I had a guest who wanted to book a 28 day stay. I recommended they book a 31 day stay to avoid $450 transient tax for short term stays and that I’ll refund them the two days or the rent I receive. This is because they shared how they are a student and how expensive finding a room was. I would lose two days of revenue but the guest fee will be almost 10% lower. And they will also qualify for my monthly discount, rich meant I lost a bit more but I was trying to help. I now feel like a loser though.
The guest arrived and sent pics of cabinet door that was hanging loose as well as blinds with two damaged panels. These are standard apartment blinds with 40 or more panels. They also called out there was no ice in the fridge. I offered to send someone immediately to take care of the issues, but they said they are not comfortable with any repair personnel entering the house when they were there and these were minor issues they didn’t need fixed. A couple of days later, they said the dishwasher wasn’t working. I ordered a new one for installation in two days (fastest Home Depot wool delivery) and told them that I will be there the entire duration it will be replaced and they do not need to be in the home or they could stay inside the bedroom the whole time it will be replaced and not even come out. They messaged the next day that the dishwasher was working fine and I could cancel the installation, which I did. I checked in with them in a week on how things were going and they said things were fine. They checked out on the 28th day (a day earlier than I thought they were going to checkout). I asked if everything was fine, and they sent a list of complaints they included the issues they brought up and did not want a handyman over to fix. They also complained about DE (Diatomaceous Earth) which we had sprayed to keep ants from entering the property as the weather had started cooling down. We had specifically asked the cleaners not to vacuum it away as we would have to apply it again. They also pointed to a one inch scuff on the table and a scratch on the TV stand, both of which are less than 2 inch diameter. They also said the bed frame was broken, and sent a picture of them standing on the mattress with their toes together, at the headboard. And yes, when we checked, the bed frame had a single broken slat exactly where they are standing on the mattress. I suspect they accidentally jumped on the bed and broke the frame. Still puzzled they actually sent a pic of themselves breaking the frame.They also took picture of two fence panel in the side yard that had come loose and said that there were cats wandering the yard at times and said the property was not secure for their pet. They provided these pics and claimed the place was not clean nor did it meet their expectation.
Since it seemed like a volume of complaints,
I immediately filed a support ticket and asked AirBnb to review the photos and their complaint, and ask for recommended action. The support person said they could be eligible to upto 30% of their payment if this is a host cleanliness issue. I called out that we offered to fix issues as soon as they were called out but this was the first we were hearing about any of them except the blinds and icemaker. The AirBnb support said that the complaint was not made within 72 hours of them discovering the issues and that I wouldn’t be subject to the 30% refund for lack of host cleanliness but that I should repair the fence and add notes to my description about the neighborhood cats. I offered to refund two additional days to them cos it appeared that they were checking out a day or two earlier than they had planned. We inspected the property, fixed the fence panels immediately, vaccuned up the DE and also had the cabinet door and blinds replaced. That is when we discovered the broken bed frame. I told the support person about the broken bed frame and additional blinds their pet seems to have pulled off from the patio door, and called out that if this case was closed, then I will bear these costs as ongoing wear and tear rather than charge the guest. The support person said most of these seem minor issues, and they were not made known to me 72 hours within discovery, as expected by Airbnb policy. I had addressed the issues I was made aware of as soon as I could, and that they will make a note Guest complainted asking for more refund or made a negative review.
fast forward two days and the guest filed a complaint, and the support person they talked to made a call to refund 30%. I ask them to review the previous Support case. I got an email saying my appeal of Airbnb resolution on the issue was denied. I’m just stunned. The volume of issues bothered be too, but they didnt bring up till after they moved out, giving me no opportunity to fix. Is anyone else going through this?
