Airbnb Cancellation Polity

[George16]

Does anyone know if AirBNB has changed their cancellation policy recently? I have moderate cancellation policy on my account but a guest who had booked a room for 4 days somehow managed to cancel 12 hours before check-in and get a full refund without my permission. They never used to be able to do this.

[Tim-and-Holly0]

@George16:
Most likely the guest called Airbnb and provided extenuating circumstances and the CS gave them a refund. This does sometimes happen without notification to the host.

[Ton11]

@Tim-and-Holly0 :

Even if a CS agent gave a full refund due to extenuating circumstances, he/she has the obligation to inform the host.

Or the agent did not do his job right, or the reason was different. The only way to find out is to call Airbnb.

Additionally, here is the full oversight of the cancellation policies: https://www.airbnb.com/home/updated_cancellation_policies

[Mark1498]

This just happened to me too.... a guest was booked to stay last October  cancelled 4 days before checkin. No refund was given. But today i have had the full fee debited from my account by Airbnb. Surely if they have decided to provide the customer with a refund that is up to them but they shouldnt just charge it to the host with no notice or communication 7 months later?

[Helen3]

You are right. In your shoes I would give Airbnb a call and say it is completely unacceptable for them to refund a guest seven months after they were due to travel.

I would ask Airbnb to cover any refund they chose to give to the guest.

[Lesley213]

I'm very new to hosting but I recently had to cancel an instant booking, 1 day before they were due to arrive, because of a family emergency. It says that £100 would be deducted from my new pay out. This is the first time I have cancelled and i've had several bookings. Does anyone know if this will be waivered?

[Ton11]

@Lesley213 :

If this was your first cancellation as host, the penalties apply but the fine should not be charged. This normally happens with a second cancellation.

If you were charged (check your transaction history) call Airbnb. They can waive the fine (and any other penalties for first time cancellations)