Guest demanding full refund after 3-night stay — how to respond?

Category: Guest Communication

By: Anika Sharma

Posted: 2025-12-25T16:21:34.148Z

Guest just checked out from a 3-night stay. During the stay, they never contacted me about any issues. Now they're requesting a full refund through Airbnb citing "the property wasn't as described." Their specific complaints: WiFi was slow (it's 200Mbps — I speed-tested after), the pool was too cold (it's an unheated pool in March), and "the neighborhood felt unsafe" (it's a quiet suburb). How should I respond to the refund request? What's my best strategy with Airbnb support?

Reply by Brittany Simmons:

Been through this exact thing 4 times now. Deep breaths, you'll win this. First — respond to the request within 24 hours. Airbnb takes non-response as a sign that you agree with the complaint. Don't let that happen. Second — be factual, not emotional. Address each complaint point by point. Something like: "Thanks for sharing your feedback. I want to address each concern: Our WiFi is 200Mbps fiber, confirmed by a speed test on [date] — I can provide the screenshot. Our listing clearly describes the pool as unheated and seasonal. Our property is located in [neighborhood], a quiet residential area. We received no messages about any concerns during the 3-night stay and were available 24/7 to help." Attach your evidence to the Airbnb case: speed test screenshot, listing description showing "unheated pool," the message thread showing zero complaints during the stay. The fact that they didn't contact you during the stay is your trump card. Airbnb's own policy says guests should report issues during the stay to give hosts a chance to fix them. If they quietly completed 3 nights and THEN asked for money back... that looks bad on their end. Sometimes I'll offer a small goodwill gesture (10-15% partial refund) to look reasonable to the Airbnb mediator. But full refund? Absolutely not when the complaints are this flimsy. If Airbnb sides with them anyway, escalate to a supervisor. That works more often than people think.

Reply by Nolan Peters:

One thing I've learned: **the "didn't contact during stay" fact is your STRONGEST argument.** Airbnb's own policy states that guests should report issues during the stay to give hosts the opportunity to resolve them. If a guest completes an entire stay without a single complaint and then asks for a refund, Airbnb mediators generally view this negatively. In your response to Airbnb, emphasize: - "Guest completed the full 3-night stay without requesting to leave early" - "Guest did not report any issues via Airbnb messages during the stay" - "Host was available 24/7 and responsive (see message history)" Also, check if the guest has a pattern. You can't see their past reviews of other hosts directly, but you can ask the Airbnb mediator to check if this guest has made similar refund requests before. Serial refund requesters exist and Airbnb tracks them. For having templated responses ready for these situations, generate professional responses at https://strspecialist.com/tools/review-response-generator.