Refund for getting lost?

[Carmelle2]

I had a man book out my off-grid cabin (25 minutes down a logging road and 40 minutes from the town his workers were to be working in) last week. This was a last-minute booking and I did tell him in his request to book that we were far away from the town he asked about. Regardless, he booked anyways Tuesday night and Wednesday night. 

Monday morning I sent him a quick message with the code for the lockbox and that it would be ready for 3pm on Tuesday for check-in. He replied saying he booked the cabin for Monday - Wednesday and not Tuesday-Thursday, which he had not. It wasn't an issue, I quickly changed the reservation for him to Monday - Wednesday and rushed out the door (drove the 1.5 hours) and cleaned the cabin for their 3 pm arrival. Because I have young children in daycare I can not stay to check-in a guest, but we have a lockbox. 

Tuesday I got a message at 9:30 pm saying his workers discovered the road was blocked and had to turn around and get a hotel instead. On Wednesday first thing I contacted one of the guests who said "to the left of the log sort a log had dropped and completely blocked the road and they shut a yellow gate" I drove up again to see what the situation was. There are no yellow gates along the road and our directions say to go to the right of the log sort, not the left. There was no evidence of a log dropped or that the road was closed. 

I messaged the man who booked and explained what his employee said and also that the directions clearly state to go to the right, not the left. I saw from his reviews that he rents the same place often so I offered him a discount if he would like to book with us again in the future. 

He messaged back saying now that a worker turned them around, but no one said that to start and he would like a refund now. 

I am confused on what I should do, they changed their reservation to Monday which I quickly acted upon and made it happen for them. They ended up NOT checking in on Monday. Not until 9:30 pm at night did they message me to say they got turned around... So they were going up there on Tuesday for just one night and perhaps realized how far away it was from where they needed to be in the morning and decided a hotel in the town they were staying in was better? 

Should I refund them now or stand by my discount for a future booking? 

[Helen3]

There is absolutely no reason for you to refund.   Offer a discount on a future booking if you like. @Carmelle2 

I would say though a lack of communication with the person travelling  is one of the issues hosts who choose to accept third party bookings face and why I don’t accept them.

I always refer business  bookings  to Airbnb at work. 

[Carmelle2]

I should also mention there is no cell service on the logging road to my cabin, they may have got turned around a bit earlier than the 9:30pm time they contacted me as it is about 30 minutes to cell service. 

[Anonymous]

@Carmelle2  Guests are eligible for a refund from Airbnb if they report that they are unable to access the property. But they would have to report this to Airbnb on the day that it occurs. You don't get a refund on Thursday for saying that a road was closed on Monday - even if it's true. So you don't have to offer a refund if you don't want to.

Like @Helen3  I would also discourage third-party bookings. They are against the Terms of Service anyway, and your particular situation makes direct communication with guests especially crucial.

[Carmelle2]

Thank you! They were supposed to check in on Monday but didn't until Tuesday night. They reported to me Tuesday night. I contacted Airbnb. 

Just trying to see if other people would issue a refund or not. 

[Sarah977]

@Carmelle2  There is no reason to issue a refund in a case like this- what would the refund be for? A reward for not following clear and simple directions? For not knowing left from right? 

[Lawrene0]

The reward for getting lost in the woods, @Carmelle2 , is getting eaten by a witch or a wolf. Refunds are not part of the story. 

🙂

[Sarah977]

@Lawrene0  On Vancouver Island, the consumer of the lost guests would more likely be a cougar 🙂  And while there used to not be any grizzlies on the island, they are now swimming across from the mainland and there are now grizzlies there.