What is a fair refund amount for this situation?

[Tina8345]

My guest is needing to check out Monday morning because of the rural wifi here. She was originally booked for a month. I am needing to know what amount to refund her. She is thinking I should refund her $800.06 but my payout from this was only $883. She is staying 6 nights only. She said when she presses change in trip request it tells her she doesn’t get any money back. I do think she needs to get money back but how much? She’s new to all of this too!

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Tina8345  Stays over 28 nights are considered "Long term" so if the guest decides to leave earlier he/she is not eligible for any refund

Long term

This policy applies to all stays of 28 days or longer and overrides your standard cancellation policy for those stays.

• To receive a full refund, guests must cancel within 48 hours of booking, and the cancellation must occur at least 28 days before check-in
• If a guest cancels after that, you’ll be paid 100% for all nights spent, plus 30 additional nights
• If fewer than 30 days remain on the reservation when the guest cancels, you’ll be paid 100% for all of those remaining nights

Here is the link https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/475/cancellation-policies-for-your-listing

Of course, the host can always offer a partial refund but he is not obligated to do that.

If you decide to offer her a refund I suggest you do that only for the nights you will be able to rebook. Of course, your guest has to cancel the rest of her stay and free your calendar.

Did your guest mention before booking she needs stable wifi?

Did you mention in your listing your wifi is not stable?

[Andrea4731]

@Tina8345 Yes to everything @Branka-and-Silvia0 but to add, double check what your monthly discount is set to. She may have only intended to stay for 6 days but wanted to take advantage of your monthly discounted price which she would not have been eligible for only staying 6 days. Now she wants to cancel & basically get those 6 days for free. 

[Sarah977]

@Tina8345  I don't understand your listing- the first one is the only one I looked at (to see if you had mentioned slow wifi). You have almost no info about the accommodation itself, and you have it listed for 9 guests, yet you have no photos of all the bedrooms. Where are 9 people supposed to sit down to eat together? I don't see a dining table, just some counter seating and a bistro table for 2.  Nor is there seating for 9 in the living room. Theere is seating there for 4. And what's with the empty room photo?

I see that you do mention the slow wifi in the description. If that wording was there when this person booked, I wouldn't offer any refund at all- guests don't get to leave and assume they will get a refund for something that was clearly mentioned in the listing. 

It sounds like this guest is a refund scammer. She should pay what you charge per night if she only stayed 6 nights, not some pro-rated amount based on the monthly rate.

And don't refund her anything for nights you are unable to rebook.

[Allison250]

Did you inform her of the shotty Wi-Fi before she made a reservation? If so then you’re not obligated to refund her any money. If you want to give her a refund out of courtesy, then multiply the number of days stay by your daily rate add in your cleaning fee and be sure that the Airbnb fees are attached to her bill.

Be sure to charge your normal daily rate and not the monthly discount rate.

DO NOT allow the change of reservation because that can change the cancellation policy that you’ve imposed on the initial reservation.

If you’re going to give her a refund, do it through the "make or request payment" section within her reservation. That way the money goes through Airbnb. Do not under any circumstances give her a refund directly from your pocket.

[Emiel1]

@Tina8345 

You can also use the  "change" option on the reservation (instead of the guest). The change form gives you the option to set a new check-out date (shorten the reservation). Then it recalculates the price (as explained already the "long term stay" cancellation policy will not provide a refund). But you can click in the pricefield and amend the price to what you consider a fair deal for the nights stayed.

The guest need to confirm the change, but wlll have more refund then only regarding the renting price, because Airbnb Service Fee will also be recalculated.