Request for cleaning fee refund???

Roberta-And-Ryan0
Level 1
Halifax, Canada

Request for cleaning fee refund???

I have a guest who booked, for three days then left for one and booked two more when they returned. The cleaning fee automatically gets added. We would have rented the place for the day if it was requested, thus the cleaning fee would have had merit. We did not have renter when they left and given we need a days notice we knew it would not be rented. We offered to clean the place and for the tenant to leave thier stuff. They declined and request only new towels which we provided. The guest now after vacating has requested a refund on the cleaning fee. I do feel we are very accomidating but feel that this is on the line. They did make two seperate bookings and declined the full cleaning. In hind sight we should have done the cleaning. I am not sure how to approach this request and would like to get some reccommedations from the community? Is there a policy with ABNB with regard to these issues. We have been paid out in full and would have to refund outside ABNB I think.

 

On a side note the same guest made a change to thier plans last minute and wanted to get a refund for one day (our refund policy does not allow this as it is set on moderate). We very politely decined this request due to the lack of notice. I could tell they were not happy about it. 

 

Thanks for your help.

R&R

 

6 Replies 6
Amaris0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

 

Re refund or any other transactions for that matter, it always has to be done via the Airbnb platform; any transactions carried out off/ outside the platform would be in breach of Airbnb rules.

 

Re refund for a day it's you choice to refund or stick with your chosen policy; you applied your cancellation policy which is clear in your listing so that's fair. It is the guest's responsibility to read the full listing details and if they are out of pocket as a result of not reading your description and making changes then you should  not feel guilty because they are not happy - look at it this way, the guest is not happy because they can't get a refund but you won’t be happy if you give a refund, someone's got to be unhappy and it's their changes that have created this situation so they bear the cost.

 

Re cleaning fee, you are entitled to charge the cleaning fee because it is listed in your description. However, on this occasion I personally do feel you should refund full cleaning fee since you have admitted not cleaning the room. You could ask for a small amount to cover cleaning the new towels but to be honest, being that it would only be a small fraction, it's not worth the negative vibes - just my thoughts.

 

All the best however you decide to proceed,

 

Ama

Gerry-And-Rashid0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

I agree with Amaris - you didnt do any cleaning and a few fresh towels seems minor to claim for. It's not going to be a common event so personally I would refund the second fee.

 

Clare0
Level 10
Templeton, CA

@Roberta-And-Ryan0 should you decide to refund, you would do it through the Resolution Center.  Here's a help guide for using the Resolution Center: 

 

https://community.airbnb.com/t5/Hosts/The-Resolution-Center-A-Community-Help-Guide-Request-or-Offer/...

 

 

I agree. If you did not actually send your crew to clean in between you should refund the guest. I would. If they booked 2 reservations and I did not catch it was the same group, and I sent my cleaners. i would not refund. The cleaning fee is understood to be passed on to a cleaning crew and not profit to owner. 


@Terry297 wrote:

The cleaning fee is understood to be passed on to a cleaning crew and not profit to owner. 


Where did you get this idea from? A cleaning fee does not mean that there is a cleaning crew, or it might.

Marg11
Level 10
Warwick, Australia

Airbnb is refunding our cleaning fee as requested to guests who extended a stay by 2 days as there was a cancellation but it took 3 messages to a Bot, person and service specialist to achieve this. I had finally threatened to give the guest cash which is against Airbnb policy.

Last time I had difficulty with Airbnb and it was resolved as per my request they sent me a gift, an Airbnb apron for our care and concern for our guests.

You need to be very specific with Airbnb about what you believe is ethical and fair to your guests. It is your business after all.