Guest asking for refund due to spiders in unit

[Karin36]

Guest checks in at 2 PM.

At 11:55 PM guest sends us a message saying they are leaving because of "numerous spiders" found in the unit.  Would like a refund.

I just read the message this morning.

Please note, we clean the unit fully between guests and would kill a spider if we happened to notice one.  Having said that, it is lovely weather outside and doors/windows are open in our wing of the house; it's not unlikely that one of God's critters could make his way in.  

Does this warrant a refund?  If not, what would you say?

[Emiel1]

Hello @Karin36 ,

Some people are afraid of spiders (Arachnofobia).

But i think you should at least check if there are indeed "numerous" spiders. And would be nice if guest can provide evidence also (photos). Did the guest cancel the reservation ? The refund is calculated automatically.

[Mike340]

@Karin36

well no doubt they would have expected you to have spider traps, or such like (maybe you have)  ....e.g.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgiPtskz8yk -  here using duct tape

It is very difficult to be able to guarantee there are no spiders, or bugs of any sort....jeez

I hear that Airbnb is pretty much on the guests side when it comes to things like this....

in other words you "might" find that Airbnb overrides a decision not to give a refund...

You could send customer service a message and ask what they think... before you offer the refund...

Personally I would not offer a refund..I mean a spider is no doubt more scared of a human than the other way around...

[Gordon0]

Get a refund, no. Get a life, more likely. 

[Rebecca160]

@Karin36I think that it is possible that spider eggs hatched and realeased hundreds of babies  instantly. It is pretty cool to see and experience, outside, and if you are not afraid of spiders. There may be no evidence now, as the babies would run off to find their new homes.

I feel that the guests should have contacted you directly when it happened, but they were probably in a panic. There is no way that you could have predicted or prevented this. But, it happened.

I would not refund the night, but I would refund the remainder of their stay.

[Barry-and-Lera0]

@Karin36: No I would not. I would think a guest would say "Hi...there are some spiders here. Is it possible you could take care of that?"...and it would be done in an instant. To randomly send me a message saying there are spiders and I want a refund sounds like a scam.

[Rebecca181]

@Karin36 It is interesting that the burden falls on us hosts to prove a guest damaged our property; and even if we CAN prove it (photos, etc), we are often denied any coverage via the Host Protection Guarantee. I think it should be equally difficult for a guest to receive a full refund (unless it is in harmony with our chosen refund policy); they should have to attempt to contact the host; give the host a chance to correct the issue; provide photographic evidence if the host is not available; document everything in the Airbnb Message thread, etc, etc, etc - Just like we are forced to do by Airbnb to receive any monies from guests via the Resolution Center or via the Host Protection Guarantee.

Airbnb's ever-changing policies seem way too guest-centric these days - Which ultimately is not a good business decision, as the only 'winners' are guests that may or may not use Airbnb again; versus hosts whose resources (homes) are needed to keep the company going. 

[Luci3631]

I am guest, and I provided the proof that the AC is broken the first day I arrived... 3 days later, host said he fixed it, I checked and claim he didn't (air was not coming out of the vent for one of my rooms, other vents worked fine)... airbnb ask me to prove my point (how could I, the other vents worked fine so the temperature was fine, it's just that the room where the ac didn't work also didnot have a window so it was really stiff)... 
I am pretty sure the host never proved his because he never took a picture inside the house.
... airbnb does not listen
looks like its policies are host centric here days

[Lisa723]

We once had a guest leave in the middle of the first night of their stay and send a message the next morning saying there had been a "wild animal" in the cabin, which they "couldn't see without a flashlight." (There was a flashlight, as well as normal working lighting, and inspection of the cabin that day found no trace of any animal.) They wanted a full refund-- which we gave. Basically, it's not worth arguing about, especially with someone who's clearly got problems of their own.

[Rebecca160]

@Lisa723I bet it was a squirrel running on the roof. They can be loud! And if you are not used to it, possibly scary, especially if they could not see it.

[Rosemarie9]

I'm guessing this person is not Australian! I relocate any spiders I find back into the garden, bees too. I live in Ireland now and there are heaps here (although smaller and less intimidating than Australian ones). I take it as a sign that nature is working as it should. Goodness, people are turning into such snowflakes. I'm far more scared of humans than critters and these guests sound like hard work or scammers.

[Inna22]

 I was just going to post about this! Second guest in a row complain about spiders. It is a garden unit. I don’t think in can control them even with sprays. Should I even worry about it or wait for the season to pass? We obviously clean all the spiderwebs, but I cannot control nature! 

[Robin4]

@Lisa723 @Rebecca160 @Karin36

I think @Rosemarie9 has got a point, where on earth do these guests come from where they live in a totally sterile environment??? 

Everytime I go into the cottage and service it after the previous guest I find a few bugs, 'slaters', the odd millipede, a dead housefly fly or two. A spider will build the rudiments of a web in a couple of hours, Jeez, my guests never complain.

I had a bloody possum in the cottage one night nibbling away on a bowl of fruit! The guest thought my imitation of Basil Fawlty when I found out the next morning was hilarious! They still gave me a 5 star.

My guests never grizzle about bugs, they never grizzle about birds and they certainly never grizzle about the Koala that pops up in the garden outside the cottage door many evenings. My guests seem to appreciate they are coming into a garden environment and on odd occasions a few 'critters' might invade the cottage. I would draw the line at vermin and if a guest ever found a mouse or a rat, sure I would refund them, but....insects....really!

We live in a world full of nature, thank God I am not seeing any of these 'guests' who will quiver at the sight of a 'lady bug' and run in sheer terror all the way to their computer to get their money back!

After what I have seen on the CC today I am almost of the feeling I will have to think long and hard before I accept guests from the North American continent! 

Possibly an opening there for some smart entreprenuer, could let out a defined space of uncontaminated fresh air! 

Cheers.....Rob

[Fred13]

^^^ "I think Rosemarie has got a point, where on earth do these guests come from where they live in a totally sterile environment???"

Asylums; most are run like hospitals. 

@Robin4 My yearly prayer is: Out of 360,000,00 North Americans, I only need about 60 sane ones. Figuring out that 1/2 are adults, it means 180,000,00 / 60 = 3,000,000 to 1 odds.

   You would think with those odds, no way I would get even one insane one in any given year, but no such luck; in fact, I have ended up with at least one lunatic on each of my first 3 years.

    This year (4th), I feel my luck is really turning; so far, so good (knock on wood).

[Rosemarie9]

Haha Fred, you have probably cursed yourself there! I've already had my allocated lunatic this year, which is a bit scary since the season has only started! She was worth about 100 though. I get about one lunatic and a few head cases each year, the rest are a joy. My difficulty are the older North Americans who come to Ireland to see where their ancestors hail from. Most are not seasoned travellers and find the differences in plumbing, heating, driving etc a bit of a challenge. The ones that go with the flow have a great time, but Ireland is nothing like the U.S. 

Let's hope the lunatics don't outnumber the lovely guests for the rest of the year.