Refunding guests...

[Susannah58]

Hi can I ask what you would do in this instance? 

Some guests arrived when it was extremely hot (there was a offical heat warning broadcast as it was over 40 degrees). They arrived on a Saturday night and on Sunday complained that the fridge wasn't working. It is a new fridge and obviously this is an issue beyond out control. Everything is shut on a Sunday in France so I was unable to get an enginner out but I did everything I could and went through all the troubleshooting and advised what to do. I suspected that it was because it was very hot, they have packed it full of warm things and then opened it very frequently which didn't it allow the time to cool! I have since had an engineer out that said the fridge is fine and it was likely to do with frequent opening and also because of the heat which I had explained to the guests.

The guests informed me that it had indeed been working but they were not comfortable with the risk that it might not work ( even though they said that it was after a night of not being opened every 5 mins). They left on Monday morning. They left leaving all the lights on, all the fans on, they did not clean the bbq as per our check-out instructions either.

The guest has not yet cancelled in the portal (it is now Thurs) so I cannot relist either. She has this morning asked writing for a refund. She said she is happy to pay for 2 nights but wants the rest back. I don't think this is reasonable.

Please can you advise what you think is fair in this instance - the problem was solved quickly. I still have to bear the cost of cleaning (with added hours to clean the bbq) and laundry and have not been able to re-let. They have also benefitted from a 30% discount when booking which means my margin was already low. Finally despite being on Airbnb since 2017 this was their first trip - I fear also they will leave a very negative review which will impact future bookings if I don't give them what they want which doesn't seem fair.

I'd appreciate your advice!

Thanks,

Susie 

[Elena4354]

Hello @Susannah58 , I am very sorry for your negative experience with this guest.

It's a difficult decision. 

In my opinion you can inform guest that first of all they need to cancel their reservation to have your calendar open. In case if you will receive the new reservation for the remaining days you will be able to provide the partial refund. 

Or you can send to the guest the reservation alteration request. You can change the dates of the reservation and put today as a check out date. The guest will accept your request and will be

refunded automatically. 

Whatever you do, unfortunately there is no guarantee that guests will not leave a negative review. But there is a chance that you can ask for the removal of a negative review, since the guest was wrong in their complaints (you can prove it) and they were unhappy with your decision to refund.

I wish you the best in solving this problem.
Best regards.
Elena

[Susannah58]

Thanks Elena,

They have made contact with Airbnb - who say standard policy is that they get 30% discount for the 2 nights they were there and 100% for the nights they left. Seems very unfair to me - the problem was largely caused by user error and was rectified quicky. I will be hugely out of pocket. I have pushed back and will see what they say!

Thanks again!

[Marie8425]

@Susannah58 

I know it doesn't help now, but in the future if a guest leaves early angry and doesn't do anything for 3 days you need to contact them day 1 to settle.  You are the Host, your appliance was in question, you remedied quickly but that 3 days of waiting for the guest to say something to Airbnb gives the incorrect impression that you weren't taking concerns seriously.