Adjoining room - guest reserve/confirmed rooms separately not adjoining listing

[Christine1844]

Hi, 

I'm really new at this and excited to join this hosting community!

I just posted my first listings for 2 separate rooms and another listing for both rooms since they are adjoining rooms. I gave the adjoining room listing a small break on the price too. My first reservation less than 24 hrs of my listing going live was by a guest who reserved (and automatically confirmed) both single room listings instead of choosing the adjoining room listing.

I feel badly about charging her the higher price of individual rooms but, since she's already confirmed, I don't know what to do. I don't want to incur additional fees by AirBNB for a rebooking is she cancels and rebooks the adjoining room instead. What's the most customer friendly way to handle this? Give her a chargeback after her stay? Advise her to cancel and rebook and just accept the double charge I get from AirBNB? 

PS: I'm going to add a note in each single room about the adjoining room option so this hopefully this won't happen again. 

Thanks!

Christine

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Christine1844 

Your guests are happy with what they paid so happy days. You will in time have this gain taken off you in other ways without a blink of compassion so bank the money, this will lighten the load for those times.

[Sarah977]

@Christine1844  So the host is trying to do the right thing by this guest and you're advising him to be greedy instead?  

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Sarah977 

I think your reply was to me but made to @Christine1844  (her) instead?

Everyone can make mistakes. I make them all the time... especially when Anne-Marie sends me shopping. You know, everything is all there clearly labelled with full descriptions and the buyer has the full choice and responsibility of what to buy.

By the time I get home after passing through the checkout, having a pleasant chat with the cashier whilst she/he scans my purchases and takes my payment - they never mention that I could have bought my stuff cheaper, or that if I bought 3 instead of 2 I'd get one free, or multiple small ones cost more than single big ones. So heres the problem... I've never had a cashier chase me out of Walmart (Asda) shouting at me or throwing money at me after I decided what I wanted!

"Hey Ian, sorry mate, you could have bought that cheaper by buying 2 of them or buying our special offer set... take them anyway - but have some money from us". (NEVER HAPPENS).

Have I ever been soooo disappointed that the error was never pointed out at checkout - no - I'll still go back, and the cashier was still friendly and I would give them 5*'s.

I'm sure you can think of your own - multiple - examples, its how the world goes around, anyway here's my sample:

What idiot would buy the first package when they were advertised next to each other?

🙂

[Sarah977]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0   Yes. I did mistakenly tag that post. I don't agree with your analogy at all, though. A cashier in a supermarket is just an employee, there would be no reason for them to care one way or the other if you could have gotten a better deal by buying 3 instead of 2, or anything else. They have no investment in the business, nor in making sure that one customer comes back to shop there again.

That's quite different from being a host and wanting to do right by your guests. As a host, you have a reputation to uphold, would likely get a good review if the guest was aware that you went out of your way to make sure they didn't overpay because they didn't quite understand how to book the number of rooms they wanted, and the OP has a conscience and moral compass that he operates from. It may not be the same as yours, and you can operate your business however you choose, but I find it odd to tell another host who's trying to do what he considers the right thing that he should ignore his values because some other guest might screw him over in the future.

[Christine1844]

Oh, man. Yes, I've done this so many times! But, I've always appreciated when the cashier did tell me about the better deal but I don't expect the cashier to know the price of every item in the store either. 

[Emiel1]

@Christine1844 

You can mention the link to your homepage in the listings (will only appear as text), so guests can see all your offers. For now you can change one of the bookings and amend the price (click in price field and enter new price), so total of 2 bookings will be appr. what you charge normally for both rooms: https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/50/as-a-host--how-do-i-make-a-change-to-a-confirmed-reservation

Or sent guest some money via the resolution centre during or after the stay.

(use sent/recieve money option in the reservation)

BTW your homepage:

https://www.airbnb.com/users/266026052/listings

best regards,

Emiel

[Christine1844]

Thank you @Emiel1 That link and option explanation is helpful! 

[Alexandra316]

@Christine1844  I had a similar situation happen with a guest where they paid two cleaning fees because they booked three consecutive nights as two seperate bookings. I just refunded them the difference at the end of their stay via the Send money function, and it worked out fine. That's what I would do in your situation also.

Good for you for doing the right thing by your guest.

[Christine1844]

Alexandra316 That sounds easy enough. Thanks!

[Paul154]

I'm with @Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 

Guest is happy, keep the guest happy.

Don't complicate things by offering the guest a rebate.

Guest is concerned with getting to your place and  throwing down their luggage. Period.

They don't want to read your texts about this issue - it's just added stress.

THis way you also get to keep control. If you like them, you can rebate them as you wish.

[Christine1844]

@Paul154 I like the 'after the fact' approach. Like you said, keeps me in control and then I can be the hero by giving them a refund. 

[Christine1844]

So, you won't believe it, or maybe you will. The Guest wrote back that she didn't think the first reservation 'took' so she placed the second one in error. She has now gone ahead and canceled one reservation so she's just got one room reserved now. 

But, that cost her a $45 fee anyway. Is there anyway that she can get that refunded or is it a done deal. I'm not sure, because I'm such a newbie, what that fee was exactly but I assume it was the AirBNB processing fee and there's nothing I can do to help her get that fee back. Right?

Thanks for everyone's reply to my initial question though! I love the many viewpoints shared. Thanks for taking the time to respond!

[Paul154]

Wait until the transaction clears. 

See how much money you do indeed get from airbnb.

If the guests is demanding money now, explain you will rebate her for the double payment AFTER her checkin. It's easier once you know the actual numbers.

[Susan151]

@Christine1844 @Paul154 

For once, I don't think Paul is correct. Since you will never receive the funds for the canceled reservation, there will be nothing for YOU to give back. Refunding a fee that AirBNB has received is simply not good business.

Your guest could certainly call AirBNB and show them that they made the first reservation in error and are rebooked and maybe they will consider refunding some of the service fee. This is the sort of thing that used to happen quite regularly. The guest will have better luck if they call a US number during business hours. Much better shot at reaching someone who has worked in the call center for longer, and knows how things work.