The majority of guests simply want their problem acknowledged and fixed. An apology and a small goodwill gift or restitution will generally make the guest more than happy to forget their mild inconvenience and move on to enjoying their vacation.
For more serious problems, we have included further steps for resolution, including when to offer a refund and what size refund is appropriate. In our best estimates, every negative review costs the average owner about $6,000-$7,000 annually in bookings. Offering to refund the cleaning fee or a single night’s rate for the guest’s inconvenience will save you money in the long term, and we recommend it for problems severe enough that a negative review is likely.
When problems arise, please follow these best practices for access, cleaning, and maintenance problems. If you have a more severe issue, such as a double booking or an unforeseeable disaster, please see the Help Center article: "What do I do when I have to cancel a guest’s reservation? If you feel that a guest is asking for a restitution that is unreasonable for the inconvenience they were caused, please get our Customer Resolutions Team involved immediately by calling 877.818.1014.
Conflict Resolution Best Practices
Check-In Problems
If a guest contacts you and says they can’t access your property, these are your best steps moving forward.
- Make contact, apologize, and take immediate steps to resolve the problem. Deliver the keys, change the lock code, or send someone in person to help them gain access to the property.
- Make restitution. Depending on how long the guest was delayed, offer them a small gift to compensate for the inconvenience. We’d recommend:
- Less than one hour’s delay - Bring a small gift like a bottle of wine or a local snack.
- 1-3 hours delay - Offer to buy them dinner or give them a gift certificate.
- More than 3 hours delay - See the next step: offer a refund.
- Offer a refund. If the guest has been significantly delayed, especially if they weren’t able to enter the home until the next day, our policy is to refund that night’s stay in addition to the above restitution. This is because the guest did not actually get to stay in your home for that night; they should not pay for a night’s stay they did not receive. The additional restitution is by way of an apology for the inconvenience.
- Escalate as necessary. If the guest is seriously upset and is unappeased by your efforts to make the situation right, we recommend offering to refund their cleaning fee.
- Bring in the experts. If you’ve followed these steps and the guest is still upset, call our Customer Resolutions Team and we’ll take over the resolution attempts.
Cleanliness Problems
There are two types of cleanliness issues: either the property simply hasn’t been cleaned at all, or it hasn’t been cleaned to the guest’s standards. If you receive a complaint about the latter and you feel the guest’s expectations are unreasonable, please contact Customer Resolutions directly so we can address the issue.
For all other cleanliness problems, these are your best practices for resolution.
- Make contact, apologize, and take immediate steps to resolve the problem. Either go over yourself or send your cleaning service as soon as possible to clean the property.
- Make restitution. Your guest will need something to do while the property is being cleaned. Have a few suggestions ready: a local restaurant where they can relax or an activity to distract the family from the delay. Offer to pay for their meal or the cost of the activity by way of an apology. (If they had their own activity planned, offer to pay for that activity - be flexible and acknowledge the inconvenience to their existing plans.)
- Offer a refund. If you can’t get a cleaning crew to the home immediately, and the guest must either clean the home themselves or live in an uncleaned property for a night, it’s time to offer a refund of your cleaning fee plus applicable taxes. They did not receive a clean home, so they should not have to pay the cleaning fee.
- Escalate as necessary. If the guest is seriously upset and is unappeased by your efforts to make the situation right, we recommend offering to refund one night plus taxes.
- Bring in the experts. If you’ve followed these steps and the guest is still upset, call our Customer Resolutions Team and we’ll take over the resolution attempts.
Maintenance Problems
The most common maintenance problems have to do with broken appliances, which you can usually avoid by checking your appliances regularly to ensure they’re working properly and no parts are wearing out. That said, sometimes appliances are ornery and pick the worst possible time to break down, and guests are often quite understanding as long as the issue is resolved promptly. Here are your best practices for resolution:
- Make contact, apologize, and take immediate steps to resolve the problem. Send a repair service, maintenance person, or groundskeeper to address the issue right away.
- Make restitution. Your restitution should be appropriate to the size of the inconvenience. If your guest was without air conditioning in sweltering summer heat for eight hours, offer to buy them dinner or provide a gift certificate. If they discovered the coffee maker was broken and you arrived with a new one within the hour, a small gift of freshly ground coffee beans or similar should be sufficient.
- Offer a refund. If you weren’t able to resolve the problem promptly, and most especially if the inconvenience cost your guest money (such as a broken refrigerator allowing food to spoil), offer a refund of your cleaning fee plus tax.
- Escalate as necessary. If the guest is seriously upset and is unappeased by your efforts to make the situation right, we recommend offering to refund one night plus taxes.
- Bring in the experts. If you’ve followed these steps and the guest is still upset, call our Customer Resolutions Team and we’ll take over the resolution attempts.
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