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The only draw to this small town is the charm of a small town and the biggest lake in the state. The recent rains have raised the lake to where my beach is covered.
I emailed the guest several days before his stay that the lake was high, the beach was covered, and my dock was inaccessible, but fishing is usually better when the lake is high and he could fish from the shore.
He said thanks for the information, he was looking forward to exploring the area. I have a second floor above a garage guest house. My listing explains the stairs and that it is not suitable for the disabled.
So the guests came. When I showed them the place, they huffed up the stairs. They liked the place and everyone was smiling when I left. Later, I saw them walking down to the beach and about 20 minutes later, the man was at my door saying they were leaving. He said the beach wasnât what they expected.
I think the stairs were not what they expected. When they went back up, they decided they didnât want to go up and down.
I gave them a full refund, but now I am second guessing myself. I told him before he came that the water was high and he didnât care. He said he was going to explore the area. I think they didnât want to climb the stairs.
I also didnât realize that he would still be able to give me a review when he didnât stay. I donât understand that. He hasnât left one and since he got all his money back, he better not, but I feel cheated.
If this happens again, I think I should at least charge him for the first night⌠What do you think?
If my customers are not happy and wish to cancel their stay/leave immediately after arriving for any reason (not happened âŚyet) I would refund in full.
Itâs a pain to lose out on a bookingâs income but in the grand scheme of things I would rather that than risk getting destroyed by a 1* rating because youâve annoyed them by traying to claw back one nightâs rental money. I just look upon possibly getting guests like this as a risk of doing business where your customers donât actually see what they are âbuyingâ until they arrive so thereâs always the possibility of them misunderstanding or not reading descriptions fully.
Itâs easy for other people here advise things like âdonât refund themâ or âcharge them 1 nightâ, they are not the ones who are at risk of getting a 1* review and the damage it can do seeing as we all know AirBNB will almost certainly not back you up if you do receive one.
But the whole point @Snowdon is whether you refund them or not you are still risk at bad review if they cancel because they are not happy with the local amenities/weather conditions/some perception about the listing that was pointed out to them but they didnât bother to read.
In your case @jrjan1 I would have said to the guest you were sad that they have chosen not to stay because of conditions at the beach and that if you are rebooked for any of the nights they have cancelled, as a gesture of good will on your part you would be happy to consider a refund for any of the nights rebooked.
I am one of the hosts in the camp who say you shouldnât be held to ransom for fear of a bad review for doing what you know is right for your hosting business.
Thatâs what my husband said. Ask when they would like to reschedule.
My listing clearly said the guest house is on the second floor and not disability accessible. I think people like the price, so they book.
The only bad reviews I have gotten were from people saying there is nothing to do here - meanwhile, my place is called Fishermanâs Dream, and I only show pictures of a lake and fish that people have caught. This is a place for fishermen, not for night life, but just like everything else, nobody knows how to read anymore.
I would always trust your gutâŚand as you get more experience the more youâll feel comfortable in your decisions. It sounds like you are pretty new and I had a similar situation when I began, and I refunded. Today I would not have refunded the first night as they kept you from earning money by not cancellingâŚand who knows,. maybe their plans really changed, they had a fight, two people werenât on the same pageâŚnone of that is your fault and you shouldnât be penalized for it. One thing you can do is go back and critically look at your description to ensure you underpromise and overdeliver. I didnât look at it so I have no idea, but I do know that with more guests Iâve been more and more precise about what to expect, (or not).
Iâm trying hard to be kind and not snarky here but this had been discussed so many times. Posts assume you are new but youâve been a registered member here almost a year. I strongly urge you to read as much as you have time for. This will forearm you. Simply logging on after there is an issue and made a decision isnât going to help you at all.
As for the question, I wouldnât have given any refund. They kept you from getting any other booking and I assume itâs high season for you. You gave him information in advance and if you had wanted to modify or offer a discount at that time thatâs one thing. But to take your time, probably use your bathroom and then leave gets them zero.
I had a guy a couple of weeks ago book two nights for him and his dog. I sent him the pet fee and he asked what it included and and that it seemed high. He actually said in the message that he could have just stayed in the hotel where he was. So I pointedly told him this:
It was a same day booking so he wasnât keeping me from getting booked. Well, he arrived anyway. Unloaded his stuff. Drove away and then messaged me that he wasnât happy and heâd be back for his things. I refunded him his pet fee and one of two nights but only because he hadnât blocked the room from anyone else and Iâd already offered. Otherwise he would have had to fight Airbnb for all but the pet fee.
If this were my listing I would revise to say, âAccess is via a steep flight of stairs, no extra charge for the cardio workout.â
Deconditioned people for whom your stairs are going to be an issue donât consider themselves disabled. They will not clue in on what you need to convey with that word imo.