Guest demanding we pay for a hotel room for one night and also that we comp her first night in the home

[Julie1516]

Our guests just arrived in town and the power was out in our neighborhood due to a blown transformer.   

We were immediately in contact with the town electric, which they advised the power would be restored in 2-2 1/2 hours.   Our property manager was there on site upon arrival and had left a note on door advising the guests.  In addition, she had pulled out the candles and flashlights and remained on the property in another unit.    the power was restored at 8:10pm .   They arrived at 630pm .   Our property manager advised them if they wanted to use the upstairs unit- which has a gas stove, they could come upstairs and utilize to cook dinner.   

The guests were very upset and angry with my property manager over the circumstances and claimed that there was something wrong with the house- as they could see the neighbours down the road had a light one.   All street lights and our entire side of street were dark and off, and there we were in direct contact with the electric company immediately. 

The guests demanded the power be turned back on immediately.  They then said that they were getting a hotel room and that we were to comp them hotel costs as well as the first nights stay at our home.  The mother and daughter were going to the hotel, and the father was staying at the home as the hotel would not take dogs.       

My question is, what is the policy on this one?   Must we pay for their hotel and reimburse their first nights stay?  In addition, they are in the home now for a week, and I am worried about the bad review they are for sure going to give.   

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you in advance! 

[Julie1516]

Thanks Juan, 

 I offered a cancelation and they do not want to cancel.  They want to stay.   In fact, they left their dog in the home overnight, and left to go to a hotel for this evening.    The power came back on at 810pm.  So 2 hours after their arrival.     

They want a free night the first night and to be reimbursed for the hotel fee for the first night.  Then they want to come back tomorrow and stay for the remainder of the 7 nights. 

However, I am worried they will come back and then request a full refund from Airbnb for the entire 7 night stay.   I have read other posts now that make me think that this is a possibility that that could happen.  

I am waiting for them to find something else wrong now.  They were very rude to my property manager who was there trying to help and advised that she wanted the property manager to turn the power back on.        And I am awaiting the bad review.   

[Anonymous]

@Julie1516 These is nothing to gain from hosting these horrible people any further. I would give them two options:  vacate the property immediately and receive a full refund for the remainder of the booking, or stay and accept an apkliand a very small token discount for the first night. The former would be my preference, based on behavior that borders on extortion. 

It's ludicrous to expect you to pay for their hotel - you are not their travel insurance. They would have been entitled to a refund, but only if all of them had chosen not to stay. 

[Rowena29]

@Julie1516 

I tend to agree with @Anonymous 

It really sounds like these guests are going to be nothing but trouble given their already terrible and hostile attitude. I can just SEE them staying, THEN complaining and getting a massive refund.

If you haven't already I would be summarising everything that has happened so far into airbnb messaging so that there is a record of what has transpired - so you can get your version of the story in first.

Then I would ring CS airbnb, tell them that the guests are threatening, abusive, you feel unsafe and you want them relocated.  I wouldn't go into a lot of detail. Just stick to the power outage, the abuse, the demand for money and for a refund and the fact that you feel unsafe

I really wouldn't negotiate re this. I'd say you're going to get a bad review and no money either way so for that outcome you'd be better off not having to deal with them for the next week.

Also would be a good lesson for that type of person   - throwing your weight around being hostile and demanding has consequences.   She is a bully.

You are NOT obliged to have her in your home.

Airbnb will give her an extra 10% and help her find somewhere else to stay.  

Good luck and let us know how you go and what you decide to do.

Cheers

[Julie1516]

Thanks Rowena, 

  I'll let you know how this all goes down once I can get Airbnb to respond! 

[Julie1516]

Thanks Andrew, 

 I am trying to get a response from Airbnb, but nothing so far.  This  happened Sunday evening 630pm -They have not yet responded from my initial contact as of 530 am this morning.   

I would prefer a full refund and vacating of the property at this point, but the guests has advised that they want to stay.    

At this point, I am just waiting for her to claim something else, and I don't want to lose sleep over it for the next week!  

[Anonymous]

@Julie1516  You'll rest much better when they leave.  You are right that there's unfortunately a very good chance that they'll get a full refund after completing their stay. 

If you withdraw your consent for the guest to be on the property, they have no further right to be there, so it doesn't matter that they claim they want to stay. You don't have to wait for a green light from AIrbnb to terminate the booking; you always have the right to do this, as long as you're refunding the remainder of the nights.

[Julie1516]

Cancellation on our end doesn't seem like a viable option.  The penalties are severe.   There are costs and it impacts your status/rating, etc.  

[Anonymous]

@Julie1516 Terminating a booking mid stay does not require you to enter it as a cancellation. You can either make the guest refund conditional upon accepting an amendment to the checkout date, or having Airbnb perform an administrative cancellation.

The penalties you describe are not for hosts who evict guests for misconduct or who deny entry to guests that don't meet their requirements on arrival. They're for hosts who cancel a confirmed booking before it starts. 

[Julie1516]

That is good to know Andrew.  I didn't realize.   Thank you!

[Trevor243 · Accepted solution]

You should NOT pay for the hotel.

Any time your property is totally unusable, the most you should ever do is suggest that the guests find alternative accommodation and that you will refund them for their stay. They have to pay for the alternative accommodation.

Electricity outages happen - they are beyond our control. If it's for a couple of hours, it's an inconvenience. If they continue to use the property, that is their choice and they should pay for it. Stand firm, do not let them screw you for money. If you get a bad review, respond politely and professionally with an apology for the minor inconvenience for a couple of hours and express your disappointment at their attitude and their demands. Future guests will see your response.

[Julie1516]

Hi Trevor, 

 Thank you for your response.  

I'm envisioning at this point,  after she has said she doesn't want to leave or cancel, that she will choose to stay for the entire stay- and then contact Airbnb for a full refund.  

[Rowena29]

@Julie1516 

Have you rung airbnb or just messaged them?

I'd ring or use Twitter.

I can understand that you'd want to speak to CS first, but as @Anonymous  says , you dont' need airbnb's permission. It's your property, nobody can force you to host people you don't want

[Julie1516]

Hi Rowena,  No I haven't tried phoning yet, as it has been the middle of the night in the states.  

I am concerned about any cancellation penalties.  Airbnb has a very strict policy against host cancellations- and there are severe penalties that impact your entire rating system.    At this point, after reviewing that , it probably would be better to allow the guest to stay and take a hit via the a bad review, vs. host cancellation during a guest stay.  

[Helen350]

@Julie1516 Phone Airbnb! NOW! They answer straight away. It's well known messaging can take days. Don't worry about time, they seem to operate 24hrs a day, with call centres in different countries. I've taken calls from US, Ireland & Philippines!- If they fob you off, ask for a senior manager, or try again - some operators are more competent than others! 

[Sarah977]

@Julie1516  Of course you don't want to take a cancellation hit. What you want to do is ask Airbnb to do a "neutral" cancellation, ensuring there will be no cancellation penalties to you, based on how rude and demanding these people have been, as well as their abusive behavior towards your manager. It also sounded, from one of your previous posts, like they left the dog alone in the unit overnight, rather than the husband staying there as well? That is definitely not okay.