Need advice on a business / moral delimma

[TexasHusker]

We manage peoples' vacation homes. We rent them out, clean them, maintain them. The homeowners rely on us for this, and we take our job very seriously.

On March 1, a guest made a reservation at one of our properties for a 5 night stay, beginning March 12. The total rent was $1600 and change, and was due immediately.

They paid. We sent confirmation numbers, directions, etc.

On March 17, our housekeepers went to clean the house and found that the guest never arrived. We called the guest and they said "Oh...we meant August 12...we are terribly sorry!"

Now, my manager is wanting us to refund all of the money and allow them to re-book. The problem with that is that the homeowner will now lose this rent. This was spring break week and we undoubtedly could have rented it during this time. I believe it is unethical for the homeowner to indemnify and hold harmless the guest for a mistake (albeit an expensive one) that the guest made.

My manager feels that I am heartless in this, but in in my opinion, our first priority is to our homeowners. We can't just go refunding folks - and costing our homeowners - because people aren't paying attention to what they are doing. This seems VERY straightforward to me.

Am I off base here?

[james.hendrickson]

Is there a way for all parties involved to win?

[TexasHusker]

Is there a way for all parties involved to win?

We could re-schedule them for another date, but that doesn't change the fact that the revenue for the 5 nights is gone. The cabin rents all of the time.

[james.hendrickson]

Texas, would the demand for the place support a higher price? Like could you marginally increase prices for a couple of months to make up the lost revenue for the 5 nights?

[TexasHusker]

Texas, would the demand for the place support a higher price? Like could you marginally increase prices for a couple of months to make up the lost revenue for the 5 nights?

There are a lot of problems with that.

1. If there is support for a higher price, the homeowner is entitled to that higher price regardless of what occurred in a previous month. He still shouldn't have to indemnify a guest for a clerical error that they made.

2. If there is support for a higher price and we haven't been charging that, then we, ourselves have been inept. In fact, I would consider that a breach of fiduciary obligation to our homeowner. A big part of our job is to know the market.

3. And if there is support for a higher price, we are effectively penalizing future renters to compensate for a previous renter's clerical error.

At some point, people have to take responsibility for THEIR OWN STUFF. My homeowners have plenty of burdens of their own (fire damage, insects, repairs, maintenance, liability, etc.) without taking on the carelessness of a third party.

Is my mind made up? Probably. But I am interested in thoughts.

[Snydley]

Texas, would the demand for the place support a higher price? Like could you marginally increase prices for a couple of months to make up the lost revenue for the 5 nights?

That doesn't seem right to me. Why should others' pay for this one renter's mistake?

Was an actual contract signed with the March date clearly listed? If so, I think the renter really screwed up and probably the best I would do would be to allow them to use the rental during an off-season time, especially since you think the house would have rented during this week and now the homeowner would be clearly out $$ because of the renter's error.

[rennigade]

Are there terms and conditions that state what would happen if the person accidentally chose the wrong date? People do make mistakes...lot of clicking around on sites, etc etc. I made a mistake once booking a rental car...chose PM vs AM time...I had to cancel and rebook...at a higher price unfortunately.

You may be better off taking the $1600 hit rather than forcing the person to pay all over again. Word of mouth, bad reviews, etc isnt going to help in the long run. I would update your terms and conditions (assuming this isnt in there) to state that under no circumstances can you get your money back for anything. Then next time you can simply refer to these terms and not have to deal with this ever again.

[TexasHusker]

The terms and conditions are explicit as they are. There isn't a dispute about terms.

This a question of ethics: My manager feels it is unethical to charge the guest when the guest claims an error.

I believe it is unethical to rob our homeowner because a guest made an error. Terms are terms.

I recently made a plane reservation for the wrong date. It was a $200 change fee. Is that fair? Yes. It's in the terms and I agreed to those when I purchased the ticket.

I believe this would be a clear breach of contract with our homeowner, as well.

It is not MY money to take a hit on; it is the homeowner's.

[TexasHusker]

Additionally, the renter received SEVERAL emails confirming the date, giving directions to the cabin, and so on.

This wasn't a "one click and oops" situation. They could have recognized the error and contacted us within a day or two and all would have been fine.

[HundredK]

It sounds like it may boil down to a lack of clarity in policies. I'd think that some sort of penalty to the renter would be in order. But if that isn't clearly stated on anything the renter signed, then it's best to just let them reschedule and leave it at that. Look at it as an opportunity to clarify your rental policies to guests upon booking (and to create said policy if one doesn't exist).

[TexasHusker]

It sounds like it may boil down to a lack of clarity in policies. I'd think that some sort of penalty to the renter would be in order. But if that isn't clearly stated on anything the renter signed, then it's best to just let them reschedule and leave it at that. Look at it as an opportunity to clarify your rental policies to guests upon booking (and to create said policy if one doesn't exist).

The policies are crystal clear. No one is disputing the policy. We are enforcing the policy as it is written. Our policies are explicit - we've rented thousands of nights of vacation homes.

[corn18]

No moral dilemma. The T's & C's give you the right to make them eat their mistake. Talk to the homeowner and see what they want to do. They are your customer. If they don't want to risk bad feedback, then they may want to refund the money. If this is a hot market, they may just enforce the T's & C's. Up to them.

[rennigade]

Pretty cut and dry then. If the T&C state this...theres nothing more that needs to be done. Let renter know how many emails were exchanged with date listed...and reference them to the terms. Done deal.

No moral dilemma. At this point you are simply following the terms and conditions that have already been laid out. Find a new manager. What the heck are the terms for if the person or company renting doesnt follow them?

[HundredK]

The policies are crystal clear. No one is disputing the policy. We are enforcing the policy as it is written. Our policies are explicit - we've rented thousands of nights of vacation homes.

Then there's no moral dilemma if all parties entered into the contract knowingly. It's just not even an issue at all. If you don't like the policy, I guess you could push to have it changed. But in this scenario, sounds like there's nothing to fret over.

[phantom]

Morally, I don't see any reason to refund the renter. He made a mistake, and no one else is obligated to take the hit because of his mistake.

If I were going to refund the money, I would do so out of kindness and perhaps a bit of self interest for the sake of good PR. I'm not sure whose branding is on the rental property, yours or the owner's. But, whoever it is might want to consider eating this cost for the sake of making the renter feel good, which could lead to good reviews, recommendations, and repeat business.