Guests leaving saying our cottage is not fit for purpose!

[Kim4457]

Hi, I need some advice on what to do regarding refunding.

We have a cottage on Airbnb that has received 5-star reviews until this month.

Two guests arrived on Saturday, and our house manager approved their arrival. They quickly started using the pool but soon reported to our house manager that there were wasps around the pool. Our house manager explained that this issue is worse in September and is just part of the rural mountain environment. No one has ever complained about this before, and we didn't think it was a major issue.

Then, on their first evening, they left suddenly not even staying one night, a complete shock. They left the keys and informed us they had left on their way to their new accommodation saying that they had to leave because the property was not fit for purpose. They also mentioned that they would report their issues to me soon. Yesterday (2 days later), I received an email listing all the issues they found (a complete surprise as we have nevre had this vefore). Most of their complaints were related to the rural nature of our property, which I believe wasn't what they were looking for in terms of being in the mountains, rustic, and rural setting. We have never had any issues before and have received glowing reviews, some of which highlight in apositive way the things they are complaining about.

They did not give us time to address any of the issues, as we would have sent our house manager to help/explain with each problem, but they just left. Now, they want a refund, and we cannot rebook the week.

I just don't know how to deal with this. I have responded, addressing each of their issues.

It has cost us money even before they arrived, with cleaning, welcome packs, and paying our house manager for the week to clean the pool every day when there are guests and to be generally on call if needed.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Shelley159]

Hi @Kim4457 

If I were in your position, my primary focus would be on getting those remaining nights unblocked right away so you can get other guests in their place. If the guests don't accept a "change end date" request (you can send one by scrolling down on the booking to "change reservation"), you may want to get customer support involved to help you free up the nights. A last-minute discount may help to get the nights re-booked. If the departing guests are going to leave a bad review, the replacement guests will already be booked and will hopefully leave a positive review to balance out the negative one.

[Kim4457]

Thank you so much for your prompt response. These are great ideas, but unfortunately, we have guests staying this Saturday, so we wouldn't have been able to book out the remaining nights as we have a minimum 5-night policy due to the costs of cleaners, welcome packs, housekeepers, etc. We were shocked, to be honest, and had to wait for the guests to report their issues back to us as no one had a clue what had happened. They kept us waiting for two days before privately emailing me. This has caused trouble in our small village, as our house manager and cleaners have taken it personally. This is the first time we have had issues in 5 years, as the guests gave glowing reviews all season and just a week before.

Now, they are asking for compensation, but I don't know what for! I'm finding this incredibly stressful.

My partner knew straight away they would not like the ruralness of the property, etc., but they knew this when they booked. Just feel exhausted, to be honest!

Thanks so much though, good to know people are out there