What should be done and repercussions?

[Crypterium0]

Hello everyone,

We would be very grateful if you could please inform us about what should be done regarding a prevailing situation :

I lost one of my cousins on the eve of the happening below and barely slept.

A host contacted usCleaning teamBedsheetsPictures will speakUnboxing FridgeUnpacking breakfastKitchenBathroom

3hours before moving out and we managed to find her a place but when coming the first thing she said was that the place was dirty.

Bearing in mind that she initially came from a 5 star hotel.

She was  told that it was short notice for her to book and come and that we didn't have time to properly clean the place.

A team came the next day but  she was convinced to move out by one of the lady who was paid to CLEAN.

The cherry is that despite the country was faced with a cyclone class 2...we drove for one and a half hours to get there,bought everything for breakfast and rented out the place she was staying.

We could have said no but we did find a place for them  as they were 3 +1(child) but it is only afterwards that they told us the baby has asthma(How were we supposed to know beforehand?)

Now she's demanding a full refund...We're  at a lost..can  you please advise? 

Expenses on our side :

1. 1hr30mins Cab trips x 5 ($150) : We have the receipts
2. Rented apartment (Approx $700) : We have the receipts
3. Bought fridge ($400)
4. Cleaning & breakfast prep(1 day) : Including paying for the abto fetch the cook/cleaner and driving them back home due to cyclonic conditions($115)
5. Breakfast ingredients(1 week) ($150) : We have the receipts.
6. Cleaning equipments including anti-moisture ($35)
7. Bedsheets and pillows x 5 ($50)

The booking on airbnb totaled $1021..That's the amount they're claiming....

The total expenditure nearss $1600 and  it might seem foolish to spend that amount but since we're new to airbnb we thought that the invessment was worth especially as we're aiming to build our reputation and the focus has never been money and we could have spend more as long as the customer is satisfied.But with such a happening(the customer hs moved out btw andis claiming the $1021),we shall not go forward with any other future bookings.

There's an old  chinese proverb if I'm not mistaken : If you find someone in a hole asking for help,do not pull him/her out as he/she might push you into that hole....SImply pass by.

[Inna22]

To make sure  I understand,

You had a guest move inand she said your place was not clean enough 

 You took a cab to see her

You rented a new place for her

You bought a fridge 

 She now wants a refund 

Mia that correct?

 Is the fridge yours to keep?

Is she asking for the refund through Airbnb? 

I assume the new place you rented was not through Airbnb?

[Crypterium0]

No.

1. Online booking was made 3hours before moving  in.
2. Took cab and bought a few things before reaching place.
3. Guest arrived.
4. Told it was dirty.
5. Told her it was short notice.
6. Cleaned the next day.
7. Prepared breakfast.
8. Bought fridge and moved it upstairs.
9. Guests wanted to move out.
10. Guest moved out.
11. Asking refund.

The place is listed on Airbnb

[Inna22]

@Crypterium0 it is your responsibility to have the place ready for your guests. You can set a filter that requires a certain time window between reservation. It is not your guests fault she gave you a three hour notice but yours. It is also not her problem that you need to take a cab there. It also doesn’t matter if she came to you from ritz Carlton or favela. The place needs to be clean when she arrives, not next day

[City-Limits-Ranch0]

It sounds like you didn't have an Airbnb space set up and ready to use.  You invested a lot of money to quickly make a place as ready as you could, and then the guest was not satified.  It is a huge mistake to invest money you do not have to provide a space for one guest.  Anything could happen to prevent this guest from completing their reservation.  This is called 'counting your chickens before they are hatched.'

Are you going to be able to now rent this space in future?  It seems really impractical to try to host a space that is a long cab drive away from your home base. 

[Crypterium0]

I have 4 airbnb spaces to rent but we require aminimumof 1 week to set it up....Invest money I do not have? How was I able to invest if I didn't have the money? I took from my savings.

We learn from our mistakes....I didn't count chickens as I've said,money doesn't come first else I wouldn't have spent...Thanks for your feedback.

[Sarah977]

@Crypterium0 If you require a minimum of one week to set up, (which doesn't make sense at all- why are they not set up for guests always if you have your place listed?), why would you accept a booking that came in 3 hours before the guest wanted to arrive. You could have just told her that you couldn't accomodate a last minute booking.

And this is not how people host on Airbnb- you don't list a place, then wait for money from a booking to come in so you have money to set the place up- hosts don't even get paid for a booking until 24 hours after a guest checks in. All hosts took money from their savings to set up their Airbnb before they listed it. They may add to it slowly, as they make more money, but it has to be clean and have enough amenities to be comfortable for a guest to start with. 

@Paul154 contributed some very good advice for you- you need an experienced property manager who understands how to run a hospitality business.

[Sarah977]

@Crypterium0 It's difficult to make sense of your post (for instance, whose dirty feet are those on the bed?) you say host when it seems you mean guest, etc.

It seems that you listed this place with a bookable calendar before it was actually ready for guests. I can't understand why you would do that. It appears that it didn't even have a fridge yet. Never go live with a listing unless you are fully ready to receive guests, unless you've blocked off the calendar to allow yourself time to finish it off.

 That shower stall looks like there's either missing grout, or the grout is moldy in places. I'd suggest you either fix the missing grout or scrub the black mold (if that's what it is, hard to tell from the photo) with bleach. 

[Crypterium0]

Thank you for your feedback...We already had 2 fridges(check on the picture) downstairs...The picture of the bathroom was during the cleaning process...

[Grace329]

1. If you already had two fridges in the apartment why did you buy another one?

2. What is the $700 rented apartment you are indicating ? What is it for? Did you rent this place specifically for  the new guest

3. Whose dirty feet are those on the bed and what is the relevance of that picture 

am sorry about your loss. At times it helps us to learn 

[Ute42]

.

I am not an english native speaker, my mother tongue is german. I 'm reading the english Community Center trying to improve my understanding of the english language. As it  looks this is not the perfect thread for my project as I understand almost nothing.

[Clara116]

@Ute42 I'm American and I TOO do not understand what this is all about - have read it 2 times.....I'm totally confused and each time I read it I then get even MORE confused. Es ist wie ein wirbelwind/ sturm Ute. Tschuss, Clara

Can someone explain in clear language what this is about? What do the photos mean?? Who needs assistance? What is going on ? ---- I'm dizzy. thanks, Clara 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Crypterium0

Don't accept guests if you don't have a clean listing with all amenities as promised ready for guests to check into. Why would you accept a guest when you KNEW the place would not be clean and not ready? Short notice is not the issue here. The cleaning team should have done their thing and be gone before the guest even arrived. The bathroom should be clean before the guest arrives. 

I wouldn't accept a booking with 3hrs notice simply because I would not be ready to get my home ready in 3hrs - which is why my setting is a 2 day prior notice requirement.

What is the purpose of your post? Your post makes little sense and it's hard to understand what your point is? What are you trying to say? And not sure why you even mention you lost a cousin or that you barely slept the night before or that the guest came from a 5 star hotel or that the guest's baby had asthma. Honestly......I think I got asthma just from looking at your photos. In the end, none of this matters. What matters is if you are a host then you need to be responsible and provide what you promise. 

[Ute42]

.

@Jessica-and-Henry0,  :):)

[Cormac0]

@Jessica-and-Henry0

LOL moment "I think I got asthma just from looking at the photos"...