Room has no A/C, guest wants refund

Jesse192
Level 6
Boulder, CO

Room has no A/C, guest wants refund

I'm a new AirBnb host. 

My guest checked in 3 hours ago, emailed me asking if the unit has A/C.

Unit does not have A/C, and A/C was not listed as an amenity.

Room is stocked with 1 small fan, and I offered to supply another larger fan.

 

I'll admit up front, I should probably state "No A/C" in the house rules so it's crystal clear to future guests, that's a lesson learned for me.

 

Guest now requests a refund because "she has allergies and is unable to sleep with a fan on her, or with the windows open".

Her booking is 4 four days, spanning one of the most lucrative weekends of the year (Ironman weekend in Boulder, CO).

 

What would you do? 

On the one hand she's only been here 3 hours. 

One the other hand if I refund, I've lost revenue for an entire lucrative weekend.

Thank you!

8 Replies 8
Susan151
Level 10
Somerville, MA

@Jesse192 . Well AirBNB makes it pretty clear that you are not offering A/C. They even highlight it as NOT Included.

 

Screen Shot 2019-06-06 at 7.23.46 PM.png

One stategy that some have used is, she can cancel, and you will refund any amount that you are able to rent the room for during her nights, minus a 'hassle factor' fee. With a major event, there might be a last minute booking.

 

Otherwise, simply stick with your cancelation policy. This doesn't mean AirBNB won't make a different decision for you however.

Ian-And-Anne-Marie0
Level 10
Kendal, United Kingdom

@Jesse192 

Your House Rules don't need to mention A/C. Your amenities do - and you state there are none.

 

Do as @Susan151 suggests.

Jesse192
Level 6
Boulder, CO

Thank you both for your input!  I'm the original poster.

 

My guest has been very cooperative ... she cancelled her reservation, so Airbnb refunded ~25% of her money back.

I offered to refund additional money (to get her up to a maximum 50% refund) based on my confidence that I'll get a last-minute booking.

She was grateful and we agreed to exchange positive reviews.

 

Thanks again!

Ana1136
Level 10
Ohrid, Macedonia (FYROM)

@Jesse192 you should know that exchanging positive or negative reviews for refunds is against Airbnb policies. I am glad things worked out for you but keep that in mind. 

Jesse192
Level 6
Boulder, CO

Thank you for pointing that out.  I should clarify, she will provide a review for the several hours she spent in as my guest.

Ana1136
Level 10
Ohrid, Macedonia (FYROM)

@Jesse192 of course, even if she didn't stay at all she can leave a review, but exchanging it for a refund is what is against policy, no matter how much time she spent there. 

@Jesse192  You miss Ana's point. It is extortion to offer to trade money or anything else for a good review, whether that comes from the guest or the host. Whether the guest stayed for 3 hours or 3 weeks, that's immaterial. Extortion is very much against Airbnb TOS and you can get booted off the platform for that if the guest reports it.

Jesse192
Level 6
Boulder, CO

Thank you.  I understand the point.

There was no extortion involved on either side, I should have been more precise in my language when I posted earlier. 

I've updated my post with clearer description of how we handled it.

Thanks again for everyone's quick replies!