Post by Maria Lurdes (Milu) on Oct 30, 2016 13:32:28 GMT
The last few days have been very insane and I've had a tough situation to deal with. Although it's now passed and I doubt that I'll ever encounter this situation again, I would love feedback from my peers here as I really struggled with this.
I had a booking from VRBO from a family of four from Switzerland, set to arrive October 29th. Everything is great - they were going into a two bedroom apartment.
The guests in the apartment prior to this booking (booked on Airbnb) were two older couples from China, with pretty limited English. It's not the first time with guests with restricted English, but we were managing with hand signals, drawings, translate apps, etc. I was pretty impressed that these couples would venture out of their comfort zone to make the trip, so I was being as helpful as I could be. Well - that was taken the test as one of the men (I think the older one) fell very ill with appendicitis and had to be rushed to the hospital. This happened on the morning of the 26th, and by the time the day had gone it became apparent that he was going to be in the hospital at least a few days. The wife of the ill man barely left his bedside, and the other couple was at the hospital most of the time to offer support. I was on/off the phone trying to monitor the situation and offer the little support I could. The couples had been in touch with some family and were trying to get them to come to New York to help.
The quandary - I have a situation in my apartment where I have an ill guest who can't check out, and I have a family arriving in a few days to the same apartment. So I start looking for alternatives for the arriving family, so that I can lay out some options for them. It's still very busy in the NY area so there certainly wasn't much available. A friend of mine has a listing and she had most of the days available, but on my request said she'd move her booking out for three days to another of her places to make the apartment available for my guests. A very kind offer from her, as it would mean potential backlash, but she knew I was desperate.
I email the guest the story and my most sincere apologies that I would not be able to host them. This is the afternoon of the 26th. I then try to call, but can't get through. I have a bunch of other pressing things to deal with, so I leave it to see if I get a reply to the email, maybe with an alternate number. The next morning I haven't heard anything so I'm afraid that they may already be traveling and not checking emails, and maybe not even have that phone. So I send another note and try the number again, in case it's a home number and someone has another number. This time the husband picks up, and I tell him the story. He seems to be upset, but sympathetic to the situation and asks me to resend the info, copying his email to make sure they get it. I do so, and explain again how sorry I am about the situation, but I simply cannot put out the sick man and his group. I offer the alterative place, explain that it's a bit smaller and also priced slightly lower, and offer 2 x the difference in rates. He comes back to suggest that I just move the other group into that smaller apartment and let them have the apartment they booked, as it's now too late, everything is more expensive, etc etc.
I go back to tell him that the decision was a very difficult one, I know the burden that I am placing on the family, but my moral compass tells me that I must help the most needy guest, who I determine not to be him. I don't think I wrote it quite like that, but that was the gist of it. I then propose another option, which is that I cancel the booking immediately in order that the refund can be started, and they stay in another of MY places for the first two days gratis, so that they can at least have a place to arrive, and then only need to book 5 days instead of seven. So they'd have a place for the busier weekend and only need to book from Sunday. He replies back that it's not a solution, just cancel they will find another place. It was a bit vague, so I wanted to clarify that it meant he didn't want my offer of the free apartment for two days and he replied back a bit curtly (understandable) that no, cancel and we'll rebook. Fine. My stomach is in knots the whole time we're going back and forth, but I start to feel like at least it's over, so my stomach slightly unclenches.
The next morning I get an email from VRBO telling me that the guest has lodged a formal complaint, and asking me for my side of the story. I give all of the details, refer them back to the thread where I made the two alternate offers. At the bottom of the thread is the message from the guest, which is in German, but I copy/paste to translate app, and it's pretty strongly worded, with threats of full legal action etc. So now the knots are back. This all happened the last few days, and it's Sunday today so I'm sure it's not under review until tomorrow. I'll have to wait and see. If VRBO wants, they can delist the apartment for a serious complaint. There was no indication of delisting ME, which would wipe out 14 listings, but I guess that's possible too.
