I didn’t know that elevator is listed as an amenity. BlackCat if you didn’t have “elevator” or “wheelchair accessible” checked off, then you can present that as evidence that you did not mislead the guest.
I mention my stairs several times in the listing. (another 3 storey 1902 building with high ceilings). But people don’t read. In addition, I think they may not understand that requesting to book means (if I understand it) that the booking goes through the minute I accept. I make a big point now of spelling out the stair situation. Several have been surprised, and have changed their minds because of bad knees etc. Its always been far enough out that they are refunded my rate. But I am sure it is a struggle to recoup the Air fees.
Air could be clearer on Request to book, and guests are unwise not to read the listing.
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If you have this in the Air messaging system, then you need to present that as another piece of evidence that you did not mislead the guest. The fact that he says he doesn’t want to pay the cancellation penalty, and will keep the reservation…indicates to me that he realized it was his error. Because really, if it was your error…at that time he could have called Air and could have reported your listing as misleading guests.
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Elevator is listed as an amenity that you can check. I have it checked on our listing, bc many places in Barcelona do not have lifts.
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It was not your error. He asked about it AFTER making the reservation. You offered to allow him to cancel, he chose not to. He made the decision to try to manage the stairs and failed. If it were me I probably would have offered to refund because I’d much rather do that than have someone struggle with my stairs. I have had people book me thinking I was Oahu. The wrong island. I immediately refund that, but they are of course out the Air fees.
Air will see the conversation and should rule in your favor. Cabin is right. Remind them a review should not be allowed when the guest didn’t stay.
This is not your fault.
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No, no refund at all. It was his own fault because when he asked about the stairs you told him the truth. I had a similar situation last year. The wife who booked the room talked with me on the phone for over an hour. She wanted to know if the bathroom was “in” the room. I told her no, you open your bedroom door take two steps and there is your bathroom.
The checked in and stayed one night instead of three and checked out in the morning saying that the bathroom situation didn’t work for them!!!
Needless to say they did NOT get a refund.
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As humans we want it black and white. Their fault or our fault. But in reality the truth is some percentage in between. We feel bad so we try to allocate risk. The first word in my listing is “Upstairs” but this will not and does not fool proof me from the person who over estimates their abilities. But I have never had the issue of someone trying to cancel due to the stairs. It is a pain when someone has agreed to allocate the risk to themselves, for whatever reasons (I don’t want to loose out on money etc…) but they have no right to do it for another. Here, the problem was that while you were aware of the Man’s issue he jack-in-the boxed his wife’s issue, still they seemed to have made an honest effort to manage the stairs but could not. Given that they are the expert’s of their own abilities, but with older folk, they can decline suddenly or vary from day-to-day, the fact that you instructed them that they needed to cancel and that they waited till the last minute does at the very least entitle you to being paid for the first night and beyond if you were unable to re-book. IMHO
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@BlackCat - will you update us when you get a chance? Did the guest end up reporting your listing?
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I’m late to this one. As we all know, not everyone reads the description, amenities, or house rules. A picture is worth a thousand words. After I added this photo, I never again received a question about suitability for someone who has mobility issues.
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I wish that was all it took. I have two pictures of our dogs in our listing. Our current guest doesn’t want the dogs in the same room with him.