Refunds

[Michael2080]

Community, the home I rent is part of a duplex.  My neighbor let some friends stay the night.  They lost their key so when my guests returned to my home at 2 a.m. my neighbors guests were on my front porch.  They asked my guests if they could go through my unit and cross over to their unit because they had lost their keys.  The neighbors gave my guests the impression it was an arrangement I had with my neighbor, which is not the case.  My guests let the neighbors go through my house and cross over on the rooftop deck to their unit.  Then they called me disturbed and scared.  They said they felt unsage and went to a hotel at 5 am.  Should I give them a refund?

[Kath9]

@Michael2080, I think I would give a refund in this case to show good will. They left the accommodation and had to pay for a night in a hotel. I don't think they would have done that if they weren't genuinely scared. I would refund them and then ask your neighour to compensate you!

[Karin36]

What is unsafe about being neighborly?  These "guest neighbors" needed a favor...an alternative access route to their suite.  Were they carrying weapons, stumbling drunk,  hostile and malicious?  It certainly doesn't sound like it.  It sounds like a simple, common problem (losing a key) with a simple solution.   As long as the doors on the rooftop decks have locks, there is no more danger here than any other two dwellings side by side.

[Ana1136]

@Karin36 would you feel safe if someone was waiting for you at 2am in a foreign country and asking you to enter to your rented apartment? I wouldn't even let them pass if I wasn't informed earlier. And how would the guests know if they are carryng weapons? Maybe they are hiding them until they enter the apartment, it wouldn't be strange. And they aren't even neighbours, just some people staying in the other apartment.  @Michael2080 you should definitely give them a refund in my opinion, at least for the money they spent at the hotel.

[Karin36]

HI Ana.  If I felt unsafe, I wouldn't have let the folks in to my unit in the first place.  🙂  If they presented themselves as decent people in distress, I would have gladly allowed them through.  

[Ana1136]

@Karin36 looks can be deceiving. I wouldn't risk for sure. Probably wouldn't leave to a hotel also, but I can see why the guests were upset.

[Mikki0]

@Michael2080 If not a full refund, then at least a partial "sorry for the inconvenience" refund. 

[Sarah977]

Yes, I'd refund- your guests had no way of knowing WHO these people were. They could have been thieves trying to pull a scam. And I'd be asking the neighbor to refund YOU for this weird behavior on the part of their friends, which caused you the loss of a booking. These friends should have gotten in touch with your neighbor about the loss of the keys or should have gone to stay in a hotel themselves, not sit on the steps at 2 AM expecting complete strangers to let them march through your house.