Power outage on guest's first night, they went to a hotel and wants to cancel with full refund

[Jenny2143]

Hi there, just wanted to ask for some insights or maybe some of you had the same experience. Guest informed us there's no power as soon as they've arrived, we responded quickly to notify them we will check with the power company if there's outage and we notified them with our emergency lamp and lights. But guest wanted to go out and get a hotel instead. We respected their decision but we notified them we will monitor the outage and will keep them posted. Then airbnb contacted us that the guest is requesting to a refund, airbnb ask us if we are ok to refund that night's rate only, we agreed because we know how inconvenient it was for the guest. A few mins airbnb contacted us again saying the guest wants a full refund and completely cancel, they will cancel it for us if we agree with no penalty and fees. I informed them we cant do a full refund without waiting for tomorrow's estimated time of restoration.

any thoughts what we can do about this guest? Thanks!

[Helen3]

Up to you @Jenny2143 .

presumably you have gone to the property and checked whether the power is off or on. 

Is the power now working ? If so just confirm power is now working so no reason to cancel the rest of the booking. 

[Jenny2143]

Thanks Helen, power's back today. So we're unsure how to proceed, we wont be refunding a full reservation and we're waiting for airbnb to confirm if guest had travel insurance to cover it instead. We are ok to refund first 2 nights, given it's only 1 night the power was out.

[Joan2709]

@Jenny2143 

Just some ideas for the future...

I advise my Host clients to sign up for notifications from their utility company in order to be quickly notified of any power outages (most provide this option). This enables them to be aware of the issue before a guest arrives and come up with a plan. If the guest has already started the stay, this will also give you immediate notification there is a problem.

If you have a smart thermostat, smart lock, or the ability to monitor your internet via an app, these will also send notifications via a phone app if they aren't working (power outage) in most cases.

If power outages are common in your area...you might consider investing in a backup generator. Your profile says "Guest" so I wasn't able to look at the listing to see where it is located.

[Jenny2143]

Thanks for this Joan, we get notifications and what we received is that power's back before guest checked in. It isn't common in our area, rarely happens only during a bad weather or wildfires. We offer emergency kit as well since they normally dont last. 

[Jenny2143]

@Patricia2526 just an update power's back to cabin the next day but guest booked a place and wants to get a full refund. any thoughts?

[Patricia2526]

Hi @Jenny2143 

I will issue a full refund if my guest decides to cancel their stay entirely due to the power outage to prevent any disputes. I’ve personally experienced this as a guest, I relocated to another property nearby, and the host willingly provided a full refund, so we move on with our trip without leaving a review. 

As hosts, we always put ourselves in our guests’ shoes.

Hope this helps.

[Alex]

Hi @Jenny2143!

I'm sorry that you have to deal with this situation. I'm sure it wasn't easy to handle. How did the situation end up?

If this is okay with everyone, I'm going to tag some members to see if they can help you by giving some advice: @Rose422, @Kristina505 and @Jess2718. 

Thanks everyone in advance! 

Best,

Alex

[Rose422]

Thanks @Alex, 

I need some copying in these days, thanks! 

I responded above without reading other comments, so apologies if it upset anybody's pride. If we all collectively do a few things that are right by the guests, they would not have to switch to hotels and ruin airbnb's reputation. 

Rose. 

[Rose422]

Hello @Jenny2143, 

My best tip from 7 years of hosting is to remember that "The guest is always right". I had a pregnant woman staying on my boat a few days ago. I told her All the reasons she should not stay on a boat after she shared about her pregnancy due to high the risk environment, she could fall in the water, stairs all over etc; she told me not to worry. Only one day into her stay (4 guests) she told me, "Rose, you were right". I still let her cancel and get all the refund she wanted, because I told her all I needed to make sure was she was happy and the baby bun was happy. Airbnb called me and I told them the same. The day after she shared the nicest review I have had for my listing only after one night and cancelled stay. 

