Guest wants to cancel trip and we would like to offer a full refund, BUTTTT... please help!

[Katie972]

Hi everyone, 

Just as everyone else is reporting: Airbnb customer service is basically non responsive to hosts at this point so I am hoping one of your knowledgeable people can offer a work around. We have two issues currently:

1. Our custom minimum stay rules are flat out not working. We should have a four night minimum over holidays and yet, the airbnb booking calendar populates it as a three night minimum. I think this is a programming issue and I actually managed to muster a response from an airbnb rep after two plus weeks of emails/calls.

2. We have a guest that would like to cancel a trip next year. Based on our cancellation policy, the guest should automatically receive a refund less airbnb fees when she cancels. However, this is not happening. She sent me screen shots. With that being said, I can't cancel it without damaging our host score/superhost status. Can anyone think of a reasonable work around? If she (guest) cancels, can I refund her money by using the resolution center? Or, would I not receive the funds until her original check in date (next May)? I have a group that would like to book those dates so I am trying to resolve it myself. 

If anyone has any ideas on either issue, I would so appreciate it! I am debating pausing our listing on airbnb until these customer service issues get resolved. Its a nightmare for us as hosts and the guests.

Thank you!

Katie

[Katie972]

Thanks for clarifying, Colleen. Thats annoying accounting wise, but I'll sort it out. I would prefer to have those dates back so I can rebook them at this point. At this point, the guest has formally cancelled and I sent her a partial refund via the resolution center. I'll just have to remember to watch for a random guest payment next May and verify it actually comes through. Thanks again for the help! Katie

[Emilia42]

@Colleen253 Are you sure? @Katie972 doesn't yet have the funds. Airbnb is holding the deposit. How can they take funds when she hasn't yet received funds?

[Colleen253]

@Emilia42  I'm sure. I just went through this. They can, and do, because it's AIRBNB, let's not forget. I don't know if it's always been this way, as I only just recently went against my cancellation policy for a guest for the first time, but it's how they are doing it now.

From my conversation with CS: 

Airbnb Support7:28 PM

Hi Colleen. Yes, we understand that you have not received your payout for this reservation but there will be an adjustment. You will still be receiving your payout for this reservation if you will refund the now. If you want to, you can wait till you receive the payout and then process a refund to the guest the day you receive the payout.

@Katie972 

[Emilia42]

Wow, this is shocking! @Colleen253 So Airbnb will hold funds regardless. I guess they need the money that bad. Forget about the host. Wow, I'm really baffled. 

@Katie972 keep us updated on how this turns out, please.

[Colleen253]

@Emilia42  Yep, host carries the financial burden, or the guest, depending. In my case I went 50/50 with the guest. She got the initial amount back from Airbnb, and I will send her the remaining mount after I receive the payout on what would have been her original reservation date, in October. I really don't know what the motive is here, but it makes you go' hmmm.'

[Ann72]

@Emilia42 @Colleen253  That is indeed shocking because Emilia is right that it's not supposed to work that way.  I gave a few refunds to several guests this summer and nothing was ever deducted from payouts.  I didn't get the 50% payout, either, so everything washed out, but without any interim deductions.  The last time I sent a refund was at least a month ago. 

I refunded everyone because I re-booked all vacated dates this season.  For some I waited until I got the payout.  Then @Alexandra316 told me that even though the language on "issue a full refund now" says "funds will be deducted from your next payout," they're not.  So I tried it and she was right - funds were not deducted because, as @Emilia42 says, Airbnb had the guest's money, not me, so they just gave it back to them.

However, something has happened since then, judging by @Colleen253's experience, and they're leaning on that "next payout" language.

[Kelly149]

@Ann72 this is just another instance of ABB can do whatever they darn well please...

I've had the "I paid the guest, abb held the money, and then I received the money after arrival day" directly happen to me... years ago and recently... I've also had it where abb refunded and I never got a payout... either one can happen... there is no way at all to know which one you're agreeing to... and ABB doesn't know either.

as with many things it is a crapshoot.

I think in this exact instance, I would have found the first available day in the calendar, changed their total bill to the lowest amount abb would allow ($10???) and then either had the guest cancel or not. When CS doesn't work then we have to manage what we can on our own. At least @Katie972  feels like alls well that ends well.

Although I sure as the world wouldn't in this day and age loan ABB or a guest $1000 interest-free from now until May '21!!!!!!

[Katie972]

@Kelly149 That would have been an interesting way to navigate it for sure. The guest was fully fed up with customer service so I think she would have went along with the plan for sure. Thanks for the insight... I'll definitely keep that in mind for next time.

Also, I honestly didn't intend to hold up 1K until May, but I had already started working to resolve it when @Colleen253 advised me that they are going to hold the funds. I'm honestly not shocked, but it is annoying. In the end, we traded a three day weekend for a week long booking on another platform so it still made fiscal sense. If I ever face this again though, I like your suggested route better!

[Katie972]

I'm pretty sure Colleen is correct at this point and it really is as not-host-friendly as it sounds. Our initial guest has formally cancelled. I clicked on the automatic email and gave her a partial refund less the airbnb service fee (what we were due to be paid out). She has received a notification of a refund for that amount at this point. We have VRBO guests this week, but are due an airbnb payout in the coming week so I'll report back. My guess is that it is going to deduct the $1091.25 that I refunded to the cancelling traveller. I'm setting a reminder for myself to watch for a subsequent payment in that amount in May to make our account "whole" again. Fingers crossed that pans out or we'll be out that money and making attempts to hunt customer service down again 😞 On the plus side, the new lovely guests who wanted those dates have already booked them on another platform so there was a positive end to this too!

[Katie972]

Love the idea of splitting it, Colleen. I just took the whole thing to keep the accounting clean, but that would have been a better call.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Katie972 

Too late now I suppose, but a work around would have been - a change of dates - invoking a 'free' 48 hour cancellation - then the guest cancels.

This shouldn't need to be necessary.

[Katie972]

If it happens again, I'll give that a go. My struggle would be finding open dates on the calendar to navigate that. I agree that we shouldn't have to play these games as hosts though.

[Colleen253]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0  If I"m not mistaken, Airbnb closed that cancellation loophole a while back. Once that 48 hrs is gone, it's gone for good even if dates get changed.

@Katie972 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Colleen253 

If it has been closed that's a good thing for hosts. Why is it when you want a loophole it's never there anymore?

I suppose long-term, Airbnb losing service fees on free cancellations would be a just reason and encouragement to get the programmers to fix it.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Emilia42 @Colleen253 @Katie972 

These charges to hosts are abnormal.

I just replied to @Mike-And-Jane0 on an alarmingly similar thread here:

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Trying-to-help-a-customer-cancel/m-p/1339466/highlight/true...

The whole situation currently is becoming suspicious as well as highly irregular. Any sane person surely needs to ask why and question the reasoning behind all of this?