Process for Angry guest who asks for refund

How to Handle Legitimate Complaints
Step One: Apologize
Your default, knee-jerk reaction when a guest has a complaint should be to apologize for the problem existing in the first place. You don’t have to take the blame yourself, but the first words out of your mouth should be something like: “I’m so sorry that happened to you.”People need to hear that their concerns are valid; they need to know someone cares that they were inconvenienced. Think how you’d feel if you arrived after a long day of traveling, expecting to finally be able to put your feet up – only to find you have to deal with some problem that needs resolving. No fun, right?So apologize. Apologize if you were at fault, apologize if someone else was at fault, apologize if no one at all was at fault. Tell them you’re sorry this happened to them on their vacation – because come on, aren’t you?
Step Two: Take Immediate Steps to Solve the Problem
Get someone over to the property right away to solve the problem. Remember your local contact person? This is why there’s absolutely no substitute for a nearby person being available in case of emergency – they can be your saving grace when that unforeseen issue arises.Prompt response is especially important if their issue is something that impedes the guest’s ability to begin using the property, such as the house not being cleaned, the guest not being able to access the property, or the heating or cooling systems being broken.If you cannot get someone to the property right away to resolve the problem, acknowledge that this is deeply inconvenient for your guest, and tell them exactly what you are going to do to fix the problem and when you are going to do it.This is also a good time to ask if there’s anything that needs taking care of right away, such as groceries that need to go in a refrigerator. If at all possible, find resolutions for these problems immediately – call in a favor from a neighbor and ask if they wouldn’t mind storing those groceries temporarily, for example.Then tell the guest how you’re going to make it up to them.
Step Three: Make Restitution
The size of the restitution should be commensurate with the amount of inconvenience the guest experienced. If your neighbor was able to hop over right away and help them with the lockbox, your guest was only inconvenienced for about 10 minutes.If everything else goes well, that problem will likely be forgotten almost immediately, especially if it comes with a sincere apology. If you have the time, send over a small gift such as a local snack or a bottle of wine the next day with a note apologizing for the inconvenience and telling them to please let you know if there’s anything else you can do.Most problems can’t be resolved quite this quickly, however. If your guest was inconvenienced by more than an hour, particularly if they were really upset by the issue, up the ante with a larger restitution.This is particularly effective if you can couple it with an activity for them to do while waiting. For example: “I’m so sorry, I can’t get over there to help you until 7:00. Can I suggest you take the family to dinner at Local Restaurant on me while you wait? I’d be more than happy to call ahead and make reservations for you.”Make it easy for them, and be prepared with a few ways they could spend the time it will take for you to get a resolution to their problem.
If the guest is still angry, it’s time to turn to your final option: offering a refund.
Step Four: Offer a RefundYou needn’t offer to refund the entire amount of the guest’s stay. Start with a refund appropriate to the inconvenience they were caused – for example, if the house was not cleaned when they arrive, refund their cleaning fee.That makes sense: they paid to have a clean house and didn’t receive the service they paid for, so give them their money back.Similarly, if the issue was such that the guest was unable to stay in the house (such as a broken heater in the dead of winter), refund them for any nights they were unable to stay at your property. Again, this is simply logical: they didn’t receive a night in your property, so you shouldn’t charge them for it.Other issues can be harder to calculate. What’s an appropriate refund for the guest who had to deal with a broken stove over Thanksgiving weekend?As ever, it’s up to you as an owner – but we highly recommend putting yourself in the guest’s shoes and asking yourself what would make up for that level of inconvenience.Your guest’s goodwill is important to the integrity of your business, and one bad review detailing the problem the guest suffered can really damage your reputation. Guests want to know that if an issue arises, you’ll be willing to fix it – and that they won’t wind up paying a large sum of money for a stay that didn’t meet their expectations.Most guests know that problems do happen and will be satisfied if you make a good-faith attempt to resolve the problem and compensate them for their trouble. But every now and then, you get a guest who will not be satisfied with these efforts.