refund

[Kirsty66]

Hello, we are new to Airbnb, although have offered our place through another site for some time now.  Our international guest arrived at the property and within a short space of time had emailed to say that he wanted to leave as the house was not in the right location (The location of the property is clearly described on website).  He later advised that the house was “dirty’ and he couldn’t accept it.  We found that latter statement odd because the house had been cleaned that same day and inspected before the guest arrived.   The guest sent pictures of a sofa that has some sunfade and the inside of 2 bedroom cupboards (would have been closed when he arrived) that double as storage and contained additional clean bedding, clean  duvets, clothes hangers and spare pillows for guests.

He claims that his parents (it seems that his parents were staying there, not him) did not stay and he later cancelled the booking. 

We were initially  cautious about the guest when he tried to bargain with us on the rate, which is very reasonable already.  But it seems to us that his references to the condition of the house are not only false, but a deliberate measure to allow him favourable exit conditions.  We are also concerned that because of our strict cancellation policy that he may be motivated to unfairly critique our bach. 

What are the options for us to  ensure that we are not unfairly penalised in this situation.  Before he cancelled, we had already offered to waiver the cleaning bill. 

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Kirsty66

This is undoubtedly going to be a tricky one. So remember that at some point you need to think is this worth the hassle.

You are within your rights to keep payment as the guest did not read the description nor look up the location.

You can tell the guest they need to cancel so that your calendar is opened again and you can try to resell the room. I would tell the guest that you are happy to refund for any nights not used. Also you can refund the cleaing fee straight as they did not use the property (I assume). 

Remember that when they send through a cancellation request you decline it, as otherwise it seems to the platform that you have initiated the cancellation.

I think you will find that the guest will approach AirBnB direct - if they do, as you probably know, the guest is in the right until proved otherwise. Keep all correspondence with the guest on the platform, which at least will show your side of the argument. Be prepared for the worst outcome - and finally think about lessons learned - anyone pushing for a discount is bad news from the outset.

Good luck and remember to review the guest (briefly and professionaly) and give them the thumbs down so that other hosts are aware

[Ria16]

KiaOra @Kirsty66 The other thing is if he communicated via the AirBnB message system that it was his parents who stayed there then that itself give you some clear proof that he has gone against the terms of use about third party bookings . So that might give you some leverage. Good luck .