Guests stayed an extra night due to snow, how much should we charge?

[Anita-And-Bruce0]

We had a couple who stayed an extra night last weekend when we had the bad snow in the UK. not to bore you but Bruce dug them out but the guest was very unsure of his vehicle and didn't even know how the 4x4 facility could be turned on. They ended up staying.

We have made a request for an extra nights stay at the usual weekend price and they have responded saying it should have taken me less than 6 days to ask for it, they feel they shouldn't pay more than they paid for the other nights and then got a bit spiteful regarding not recommending us any more. I must add.

On their second night we provided them with food as they hadn't enough with them. Bruce then dug a snow drift out to try and get them on their way. We then took the guest to our car  parked half a mile away dug that out and took him shopping and i got in touch with their daughter when both their mobiles went off.

What would other hosts have done regarding charging these guests? We did have guests booked in who cancelled due to the weather so my understanding is they are being reimbursed so we will be losing out financially 

[Marzena4]

Hosts are not charities, @Anita-And-Bruce0, imho, so I would charge a normal nightly rate.

[Lauran0]

You’re right. We shouldn’t be - but it sure feels like that a lot of the time.

OK, from my perspective. I’m a woman and I stand my ground as best I can right now. I get the impression that people tend to be surprised;

[Gordon0]

Cheap, tight and ungrateful guests, yes, but you should have probably tackled this on the same night, not allowed it to drag on. As for not recommeding you, sounds like a threat best ignored.

[David126]

I would have had them agree and charged before they stayed, now there is not much you can do. Take whatever you can get out of them.

[Jeff158]

I'll be contoversial @Anita-And-Bruce0, when you make a decision not to cancel a booking when heavy snow is forecast, you have a responsability to look after your guests, I would have offered them another night & would not have charged them.

[David126]

@Jeff158

Where I am that covers end of Septemeber until early June.

[Paul154]

@Jeff268 You're not being controversial, you are shame mongering someone for running a business.

She provided a service that was wanted (While they did not want to be snow bound, they DID want to be housed) The hosts incurred costs.  

Technically, she screwed up by waiting so long, but she is owed that money and should try to collect. 

[Jeff158]

@David126

Completely different situation, your guests know you will have snow. The host and myself live in a country which doesn't get much snow, we had been warned on the TV for two weeks prior that major snowfall would arrive, we had hosts on the forum asking how to cancel without penalties as they would be snowed in.

@Paul154

I'm not here to shame anyone, just expressing an opinion.

There are two ways to run a business.

I find it very sad that a bit of money is more important to hosts than self esteem and reputation, had the host played the "knight in shining armour" it would have resulted in a positive review and glowing reports throughout the guests family and friends. Now its a negative review and bad mouthed to family and friends all for the sake of a few bob.

I had a cancellation from a guest who would only get half his money back, he mentioned a broken foot, had never heard of Ext circumstances, I pointed him in the right direction and he got a full refund. The week he cancelled has been turned into a 2 week booking, win win for both of us.  You reap what you sow

For over 40yrs I've considered my customers my most important asset and treated them as such, some of them i've had around for 30yrs.

[Amy38]

I would not charge them a full wkend price....If anything.....after all your next guests arent coming and the current one wont dirty anymore sheets for one night....what would you think if you were snowed in?

I think you may have blown a good recommendation 

[Anita-And-Bruce0]

Thanks It's interesting to see how others would respond. We agree the cost of the night should have been discussed with the guests at the time and next time we will do that. We didn't charge them the usual weekend rate and also they could have left if they had felt more confident in driving their 4x4 car off the drive as the roads  were clear but they decided to stay when we told them the next guests had decided to cancel. With regard what would i think? It may be a region or country thing I'm not sure but I'd expect to pay something.  I am using someones property, using their water, their hot water, their electric, their heating and in this instance eating their food I think my expectation would be to pay. 

[Helen3 · Accepted solution]

I would have charged them the standard rate.

However I think the issue was that you didn't charge them at the time. All you had to do was go in and amend the booking for the extra night and then if they wanted to stay they could accept.  If they didn't they could have chosen to stay elsewhere locally.

By leaving it six days, you have a situation where they can argue.

Do make sure you tell Airbnb that they have threatened to leave you a bad review because they don't want to pay for extra night, so that if they do, Airbnb can look through the messages and see what happened.

I think these guests are very ungrateful when you went out of your way to help them.

[Lauran0]

Hell yes.

[Sarah977]

As a guest, I would expect to pay, especially as you spent extra time and goodwill helping them out as well as feeding them, but as we know, some guests balk at doing the right thing. And that they threatened not to recommend you anymore is outrageously ungrateful. Perhaps charging them half-price for the extra night would be amenable to them and you?  Would cover your expenses, and there is the factor that you didn't have to change bedding and towels, and only had to clean once after their stay.

[Matthew285]

@Anita-And-Bruce0 as many professionals in service businesses know,

the perceived value of a service declines rapidly once the service has been rendered.

This is why so many service professionals require payment up front *before* they perform their service.

Example: if you are locked out of your car or house, your are willing to pay quite a bit to be let in out of the cold by a locksmith. You call around desparately, offering generous pay for immediate help.

However, once the door is unlocked, and you are inside... you begin to think... well, it is really fair for the locksmith to earn so much money for a few minutes work?

In the future, please do have the guest agree to the price and pay beforehand.

Once the guest is home and no longer requires your help or hospitality, your leverage is essentially zero.