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.

They presumably had some sort of a journey to get there and I imagine they were negotiating with Airbnb and trying to find alternative accommodation.
Or they may have initially thought they would be ok in property but kept on finding more things like the coffee cup, dirty tissue, flip flops and as a piece de resistance- a loose screw. Has nobody else had that scenario where you are like ok it's not perfect but it will do, then you find more and more unpalatable things.

They shouldn't have brought their DC without advising, but any review based discussion on Airbnb is going to look very tit for tat.

I don't think you should be letting out a property while you are having internal repairs/alterations carried out.

@HoraceCope if a property isn't suitable for children then that needs to be made clear at the time of booking.

But even if they didn't have a toddler with them, the property isn't suitable or safe.

But this was what Airbnb was started for. There are plenty of people happy to stay in someone else's home as long as the price reflects that, and is much cheaper than the equivalent 'proper' holiday home.

I used Airbnb quite often when I just need a bed for a night. Cheap as chips and does what it says on the tin. My expectations would be low.

This is what it boils down to - the toddler being there is irrelevant.

The property isn't safe and I doubt OP's insurance would cover her in case of an accident or, heaven forbid, an electrical fire or other problem.

Bloody hell, ofcourse, put on fresh that morning along with a whole set of newly bought and washed towels.

Once I notice minor issues I can’t unnotice them. The used tissue would piss me off and make me feel the house was unclean.

I’ve walked out of places that felt dirty before.

I used Airbnb quite often when I just need a bed for a night. Cheap as chips and does what it says on the tin. My expectations would be low.

Yes, but there's a difference between low expectations and staying somewhere that's unsafe.

Who - the op the poster or the guests?

She mentioned the three year old just as we were about to leave - they arrived without the child and twice confirmed only 2 adults guests.
Please read updates.
Also, I wouldn't class putting in a set of stairs as renovations, but hey I guess some might.

@IgglePiggleLovesUpsey You do realise that holiday lets have been going on for decades without the Airbnb platform?

It's not a choice between Airbnb (where guests can do their laundry!) and a hotel which is part of your 'defence'.

Most guests now expect like for like with their own homes, or better.

Your guests were remiss not to add a toddler to the booking info. But even for adults your accommodation sounds unsafe and just shabby.

You need to take it off the platform and have a long, hard think about standards and the practicality of renting out a house you live in as your main home, when it's not fit for purpose.

The guests are cheeky fuckers for trying to sneak in a child to avoid paying extra costs or whatever, they wouldn't do it at a hotel I bet . Having said that, it doesn't sound like your property is in a state to rent out, exposed wires are a big no no and the guests have a right to annoyed about that. I think a refund for the remaining duration is fair.

Exactly. Also the risk, of being sued for renting out an unsfafe property. OP sorry but you sound clueless and irresponsible.

Many people have forgotten how Airbnb started. Airbnb now = hotel.

Reading your update, maybe the child was being brought to stay at the last minute- maybe a change of plan? Perhaps a family member had offered to have the child then backed out?

In any case, it doesn't change the fact that your house was having building work done, it had loose wires, litter lying around and was just not suitable to be on the market as a rental.

You really can't defend yourself in the way you're trying to.

I'd worry about insurance too. OP that could get a lot more expensive for you than just the loss of one booking!

Hotels don't usually charge extra for children. They provide a travel cot or an extra bed in the room and the price is the same.
Premier Inn offer family rooms and free breakfasts for children.

I 💯 disagree with the idea that the place was unsafe, aesthetically not pleasing perhaps, but she would have had to climb a set of stairs that she was asked not to in order to reach a socket that she does not need to use and then even if she decides the lick the whole damn socket still nothing would happen - when the casing , thats the box that sits inside the wall is plastic and all the wires are connected to what they need the he connected to it is actually quite safe, the wires weren't loose, unless she decided to yank it loose and suck on them in which case.....well.

They brought an additional guest they had not declared. How far up the stair, which they shouldnt have been using, was the light switch? There was a loose screw, they could have screwed it back in the socket or just stayed away from it. It's only really an issue because of the extra child guest.

Then they didnt give you a chance to fix things and didnt tell you they'd left.

I'd offer a refund from the day you were told they'd left - and change the locks.

but would you accept that you paid or ask for a refund?

Which is exactly what was offered to them on the first night ...they chose not to communicate to anyone that they had left so I was under the impression they were still there and then increasingly worried that the property was empty and not locked up properly, keys not returned etc

Broken furniture and exposed wiring is fundamentally unsafe. In your own home, you can exercise common sense, but you have to assume paying guests are idiots. You also have to remember that they don't know you, they can't just blindly trust that there is nothing else broken or dangerous.
And the rubbish really does mean that the house hasn't been adequately cleaned, I'd be wondering which other bits of the house have been missed.

You are just amazing.

Why won't you simply take the point?

You're lucky they aren't reporting you to trading standards and taking this further for renting out somewhere with dangerous, unfinished work.

You're bleating on about the child being brought.

How about your own behaviour of not declaring there was unfinished building work? And does your listing say it's your main home that you vacate as and when you get a booking?

You think this is acceptable?

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.

Air b and B = renting space in someone's home.

It's not a hotel with zero everyday-life things in it, risk policies and h+s checklists. The price reflects the product.

You stand on a screw - not nice, night be injured. You find a screw in a home you were told had just had some work done and you got to view before you accepted it. No big deal, put the screw in the bin, don't think another thought about it.

You have a kid and don't want out of bounds loft stairs - mention your bloody kid so a stair gate can go on.

They're taking the P op.

Going into somewhere and seeing other things left out and stuff left around, first thing I'd have thought was I bet they haven't even changed the bedding. It gives a bad impression.