Guest wants full refund with last minute cancellation

[Scott1282]

Hi, all - I am thankful for the opportunity to put this sticky question out there for feedback.

A guest suddenly wants to cancel an upcoming 45-day reservation at the beginning of August. The reservation was made five months ago at the beginning of February, and she is now stating that she thought my property was a lighthouse, despite the listing stating nothing of the sort. There is a photo of a nearby lighthouse in the listing.

AB&B is asking me to be generous and give a full refund. Problem is, the property has been off the market since February which means I have to hope that it will get booked quickly after the reservation is cancelled. On top of that, the booking is only available on a monthly basis since my HOA won't allow anything shorter than 30 days. I recently had a 60-day booking cut in half which left me with a 28-day gap I was unable to fill.

TBH I would rather eat part of the cost by offering a partial refund. What would be fair in this case?

Thanks for any helpful suggestions!

PS my property has 100% 5-star reviews, and I was just awarded Superhost status for the 4th or 5th year in a row.

[Mary1523]

Hi Scott

Absolutely gorgeous property ! I love your styling and I can learn from you re how you did the photos of the kitchen equipment!

It is a sticky situation. But honestly I think you just do a full refund and be done with it.

Why? Because of that 1 photo of the lighthouse. It had me confused as well not being familiar with your area at all. Many guests DO NOT READ anything in the listing, just book on photos. That photo was your undoing. Take it off, or put a label on it, saying it's not a lighthouse, and take it on the chin as a lesson learnt.

All of us superhosts are superhosts for a reason, because we take our lessons and make the offering better. The lessons I've learnt could fill a book....

Sorry it leaves you a bit in the lurch, I know how it feels when a guest cancels on my property. Guests book mine months in advance, I would never get a replacement booking and you have even more restrictions.

Good luck, keep on doing what you are doing, great super host work!

Kind regs

MK

[Scott1282]

Hi, I can see your logic but have to disagree in this case. Were I to issue a full refund, it opens the door to this person doing the same thing to another host and feeling justified that she can behave however she wants, then be rewarded for it.

I am a small AB&B owner, the space is attached to my house, and I am limited to 30 day rentals by my HOA. Because of that I am not exactly raking in the bucks. This person blocked anyone else from renting my property for five months! And now I am expected to generously eat the loss and hope I can get another booking before the high season ends. Sorry, no can do. Thanks for your insight.

[Scott1282]

PS thanks for your insights, coming from a level 10 Superhost! Didn't mean to brush you off!

[Rafael1421]

Hi @Scott1282 I 100% agree with @Mary1523. This guest will jeopardize your superhost status and is that worth it for a photo that the guest misinterpreted at best or is using as an excuse at worst. 

One alternative I'd offer is a partial refund where they feel they're getting a value for staying and you aren't out a month+ of revenue.

In either case a full refund or partial refund consider claiming a loss on your taxes for a guest cancellation that required a refund, especially since it could not be rebooked. This type of loss generally is categorized as a business expense.

To record this in your taxes, the amount refunded to the guest would be subtracted from your rental income. This reduces the taxable income you report. Keep detailed records, including the cancellation, the refund provided, and any attempts or inability to rebook the canceled dates.

If you're able to give her a partial refund, you could also see about offering a special offer to an alternative guests for the remaining days + number of days to complete 30 days to remain compliant with your HOA. 

I'm sorry this happened. Its a bummer but learn from it by updating your listing photos and maybe your listing communication : description, messages to guests, etc. Something like sites to see in the area ... a lighthouse as seen in my listing photos. Although the picture should clearly call it out because many guest just don't read the descriptions or messages until checkin. 

Good luck! 

[Marie8425]

@Scott1282 

Okay my advice would be take emotions out of the decision.

Purely business.

You have a set  cancelation  policy for a business reason.

Since you are being asked to  be  "generou" there is no implication by the Guest or Airbnb that your ad misled.

What is an actual level of  "generosity" that your business could give a total stranger for putt iit nicely not exactly  a matter of grand importance?

There isn't  business value of future stays or guests since she is going to give  your generosity  to a competitor who will probably get  future referrals.

Logically business  wise it  doesn't make sense to be  generous for  no  error on your part.

[Scott1282]

Hi, thanks for your thoughts. I agree 100% with your observations. In this case, it's become apparent that this particular guest is going to be trouble, so I'd like to gently incentivize her to find another booking, by offering a partial refund, probably half, which I will do holding my nose and gritting my teeth. I've inquired on a FB vacation rental mastermind group for hosts, and nobody has suggested a 100% refund.

[Marie8425]

@Scott1282

I   suggest innnnnn that case business  decision again   25  % iiss exttrremmellellllyy generorous.

I know I  aim    very  by the rules,   my   husband is like  make the problem  go away haha.

