My house is misbehaving- when to give a full refund?

[Kelly508]

My poor guests have had nothing but problems with my house. On the first day they noticed one of the shower nozzles was broken. It didn’t render the shower unusable as it also has a rain shower option. I had the nozzle fixed within a day. Then on day two, the septic tank became clogged and water from the shower flooded a good part of the basement living area. That problem was taken care of over two days but the guests helped the caretaker with cleaning the water. Then, just now, I received another message that one of the two water tanks is not working. My caretaker will have to deal with that tomorrow.

I feel so badly for the guests. Should I offer a full refund? They are staying for 10 days.

[Alice595]

@Kelly508  If your guests complain to Airbnb, definitely they will get refund for those days affected. If they have not complained to Airbnb, they are reasonable guest and good. You may offer refund of those days affected before they complain to get a good review because you have tried to take care of the issues promptly. 

I don't see you have any reviews yet. You may want to have a good start. Good luck!

[Kelly508]

They are good people and are very understanding but I feel they are losing their patience. I feel so badly this has happened.

[Sandra856]

Hi @Kelly508 🙂

I also think I would refund them those days that has been affected - but not more than that and maybe a bottle of wine and a box of chocolate to express how sorry you are for the inconvenience 🙂 

[Kelly508]

Thanks Sandra. I think I have done this. I offered a 50% discount after the septic tank issue  plus they had lots of nice treats on arrival. But now the hot water heater has failed...I am wondering if I should just give them all their money back!

[Susan151]

@Kelly508  Oh dear. Water karma is working against you to be sure! Your house is being tested, and just might be winning! I suspect that you will need to do some refunding, but I don't know how much.

What I would do is something a bit more personal. Could your caretaker go to the best bakery in the region and get the family a tart, or a lovely cake? Or perhaps a bowl of fabulous local fruit? Or even a meal at your local restaurant that you mention in your listing. Along with a note thanking them for their patience.

Sometimes it is worth not making money to do the right thing. This might be one of those times.

[Kelly508]

Thank you for your response. I organised croissants, baguettes, jam, jus d’orange, milk, eggs on arrival along with a bottle of champagne and wine.....and then all hell broke loose. I offered them a 50 % discount before the water heater failed....I am wondering if I should give them a full refund just to ease my conscience. Mind you, I still have to pay the caretaker and he’ll be making a pretty penny out of this!  This is the last rental of this season and I think I’ll be throwing the towel in! Too stressful! 😂

[Kelly149]

@Kelly508 is it at all possible that these guests are also the cause of this trouble instead of just the recipients of it?

[Kelly508]

No, it wasn’t them but I suspect it was the people before them. I spent 5 summers in the house and nothing like this has happened. All of a sudden the septic tank is blocked and the shower nozzle is broken. The hot water tank could just be old.

[Lisa723]

@Kelly508 I think it is time to cut bait on this one. Especially since these guests may be your very first reviewers, I would offer them a full refund and assistance with Airbnb to get them relocated.

[Kelly508]

Thanks for your response. It seems they had used all the hot water.....everything is back to normal this morning. What a relief.

[Linda108]

I appreciate your impulse to make the guest "whole" in their experience in your home.  I would imagine that dealing with all the different issues did eat into their holiday time and I think a 50% refund for the entire stay is warranted, in addition to the other extra's you have provided.  

If you are getting out of the rental, short or long term, that is one thing but if you are going to continue to be a host or even a landlord, perhaps an inspection is warranted.  When you use a second home for your own benefit, like most owners, you probably wait until something fails before you do anything.  When you are allowing others in the home, you might need a more proactive system of anticipating problems.

I had a septic tank fail while I had guests, but I never even knew I had a septic tank!  The previous owner failed to disclose it. 😛  Anyway my guests were super and never really inconvenienced, but I still gave them a refund for a day.

[Kelly508]

Thank you for the good advice. I agree that an annual inspection should be conducted before the rental season. It sure would have avoided the stress of this rental!

[Russell174]

It's great to hear you have a conscience Kelly. A 50% refund is fair. If they are not first time renters I would check their history first to be sure you are not being scammed. If you are convinced it was just bad luck, then add an apology, a nice bottle of wine and some chocolates. Don't give up on your Airbnb rental if it is providing a good extra income for you. If it's not, go to permanent rental. When you are in the rental game for many years you realise you have to allow for these things happening from time to time. Cheer up. All is not lost because of occasional mishaps.

Russell (Australia)

[Kelly508]

Thanks very much Russell! I appreciate your kind words!