I have had only one time (last minute no reason not my fault cancellation prior to a stay) where I refused a refund knowing a guest can't do anything, that I was not at fault with my strict policy, but I deeply regret it, because knowing in my heart that the guest lost the money without staying and even though I wasn't at fault, that feeling of a slight guilt made me a little depressed, I believe I haven't hosted for half a year after that and the guest wasn't happy with my response either. That was it, one time in 7 years and I learned I should always remember "The guest is always right and money should never come before the guest". You will most likely get booked straight after they cancel.

In all honesty it is not their fault having no electricity, so the guest is right especially in this situation. Airbnb has an algorithm to the best of my knowledge, if someone cancels this last minute, your listing will be automatically boosted if you do everything right. As far as I have noticed, if you do something wrong, you will be panelized and you won't even know it. 

That is my two cents. 

Best of luck and I always remember that if I was to put money before guests, I would not be where I am today. Needless to say, working hard and doing things right by guests allowed me to be able to follow my dreams, move to my dream city without knowing anyone and now offer experiences to guests that are above and beyond what I could wish for. 

Rose. 

[Rose422]

PS: And Y'all want to know something funny, as soon as the pregnant guest cancelled, an absolutely lovely young family booked from Norway that traveled with a newborn. I told them the same thing, she said "Rose, don't worry, we are absolutely sure we will be fine", I decided to order a little crib, hosted the first newborn in 7 years. They were super hosts with glowing reviews, I thought I would be in trouble, I had nightmares thinking what if thy drop the baby in the water going up and down the boat, but the word "absolutely" put me at ease a little. They had an amazing time and checked out a few days ago. On the second day my other neighbor, a single young guy with his dog befriended the new dad and took him cruising on the ocean on his small boat with a Yamaha engine. I saw them pass while I was getting back from the river and a little later I got stuck against the current on my small electric boat. On the way back they rescued me from the river as the current got stronger and i never managed to cross the bridge with low speed after a full day on the river. Usually I dont go to the river much, but I sailed to the church as there was a jazz festival nearby. When they approached to rescue me on the way back, I thought the guy looked familiar, and next thing I asked his name I laughed, he was my guest, he got dressed in my neighbor's mechanic UV proof clothing and cool shades and basically my new guest that replaced the cancelled reservation rescued me from the current. On the last day I invited them over, had a little peaceful cruise locally (not on the river), shared dinner and baby loved my music. I later realized that the baby has absolutely enlightened my vision as I don't have my own and hoping to, one day, when I find the right dad 🙂 and I definitely appreciated that friendship we all had. Had I not cancelled that reservation, I would have made a lot of people miserable, I would have likely been stuck on that river and I have no idea how long a tow boat would take to rescue me on a Sunday afternoon with jazz festival and an art show in town. I may have been washed away! When I look back at coincidences, I teach myself lessons and I am glad I can share a little story to inspire someone. 

[Rose422]

Oh and Y'all what to know something funnier? And this is no joke, shortly after my no- refund on the no-excuse last-minute cancellation from my guest a couple of years ago, whereby I withheld my strict policy and issued no refund, about a week later I had my Ebike stolen and I paid the same price for it on Offerup as the amount that guest lost when I decided not to refund her. Her last message was that she hoped that I would learn a lesson that I was unfair to her. The irony of life. Don't want to scare anyone but we have to pay attention sometimes and always be kind to people. 

[Kristina505]

@Jenny2143 I would give them a full refund. They have a right to be frustrated, albeit they could be a bit more understanding as it is out of the owners control. But that being said, for them to go to the trouble of finding a new place and possibly paying more due to it being the last minute, they were clearly not going to be satisfied with their overall stay given their first impression. And this will likely result in a lengthy, negative review, which you do not want. It sounds like to me Airbnb may have irritated them when they reached out, because they changed their mind on the stay after that interaction. I'm sorry this happened.