my guest wants to cancel

[Claudia2289]

Hi Airbnb Community.  I am still new to hosting and need your help.  I have a guest who reserved 36 days to begin 2/21/20.  I have my reservation set at Long Term.  She now states she needs to cancel due to her school program changing to not start until April.  When she tried to cancel through Airbnb, she found she would have to pay $500.  She told me Airbnb Resource told her it was up to the host to not collect the deposit. What are your thoughts?

[Colleen253]

https://www.airbnb.ca/help/article/245/how-do-i-pay-for-my-longterm-reservation

https://www.airbnb.ca/help/article/1361/how-do-changes-and-cancellations-work-for-longterm-reservati...

@Claudia2289  you don't need to do anything, especially as far as refunding your guest, as you don't get paid until 24 hours after check in. Leave it between Airbnb and the guest. I would imagine the money they want to hold back has something to do with the fact that she's cancelling with less than 30 days notice.

Also, hosts don't ever 'collect' any monies or deposits from guests. Airbnb takes care of all that.