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Post by loriandtom on Mar 31, 2016 14:39:05 GMT
Hi, My current guests are booked from yesterday til Saturday. They are coming from Australia, and expected to get here at about 3am this morning. Due to weather in connecting flight cities, they were delayed by MANY hours, re-routed to Houston, and are driving here, hopefully arriving around 10am-11am. My question: should I give them any sort of refund? They paid full price for a night that they will only be getting a few hours of. Also, if it matters, these guests were one of my first bookers, back in September, when I didn't have many (any?) reviews. We've been in touch off and on this whole time - very chatty, giving lots of reco's etc. I've left the usual snacks and beverages for them that I leave for all guests, and in addition, left them some fresh milk, fruit and breakfast bread, knowing their late (now extremely late) arrival time. Also, I've let them send various packages here in the last few weeks that they can't get delivered to Australia. So, with all that in mind, is it good will to give them some sort of refund? Or is it just the way it is. They haven't asked, btw, I'm just wondering. Thanks! Lori
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Post by High Priestess on Mar 31, 2016 16:03:02 GMT
I would definitely not give them a refund. The dates they booked were held for them, and you would not have been able to rebook the first day to anyone else due to the late notice in delayed arrival time. The issue they had with losing a day is one they should take up with travel insurance and seek a refund via travel insurance, not from you. We as hosts are not travel insurance companies who are responsible for guests' travel issues. We are contracting that people buy certain time slots from us with certain cancellation policies applying.
It is possible that sometimes a guest can take up the issue with Airbnb and get a refund under extenuating circumstances policy, but I frankly do not think the entire array of extenuating circumstances are always fair to hosts, so I will never refer a guest to that policy to get a refund. Airbnb seems at times to "bend" extenuating circumstances policy to cover more situations than it should, again with a bias towards guests, so I will not support that.
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Post by lambada on Mar 31, 2016 16:50:39 GMT
I second Deborah. I used to give refunds left right and center, without even being asked. And I read Keith's post that said hosts shouldn't offer refunds unnecessarily. And I have to say, he was right.
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Post by fleur on Apr 2, 2016 3:25:10 GMT
No, no, no. And if they have been sending packages to you 'that they can't get in Australia??' That means they have been saving a fortune by using your place instead of paying for postage to Australia. That in itself is probably worth paying you an extra night for receiving mail!
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