Refund issue

[Josol0]

Hello! I've currently got an issue with a guest who wishes to make a refund for a stay lasting 2 nights. The guest booked in advance, and as a matter of fact, a long ways away from a special festival that was to happen in our city on those dates that the guest booked. Initially, they booked a lisitng of ours which offered 2 condo units of similar specifications, but there was an error with the pricing and we had to compensate by re-adjusting the price to a level of which we could gain profit. Therefore, we negotiated with the guest by offering an alternative condo unit, which was slightly bigger compared to the condo units that the guest had initially booked and could accommodate the 10 guests that the guest made the booking with, the guest agreed to do so. However, upon the guest's arrival, turns out that she was actually planning on bringing 16 guests and 2 private vehicles of which she did not mention in the days prior to her arrival. The guest wanted to go back to the original agreement of staying in the 2 condo units that she had  booked. The guest wanted to go back to that agreement on the same day as the guest's arrival. We were totally unprepared because in our mind, the guest gave the go signal that the guest wanted to stay in the other condo unit that we offered to the guest and the 10 companions. We also offered to cancel the booking on that day, but the guest decided to go with the booking of the single unit that we offered. Technically we still accomodated the guest and her companions. I am aware of Airbnb's refund policy, but now they are asking for a refund of which they (including the other 9 people) had already used the condo, utilities, and amenities and declined our offer to cancel on the same day! Am I obliged to give the guest a refund?

[Matthew285]

@Josol0, it sounds like a very confusing situation!

You asked if you were obliged to give a guest a refund. In this situation, the decision about whether the guest gets a refund and (if so) how much will probably end up in the hands of an AirBnB service representative.

To get ahead of this, you might start the process by contacting AirBnB yourself and explain in detail what happened. Hopefully all communication is in the AirBnB messaging system so AirBnB can see what was said to each other. Try to be clear, calm, and professional. You don't need to make accusations or guesses about people's motivations or intentions. Report what happened and the efforts you made to be a good and honest host. It may come down to a "he said / she said" situation, and you want to be believeable and friendly. Think about it from the point of view of the AirBnB support person, and try to be the person they would believe in and want to help.

Hopefully the facts of the situation are in your favor!

[Josol0]

@Matthew285, It's definitely is a confusing situation! 

The true essence of the problem is that we provided them accomodations and permitted them to use our utilities and condo amenities, heck, we even gave them a bigger condo that could fit at least 12 people instead of the 2 unavailable condo units that she previously booked because the guest told us that they would be 10 guests plus and additional 2 guests, 12 in total. And when the guest initialy objected to the changes, we offered to cancel the booking, free of charge, and  on the same day. Yet she decided to proceed anyway!

From what we could piece together, The guest wasn't being truthful to begin with.  The guest had specified that there were only going to be 10 guests in total. But on the day of the booking, she stated to us that she would be bringing 16 guests and two private vehicles. We were totally unprepared for these changes!

I tried calling the Airbnb Support Team via callback. I waited close to an hour... but nobody picked up the phone to accomodate me. Right now, I'm using the private message service instead.

I appreciate the feedback that you've given! Cheers!!!