

A proper pain, but the guest was inconvenienced, whether you like it or not. 

[Kelly149]

This is why extenuating circumstances exist. I would have certainly allowed them to leave early and would have refunded the unused night. Might have given them an extra couple bucks to round up the refund depending on what the original total had been and what kind of guest they had been. But I certainly wouldn’t have paid out of pocket for whatever they did next. 

Airlines don’t compensate fliers for mechanical troubles. @Cody52 didn’t overbook but had a utility problem completely outside his control. He shouldn’t profit from it, but neither should the guest. 

[David126]

I am with @Ange2 but would also mention that in these sort of cases best to cancel the last night under Extenuating Circumstances, ABB may give them a small bonus.

@Cody52 in booking a Hotel at a cost greater than his niughtly rate has effectively paid that extra.

Double dipping is obviously unreasonable. My concern would be what ABB will do, always a big unknown, taking my route means the risk is lower.

[Cody52]

A giant thank you for everybodies contribution. It has been invaluable to have this as a sounding board. My thoughts were pretty much the same with most people in that one or the other seemed appropriate and maybe a small amount of compensation. Hearing all these responses clearly taught me in the future to just refund them the night and what they decide to do after is on them. It was pretty late when it unfolded and I was just eager to make sure they werent out an ammenity that was part of the deal and to try and keep the guest happy. I know it was an inconvenience to shower elsewhere but I also felt that I am not a hotel but somebody offering a 2 bed 2 bath in the hottest neighborhood in LA in which a comporable stay with our views would have been at least 4 x as much, so when you opt for the cheaper option, much like with airline tickets or hotels, there are limitations to how we can afford to troubleshoot and remedy an unforseen circumstance. 

Per the advice of my friend who is an AirBnB guru, I contacted AirBnB to get their insight and also provide some protection if we received a devastating review as a result of this incident. They needed to consult their team because of the unsual situation but agreed that the hotel room I got for them would suffice and no additional refund was warranted. 

"Normally, in a situation like this, Airbnb would get involved and mediate a resolution of either a refund of the night stayed without the amenity or if the guest chose to leave, we would refund the night not stayed and they would have to use that refund to book a hotel on their own. I understand that you were acting on good faith and wanted to make sure everything was taken care of for your guest and I thank you for going out of your way to accommodate them. After conferring with my team we agree that the guest is not entitled to an additional refund since they were given a hotel, which is what Airbnb would have done for compensation. I'd recommend that you reach out to your guest and let them know that you had booked the hotel in place of the refund and that had they reached out to Airbnb we would have done the same thing."

I then communicated this to the guest and to my surprise they said they understood and thanked me for handling it so quickly and professionally. 

All in all, it seemed the best case scenario for a bad situation. Thank you again for the insight and help you guys provided. 

[Sarah977]

@Cody52   People are so strange- first they try to scam a full refund, then say they understand and thank you for handling it quickly and professionally. Why they couldn't have said as much to you in the first place, avoiding all the wasted time back and forth with airbnb, is nutso.

[Jeffery25]

you consider this a scam?

[Sarah977]

@Jeffery25  Yes. It's incredibly greedy and mean-spirited.. The host had a situation beyond his control and made it right by paying for a hotel for his guests for the night. Then they want a full refund for that night, even though the host paid for the hotel. That's a scam attitude showing zero appreciation for a very responsible and caring host.

[Mike650]

How do we get AirBNB to take better care of the owners after all its US that pay them!!