Internet Service

[Jose5880]

Hi there, I only have six months as a host so many things are new for me.

This Sunday afternoon, the internet service was down in our property and unfortunately, after we personally went to the property and tried to fix it calling our provider, the internet company had to schedule a technician visit. The service was re-established today, Tuesday at 2 pm after the found a problem with the fiber cable. (48 hours later).

This evening, I received a message from my guest asking me to reimburse her for three nights due the lack of internet.

I don't think this is a fair request.

Everything in the house was delivered as expected and the internet situation is out of our control.

I will appreciate any feedback, suggestions or points of view about this matter from this community. Thanks for your time. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Jose5880 If the guest really needed internet that badly they should have cancelled their stay and received a full refund. As they didn't cancel then a full refund is not right or fair. Sadly if Airbnb get involved they may well refund the stay. Perhaps try to get on the front foot by offering a discount on the stay. Somewhere between 20%and 50% might be fair.

[Jose5880]

Thanks for you kind feedback, very appreciated. Best. 

[Helen3]

What a ridiculous request. @Jose5880 

Just tell the guest you are happy to compensate her XXX for the days they were without internet. But it is not reasonable for her to be expected to have three days free stay for a missing amenity.

Point out that she had the option to cancel penalty free and find somewhere else with wifi if this amenity was essential to them.

In your situation I wouldn't have waited for the guest to contact me. I would have offered them a dongle or similar so they could have internet access while your internet wasn't working or offered them a penalty free cancellation if they didn't want to stay. And I probably would have given chocolates/bottle of wine with a hand written card to apologise.

[Jose5880]

I completely agree with you. Thanks for your kind advice. Have a great day. 

[Mark116]

@Jose5880  I agree w/what others have said, expecting a 100% refund for a single missing amenity is ridiculous.  I would think maybe 20%, given how addicted people are now to being online all the time, but no more.  If the guest could not be without internet for 48 hours, then she should have cancelled and been rehoused to a different property by airbnb.

If your Internet service tends to be spotty, I would put this in the listing somewhere as future protection.