Guest cancelled after check in, now wants refund

[Krista105]

Hello, 

I’m really not sure what to do in this situation so I’m hoping someone can help! 

So we had a guest check in late Saturday night at around 10:30 and then at 11:30 received a message saying that they were leaving and wanted a refund. They complained that  the apartment smelled of paint/ varnish and of loud music coming from the bars across the street.

we haven’t painted/ varnished in over a year and we are in a popular downtown area that is actually a huge draw for many guests and we say this in our listing! 

Origionally they booked two nights but the day before check in, they extended their stay to 5 days. So when they cancelled they were charged the two days but refunded the remainder. 

Now she is reguesting the money back for the two nights. We don’t feel she should get it back since it was her preference to leave. (Also a busy time of year that could have been booked by someone else)

Now we are worried about what kind of review she might leave. Also should we leave a review for her to (politely) defend our case?

Thanks in advance for your help! 

[Emiel1]

@Krista105 

I see you are the co-host of the listing, so all the reviews are on the host account.. The listing says: cancellation policy is "strict", so why are the extended nights refunded ? If guests arrive late in the evening and leave after 1 hour with "unreliable"complaints, i feel something else is going on and they just make up a story.. So if they want a full refund, they should contact Airbnb. And you (or the host) should also mention the incident to Airbnb. Having a bad review is allways a risk when there is some trouble, but you can leave a comment on it. And in most cases: whatever you do, you get a bad review anyway.  At least keep the money for the two nights (you should have it for the 5 nights, so guest are lucky anyway having a partial refund).

Best regards,

Emiel

[Krista105]

Hi Emile, thanks for the reply.  The reason they didn’t have to pay the additional days was because they booked and cancelled within 48 hours unfortunately. I have talked to airbnb support through chat and over the phone and neither one really helped much. I’m just not sure if it’s best to completely ignore it or try to defend our case! 

[Linda108]

@Krista105   When the negative review comes in, respond with a short professional post that you are sorry this guest was not happy with the listing and note that the location is usually considered a positive for travelers seeking an interesting downtown life.

[Ange2]

@Krista105     the book and cancel within 48 hours, get a refund for strict,   is only applicable if the reservation is more than 14 days away.  Doesn't make sense that they would get any money back.

[Katarina84]

Hi, can somebody help me please, I had a very very late check in guests,  and I had prople from all over the world, every rewiev was perfect, and I had never been in situation like this.. the guests make requests for one

person, than they said to me a couple, than they didn’t answer on the msgs i sended about check in.. they wrote me at 22 that they are coming arround midnight, i am 24/7 responsible and really helpfull to guests so cause I am not in Velgrade at the time I organized my neihgbour to give the keys.. they called me and told me that they are NOT FEELING SAFE?????? In center of Belgrade, pls check my rewievs.. they want a refund!!!! and they yeling at me, the guy called me “ducking beach” and that they are couple from egypt so I must know that make twi beds for them etc.. what shall I do now? 

[Linda108]

You hopped onto another post and your post really needs to handled separately.  Basically let Air BNB handle any cancellations.  People sound unreasonable so not much you can do.

[McKenzie16]

I think you made the right choice! What’s your cancellation policy listed as? In your description do you have listed locations and what it’s like if so restate that as well. If cancellation policy it’s set to flexible I’d respond with the rules of that take the money for the two days and refund other nights. 

[Krista105]

It was flexible when they first booked but we actually just changed it to strict before she added the extra days. 

[Tristan106]

I wouldn't necesalry worry to much about getting a bad review in a case like this. I'm unfortunately not superhost anymore, not due to reviews, but as I had to cancel a booking due to a mistake I made, had double booked a room (I had offered to pay up to double the price the guests had paid, for another place for them but they refused, so prefered to cancel so they would get their money back..).

But I still have over whats needed to be superhost, and come across this type of situation relitively often.

Sometimes I give refunds despite a strict cancelation policy if people are polite about it, give enough warning or if it was due to extraordinary circumstances.

If people leave a bad review for something like this (like if they ask if they will be refunded if they don't cancel, but don't cancel if I sa no so they can leave a review), if you leave a proffessional responce, explaining the situation and if your reviews are concistant I really would not worry about it... It may affect your rating a bit of course but that's where being concistant comes in, in the long run it doesn't affect you.