refund

[Marcia102]

I recently had a guest check in to an apartment I have.  She, her husband and son checked in last Friday (April 7, 2017).  At the time that she booked the apartment there was no one living upstairs, and I had told her that.  In the interim, I booked someone else for the upstairs apartment and they came in the day before she did.  In the morning after her first night there, she sent me a text message asking me how long the upstairs tenants would be staying.  I gave her their move out date and asked if there was a problem.  She then told me that the upstairs tenants were too noisey.  She said she didn't want to complain and they weren't being disrespectful, but you could hear them walking on the floor (not excessively loud, just plain walking).   I checked with them, and they told me that they were just walking normally.  I offered her to stay in the upstairs unit and have the guests upstairs come down to the lower, but she did not agree to that.

The second morning after she checked in, she sent me another text message telling me that they had checked out because her second night there was a little worse.  After hearing this from her, I called her on the phone, and she told me that you could hear them going to the bathroom and snoring.  I asked her if she thought it was coming from the floor or the walls, and she said the floor. I have had this building for 14 years, and have not had one complaint about noise from people in the upper unit.  I have gone the extra mile by having extra thick padding and carpeting installed to make sure it is as sound proof as possible, but there is only so much that is within my control.  

She is now asking for half of her money back.  Personally, I don't think she is entitled to it, as I have held these dates open for her, and she took the initiative to leave.  If it wasn't up to her expectations, I'm not sure what else I could have done.

Is she entitled to a refund?

[Linda108]

@Marcia102  At this time just make sure all your communications with the guest are on the Air BNB messaging system.  If you had a phone call, summarize the call in a message.  Then if the guest seeks a refund, she will have to go to Air BNB for it to be sorted out.  Your cancellation policy plus the communications  will be reviewed and Air BNB will determine if there should be a refund.

As to the guest's noise sensitivity, if this feedback has any merit, you could be sure to mention the potential in your description and you can offer ear plugs as well.  As a traveler, I know I will be sensitive to city noise as I live in a very quiet town.  I plan for that but many people are not good travelers.

[Sean71]

Absolutely not.  The noise from other tenants, though is unfortunate, is not forseeable or guaranteed.  Don't feel guilty for denying any refund amount - this is why Airbnb has their Flex, Moderate, Strict guidelines that hosts can choose for refund policies.  Seeing as your booking had already started and they checked out early, theres no way you could reasonably re-rent that space to someone else for that timeframe - so you'd be out the cash without a reservation.  

For every hundred guests, theres bound to be a bad apple or two. It sounds to me like they just wanted a refund and started making up a story about noise because they knew they were going to check out early (and knew they wouldn't be able to get a refund thru the proper Airbnb channels...).  Don't feel pressured about a review or a complaint - this is your house and your business - and they're taking advantage of that.