Guest walks out of Airbnb and wants full refund

[IgglePiggleLovesUpsey]

I've had a bit of a crap day today tbh and the icing on the cake has been having to liaise with Airbnb support - I feel I have gone over so many details regarding a guest that decided to leave early due to issues with my property and now wants full refund.- so naturally I have come here to go over it again.

Timeline

• guests confirms that she and her partner will be using property only but would like use of spare bedroom. 2 adults
• I inform guest some building work has taken place to access loft eg new staircase and loft hatch, it's not quite finished so please avoid the area. She says it's fine.

• Guest arrives, is shown round property, then mentions she will be returning and bringing 3yo. They return, order takeaway, use bathroom etc and then contact Airbnb support to complain about property and say they want to leave citing hygiene and safety as issue. They don't cancel reservation.
• Airbnb contact me, back and forth we go, I want to know what the issue is exactly and be shown photos but they aren't shared.

I call, I message etc and eventually I reach out to guest asking to clarify issues and if she has left of intending to, only then do I find out she left that night. By this point I've stayed away for 2 nights and have packed all my stuff expecting them to stay for 11 nights. I think it's cheeky for them to expect a full refund when they made use of the facilities, didn't indicate they had any issues when being shown around, cost me time and effort to prep for their arrival , lied about number of guests and never even informed anyone they had left.

Or am I unreasonable? They found one small screw on the floor...so they felt it was unsafe for the child...the one we didn't know was going to be there. Also I forgot to check behind the TV stand...there was a clean coffee lid and a light switch to the loft in the area they were asked to avoid wasn't screwed back. I wiped clean the mirrors one last time before leaving and the tissue was referred to as 'trash' left lying around and bathroom slippers suddenly counted as shoes left lying around. The only issue I accept wasn't ideal was that a cupboard - that was not for the use of the guests but had the door removed and was leaning against cupboard.

But they didn't tell the OP and they hadn't declared the child either. Faults on both side.

Any Airbnb host will know that some guests, who change their mind (for whatever reason) and decide they want a full refund, do exactly this.

Guests expect hotel level cleaning nowadays and for it to be devoid of personal affects. Sorry op I think in this case the renter was right... it doesn't sound like it was acceptable. Also use a professional cleaner. A tissue will smear a mirror.

That is as maybe but this is not exactly what was stated in the OP.

To my knowledge on Air bnb the options are rent a room or rent entire property

If an area isn't locked off/labelled clearly as private then, yes, the owner could be liable. The guest could claim they were never told "don't go here" or "it was the loft they said was out of bounds, not the landing by it" etc

And it why we need full clarity on what they were told they were renting

Nope. It's unsafe having building work with screws lying around during their stay as is the level of cleaning ...
They didn't stay... They should get a full refund

What's unsafe to you and what's unsafe to your guest are two different things and neither might be wrong. I'd stop renting it out until the work is done. Most people would not want to stay somewhere under repairs or construction. I'm surprised you didn't think of that before you rented it out.

The wiring wasnt exposed - The socket cover wasn’t screwed back and there’s a photo of that. ( although that’s a two second job if you’ve got a screwdriver on hand and no idea why OP didn’t just screw it in place )

OP clearly states the socket is on another floor which wasn’t available as part of the rental anyway, so they shouldn’t be there. They were told this

You will be able to touch live wires if you stick your fingers behind that plate.

Unless the area is completely sealed off there's a chance the 3 year old or any other guests could get access. It's not enough to ask them not to. Its unsafe.

Hence my lack of sympathy for the OP. The other things are secondary.

Of course a dissatisfied customer will seek a full refund.

You left some trash out, construction debris on the floor, there's a door off, and that switch cover hanging off leaves hot wires exposed.

Refund them. Fix up your place before renting it again.

This. I doubt the OP included the dirty tissue, coffee cup lid, loose screw, manky slippers, broken cupboard and exposed wires on her guided tour. They were surprise bonuses for the guests to find themselves.

