refund

[Cynthia-and-Stuart0]

Hello, This is our first time hosting....our guest has paid the full amount to Air BnB to reserve but is wondering if they can get their deposit back and pay cash upon arrival for credit card limit reasons. I feel quite good about the guest and have agreed. Just wondering if its best to cancel the reservation and the money be returned or is there anther better way? Thanks.

[David126]

Sounds like a scam, if they want to cancel the AirBnB reservation then they can but will lose the AirBnB fees.

Then becomes a private transaction nothing to do with AirBnB.

[ZenHomes0]

Hi @Cynthia-and-Stuart0 since this is the first time you're hosting, you should be aware that under no circumstances should you accept payments outside Airbnb. If they want their money back because they cite credit card limit issues, this is not an issue for you to worry about. At this stage, you can only tell the guest that they can choose another credit card if they are worried about the limit on their payment method, but make it clear that all payments are to be done to Airbnb. Never accept payments outside Airbnb, if you have any issues or complaints about the booking, you cannot raise it to Airbnb. Also, you cannot review guests and vice-versa if the booking is done outside the system.

As a host, you should never cancel the booking unless it is a mistake that YOU made. Once you cancel, there's a whole lot of penalties you will face which can affect your listing in the long-term. First there's an automated posting on your listing saying you cancelled the booking x days before arrival, it'll scare guests away. Second, your listing is affected by the search algorithm. Third, you may be fined by Airbnb and of course you'll never qualify for Superhost for 1 year. Also, if you cancel, the guests will not have to pay the Airbnb service fee which they should because they booked the place. 

Hope this helps.

[Cynthia-and-Stuart0]

Thank you for the sage advice!

[Dede0]

@Cynthia-and-Stuart0 As others have said, this is almost certainly a scam of some sort. You say that you "feel quite good" about the guest. The fact is that scammers are the *best* at making people feel good about them; that's an essential part of their game.

Do *not* go outside the AirBnB system to accept payment, etc. In the first place, it's almost a certainty that you'll be ripped off in one way or another and you won't be under the protection of AirBnB. In the second place, it's a violation of AirBnB's terms of service for you to do so. When they find out, they'll delete your listing and ban you as a user.

As the others have also mentioned, don't cancel yourself. If the guest wants to cancel, have them do it. If you do it, the guest will get all their money back and *you* will be penalized and fined by AirBnB. If they cancel, all they'll lose will be the AirBnB service fee plus whatever they might owe you under your cancellation policy. Do *not* cancel the booking yourself.

I hope that you haven't already played into their hands...

[Cynthia-and-Stuart0]

I was doing nothing til I heard from others...thank you!

[Sally78]

Due to unforeseen circumstances I have had to cancel guests. How do they get their deposit back?

[David126]

ABB pays them.

[Dede0]

@Sally78 If you're talking about their "security deposit", then no one pays it back because it is never collected unless claimed *after* the guest has stayed. If, instead of "deposit", you meant their original payment-in-full, then, yes, as @David126 said, that's between the guest and AirBnB. AirBnB collected the payment from the guest (and never paid it to you), so they will refund the guest.