6 guests booked only 4 arrive

[Karin183]

Good afternoon fellow hosts,

I just had a new situation where a guest booked for 6 and informed me 24 hours prior arrival that only 4 guests were coming.

I have a moderate cancellation policy, can anyone please advise if they are eligible for a refund?  I can't seem to find the rules pertaining to my question.

Appreciate any help I can get from the experienced hosts out there.

warm regards from Greyton South Africa

Karin

[Linda108]

So your guests haven't cancelled but have down graded the number of guests, right?  The guest should adjust the reservation if there is an extra fee for the other two guests and Air BNB will apply the whatever refund is applicable.  Since it is not a cancellation, I don't think the cancellation policy applies.  Anyway, the ball is in their court along with Air BNB.    Now if you want to provide a refund as a good will gesture, you can do that, but probably should wait until the guest brings it up.

[Mark116]

@Karin183

It depends if your price varies by the number of guests or not,  if they paid a higher price for 6 than they would have for 4, then you should adjust the price, but I wouldn't do it until they arrive and you can 100% confirm there are only 4 people.

[Sandra856]

Hi @Karin183 🙂

You can alter the reservation til 4 people instead of 6 and then the price will automatically change. A request is then send to the guests and they have to accept it and everything should be fine. I think I would do that. You can alter the reservation under the reservation.

Kind regards, Sandra 

[Karin183 · Accepted solution]

Thanks to all the Super Hosts for responding.  Unfortunately she didn't adjust the booking and only mentioned the possibility of a refund to me in her private review after they had left. The payout has also already occured. Warm regards Karin

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Karin183

Well when I was a guest user we were planning to travel as a group of 4 but our friends couldn't make it last minute. We didn't ask for a refund but did inform the host that he didn't need to leave out extra bedding - only 2 people would be staying. I don't remember if there was an additional person fee but it was still a good deal so we didn't mind - we still had the entire home. We didn't bother adjusting the booking either since we weren't expecting a refund and we didn't get one. 

If the guest does want a refund for the 2 additional people fee, I think the guest should have adjusted the booking details first. If they left the place nice and tidy and clearly used appropriate no. of towels and beds for 4 people you could consider a "good-will" refund and say unfortunately you can't afford to give more because the guest did not adjust the booking details in advance. 

[Karin183]

Thank you so much for your response, that is exactly what I have done.  Pointed out my refund policy but offered them a goodwill payment (bearing in mind that I already have the Airbnb payout and they have claimed their commission).  Sending warm regards from a very warm Greyton, South Africa