Flexible cancellation

Ellen108
Level 1
Calgary, Canada

Flexible cancellation

I am a new host and I set my listing to flexible cancellation, which is supposed to provide a full refund, including service fee if a booking is cancelled at least 24 hours prior to checkin. I have a lady who has booked for August and she is asking about the flexible cancellation because she is getting conflicting messages compared to previous bookings she has made. Her understanding is similar to my understanding that she would get a full refund, including the service fee. This is the message she got when she booked:

 

That the booking will cost $745 plus a $90 service fee, and that if she cancels at least 24 hours prior to checkin she will get a full refund, but not a refund of the service fee.

 

 

She says: "In past bookings I've made that had the flexible cancellation policy, the message upon booking said that the full amount ($835) would be refunded as long as the guests followed the cancellation policy. None of the exceptions outlined in the policy apply to myself or my classmate at this time. Not sure why this is happening to your listing (the message states that only $745 will be refunded)!"

 

Can anybody explain why there is this discrepancy? The message *I* received was that the booking was $745 and I would receive $722 (which is the booking minus a service fee of $23). Initially I thought that meant she would receive her full refund of $745 -- I didn't know, however, that she was actually charged $835, which is the $745 booking plus a $90 service fee that is NOT refundable.

 

I have looked everywhere through my listing, but I can't see anything that would indicate conflicting settings.

 

~e

2 Replies 2
Sora0
Level 7
Singapore

The Airbnb service fee is refundable (up to 3 times per year) if the guest cancels before the trip starts. If a guest books a reservation that overlaps with any part of an existing reservation, they won’t refund the Airbnb service fee if they decide to cancel.

Thank you!

 

Just for clarification -- what does it mean if they make a booking that overlaps? Does that mean it overlaps someone else's reservation (how can they do that?) or does it mean that they've changed the booking, but some of the dates are the same?