guests who have booked the wrong room

[Stephen-And-Etty0]

i run 3 Airbnb units , all are different types and prices.   today i had a couple who thought they had booked a room with its own ensuite($125) but in fact they booked the upstairs room with shared bathroom($95)  they were very abusive and wouldn't listen to reason at all , they made the mistake themselves , the worst part is they reduced my 72 yo cleaning lady to tears with their rudeness.

i contacted my neighbour who has an ensuite room and relocated them there at my loss ($50 / night) just to help them out. i could have told them to go away ,    160 guest bookings at 4.9 star . . . . then this!!!     

what would you have done??  what could i have done?           cheers   Steve

[David-and-Fiona0]

I would have held firm and given AirBnb notice of the issue in case they did a retaliatory review. Airbnb would be then sympathetic to your cause. I would also trash them in a review. 

[Stephen-And-Etty0]

thankyou David and Fiona for your feedback on this matter , yes i have tried to keep the peace on this one despite their obvious error, and the fact it has cost me to put their mistake right  , hopefully tomorrow after they cool down , they may come and apologise to my poor old cleaning lady , where i will let it rest , otherwise i will have to report them to Airbnb as that was really bad on their behalf :- (

on a brighter note , good to meet you here , i went to Panglao and Bohol 2 years ago , fantastic , i will be back and next time i will definetly stay at your Airbnb    all the best   Steve Baker  NZ

[Kyle645]

I know it has been several years since this happened to you. But we would love your input.

We have a 4 bed house. One room has a half bath. Rest all share bath. 

A guest from last night checked into the wrong room. We are not on site, so not aware. Another guest came today to check into her room...to find it's occupied.

We put her into the room with the 1/2 bath...smaller with queen, the room she booked is larger with a king, but no 1/2 bath.

Honestly, I do not see how a guest can be so....clueless. Romms are all clearly named. This guy states he originally booked the room he took, but later rebooted for the other room and just mixed them up. 

I would love to know your thoughts. And how your situation wound up. 

Any advice?  Honestly, Stephan and Etty, you were so gracious, that would have been me 15 years ago...I wish I still were. But I  am just shocked at his ....what ever this is.

[Sarah977]

@Kyle645  You have to tag another poster, as I did here to you, if you want them to know you are addressing them, so they get a notification. The chances of the OP here revisiting this 4 year old thread are non-existent otherwise.

[Kyle645]

Thank you for the advice Sarah.  Can you tell I am new o using the community?

[Sarah977]

@Kyle645  I had no idea how to tag someone myself when I first started frequenting this forum, and another host here alerted me to it, so just passing it forward. 🙂

[Debra300]

@Kyle645,

Here is a link with the information you requested about tagging someone's ID in the community:  https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Tips-Tutorials/How-to-mention-someone-Tutorial/td-p/494851.

[Robin4]

@Stephen-And-Etty0 Gee Stephen the loss of $50 might only be the start of it!

Stephen, as @David-and-Fiona0 have said you do have to cover yourself here because if this guest is a seasoned Airbnb traveller they would have known exactly what they were booking! It is not simply an error to book the wrong listing.....you can only book the page you have open, and where I 'smell a rat' here Stephen, you do not actually state on either of your listings the status of the bathroom. The guest has probably decided to pay for the cheapest, but pump for the most expensive and use that lack of transperency where the bathroom is concerned to make an issue.

And the fact that they abused your cleaning lady suggests they were not newcomers to Airbnb. If they were they would have been a lot more conciliatory and less arrogant.

If this runs true to form they will next lodge a complaint of misrepresentation with the Resolution Centre and get all their money returned to them. Do not let them get in the first complaint with Airbnb (which they may have already done) and make sure that while you have communication through your message catalogue your issue and the guests response because this will strengthen your argument when the time comes for you to justify your position.

All the best Stephen but, please, don't sit on the fence here....we have seen what happens when hosts think it will all turn out ok 1,000 times before....protect yourself.

Cheers.....Rob

[Stephen-And-Etty0]

thanks Rob ,  my only concern with using Airbnb is being able to get hold of them in an "emergency" like this one.  is the message system the only way?as i do not see other options here , and these guests were not friendly or about to wait , so i did my best to resolve the problem.  also what do i do when they place bad feed back     regards   Steve

[David126]

I am never sure what AirBnB can be expected to do in these situations, if you had say all spoken to someone immediately what could that person do. 

Most likely just say there had been a 'misunderstanding' and cancel the booking. In which case your cancellation policy does not apply.

[Helen3]

Hi @Stephen-And-Etty0

I wouldn't not have done this for anyone who thinks it's okay to abuse a member of your staff who clearly is not the owner. What you seem to have done is reward them for their appalling behaviour. If I was your cleaner I would want to know that you would stand up for me in these sort of situations.

What you could have done is simply contacted Airbnb explained the guests mistake and asked BNB to help find them something more suitable for their needs.

I agree with others - that your 'guests' will find other areas to complain about.

I would suggest you contact Airbnb and your guests through the messaging system to confirm what has happened.

[Stephen-And-Etty0]

thanks Helen ,  i am fairly new to Airbnb and although busy have had no problems other than this one.

how exactly do i get hold of Airbnb?  to complain about these guests?  

cheers   Steve

[David126]

They had the option to cancel and look elsewhere.

Most hosts would not have been able to do what you did, or would want to.

Issue I see is that they will claim a full refund and you will be out big time, better if they had not stayed.

[Stephen-And-Etty0]

thanks David ,  to calm the situation i decided to help them out as best i could in trying to be a good host by finding an alternative venue close by.  if they ask for a refund as well it will only prove what type of people they are , and as such should not be Airbnb members ,  yes hope it all sorts out amicably       Regards    Steve