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Need help and advice please.
Two Guests staying in 4 bedroom villa for 5 nights, that I made an exception for, as minimum stay is 6 nights.
They asked for a discount before booking but I politely refused on the bases that I had given them 5 night stay and a new cot and high chair for baby.
I received a message on first night to say that the air con was dripping in one of the bedrooms and hot air blowing in one of other bedrooms. I called a technician immediately as an emergency but the guest refused them entry on three occasions, different days, as it was not a convenient time.
There are ceiling fans in every room too.
They are asking for compensation of 30% refund, of total sum they paid.
They sound like scammers. What’s the point of them complaining if they won’t allow a technician to remedy the situation? If there was no issue with the AC before their arrival, they are likely either lying or they did something which caused the problem. No way I would refund them anything.
Do you have everything in writing on the Airbnb platform? Is there a record of them denying entry to the a/c repair person? If so, I would not compensate them because you tried to correct the issue three separate times and they denied him access. You probably had to pay the repair person for going out there and he wasn’t allowed entry. That’s money out of your pocket. I would mention it on the message thread that you paid for a service call three times.
Absolutely not. In fact, if they aren’t going to let an HVAC guy come over I’d offer to cancel the booking and refund them. You need to get it fixed so it doesn’t mess up the next booking.
If, in fact, there is anything to fix. It’s ridiculous that a guest would complain about something that was disruptive enough to their stay that they would make a complaint and demand a discount, yet not disruptive enough to allow someone in to take a look at it and fix it so they would be comfortable.
I do have the text where the guest said they didn’t let the technician in the house as it was inconvenient and they were not informed of a specific time the technician would be coming.
The A/C was faulty so had it repaired the day they left.
What experience do host have when guests take the host to the Airbnb resolution centre?
Exactly my thoughts, but they have threatened to take it to Airbnb resolution centre. I am fairly new host so do not really know if the centre works more in favour of host or guest.
If the guest starts a claim through the resolution, make sure to point out the text to the customer service rep. in which guest clearly states he/she didn’t let in the technician. I would also upload receipts for the payments you made to the technician for his service calls. You acted in good faith and responded quickly to a situation that could have been rectified quickly had the guest cooperated.
Exactly! Don’t agree to refund anything. Work via ABB. They opted to stay AND not provide you the chance to make the repair. Read the policies at the link below & refer to them if you must when working with ABB. They don’t always follow their own policies.
@Kat2 If you get a resolution center request, just ignore it. Do not accept it. Here’s what I’d do.
Call Airbnb right now. (the party who calls first usually wins, so call now). This is your script:
I am being harassed by former guests.
They wanted a discount before booking that I had to refuse but are trying to get it from me now by being deceitful.
I accommodated these guests. I made an exception to my minimum stay and bought a high chair and cot for their baby. Now they are trying to take advantage and get the discount they wanted.
They said the AC was not working so I immediately sent a technician to fix it. He went there over and over and every single time they refused to let him go in to fix the AC
Now they are demanding a discounted stay because of the AC, the exact AC they refused to let me fix.
Neither, really. If you read the official Airbnb forum, disgruntled guests claim that they favor the host, and hosts assert that they favor the guest. It seems to be a matter of what CS rep happens to be assigned to the case, and, as JJD pointed out, it seems to help to get ahead of the game by being proactive.
Have the appropriate policy in front of you to read it out to the CS rep (many of whom seem to be ignorant of Airbnb policy) if on a call, or to link to if communicating through messaging.
Do not act like you are waiting for them to tell you how to respond to the discount request- tell them, politely, but firmly, what your position on this is.
Also, be aware that scammer guests seem to target newer hosts, assuming the host will be a naive pushover.
If, in fact, the AC was not functioning properly, discounts for nights when the amenity was not available are normal, but that these guests refused to allow it to be fixed kicks the situation into a different realm. In other words, if the AC had malfunctioned, and the technician had gotten in and fixed it the following day, a host offering a discount for the first night would be appropriate. But them staying for the entire booking, not allowing a repair to be done, and then expecting a discount on the booking is most definitely not okay.
I have it in my rules that a repair person can enter the STR with with advance notice . I do not ask for permission. If there is a problem, Ie: toilet, dripping water, smell of smoke, etc, the guest doesn’t get to choose.
Occasionally, the Owner or their designated representative(s), including housekeeper, caretaker, or repair person, may enter the property at any reasonable time for inspections, maintenance or repairs with a minimum of two (2) hours advance notice to Guest (from when a message is left via the Airbnb messaging system). The exception to the advance notice is when there appears to be an emergency (i.e.: flood, burning odor, etc) and in this case we will enter immediately. Outdoor maintenane (lawn care, leaf removal, gutter cleaning, etc) may enter the grounds of the property at any time, without prior notice.
I have more than 16 - I simply copied my standard contract in there. With the CS reps refunding for stupid sh*t, you have to CYA. Of course, the longer it is, the less people read so it’s a downward spiral.
Edited to add - I know Rolf wasn’t talking to me but the system wouldn’t let me quote that for some reason.
That is very good advice. Thank you. I will put it in my conditions.
They even complained that the pool was being cleaned at an inconvenient time and it disrupted their vacation. The funniest thing of all was the complaint that there were no straws for her frappe
Do you know by any chance what the 72 hours to disclose any problems at a property by guest. Does it mean through the text messages or direct with Airbnb?
Thank you
It’s ridiculous that a guest would complain about something that was disruptive enough to their stay that they would make a complaint and demand a discount, yet not disruptive enough to allow someone in to take a look at it and fix it so they would be comfortable.