Is it possible to cancel a 28 night stay (9 days after check-in) and get a 100% refund?

[Miguel779]

Hi everyone,

So, my guest arrive by the 12th of January for a 28 night stay. He was supposed to leave by the 9th of February. He's totally happy with the apartment but he came here to find a bigger house for a permanent stay and used my apartment just for the first times. He ended up finding a house for his permanent stay and starts by the 1st of February, so he decided to leave in that day and did not request a refund.

But we agreed to cancel these 8 days so that I can try to get them booked by someone else. He went to his Airbnb profile to cancel it and found out that he can get a 407,54€ refund if he cancels these last 8 nights. As you can see in the first attachment. In this attachment, we can also read "Cancellation Policy: Partial Refund: Get back 50% of every night that remains 24 hours after you cancel. No refund of nights spent or the service fee."

So, he paid 1481,35€ for 28 days, and they say that 50% of 8 nights is 407,54€. It's not possible. At 46,79€ per night, 8 nights is 374,32€ and 50% of that is 187,16€, not 407,54€.

Airbnb online support can't explain to me how they get to this number. I'm trying this for 4 days now. They have no idea.

Then, today I was investigating and I found out that for a 28 night stay it is not possible to cancel, as you can read in the other attachment (printscreen). None of the 2 options for cancellation policy for long stays (28 or more nights) allow any type of cancellation.

So, how is it possible that for a start it is not possible to cancel. Then, apparently, it states that it is 50% refundable. And then, the value for the refund ends up being 100% of all the days we are going to cancel?

The only answer that makes sense for me is:

- It is not refundable. The policy to which the guest agreed means that there is no refund. But if the host wants to accept an agreement in his own interest for the guest to leave earlier and get a partial refund, the guest can send a proposal (or a previously agreed value) and the host accepts it.

Can you confirm that this is the right interpretation?

The guys at the Airbnb support seem to have no idea and have been inducing me in mistake... I could have had this solved like 3 days ago and already have the calendar open for these days if they were a bit more informed and pro-active.

Thanks

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1ST ATTACHMENT ->

2ND ATTACHMENT ->

[Fred13]

This is a forum for hosts (and guests) to ask questions and share knowledge, though one of the moderators may re-direct your inquiry to the right party at Airbnb.

As to the issue at hand: when you get Airbnb involved things often times take unexpected turns.

[Miguel779]

Thanks.

I only need to know a very simple thing that maybe some of you hosts know the answer.

Is a long stay reservation possible to be cancelled with a refund after the check-in occurred?

Both policies state that it is only refundable if the host cancels 30 days prior to check-in.

But the Airbnb assistant that is "trying" to help me, insists that my host will get a 100% refund for the last 8 nights of his 28 night stay if he cancels them.

It has been 4 days now, exchanging messages with the Airbnb Assistant, with 2 phone calls also, and no one even wants to understand my question. They just tell me that I will have to refund 409,81€ while they send me the printscreen that I'm attaching to this message:

How come this is compatible with a 28 stay, from the 12th of Jan to the 9th of Feb, when for 28 night stays there's only 2 policies and none of them is refundable? ->

And what can I do to be assisted by other person and stop being assisted by this same person who takes 3 days to reply to a message and when he replies it's clear that he not even reads what I asked?

Thanks

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[Miguel779 · Accepted solution]

So,

Finally someone from Airbnb who is professional and aware of what she's doing, managed to correctly inform me. Here the answer in case someone else has the same questions:

If the guest cancels the stay, the calendar opens and there is no refund at all.

If the guest changes the dates of the stay, the host has to accept it.

So, in conclusion:

- A stay of 28 or more nights is only cancellable after check-in without a refund;

- A stay of 28 or more nights can only be changed in its dates if both parties agree and, if both agree, it is refundable.

You can either choose to delete this topic or to leave it in case other hosts have to deal with same kind of poor assistance that I dealt with for the last 4 days.

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[Huma0]

@Miguel779 

Sorry, if I had seen your question, I would have answered it because this is really BASIC stuff and I can't believe that Airbnb CS could not immediately answer it for you. Well, actually, I can believe it because CS standards have seriously deteriorated in the past couple of years and a lot of the reps appear to have minimal training or knowledge.

Anyway, if a long term guest decides to leave early, tell them they need to cancel the stay completely, unless you already agreed to refund them in full for the remaining nights. If you agree to refund them for any re-booked nights, make sure you do this only once the new booking is 100% confirmed, i.e. after any 48 hour grace period has passed or, better still, after the new guest has checked in and you have received your payout.

[Miguel779]

Hi Huma0

Thanks.

Yes, I agree with you, a few years ago the Airbnb CS was way better. It took me 4 days to get the right information. All clear now and thanks also for the further information you shared.

Kind regards,

Miguel

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