Spa feedback

[Justine336]

Just wanting some advice. I had a booking in the weekend for our unit. The sister of the guest that booked, text me several times- first to ask to bring her dog (I declined as we have a not pet policy). 

She then text me again today (3 days after checkout) the following;

”Hi Justine. While we had a lovely stay at your place this weekend. I'm very disappointed by what the hot tub did to my father's swimwear and my jewellery. It has stripped the colour out of my father's blue swim shorts and ruined all of my sterling silver jewelry. There was no warning about the chemicals in the hot tub as they are clearly quite potent. I look forward to hearing from you.“

We have never had any issues with the spa and it is balancing perfectly fine. 

Would you be inclined to offer some sort of partial refund? 

The dad who she mentions wasn’t actually staying at the unit so he should’ve have actually been using the facilities anyway….

Thoughts of how to proceed? Thanks 😊 

[Helen3]

Hello @Justine336 

Firstly all communications regarding a guest's stay should be through the person who booked not one of her guests, so I would not communicate with the sister at all but reply back through the Airbnb platform.

Do you have it in your house rules that only guests who have booked should be at the listing?

Do you have any guidance at your hot tub in terms of how it should be used ie no jewellery etc

What you should do depends on what guidance you have in your guest book or at the hot tub in terms of how it should be used.

Has she provided any photographic evidence of the alleged damage?

I don't see how you would have any liability for someone who shouldn't even have been at the listing. 

I know when I use my local gym it has guidance that gold or silver jewellery shouldn't be used in the jacuzzi.

[Justine336]

Thanks for your comments. In the house rules is states that jewellery is not recommended in the spa and guests only to use the facilities. No photographic evidence. 

I will respond via the Airbnb platform for the booked guest to pass on. 

Appreciate your thoughts.  

[Helen3 · Accepted solution]

Perfect in which case I would just message the sister who booked on the platform.

Dear XX

Your sister has contacted me about your family using our hotub during your recent stay. She mentioned that your father had been visiting our rental and using the hot-tub against our house rules, that state only guests who have booked should use our amenities.

She also mentioned that unfortunately against the guidance in our house rules she chose to wear jewellery in our hotub, which resulted in it being damaged.

I would suggest she puts in a claim against her home insurance or travel insurance if she wants to replace the jewellery but she may find a claim difficult as she wore jewellery in the hot tub against guidance provided.

[Justine336]

Excellent! Love that reply. Appreciate your response and taking the time to help me out. 

[Kia272]

@Justine336  NO partial refund!!! This person is a piece of work!! I'd either ignore her message altogether, or do as @Helen3 suggested in sending the message to the guest who booked.

This crappy person is fishing for a refund, and she does not deserve a penny. 

Or, if you'd like to string her along for a while, message the guest who booked, quote her sister's message, and ask ever so sweetly for some photos. See if they pony up, or if the (booking) sister shuts her sister down. Don't even go into that they broke the rules. Just play hardball in a very sweet way. See what comes of it. This is an opening foray just to see if you'll pay out some money. Don't do it. 

BTW, is she texting off-platform or via AirBnB messaging? If it's off-platform, I'd ignore it completely. 

[Justine336]

Thanks very much for your reply. She’s replying off forum (text messaged me) so I’m inclined to ignore. However, I haven’t yet received and a review so perhaps they are waiting to see how I respond. Appreciate you taking the time to respond.