Guest refund

[Anthony757]

I've just refunded a guest who who turned up at my house four hours before the stated check-in time. I had gone out to do a job five minutes before the guest arrived and I received urgent telephone calls asking why I wasn't there to receive the guest. In fact, I would have been happy to oblige had the guest requested an earlier arrival time, but there was no communication. The guest went home and called me to say that it was 'inappropriate' not to be available at any time of day and would I give a full refund. I replied that I had made clear the check-in time and could hardly be expected to hang around all day just in case a guest turned up early. But I agreed to the refund because it was clearly a misunderstanding and failure of communication. The result is that I've lost me fee for a Bank Holiday date, which could have been filled by another guest. Was I right to give the refund?

[Ana1136]

@Anthony757 I am sorry but no you weren't. It is your fault you lost the money. You agreed on a check in time and it is the guests problem that she didn't respect it. She could have easily gone to a café or somewhere to wait for you since she didn't communicate clearly enough and the mistake is hers. I suppose you were trying to avoid a bad review which h you might get anyway so it is always better to get it and at least have the money than have a bad review and no money left. 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Anthony757 

I have to agree with @Ana1136  that I think you shouldn't have refunded. The guest was the one who didn't respect the check in time and made crazy, outrageous demands. Refunding that type of person does nothing more than reinforce bad behavior. 

[Ange2]

@Jessica-and-Henry0    Not only reinforce bad behavior, but give guests false expectations about how Airbnb works and excuse to be irresponsible.  And worse unfairly ding the next host who doesn't do the same for them.  I had a guest once who said the last Airbnb was happy to  blah! blah! blah!  In effect have all their rules broken.

[Anthony757]

Thank you for the reply, Ana. I should have stuck to the rules, I now feel. Especially since this guest has lost me the entire bank Holiday weekend by booking one night only in the middle of the holiday period. I wasn't thinking of the review so much as the fact that the guest has misunderstood and gone home. There oughtn't to be a review at all considering that the guest didn't stay and was refunded, but I'm probably being naive here.

[Ana1136]

@Anthony757the guest can leave a review anyway and so can you, make sure to leave an honest and factual review. 

[Sarah977]

@Anthony757  I hope for your sake she doesn't, but she will likely leave a review and it will be bad. If that happens, just post a response to the review- "Guest arrived 4 hours before check-in time, without prior notice, expecting me to be available at any time she decided to show up. Had I known that she planned to be early, I might have been able to rearrange my work schedule."

You're very sweet to call it a misunderstanding, but that's not what it was. It was a total lack of communication from the guest coupled with an entitled attutude. You didn't need to refund her, sorry she screwed up your holiday bookings.

[Renée16]

I wouldnt have refunded.

[Sarah977 · Accepted solution]

@Anthony757   A bit of advice- you will be prompted to leave a review- do not write a review for her at all unless you receive a notification that she has left a review.

[Anthony757]

Very good advice thank you, Sarah. As a 'Superhost', I try to be as gracious as possible to my guests and tend to see any problem as my fault. In this case, however, my entire weekend has been ruined because of selfishness: the guest clearly wanted to get two days in for the price of one night's stay, and then cut up rough when I wasn't at her beck and call. I shall have to do exactly as you say. Pity it's too late now to reverse the refund, but I shall have to be a little more savvy in future. A

[Ange2]

@Anthony757    Too late for this time, but for next time.  I always write in messages to guests that they must tell me when they arriving so I can arrange my schedule and confirm if I will be available to meet them because I am NOT available 24 hours.  Plus,  I reiterate check-in window and latest check-out time.  If they do not reply I send the message again with PLEASE RESPOND and if they still do not respond I call them and also send them places to store their luggage or café's to while away the time before earliest check-in,  that usually gets their attention. But nothing is foolproof.