How can I give my guest full refund

[Chris-and-Sue0]

Guest booked on 20th March after WHO pandemic announcement of 14th March for a stay on 27th - 29th March. Current AirBnB COVID-19 extraordinary circumstances policy states that this instance will be subject to my normal strict cancellation policy. Last night UK Prime Minister made announcement ordering citizens to stay home and not to travel. I gave guest option to amend travel dates as I cannot cancel without penalty to my Superhost status. Problem is the guest would like to cancel and receive 100% refund which I would be happy to do. Currently guest would get zero refund.

Question is : how do I do this so guest gets 100% refund and I receive no penalty. PS AirBnB say their cust sevice lines manically busy and not to call them!

[Sally221]

I'd ask one of the moderators on this forum to detail the current policy on anyone's cancellation host or guest. Many hosts with strict policies are being overridden and fees returned to guests. Hosts are being told they can cancel bookings penalty free. You can't give your guest a refund anyway, ABB is holding the cash. I'd contact Moderator  Lizzie, she's pretty responsive if it's something she can help with.Best of luck, Sally

[Sarah977]

@Chris-and-Sue0 I would ask the guest to go ahead and cancel from her end, telling her that you will refund 100% if it turns out that Airbnb doesn't refund. She may end up getting a refund anyway, so wait to see if you get paid out for her reservation, then you could send her the refund through the resolution center "send money" option. Make sure she understands that at this point, Airbnb is the one holding her money, not you, and that whatever you might receive for her booking won't be sent to you until a day after she was due to check in, at the earliest.