So that's the story. WOuld you have done something different? Would you have put the sick-man group out on the street in favor of a family coming for their vacation?
I had a booking from VRBO from a family of four from Switzerland, set to arrive October 29th. Everything is great - they were going into a two bedroom apartment.
The guests in the apartment prior to this booking (booked on Airbnb) were two older couples from China, with pretty limited English. It's not the first time with guests with restricted English, but we were managing with hand signals, drawings, translate apps, etc. I was pretty impressed that these couples would venture out of their comfort zone to make the trip, so I was being as helpful as I could be. Well - that was taken the test as one of the men (I think the older one) fell very ill with appendicitis and had to be rushed to the hospital. This happened on the morning of the 26th, and by the time the day had gone it became apparent that he was going to be in the hospital at least a few days. The wife of the ill man barely left his bedside, and the other couple was at the hospital most of the time to offer support. I was on/off the phone trying to monitor the situation and offer the little support I could. The couples had been in touch with some family and were trying to get them to come to New York to help.
The quandary - I have a situation in my apartment where I have an ill guest who can't check out, and I have a family arriving in a few days to the same apartment. So I start looking for alternatives for the arriving family, so that I can lay out some options for them. It's still very busy in the NY area so there certainly wasn't much available. A friend of mine has a listing and she had most of the days available, but on my request said she'd move her booking out for three days to another of her places to make the apartment available for my guests. A very kind offer from her, as it would mean potential backlash, but she knew I was desperate.
I email the guest the story and my most sincere apologies that I would not be able to host them. This is the afternoon of the 26th. I then try to call, but can't get through. I have a bunch of other pressing things to deal with, so I leave it to see if I get a reply to the email, maybe with an alternate number. The next morning I haven't heard anything so I'm afraid that they may already be traveling and not checking emails, and maybe not even have that phone. So I send another note and try the number again, in case it's a home number and someone has another number. This time the husband picks up, and I tell him the story. He seems to be upset, but sympathetic to the situation and asks me to resend the info, copying his email to make sure they get it. I do so, and explain again how sorry I am about the situation, but I simply cannot put out the sick man and his group. I offer the alterative place, explain that it's a bit smaller and also priced slightly lower, and offer 2 x the difference in rates. He comes back to suggest that I just move the other group into that smaller apartment and let them have the apartment they booked, as it's now too late, everything is more expensive, etc etc.
I go back to tell him that the decision was a very difficult one, I know the burden that I am placing on the family, but my moral compass tells me that I must help the most needy guest, who I determine not to be him. I don't think I wrote it quite like that, but that was the gist of it. I then propose another option, which is that I cancel the booking immediately in order that the refund can be started, and they stay in another of MY places for the first two days gratis, so that they can at least have a place to arrive, and then only need to book 5 days instead of seven. So they'd have a place for the busier weekend and only need to book from Sunday. He replies back that it's not a solution, just cancel they will find another place. It was a bit vague, so I wanted to clarify that it meant he didn't want my offer of the free apartment for two days and he replied back a bit curtly (understandable) that no, cancel and we'll rebook. Fine. My stomach is in knots the whole time we're going back and forth, but I start to feel like at least it's over, so my stomach slightly unclenches.
The next morning I get an email from VRBO telling me that the guest has lodged a formal complaint, and asking me for my side of the story. I give all of the details, refer them back to the thread where I made the two alternate offers. At the bottom of the thread is the message from the guest, which is in German, but I copy/paste to translate app, and it's pretty strongly worded, with threats of full legal action etc. So now the knots are back. This all happened the last few days, and it's Sunday today so I'm sure it's not under review until tomorrow. I'll have to wait and see. If VRBO wants, they can delist the apartment for a serious complaint. There was no indication of delisting ME, which would wipe out 14 listings, but I guess that's possible too.
So that's the story. WOuld you have done something different? Would you have put the sick-man group out on the street in favor of a family coming for their vacation?