Advice on Refund.

[Mallory17]

Hi all. I was hoping to get some thoughts on a situation I just encountered with my guest over the weekend. This guest booked two nights (Friday & Saturday night) and on Sunday morning at 10:30a (checkout is noon), I receive a message from her stating they had a family emergency and had to depart early. Keep in mind this is only an hour & a half before the end of their stay that she is informing me of this. She is requesting a refund for at least some of the money. Before saying anything, I return to the house to make sure everything is in order. I have no way of knowing how long they were actually here as I am off-site when hosting, but besides a few small things that bother me ONLY because she is requesting a refund (AC on very low even though no one is here, all the complementary breakfast items taken, etc), everything is in good shape.

I refunded her cleaning fee as a gesture of good will, even though I will still have to wash the bedding etc. 

Do you think I am at risk of AirBnB refunding her completely? I know they are pretty generous with the “extenuating circumstances” policy, but can this be used when a guest claims it at such a late date? I know I am also at risk of receiving a bad review, but I didn’t feel it was fair to refund the full amount given such late notice as well as the fact that they were obviously here for at least some amount of time. What would y’all have done in my shoes? 

[Emiel1]

Hello @Mallory17 ,

I understand the guest did not cancel the reservation ? So then it is still active, despite the message.

Refunds (if any) will be calculated automatically after cancellation. So it's up to the guest to do their  homework properly and cancel the reservation in time.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/43/what-happens-if-my-guest-cancels

Best regards, Emiel

[Mallory17]

@Emiel1 that’s true, she did not officially cancel, which is a good point and makes me feel better. Hopefully she will not look into taking advantage of any loop holes in the system! Thanks for your response! 

[Sarah977]

@Mallory17  That's absurd. Her check out is on Sunday. There's nothing to cancel or refund, just because she left an hour and a half before check-out time. She stayed Saturday night, which is what she paid for. I can't imagine why you refunded her the cleaning fee.

[Mallory17]

@Sarah977 Her message was not clear as to when exactly they left and after returning to the home, it is hard for me to tell. Sheets are a bit messed etc, but hard to say if actually slept in. Of course I plan to wash them regardless. It probably was too generous to refund the cleaning fee...hopefully she will at least leave a kind review (if any). Thanks for your response! 

[Steve143]

Hello @Mallory17,

I would not refund anything. I would leave it to the guest to contact Airbnb.

Even though the guest is supposed to cancel first and then claim extenuating circumstances you are still at the mercy of what Airbnb will decide if she contacts them. There's not much you can do about that.

As you've already refunded some amount I would contact Airbnb support to make sure that the guest doesn't get a double refund if she claims.

Steve.

[Mallory17]

@Steve143 That is a smart idea to contact AirBnB regarding the amount I have already refunded. Thanks for your response! 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Mallory17   I don't understand why you refunded her anything?

Night is counted from the begining of our check in time (14:00 h) until our check out time the next day (until 11:00) . Guest can come at 19:00 and leave at 3:00 in the morning I don't care, he paid for one night stay. He isn't intitled for cleaning fee refund either.

[Mallory17]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 I think I mainly did it out of guilt/sympathy over her “family emergency”. Not necessarily very business smart, I agree. But I also wondered...will she take it out on me in her review (if she leaves one) if I offer her nothing? I know these sorts of retaliatory reviews are against the rules, but it seems like guests still have the upper hand in those situations. Ah well, at least in the future I will not feel bad for standing firm on my cancellation policies, per the advice of my fellow hosts! Live & learn! 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Mallory17from my experience very very rarely our guests stay from 14:00 until 11:00 the next day. Usually they arrive later and depart earlier . Where would we be if we refunded all of them ? 😄 We rent by night not by hour

[Sarah977]

@Mallory17  Check-out time simply means they have to be out BY that time. The extenuating circumstances polocy has nothing to do with this.

If she didn't get herself together to leave by the check-out time and overstayed by half an hour, do you think she would have offered to pay you for the extra half-hour?