Guests stay, then ask for full refund based on issues

I have a big concern now about the situation when guests book a room , stay the night , then next morning they call
Airbnb and tell
Them that bathroom
Was dirty, and other little things
and Airbnb even considering to refund them
This month I had two of those.
The last one. Came in very late, said wow it’s a nice room and then called Airbnb the next day and just told them about dirty bathroom, cigarette smells in a room and owner personal items in a room.
Lied about everything. Bathroom was cleaned just hour before he came and it was sparkling. No one smokes at all. Not in a house not outside the house. Personal belongings were pictures and some of our clothes inside the closet. Very few.
For this particular room all others reviews are 5* . All 74 of them.
Airbnb person called me to “clarify”. I said: are you even considering refunding him? Even what if it was true, all this nonsense he said, he stayed in the booked room, how on earth he can be refunded? What if bathroom
Was dirty and there was smoke smell which a person can feel right away, but if a guest chooses to stay anyway how is it possible that he can be refunded.
The person told me he will make his decision on monday.
I am shocked. So anyone can just book a room
, stay and then next day will try to get money back.

This is the second incident that happened during last month. We are in high season now and prices are quite high. I think that prompts people to book anyway and then try to get a free stay.
And both incidents Airbnb calls
Me to “clarify”. What ia here to clarify? It will be anyway my word against his. One guy claimed the picture was different from what it actually was and there was no window in a room. I pointed it out that window was behind TV . And the picture was different only because I changed comforter.
But even if he was given different room and he anyway agreed to stay how can he be refunded and especially 100%? . For example I book a hotel, then rent a room
And a picture is different which happens all the time by the way. So I can claim
Refund the next day because of it??!

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Its a nightmare, guests are getting very savvy at playing the system.

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Wow, that’s terrible. I would assume this is something a guest can only get away with once. That is, they get a free night and then after that Airbnb will refuse a refund unless they really have evidence. Problem is, smells can’t be proven. All the have to do is go the in bathroom, dump some hairs in there, spit in the sink and smear it around and then take pictures.

I suggest doing a walk through with guests and making them sign a sheet upon check in just like the rental car companies do.

Let us know what happens.

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Exactly why I have guests sign a contract directly with me. My venue is my county, and I would file a small claims against the guest if ABB gave a refund.
No sense in debating with me if this is allowed, against ABB rules, or anything. That would all be sorted out if I ever had to act on this.

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So I just had an answer from Airbnb that they dismissed guests demand and not discounted his stay from
My payout. The reason is because the guest contradicted himself later on and told a different story😂.
But still it doesn’t relief me of worrying that anyone can just say whatever they want and the policy is still refund them even if they stayed .

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Phew! Glad this one worked out in your favor. So…the first guy did not get a refund…correct??

That’s not very reassuring. Honestly I think Airbnb should take the host’s side without question if they have 100s of reviews over a period of years compared to a new guest with a few reviews. If Air wants to pay out of their pocket to “keep the guest happy,” fine.

Please, Airbnb, don’t send me books and framed prints of my house, just make sure I get my money!

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Thank goodness they sided with you.

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Years ago I worked at a fast food restaurant. There was a customer who would come in, order a hamburger, eat half then bring it up to the counter complaining it was under-cooked and demand another. He would then eat half of that, bring it to the counter, complain again it was under-cooked and demand a refund which he would get. Some people are just selfish conniving opportunists trying to get something for nothing.

Also, have seen bad reviews where people have complained about comforters not being the same as they saw in the picture. That is the case for my place. I changed bedding because the one I had before wasn’t machine washable and I don’t have time for the dry cleaner. Guess I should update the picture before someone gets their panties in a twist.

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I wouldn’t worry about something like that. I switch out comforters between guests. For the few longer stays, they get to experience both when the first is changed at the mid-stay exchange.

People expect things like towels and linen to vary.

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Agree completely they have worked out that odours cannot be disproved it is just the latest scam. Have heard several instances of refund claims because of bad odours.

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If only there was a time-lined ‘scratch and sniff’ option that you could send virtually. I can think of a few guests where this would have been handy in order to claim extra cleaning charges.
Kidding, of course.
Sorry to hear of your selfish immoral guests @Yana.

