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I have a weird scenario and not sure the best way to handle it. I had 2 plumbing issues in the past week. In both cases, my shower becomes unusable due to dirt, water and some sewage back up. Today they found the real problem, which is a broken pipe just outside my unit. They won’t be able to completely fix it until early next week.
I have a guest checking in tomorrow and there’s a decent (maybe 25%) chance of that scenario occurring before they are able to fix the pipe. The guests are just staying til Monday. Should I contact Airbnb and use the extenuating circumstances to cancel the guest or hope the issue doesn’t arise? I hate to give the guest such late notice but at the same time, the problem may arise.
I agree. Because of the short notice, let the guests decide, but be VERY upfront about the potential issue, meaning don’t sugar coat or downplay it at all. If they don’t want to stay, call Airbnb and ask them to cancel the reservation on your behalf because of extenuating circumstances. They should do this with no penalty to you, but while you’re on the phone with them, I’d ask them to reiterate that indeed, there will be no penalty to you.
They responded that they will still stay at my place. They have other friends are staying in a hotel and will shower there if need be. If the shower becomes unusable, I offered them 50% off my rate for the remainder of their stay.
Wow that’s really generous. I wonder though if you’re sending a message that if there’s any problem the guest can request a huge discount. I’d have offered something if the shower ended up being problematic and then maybe a gift certificate to a local restaurant or a nice bottle of wine. But then I don’t know what your rate is.
Do let us know how they review you!
I feel that most people just stay at my place to sleep, shower and have easy access to activities in Chicago. This is just for my spare room and I told them $40 off a night and I charge $79 for weeknights and $99 for weekends. My place will smell of sewage as well so it’s not a pleasant experience. I’ve hosted about 100 guests lifetime and ,maybe I’m lucky, but I’ve never had to refund unless there’s a problem on my end. No one has ever requested from me.
