Guest Checked Out Without Warning

[Sarah327]

Hi Fellow Airbnber's!

I'm wondering if anyone can advise what to do in this situation? As I have never had a guest leave early before without speaking to me (in person). Nor, one that has requested a partial refund! 

I welcomed a newly married couple to my property on Sunday and today, just before 2 pm, received the following from them:


"Were so sorry we have had a family emergency and have had to leave at 2am. Im sorry we left our dishes as it was a rush to leave.. We've left the key in the safe. If possible could we request a partial refund?

We thank you for you kind hospitality. Sorry for any inconvenience caused."


I immediately contacted Airbnb upon receiving the message and have been advised that I do not have to offer the guest a (partial) refund. Note, my listing subscribes to Airbnb's Moderate Cancellation policy. I was told that my decision, as Host, is final and even if the guest contacts Airbnb, they will honour my decision. However, upon reading Airbnb's Rebooking and Refund Policy, it states: 

"As a Host, you understand that the rights of Guests under this Guest Refund Policy will supersede your selected cancellation policy."

Given the fact that I would be unable to rebook any of these dates now, I do not feel it is reasonable for the guest to request a refund. Neither do I want to honour one owing to their rather strange behaviour (not only on departure). But given the above, where do I actually stand with this?

Worse still, it is worth risking a bad review? The Airbnb adviser suggested it would not be an issue and I could always ask for one to be removed. Although, I've read enough horror stories to know this is rarely the case and I now feel he treated me a little bit like an idiot.

[Helen744]

@Sarah327 If this was a cancellation before it began then they are entitled to a refund  according to your chosen policy.but since the booking had already commenced then it cannot be cancelled by them without reason and certainly not for a refund .you do not mention the length of the booking or how much of it they had already used. It is a little naive of them to expect a refund if they have signed your cancellation policy and already commenced the booking as they booked a block of days with all fees attached not one day at a time.  The most important thing here is for them to do the cancellation not you and then your cancellation policy will apply. Until they have cancelled your days are blocked and you are still left with cleaning and changeover or did they think someone would just come into the house without it being cleaned.They took those days off your calendar and have left through no fault of yours .We are none of us machines. I had a guy once who thought that he did not have to pay for his mates as they 'slept during the day and not at night' so why should he pay for nights . You do not owe a refund at this stage unless you can do the prep and rebook and you cannot do that if they have not cancelled which has nothing to do with you, and they have to do it through the app. Do nothing until they have done that . you can tell them that they cannot cancel by just walking out the door and asking for money back  They signed up to Airbnb following certain Airbnb policies and they must do cancelling the same way. You are not holding them prisoner but to me it is the same as walking out halfway through a restaurant meal, they still have to pay. They are not staying at mums house. Once they have cancelled, part of their payment or all of it is retained by you, and your calendar is open . you must refund any extra days that you do book and take all of the inconvenience as well ,so I think thats plenty. Thats the way it should work and will if they are honest people.you cannot bite a donut and put it back on the shelf and ask for a partial refund . there seems to be a lot of people who are now booking with casual attitudes or just not reading anything as they should have already read your cancellation policy when they booked.H

[Sarah327]

Hi Helen,

Thank you for taking the time to respond!

The guests booked a 5-night stay; checking in on Sunday and leaving, (apparently at 2 am) on Tuesday morning. Staying 2-nights in total.

According to the Moderate Cancellation policy, this would equate to one nights stay in refund. About £80.

I took a moment before responding to the guest, having read Airbnb's Extenuating Circumstances policy (which may require them to provide documentation), and I have referred them there.

I made no mention of monies or whether or not I would be happy to refund them. I don't know if this was the right way to play it, but...

Thus far I have not heard back from them and no request to cancel has been submitted (yet).

I'm keeping my fingers crossed they don't, at this point. Given all the inconvenience they have caused.

[Helen744]

@Sarah327 at this stage Sarah you must call Airbnb and if the guests have left and informed you that they have needed to cancel, but not done so apart from actually leaving your home,then Airbnb  will cancel them and you can take another booking .H

[Gordon0]

I wouldn't be offering a refund in these circumstances, @Sarah327. And you are right to be wary of the promise to remove an iffy review, but that's not to say you should give your money away for free. 

[Sarah327]

Thank you for taking the time to respond, Gordon.

It's certainly a tricky situation and, if genuine, I feel it would make more sense for the guest to ask to defer their stay and return at a later, more convenient date.

I know if this were me dealing with a "family emergency", I would explain to the host what was going on and get back to them later to rebook.

I don't think I would be asking for a refund. Given such situations are outside of everyone's control and certainly not the host's issue.

[Stephanie365]

Advise the guest to file a claim against their travel insurance policy. It covers emergencies such as theirs. 