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Yes the first guy also didn’t get refund. He said that the room was not the one that on a picture and that it was just a utility room and made pictures of my Laundry machines behind curtains.
The room is 200 sq. Feet with 43” TV ans queen bed a table, mini fridge and microwave . It looks very nice and usually guests like it a lot.
Airbnb send me a note saying that they will not refund guest only because I described exactly that it’s a room
In former garage with laundry machines not visible behind curtains. And he of course didn’t read it.
My concern is that they even give this option to a guest to do it. This is really bad . The first guy even told
My husband what a nice room it is. Then they chatted for half an hour only after all he decided to get his money back.

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Yes I’ve just had a case where a **** of a guest broke the rules of my listing (re kitchen) then was given a partial refund for unspent nights when he decided to leave (he realised he was not going to get total control of my space) even though I have a strict cancellation policy. This goes against their host guarantee. I discovered in the Guest refund Policy that a guest can only get a refund if the listing is misrepresented or lacks promised facilities. In my case my kitchen is not listed on Airbnb anyway. Furthermore to submit a valid claim the guest must, ‘Not have caused the travel issue’ (mine did by coming in the kitchen outside of alloted times), and must ‘have used reasonable efforts to remedy the issue with the host prior … including notifying the host on Airbnb…’ Mine made no complaint now he wants a whole 28 days refund on the grounds of missing facilities (he used my kitchen for 25 days anyway) and bullying (which amounted to my restating rules.) Your guest did not complain about the fictional dirt in the bathroom in advance, and therefore would never have been entitles to a refund. Airbnb’s disrespect for their hosts sucks.

If someone is granted a [full] refund, do they get to leave a review as well? Or even if they open a case like that with Airbnb, do they still get to write a review?

Blockquote
to submit a valid claim the guest must, ‘Not have caused the travel issue’ (mine did by coming in the kitchen outside of alloted times), and must ‘have used reasonable efforts to remedy the issue with the host
Blockquote

I work in travel and that’s the number one rule in making any claim - you must point out any issues whilst in resort and give the company the chance to rectify any issues there and then, and not just head home and expect a refund. It would be unfair for Airbnb to act contrary to this, I’m glad they came down on the sense of reason @Yana

Yes exactly. This was also the reason why they declined their refund because they didn’t do it while they were still at property.

I am
Not sure. I left review, but I don’t see their review.

They’re scammers. Rare, but still happens, especially in big cities. We had a few of these. Degenerate creeps who should not even be on Air, or any other homesharing site for that matter. They also could be scammers working in tandem. We had two (in close dates, but not succession), who did the same…and said the exact same things, almost as if to confirm what the others’ said. We had been hosts for years, but Air refunded them anyway. We also had a guest about five years ago, who stayed in our house for several days, (confirmed by neighbors and cleaners), who said that they never stayed there and demanded a full refund based on bogus, doctored photographs of our home’s “defects.” The photos were taken of ceiling vents, underneath the sinks, and of shower taps, all yellowed and with bizarre filters (before those were in widespread use). Even with us sending immediate [real] photos, with our listing’s photos been confirmed by air photogs (was free back then), and confirming that the guests had indeed stayed (cooked, ate, showered, slept) in our home…Air still refunded them their money. :neutral_face: We have not had anything like this happen since returning to hosting in the past two years. It is unnerving and disheartening to hear that these scams are still occurring.

Don’t let this get you down. There are creeps and scumbags under rocks in every city. Try to focus on the (likely majority) of your guests who are wonderful, grateful and easy.

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If they are given a full refund, no. Ours weren’t. If given a partial, (i.e. they stayed there), yes. And yes to any pending dispute…even ifit is a clear and admitted case of damage. They can leave you a review if they stayed at your place, or if the booking was paid for in any way.

Reviews are totally skewed in favor of guests. No question of that. This will hopefully change as the site grows and they take heed of hosts’ legitimate concerns about scammers and retaliatory reviews.

100% of our negative reviews (anything less than 3/4/5 stars) have been from scammers wanting discounts or refunds, or guests who damaged our property or broke our house rules. 100%. Out of hundreds of guests, we have only had ONE legit two star review from a guest, and that was because there was (unforseen) construction near our house, that totally disrupted their stay…which they did not bother to inform us about btw…until we read the review. :rage: Had we even known, we would have offred a free stay at a later date. But after the review, they can shove it.

Like I said, creeps in every city. Gotta focus on the positive. 99% of guests are stellar and fabulous.

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