12-20-2025, 11:49 PM
I had a guest book for 1 week in mid December. Within 2 hours of checkin he wanted to get a full refund claiming a strong curry smell. Our cleaners just cleaned the place thoroughly before his stay. I asked the cleaner and the previous guest, and they both didn’t report any smells during their stay. I also stock Ozium and Lysol spray and recommended using it. I offered to send someone over to resolve the issue to which he denied. Overall Airbnb said according to their policy, they can give a full refund due to smells or odors. They even asked him for proof but he circumvented it saying there’s no way for him to provide proof.
Basically they said I can either alter the reservation for him to checkout the next day, or they would cancel anyway due to their policy. I just altered it to avoid further conflict.
I also have a flexible cancellation policy for context, but from my understanding, if a guest is adamant on the issue, they can always demand a refund even if we have a strict cancellation policy. Is it really this easy for a guest to just up and leave from a reported "smell" which cannot be documented by either party?
Basically they said I can either alter the reservation for him to checkout the next day, or they would cancel anyway due to their policy. I just altered it to avoid further conflict.
I also have a flexible cancellation policy for context, but from my understanding, if a guest is adamant on the issue, they can always demand a refund even if we have a strict cancellation policy. Is it really this easy for a guest to just up and leave from a reported "smell" which cannot be documented by either party?