Guest wanting full refund after leaving

[Ali308]

Hello,

I am new to that and would like to clarify the issue that i received with the guest.

They booked and check in everything was OK. I ensured the guest i live 10 mins away and was ready to come if they have any problems, they agreed. However, neither during their stay, nor when they were leaving they did not raise any problems and were happy and thankfull for the stay.

In 3 days i receive email from airbnb that they are requesting the whole refund. They justified it within several points: they said they were cold in the house and did not have hot water. However, when i checked in them, i showed how to use heating control system (it was very simple, just 4 buttons to on, of, + and - to control the temperature) however when i arrived to check out i noticed they kept the temperature at 21 degrees, but they easily could make 25-26 and the house would become hot. The hot water was present all the time - i am sure, again if not they should report to me and in 10 mins i would have fixed that. 

Also, they claimed that as the house was 3 bedroom apartment, but the access for them was given only to one bedroom, bathroom, kitchen they said they felt uncomfortable that someone could arrive to stay in two other rooms. When checking in they were ensured they have the whole house and the other 2 bedrooms were empty. 

Finally, they said my listing contains slightly different photo of the front door, - did that because my listing was instant book and before that i experienced a problem of declined guest showing up and distructing people in the flat. 

Could you advise what can Airbnb decide? the thing is that i feel that it is unfair to claim the whole sum, because they did not report anything during their stay, the problems they are listing are just silly, and i need to pay for their use of heating system (which is rather expensive) , water. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Ali308

browse through Airbnb TOS and you will find where is written that the guest has to inform the host in case something is not working so the host has a chance to fix it. If the host doesn't fix it then the guest can ask for a refund. 

But of course, as Airbnb often slide with a guest - you can't be sure what will they decide. Guests knows that and very often make false claims for a refund.

The outcome of such claims mostly depends of the rep you got, so I wish you luck.

[John1080]

@Ali308, all the things they complained about sound ridiculous and I would not voluntarily refund them anything.  I would calmly respond to Airbnb explaining your points just as you have here. 

How about the door photo? Is it of a different door or someone else's door?  If so, I might not bring attention to the door issue, as showing a photo of a door that is not on the property might be a violation of the TOS - I do not know. I think I would remove the door photos altogether for the future, just in case. 

[Helen3]

Hi @Ali308

Contact Airbnb and say that at no point during their stay did they raise any of these issues. Point out that surely if they had no hot water or heating in this cold weather they would have mentioned it. Particularly as you went around in person to show them around the home and showed them how the heating system works. (By the way 21c is normal for a lot of people).

Put your response in writing straight away. We can't tell you what Airbnb will do, but if you respond promptly and clearly this will help them understand the guests aren't necessarily telling the truth.

If there is two people it's normal to only have access to one bedroom.  Did you lock the other rooms?. Point out to airbnb that it is clear that it is a whole listing, at no point did they guests raise concerns about others staying there or you would have reassured them. that as outlined in your listing it is a whole listing.

Sounds like they are scammers.

Having said that your listing is strange. Don't have picture of the outside if you don't want to show your frontage. Why on earth do you only have photo's of the bedrooom -  you are meant to show all the facilities and rooms. You need a much more detailed description of the listings, more and better photos and a description of the area. You need to tidy the bedroom it is rather messy. £60 is far too cheap for a one bedroom flat in Angel.

What are the other two bedrooms mentioned in the flat. If they are for your private use lock them and mentioned in the listing description that there are two locked bedrooms guests don't have access to.