We just had guest check in about 15 mins after the power went out on our apartment block. This is an electric company problem, and sometimes happen in the dead of summer here in Barcelona. The guests are livid, they also did not read the house rules about no smoking and are pissed about that too. They want to cancel, of course. How should I handle this? Have them call/deal with Air bnb directly? Walk them through how to cancel via the website? Thoughts?
In this day and age who smokes in houses. I have the occasional cheeky cig but would never do it indoors. Where are they from? Not your fault electricity is gone. Iām sure itāll be back soon enough if itās the full block that out.
3 Likes
Iād just be rid of them and am so over smoking I donāt even want smoker who smoke outdoors in my place. Tell them to call ABB to cancel. Itās probably worth losing money to be rid of them. Maybe youāll get a splendid last minute booking.
4 Likes
Since they have obviously broken house rules about smoking, you can eject THEM, for cause, and they should not get a refund.
1 Like
Itās Spain, we havent got the āno smokingā memo yet. 
They are Chinese living in Switzerland, which makes the smoking indoors thing even odder.
Apparently its back on now, but they still left. Weird weird guests.
2 Likes
Chinese are hardcore chain smokers. They consider it a āloss of faceā to be told they canāt smoke.
2 Likes
Wonderful!!
How they do that in Switzerland is beyond me! They must never go anywhere.
I agree with everyone that these people just need to go as I dont need to add to my list of problematic guests as of lately!
They had not smoked inside YET but Im sure that was coming next.
1 Like
Ask them to leave and cancel their own reservation. I donāt see this as your responsibility. Good luck, keep us posted!
1 Like
She just called me but I want everything on the Air platform, so I declined.
Do I āforceā them to cancel or just let it go knowing they are gone? Im leaning towards forcing them to cancel. Should I call Air to log my side, not sure I care enough to āfightā?
Iād leave the ball in their court and tell them everything has to be through ABB.
1 Like
Iāve often been worried about the power going out but it hasnāt happened yet. Here, it can go off when thereās a tiny tropical storm. So Iāve provided flashlights, plus games and books. I donāt know if that would keep guests happy in an outage but I hope so.
Weāve had the water go off a few times but weāve been told in advance so Iāve been able to forewarn the guests and theyāve been fine about it. Thank goodness.
Stuff happens. Call Air and they will rehome them.
1 Like
Oh my goshā¦a repeat of damn smokers!! Sorry you are going through this again.
I would call to get my side of the story documented first. I would tell Air exactly what time the power came back on. That way these people wonāt get away with exaggerating how uninhabitable the place was. If they bother with trying to cancel, they will most likely use the angle that place was not as advertised. Then again, maybe Air has some clause that says power outage is just part of lifeā¦
And definitely state that they did not read house rules about smoking, and thatās probably the real reason why they were livid.
Please keep us updated.
1 Like
I think the bigger issue is the āNo Smokingā. The power thing was just their way out. I agree not having power is a bit unsettling, and has happened to us in hotels. Maybe my response is different, in that I would give it a hour or two before seeking out alternative accommodations.
@jaquo Iām sure your guests would be more freaked about a storm than the power outage. Plus, I canāt imagine people coming to So Flo and not knowing the potential risk for Hurricanes 
@felixcat Totally agree stuff happens, I just think these guests may have been over exaggerating the āstuffā part because they wanted a smoking accomodation
@cabinhost Right!! Iām going to put a no smoking sign in my photos going forward! They actually asked me via Air message about the smoking and that they didnāt read the rules closely. Oddly it was the Dad that smoked, throw back to our other smoking guests.
1 Like
AND I just got a message:
I tried to cancel the reservation, and I found out that it is non-refundable. Is it possible to negotiate about this problem? Hope you can understand! the problem is not caused either by you or by meā¦ Iām so sorry about the last minute cancellation
I donāt want to dealā¦UGH
Iām not sure what Iād do, maybe ignore. They just want to smoke. See if air contacts you.
2 Likes
Donāt you really want to write back and say āNo, the problem is caused by you not reading my listing and seeing that there is No smoking here.ā Ugh is right. Maybe your listing title could be āBeautiful Non-smoking apartmentā¦ā
4 Likes
I just added āHistoricā to the title after some people from Michigan slammed me for my flat/building being āoldāā¦um, yes it is 150+ yrs old unlike you suburban tract home
2 Likes
If you decide to let them back in, make the smoker sign something that he will not smoke and if he does, you will collect damages through Air. Being Chinese, theyāll be loathe to tell their dad what to do.
There is a ZERO percent chance I am letting them stayā¦I agree that there is no way the Father will not smoke.
1 Like