To refund or not to refund?

Colleen17
Level 1
Texarkana, AR

To refund or not to refund?

I was contacted by a guest at 3 PM for a 9 PM arrival. The reservation was for two guest. I excepted the request. I was then sent a message informing me there would be five people arriving. I messaged the guest and asked for an additional $20 to be delivered to my PayPal account. The guest immediately wanted to cancel the reservation.
By this time, I had already cleaned my entire 2 story home and put fresh linens on all the beds.
Should I refund all of the money? Or do a partial refund?
1 Reply 1
Dede0
Level 10
Austin, TX

@Colleen17 If the booking was for a single night, I definitely wouldn't refund a dime. For a longer booking, you can choose to issue a partial refund, but even then I would withhold the entire first night and at least half of the remainder. The guest was deceptive and, when the actual number of people was revealed, they backed out because of a mere $20 extra per night? Ridiculous. You put out effort AND your listing ended up with at least one blocked, unrentable night.