Guests left early, want refund

[Steve3460]

Dear Airbnb community,

Yesterday I had a guest arrive just as the power went out to our whole community due to a construction accident in the neighborhood. They are putting new sewer lines in our community and one of the backhoes struck a powerline. In addition to the lack of power/AC, the two dogs from my adjacent rental unit were barking. The guests called me and said that this wasn’t the peaceful getaway they were planning on. They said my house was lovely, but that the construction, power loss, and dogs barking made them want to go back home and get a full refund. Never having experienced something like this before, I acquiesced and agreed to refund them if they decided to go back home. About 10 minutes after they left, the power came back on, the neighbors came home and the dogs stopped barking. I lost out on two nights rental, which is about $500.  I think, looking back, this was an unreasonable request. on their part. I can’t control things like power outages, or dogs barking. And those things were remedied within about an hour and a half. This on top of the fact that I had already given them a 20% discount for their stay. I would love some input from more experienced hosts. Thanks! 

[Kate867 · Accepted solution]

@Steve3460   I can see it from both sides.  Neither you or the guests knew when power would be restored, and it could have been up to 24 hours or more and equally those dogs could be barking on and off throughout their stay.   I think you were a bit quick to allow them to cancel for a full refund and should have perhaps asked them to hold on whilst you checked on the issues to ascertain when power would be back, request the adjacent guests not to leave the dogs alone and check how much longer the construction would be continuing and during which hours.  Once you had all that information you could have probably offered a further discount for the inconvenience.  It is too late now to do anything about it, but the guests would have been happy that you understood the situation and you might consider reaching out to them to offer a discounted stay off season.

[Steve3460]

Thanks Kate!

[Anonymous]

@Steve3460  You might have dodged a bullet there. People whose first impulse is to abandon the whole trip when things don't go quite as expected....well, let's just say they're not the most seasoned travelers, and relaxing is not in their skill set. It's an act of mercy when they leave quickly without dirtying up your house, rather than stay on and demand refunds later (which is ridiculously common). 

As @Kate867  suggests, there are tactics you can use to buy time when guests are simply overwhelmed by a temporary problem. It's great to have a small arsenal of vouchers for times when you need a few hours to get a solution sorted out - tickets to a nearby attraction, admission to a spa, meals at a nice nearby restaurant, etc - as these can go a lot further in calming people down than refunds. But if the guests seem truly inconsolable from the get-go, you know their real problem goes much deeper than anything to do with the accommodation, so it's best to encourage them to vacate immediately.

[Ludivine0]

@Anonymous , thanks for these great tips. I am experiencing a quite new for me situation with guests  and thanks to your answers I feel more relaxed about it. I understand it is also part of the host journey

[Gillian166]

excellent advice here, and these hiccups are part of your host experience. This is also a great reason to read the forums often, and to hear all the worst case stories, and how hosts dealt with it, and read other advice from seasoned hosts. These forums have been SO helpful to me, even though i've not had many bad issues (a guest vomiting after over indulging at a wedding can't be foretold, but i had the confidence to charge her an $100 extra cleaning fee, thanks to this forum, and they paid it).