Fellow host i need your help again

[Andre43]

I have a guest checked in today but he wants to cancel the booking because he didnt like that our home doesnt have an AC in the living room. 

It is stated in my description and picture that we dont have it yet. Now he wants to cancel and have a refund but my cancelation configuration is at strict. I told him multiple times about the description, picture and reviews because it is all stated there, even the AC.

How do i go about it? As per policy if he cancels he wont get a refund through airbnb and now he wants me to pay him.

[Elena87]

@Andre43

You have options

A - Fold and give a refund or part refund.

B - Stick to your guns; point out that the room is exactly as described, the guest agreed to the strict cancellation in advance. The guest is not entitled to move the goalposts during the stay.

Either they can stick it out or cancel under the aforehand accepted cancellation policy.

C - Guest can cancel and you can concede that perhaps if you re-book the room at such short notice you can partly refund, although maybe unlikely.

[Andre43]

Hi Elena 

Thank you for your help 🙂 Decided to at least give him part refund 🙂 I wanted to be fair to him since I can rent out the unit again 🙂

[Kyi1]

I don't know B would work. Last year, we had a couple from New York who wanted to cancel their reservation at last minute because their plan "has changed". We had strict policy set, so you would assume refund wouldn't happen. But Airbnb pressured us to give them full refund because "they are difficult to deal with". I don't why Airbnb even bother to implement cancellation policy feature if they going to pressure host to refund.

[Helen3]

@Andre43

There is no reason for you to offer your guest a refund, because he didn't read your listing.

I would say to your guest, that you are sorry they have decided not to stay but that they will need to cancel through Airbnb and any refund will be in line with the cancellation policy they booked under.

If the guest is staying for a few days, you can say to them, that although you are not obliged to, you would be willing to offer a partial refund if any of the days are rebooked.

Say this to the guest and put it in writing through Airbnb messenger.

Call Airbnb straight away and say that the guest wants to cancel because they say there is no Air Conditioning in your living room which is clearly stated in your listing.

Sometimes Airbnb try and pressure hosts into giving more of a refund then you need to,

Make sure if they contact you, you write back and confirm that you don't want to offer an additional refund.

[Andre43]

Hi Helen 

Thank you for your help 🙂 Decided to at least give him part refund 🙂 I wanted to be fair to him since I can rent out the unit again 🙂 And yes you are right Airbnb called me 30mins after stating that I have a misleading description. After explaining to the agent they agreed to my favor 🙂

[Noel63]

What do you mean by misleading description?

[Noel63]

I'm a little bit confused. I looked at your listing and under amenities airconditioning is listed.

[Fred13]

Option #4: Look at it philosophically, by asking yourself the question: What did I loose by having this guest book and yes waste 'some' of my time? ~IF~ little, I let them cancel (of course) and agree to a full refund. ~IF~ they truly lessened the chance of me booking my place at all to someone else then that is a whole other clear-cut matter. Oftentimes, I will take the middle ground. Every case is indeed differrent.

[Andre43]

Hi Fred 

Thank you for your help 🙂 Decided to at least give him part refund 🙂 I wanted to be fair to him since I can rent out the unit again 🙂