Recently  I  had aa couple I  accepted for  two weeks.  It is shared housing  I   fully  disclose II smoke cigarette,, just  normal I always insure acknowledgement before check in and this  particular guest didn't have aa  perfect review   score for smoking in  a  non  smoking  property

They tried twice for me to be  generous, I wwwass like  sorry  no  business sennsee fully disclosed.  They  have been great guest made dinner for my husband and me last night  have extended to  30  days//  It wasn't  my  smoking it was fear  of the fact  that   it  was a surprise I am wheelchair   bound.

I don't   believe   she  is  that stupid that  it too 3 months to   figure she was spending  a lot  of  money   on  30 days   not in   a  lighthouse

[Marie8425]

Just haha  The Boyfriend of  the  couple so unaware  my smoking   would  be  an  issue   that  have extended two weeks  asked  for a cigarette he ran  out

[Peg327]

Partial refund is plenty generous in this case! I am a bit tired of the stories a guest will fabricate for a refund. And it is certainly not your fault when they do not read the information fully until shortly prior to their reservation.

Having your calendar blocked for her that long is not easy for your business. Perhaps with just a small partial refund she will think before she makes that mistake again.

Best of luck!

[Marie8425]

@Peg327

I am guessing a month rental at someplace near water is not something cheap.   If you had the ability to earn the funds needed and reserve the house, II just don't honestly believe you so stupid that you didn't notice it wasn't a light house for 3 months.  No I think you  have a case of she found something cheaper but shee figures she might get lucky with claiming stupidity.

[John5097]

@Scott1282 

After reviewing your listing I would suggest making it more clear. Three of the first five phots appear to be of nearby attractions: the lighthouse, Olympic Park. There also aren't any clear exterior photos of the listing where guest would stay, just a patio shot. So I can understand how guest might be confused. You can also organize your photos and assign them to each room. For example the living room, kitchen, outdoor, etc. Usually some photos of nearby attractions are at the end. Otherwise that's kind of deceptive if host put a photo of a nearby attraction as a cover photo or at the beginning. AI may have done this but you could now make it more clear and reorganize. 

Otherwise if I hadn't reviewed your listing I would have said no way for a refund. So you will likely get more support from others who haven't. 

I love that area. I've stayed in a cabin on the Hood Canal right across from Olympic Park. We loaded our rental can onto the ferry to Bainbridge. I also get a lot of guest from Oregon. I hope to visit there again soon! 

Not trying to be critical. I think you could also make your description more clear and concise. 

I'm glad you guest love it. Thats great but I've found that it can take a while before some guest might have some issue or misunderstanding, so it's important to have the listing as accurate as possible.

I realize this may not have been exactly what you wanted to hear but good luck and hope it helps! 

[Mike-And-Jane0 · Accepted solution]

@Scott1282 I would ask the guest to cancel ASAP and then offer to refund to the extent you are able to re-let the space at short notice. The key is to get the guest to cancel and then they can't review you.

[Mary1523]

@Scott1282 I'm assuming you already did this, ie asked the guest to cancel? The main issue is the amount right? 

So you have varying opinions from varying sources. Partial, none or Full.

Only you can choose what works for you.

I understand from all your responses that you think the guest is using the photos as excuse for something else. That maybe the case. It does happen. But in my case it's rare. I think I can count on one hand in 8 years how many times I suspect this.

Regardless of what you choose, I would still be objectively reviewing my photos to ensure there was no mispresentation. Guests can look at and have a different perspective to us hosts!

The only other consideration, and do I get it because your income is affected, is that if the guest was legitimately confused as to what they were booking and then they get charged something, it sours their airbnb experience. That impacts all of us hosts in indirect ways. Guests don't really understand that we are all individual /separate businesses with our own level of offerings and how we operate. I've had guests complain before about past hosts and being charged for stuff that they didn't think was fair, all I can say is 'I'm sorry the experience didn't meet your expecatations, I hope I can meet yours". I don't want to judge a prior a host and the situation that I have absolutely no knowledge of, but I don't want to be tarred by someone elses poor experience and be held accountable. I had one recently and I think he had stored up all his angst and took it out on his rating for me.

All the best in your super hosting endeavours and thanks for sharing your experience, we all learn (and i'm gonna take photos of my kitchen stuff now!)

Kind regs

Mary

[Joan2709]

Hi @Scott1282 

Just to be on the safe side as far as accuracy goes and also to avoid any future refund requests ....🤔

Since you have a studio (bed in a common living space) you should probably not list it as a 1 bedrom. Airbnb considers a bedroom to have walls and a door. You can just add a living room "room" to your photos and add sleeping arrangements to that photo as queen bed and pullout sofa. This will then automatically change the subtitle to "studio."