Guest not able to cancel and get Service Fee Refunded

[Ginger-Jim0]

This has nothing to do with COVID-19 or EC.

This is a "normal" cancellation policy in effect (Moderate)

Guest booked LAST YEAR for 3rd week of June 2020.  Now needs to cancel but cannot find any way to cancel on their end that results in a 100% refund that includes the Service Fee.  They described all the options to me over the phone and none of them had an amount that was for the full amount they paid.

Each one was for the Rent/Taxes, but $128 in Service Fee was never included.

I told Guest I would contact CS and see if there was anything they could do.  That was Saturday and they were stumped.

Still waiting for someone up the chain to get involved.  I would like to free up those days.

Oddly enough a Guest who had the week just AFTER this one, was able to click Cancel and get 100% refund (I checked with them).

The only thing I could think of was that they had perhaps Canceled 3 times in the last year, but they said no and I would think CS would have noticed if that was the case.

Has anyone else experienced this situation before?  like recently?

I would Cancel them myself but I'm afraid that given the circumstances, it would not refund the Service Fee and it becomes my fault 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Ginger-Jim0 

Sadly, thats how Airbnb roll.

Where they might encourage you to have a flexible cancellation policy so that all your fee gets refunded and you stand the loss, don't expect the Airbnb service fee to be refunded. Thats their money. If it was a decision about allocation of your money you will find they can be quite generous.

You might consider making a change of booking date if that would help your guest?

Don't cancel yourself, you will be hit with penalties. Make the guest cancel. They may have more luck in telephoning Customer Support and explaining they need to cancel and they require a 100% refund including Airbnb fees. They may be lucky !

[Anonymous]

@Ginger-Jim0  There was never anything in the cancellation policy options saying that Airbnb was going to refund the guests' service fee. That's not on you - you've done your best to provide helpful customer service to the guest, but they can't hold you responsible for money that you're not even collecting from them. Their beef is with Airbnb. Or better yet, with the travel insurance that they couldn't be bothered to buy.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Ginger-Jim0 

Airbnb rarely refunds their service fee.... regardless of what they claim or want guests/hosts to believe. When Airbnb says "full refund" it is always "full refund MINUS FEES" 

It's not your (hosts') responsibility to make sure the guest gets a refund - it's up to the guest to contact Airbnb CS and plead their case and handle from their end. And as a host, you should never cancel on behalf of guests and IMO never offer to assist/help with the cancellation. Point them towards Airbnb customer service.... that is what they are there for. 

As a host, if you end up receiving a payout for that specific booking/guest and you don't want to keep their money you are free to refund the full amount back to the guest. BUT only Airbnb can decide whether or not they will refund the service fee to the guest. The host has no influence over Airbnb decisions (which is why hosts shouldn't offer to or even try to help with cancellations to begin with) and it's important the guest understand who has the authority to make decisions and issue payouts/money. 

Most guests are not even aware that hosts don't see a dime until several days after the check in date, and that Airbnb holds onto the guest's payment till then. Until the guest actually checks in and a payment is issued by Airbnb to the host, all payment or cancellation related issues are between the guest and Airbnb since technically, the host hasn't even been paid yet. 

https://www.airbnb.com/home/cancellation_policies

If you take a careful look, you will see the words "The service fee will not be refunded" or "(get a refund)....not the service fee" appear quite often. 

[Ginger-Jim0]

The wording on the Cancellation Policy link states this for Moderate:

Free cancellation until 14 days before check-in (time shown in the confirmation email)

The service fee will not be refunded unless the guest cancels within the free cancellation period for their reservation.

These Guests are currently well within the free cancellation period.

The wording is quite different for “Strict” policies though.

EDITED REPLY TO ADD:

I may have figured out why this is not working.

When the original Reservation was made, my Cancellation Policy was MODERATE. That is what the Reservation states.

I later changed it to STRICT, which I just now noticed.

So it is possible their software is glitching on this perhaps?  

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Ginger-Jim0 

If your policy was moderate at the time of booking, it doesn't matter what you changed it to later. If it is a SW glitch.... that also is something the guest will have to address with Airbnb customer service. 

The most you can do is send the cancellation policy link to the guest, explain that that based on YOUR understanding of the moderate policy their booking should fall under the free cancellation period but they need to contact Airbnb CS and work it out with them because hosts don't have the authority or power to override/modify/change whatever the platform/system is showing. 

It's really best if you don't offer to help and don't get involved in guest cancellations because it gives the wrong impression to guests that there is something the host can do. 

[Mikki0]

@Ginger-Jim0  The free cancellation period is the 48 hours immediately after booking. Once that's over, then the host's cancellation policy kicks in. 

[Fred13]

I never understood why some hosts take on the role of acting as the agent for the guests and then champion their cause with Airbnb, and get into the distribution of Airbnb fees. The guest is not 'our' guest, in reality is Airbnb's, since they arrive at the host via Airbnb. Until they arrive, the host's agrees to only reserve a time for the guest, and unfortunately up to that point Airbnb has full control over the reservation. Today someone here referred to Airbnb as a 'third party', nothing more, and the 'contract' is between the host & the guest, not exactly, they are certainly more than that.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Fred13 

True, the contract is between the host and guest, but you won’t find guests having to fulfil any of their liabilities, on the other hand...

In light of this ‘liability free travel’ the accommodation value should be set to premium levels for this arrangement.

[Fred13]

Well, for one they already paid. Two- they only need to show in time, with the right numbers, stay, don't be an a*****e and follow the rules. Nothing too tricky.

Where things could break down is when the guest does stupid things and goes rogue, and then guest-centric Airbnb absurdly sides with them too-quickly (see EC, review and damage issues ). 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Fred13 

Guests should..

1. show in time,

2. with the right numbers,

3. Stay,

4. don't be an a*****e

5. follow the rules. 

Where things could break down is .... everything else

Where do I sign? Can I exclude the 'everything else' bit?

[Fred13]

What got your favorable vote @Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 , the - "Don't be an a*****e"? LoL

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Fred13 

Absolutely! Specific and vague enough for my liking 🙂

[Fred13]

    I got this older guest (75) who is the most ornery cuss you ever encountered, and he arrives with his whole family every year and they are all the same way. Every year I swear I will not allow him to come back, then he begs me to book. I told him - "Ok Jay I will let you book, but you can't be a royal a**hole every year, as least skip one year in between'. He booked again!

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Ginger-Jim0 

Here are a few other posts that you might want to read about this topic. 

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/COVID-19-Discussions/COVID-19-Refunds-and-Airbnb-service-Fees/m-...

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Airbnb-service-fee-refund-difference-between-a-guest-and-a-...

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Airbnb-fee-refund/m-p/1224928