There's proof in the messages sent to them before they arrived not to go in that area and proof of a reply that said they would avoid the stairs - that were complete and finished and safe to use by the way. They would need to walk down the corridor, away from the rooms that had paid to use to go towards a staircase they have no need to use, to then go up the stairs to reach a light switch that they also don't need. The light switch with one screw missing was the only part of the 'renovations' as some like to call it that was not complete. Everything else was done.

Op... does your household insurance know you renting out your house in this situation as you could really really get in trouble.... Stop with the air b&b get the work done on your house and if then you rent it. You had a near miss here...I don't think you realize how lucky you have been!

So had they only paid for 2 bedrooms, rather than the whole property?
Not that it makes any difference in terms of health and safety - your responsibility to keep it safe and clean is the same either way.
Also, you didn't answer this earlier, but why did you not inform them of the renovations until a week before their stay?

Just wondering if anyone when booking Airbnb would expect to go into someone's loft? Is that normal?

Also, I agree with an earlier post that said Airbnb properties fall into two camps, those that are run like hotels and may be a second property etc and those that are clearly someone's home and a cheap alternative to a hotel. Mine was clearly the later, two bedrooms, use of kitchen, living room, netflix, all the facilities eg washing machine, dryer, complimentary coffee, milk, tea, biscuits, oven etc etc all less than 25 mins from zone 1 London for £90 a night. And no we were not staying there whilst they were there so they had the place to themselves.
For those who clearly have poor comprehension skills, despite the cancellation policy being moderate, I still offered them a refund as soon as I heard they 'expressed a wish to leave' on that first night as I accepted the property wasn't left in the usual high standard it is. The guests chose not to respond or inform either myself or Airbnb that they left. I had to chase them and only then did I find out days later that they had left.
Fyi they did get a full refund and I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Airbnb probably covered the cost of the nights they spent in the hotel too as goodwill.
Lastly, to the poster who imagined them frantically trying to search for alternative accomodation, sure thing, cus it takes over 7 hours to Google a hotel in london...one of which (premier inn) is just a 6 minute drive from the property. She claimed she 'left immediately because her child was in danger' well I would say my definition of immediately is not 7 hours later....after ordering a takeaway (I have a doorbell camera so I saw when the food arrived) and using the towels and maybe having a nap too...oh and ofcourse they had to watch a movie whilst they were 'frantically searching' for alternatives.
Thank you for all your comments.

For that price, no I wouldn't expect the property to be hotel standard.

Don't forget use of the bathroom slippers

Yep. I'd have walked out too. You need to give them the refund... and make sure next time you rent out your place that it's a decent standard.

' I still offered them a refund as soon as I heard they 'expressed a wish to leave' on that first night as I accepted the property wasn't left in the usual high standard it is.'

that is not what you wrote in your opening post:

'I call, I message etc and eventually I reach out to guest asking to clarify issues and if she has left of intending to, only then do I find out she left that night. '

YYY to this.

The refund offer was made to them via Airbnb , as they went straight to support instead of approaching me, so I didn't contact them directly. Only after days of no response did I then reach out to them directly.

There's several updates when I mention that a refund for unspent nights was offered.

Whatever the weather. To you it's not a big deal but to your customer it was a big deal. It looks shoddy. That and the other bits and bobs put them off. I wouldn't have stayed. I'm sure finding somewhere else to stay was a ballache for them. They were inconvenienced because your accommodation and standards were/are lacking. Give them a full refund and maybe reconsidered your side hustle.

And no we were not staying there whilst they were there so they had the place to themselves.

So did they have the place to themselves (meaning free use of any area not locked off) or 2 bedrooms and the kitchen?

Sounds like they had full access to your property which means that, even if it's an area you don't think they will go into, it needs to be safe and secure.

I hope they were informed you would be spying on them via your doorbell ...

Your judgy attitude about what they got up to (yes, it might take 7 hours to be able to arrange new accommodation, especially if hungry and therefore feel the need to eat as a priority. Perhaps waiting for Air B'n'B to respond as they needed money to book elsewhere, perhaps unable to check in til later, perhaps checking with the family nearby if they could stay first as your place had distressed them so much) says more about you