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Hi there,
one of my recent guest is asking for a refund in exchange for not giving me a bad review. Obviously his argumentation is not that direct but the message is pretty clear…
Does this has happen to you? How did you solve this situation? Is AirBnB helpful?
I would report him to Airbnb as I’m pretty sure extortion is against their TOS. Make sure all communication is in the Airbnb message system.
Did they contact you regarding issues during their stay?
Were you aware of any issues?
Did they receive everything that was in the listing?
Was the extortion attempt made through the Airbnb message system?
Yes, i booked as a last minute and the issue was that WiFi was not working. It was working to the previous guest and the one before.
To me it sound as an excuse for asking a refund but this is my opinion against his.
As I said, the extortion is not “explicit” but sound clear
Maybe you equally subtly hint that you’d give out the refund after any reviews or the review period so that you’re not compelled to leave a bad review for being asked to trade a review with money.
This will put him in a bind - if he proceeds to give you a bad review, he has no chance of getting that refund.
If you give in and refund, there’s still no chance of him not giving you a bad review. So, this goes both ways!
Subtle or implied threats are difficult to handle especially if it’s not in writing and in a message.
Is he asking for a refund because of the wifi?
Sound petty.
I’d say to call Airbnb and tell them that the guest is extorting a refund out of you and see what they say.
If they can’t help I’d do what @Astaire said.
I can’t imagine an Airbnb CS being of much help, but still worth a try I guess.
With what I was saying, this guest will have to confront a real threat that a host has exposed him as an ‘extortionist’ - and this will make him unbookable and put an end to his game.
If he was just casually chancing a bit of kickback, he’ll realize his plan backfired and back off anyways.
Report him and message only through the airbnb system. If his quid pro quo isn’t in the system now, put it there. Message and say “this message is to confirm that blah blah blah.” Can you confirm that the wifi was, in fact, not working during his stay. It may be a ruse to get a free night but if the wifi wasn’t working I would give a discount under normal circumstances. I wouldn’t give a discount to someone who attempted extortion however.
Because the guest had a listed amenity that didn’t work - my understanding is that the guest can request a FULL refund from Airbnb?
Whence comes this understanding?
And you mean Airbnb not the host. I wonder why Airbnb would open themselves up to full refunds everytime a guest claims some amenity was missing or didn’t work.
https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/544/what-is-airbnb-s-guest-refund-policy
This part in particular: “The listing booked is misrepresented (ex: number of bedrooms, location, lacks promised amenities).”
Thanks @anon67190644. However, it doesn’t still say FULL refund.
The amount of any refund will depend on the nature of the travel Issue suffered.
And that too after they’ve tried to offer you alternate accommodation, which is what they’re more likely to do to sort it out.
It might help if you posted his message in full.
Check his fb feeed, see if he posted while at your place.
Depends on the nature of the ‘request’, you could just play stupid and make him come out with it bluntly and then you have Extortion on the message thread.
If somebody was questioning the internet and I knew it was fine I might ask them if they were able to get their computer fixed and hoped it did not cost too much.
I don’t book places without wifi unless it’s like the castle I’m going to for the weekend in a remote alpine location (yes it’s true but I added that to make you all jealous :-)))
So I think it’s a very essential service, not an extra like cable TV or a microwave. I think you should give a partial refund. About 20% of your booking if you didn’t fix it.
Just an update about this. I decided to give him a refund in order to avoid loosing extra time and ending up with a bad review.
my 2 cetns about this: clearly all the rules or AirBnB are in favor of the guests in this situation and the downside is all on the part of the host.
@Emily Wi-Fi was working for the previous guest and for the one after him. I can not say if that was a problem of the telco (they stay only a weekend) or a problem of the guest
Hello @Nym
What sort of review did the guest leave you?
I have to say in your situation I wouldn’t have given a complete refund. Perhaps a small amount to cover them getting a dongle or similar to use the internet in your home. (after checking there was actually a problem with the internet.
I would have called Airbnb and told them the guest was asking for a complete refund in exchange for not leaving a bad review.
@Helsi the review was “everything fine”. I made it as mandatory if he did not wanted to escalate the case…