If they didn't purchase one, well, that's not your problem.

[Sarah327]

Oh, yes! An absolutely valid point and not one that immediately sprang to my mind.

Thank for taking the time respond, Stephanie. I will certainly advise the guest this if I hear any further from them!

[Suzanne302]

@Sarah327 

If they truly had a family emergency, I don't see anything strange about their behavior. They were polite and apologetic and they didn't demand or act entitled to a refund, they asked politely if a refund would be possible. (ie, it never hurts to ask)

And I don't think it's anyone's business what the family emergency is. That's personal.

You are well within your right to not give them a refund. If it were me, I believe a little kindness never hurts and I would still offer a small refund and say something like, "Unfortunately our cancellation policy does not allow for a refund at this point, due to the fact that we are not able to re-book the nights you didn't stay. However, I would like to extend to you a small refund in the amount of XX, or, credit your unused nights for a future stay."

[Helen744]

@Suzanne 302 maybe someone would like to take this issue up as a thread Suzanne. I agree with you totally that these things are appropriate 'at the time' but after people have left there is very little to be done. Most people simply 'lose ' the hosts number as soon as possible and are not interested in anything that may have occurred to the host or the house and do not feel any interest in involving the host in any part of their life including 'talking to them' the time has past. Communication is never on peoples 'personal lives ' in most hosting situations and I do not believe it is appropriate to not follow the rules of the  booking contract. H

[John2406]

@Suzanne302 My feelings and beliefs, together with actions completely!

A first-class attitude to what was obviously both an emotional and embarrassing situation for the couple, who sensitively asked what they did.

Of course, what @Sarah327 decided to do is up to her, but having been in an 'emergency' situation myself once, I know only too well what it will have meant to the Guests.

There is - of course - another possibility, and that is for @Sarah327 to contact the Guests, saying how sorry she was to hear about their having had to cut short their stay, and that whilst in this instance she isn't able to refund anything, she'd be more than happy to welcome them back at some other time, and to say she'd reduce the price to/for them then.

Maybe she could also "throw" in a couple of little mementos as well, for their return visit, so that it would still be  memorable for them, but for a different reason?

[Christine615]

No refund is owed. They left without notice. Didn’t clean. You can’t rebook those nights.

Wish them well but say “unfortunately I am unable to refund the remaining nights.”

No policy under Airbnb would grant them an exception after checkin if the decision was unrelated to a flaw in your listing. 

[Alexandra199]

Hi Helen

I have had exactly this happen to me before. The guests had to leave for a family emergency. They did not ask for a refund but i offered them a discount on a future stay if they wanted to come back and complete their exploring of the area. They came back, I gave them a discount (say 10-20%) and they were thrilled. Two good reviews and a positive experience. If you are willing to offer this I would do that. x

[Elisabeth40]

I had couple booking like this over the years. Thankfully no one asked for a refund but I finely figured out what it is. In couple cases this were couples who wanted to explore the city and go to a concert or visit their relatives. Nothing was suspicious about this guests until they come over and hold the keys in their hands saying that they have an emergency and need to leave immediately. Last time I even asked what emergency it is, they said they need to pick up a sister from the airport. I thought it’s a huge sacrifice of expensive tickets for the concert for sister not being able to take a taxi from the airport :). After this type of sudden cancelations happened I finely understood what it is. This guests are not a couple and they also had no plans for anything because they are booking your place to have sex or do some other stuff, who knows what. And they spent a lot of money for this action. Just the hooker is not booked for more than 2-4h that’s why they leave right after they are done and it’s impossible to preview this type of booking because everything sounds so normal, you would never guess. I always felt like I’m doing something wrong or they don’t like my home, until I figured out what it is :)) it’s a sophisticated usage of your property for some sexual activity you don’t want and cannot even previews this happening to you. One time I had a guest who booked one of my listing with the couch. He was very nice and even told me that he is living in New York too. He was very nice but very nervous. After the check in I left to the gym and as I returned 2,5h later, he left the keys on my desk and was gone and I realized that someone else was at my place too not just him, he must have met someone at my place ?! How I knew it, The guest was non smoker, I asked him as I checked him in and as I returned I saw someone else was smoking at the window. I always feel terrified when guests are misusing my place for some rated purposes I cannot even prevent or preview. It leaves me a bad taste and a dirty feeling, I also worry a lot that I gave the guest the keys, because it makes me feel as if they are just checking out my place. Unfortunately I cannot just go ahead and exchange the entire key lock, I need to apply for it at my landlord and the costs are $170. We have a house code that all our apartments need to be able to be opened with one general key in case or rescue. I always feel pretty good with this one general key in case of fire but it’s expensive to exchange locks if the booking itself only brings 1/4 of the costs for the lock swap.