Guest left 5 minutes after checking in saying it was too small and not good value

OMG @HH_AZ ! That is awesome!
At least now his late nights and busy schedule are explained!!

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That thread is awful! The guest behaves like a burglar!

Not at all stalky or creepy then.

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I wish!
Ha! You better have gotten the hysterical angle to my post. Tell me you did…You are English, right? Hands down, the funniest group of people in the world.

Anyway, just let me know the answers to those questions then and we will just forget about it. (I couldn’t help it…)

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I’m English, and yes, I laughed and got the “hysteria”. So thanks, on a grey day!

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Be careful for what you wish for :smirk:; someone accused of me of just that. The English have a biting wit, that is so welcome here, as this board needs more levity.

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I completely concur!
I grew up as the Marilyn Munster in my family, the outcast among my English family. But one of them.
They had just landed off the boat, and I came into the world. So, I grew up with toast and marmite, Coronation Street, getting mad at my friends for laughing at my incorrect pronunciation of nectarine or aluminium, Toad in the hole, bubble and squeak (ick), good Fry ups and a roast every sunday, accents that I couldn’t detect but that my friends could, Topper Annuals, and a wicked, dry sense of humour. :wink:

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No that’s the Irish dearie :slight_smile:

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We’ll have to agree to disagree on that one! :wink:

The English are known for biting sarcasm, self deprecating humour and wit.

Being jaw aching funny…not so much.

Well, of course. I reserve that bit for black and Jewish Americans.

considering that others have left their guesses or advice, I will offer something we have experienced. sometimes guests book in advance, their entire trip. sometimes they get booking remorse, or become strapped for cash, or they want to do something else. so find comfort that their complaint in no way matches your home. as it points to wanting their money back and finding faults.

also airbnb will credit them, for this behavior, which allows them to abuse hosts, and make issues where there are none. a lot of times they bring this up after their stay, to get money back. now that they can’t get all their money back, they can still get credit from airbnb for complaining. its a complaints reward system that does not really address real complaints, and real abuse of that complaints process for bonus or credits.

2 people and party is realistic as well. at least you won’t have to check pornhub to see if your apartment is on display.

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Thank you for your reply, what you have said is certainly coming true! Air have just contacted me 13 days after the incident and asked me to give her a 50% refund. They agreed with me that the villa was beautiful and spacious for two people. Their grounds were: this is only her third time using Airbnb and she wants to use it again in the future. This is their marketing strategy not mine, why should I pay for their marketing? When I said no, she asked me for 40%. Once again I said: I have done nothing wrong, she is abusing the system. Then I threw in: that’s the problem with Airbnb they always side with the guest even thought the host has done nothing wrong. The rep was empathetic and pleasant and we finished the conversation.

Sounds like she will get some refund. Why do we work so hard when we are so under appreciated?

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As a retired teacher I completely identify with this question. I will say that for some of us we just always do our best and work hard because that’s what we do; we are constitutionally unable to do otherwise.

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Well, if they booked in advance, and then cancelled onsite, you held your listing closed for that date, for the time since they booked. I typically will refund if I rebook that date. However, I don’t refund, if the date was held and couldn’t be rebooked in time.

if there are no inhabitability issues, and they could have stayed, why would a guest prevent you from rebooking that night and still expect a refund, when it was prepared for their visit, arranged for the cleaning, available for them when they arrived. And then prevent other guests from enjoying that space.

Another reason I forgot to mention, now that I’ve thought some more, is sometimes, guests will come in, and they will see what they want to see in the area, and decide to leave early and think they can get out of the booking. I’ve also seen in other hosts experiences that they felt as if their home was compromised by showing it, and now the guests are aware of what’s in the home, especially with the short exit. Air will probably compensate the guest, but I would keep a list of names and contact information of people who do this type of visit, in case you are ever cased for a break in. I don’t believe that Airbnb will surrender names of past guests that have done this, to turn over to law enforcement. You should screenshot their names, and any other information and keep it in a mini file with your cancellations.

with guests that have change of plans, I offer a future stay, or discount on a future stay for what they paid and were not refunded.

Also make sure that airbnb cancels the date, or they can still leave a review, and chide you on the non refund, if airbnb didn’t cancel for the guest, at the time of the cancellation, and you could not relist it, that should have been performed on airbnb’s part so you could have a chance to rebook the date.

The review time passed for both of us today, phew! As I had trouble timing when was the last minute I could get a review in before she would be prompted to write one I chose not to review her and it worked as she didn’t get to review me either. Air told me that when someone cancels it is 14 days exactly from the time they cancel until the review time expires. In the future if I am in this situation I will take note of the exact time. Always learning.

She threatened me with the review saying she was going to tell everyone that my listing was deceptive blah blah blah and she was waiting for the outcome so she could write about it. It’s unlikely that she knows the review time has passed so I think I have dodged a bullet.

I have not heard back from Air. I will be very disappointed if any of this comes out of my pocket. If they want to keep her happy as a marketing strategy then it should come out of their deep pockets, mine are shallow with holes. Plus this rewards the guest. What happens when they stay at an Airbnb that actually has something wrong with it or the poor host got distracted and forgot to leave towels etc? Rewarding this type of behaviour should be actively discouraged not vice versa. With the reach of the internet this type of marketing strategy multiplies so that guests learn that they can receive refunds for minor issues or in my situation no issue whatsoever.

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Update.

She wrote her review today and it went live half an hour later and yes it was brutal. Today she told me I needed to reassess my morality.
This is 15 days after she checked out and on what would have been the last evening of her stay. Obviously she received better advice than me on when was the last minute you could write a review. The time of day makes sense but the date doesn’t.

It’s 14 days after checkout according to the Airbnb help pages.

@Poppy I really feel for you on this one. The morality dig is ridiculous and I do hope that was on the platform. Others here have successfully had reviews removed when they violated the guidelines. If you can’t get it removed my advice would be a one line response that says, “I am sorry you didn’t appreciate what we offer. Best of luck in your future Airbnb stays.” It’s not an argument, nor does it demean. It shows you are professional, but it signals to other prospective guests that the this one was a one off. And it will be buried by your other great reviews. I promise.

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