Guests complained of bugs and left - do I offer a full refund?

[Sara345]

Hello,

We are hosts in Florida and just had a guest leave at 10:30 pm after seeing a cockroach in the room. This was supposed to be the second night of a three night stay. I spoke to them and apologized and said I would have our exterminator come in the morning (we have regular bug spraying; the last was about 10 days ago). 

I thought the conversation was tabled but they called Airbnb, cancelled the stay, and left without notifying us. I have not been able to speak with Support yet. I replied to a Support email about the booking, but haven't received an email back. My question: do I offer to refund the entire stay or just the two nights they cancelled? I am upset and embarrassed because in 3 years we've never had a bug complaint, and do have regular pest control. Thanks for any insight you can give!

Sara

[Sarah977]

@Sara345  the fact that they left without letting you know and applied to Airbnb for a refund makes me think they're the kind of guests who will leave a bad review whether you refund them or not. So do you want to be out the $ for the night they stayed AND get a bad review.? I guess you just have to do whatever your conscience dictates.

Living in the tropícs, I'm quite familiar with bug issues. I never spray, I don't want to live with those chemicals. But I use a cockroach gel (they're attracted to it, they eat it, they die) that I tuck in out-of the way places, like in a back corner in the under the sink cupboard, etc. Oddly enough, friends and neighbors who have their places fumigated on a regular basis don't have any less bug problems than I do. I think the bugs get immune to those sprays, or the stronger ones survive and reproduce a generation of super-cockroaches.

[Dee1054]

I have guests complain about every bug there is. There is no way to control a spider, a stink bug, an ant. I’m not sure how to respond to these guests who take a picture of 1 bug and send it to me