Full Refund request via Resolution Center for cancellation

[Emily140]

Hello fellow Hosts:

My guest requests that I issue a full refund when my cancellation policy provides a 50% refund.  The guest Instant Booked yesterday, said he was "coming for a wedding, your place is perfect."  Then cancelled about an hour later.  All this 3 months out.  Guest messaged, "I need to cancel.  My partner also booked a place.  Please do not charge me $300 for holding a reservation for one hour!"  adding, "Chalk it up to two people being proactive."

I would not call this proactive; I would have apologized for not communicating with my partner, but just me. 

This is my first cancellation.  I believe they are essentially asking me to front them $300 for three months... ?

I'm two hours into researching how to handle this cancellation and a bit stressed.  My initial response yesterday was as a host I have nothing to do with the cancelation process other than setting the policy so they need to contact AirBnb directly, but that if I get time I will research the situation and what options I have. 

Next I received a request for $301 refund through the "Resolution Center."  Which comes with a deadline...

I have read twenty posts in the CC on this subject and still semi-confused.  Am I correct that refunding one night's stay (50% of a 2-night booking) through the Resolution Center (saying yes to their request) is essentially agreeing to pay them $301 today for the $292 payout AirBnb will fund to me (net of fees) three months from now?  And if I don't refund the full amount, does that block my date from being booked?

I am buried alive at the moment with host-related responsibilities, but I don't want to be petty; if it's an honest mistake/coincidence then $301 - or $292 - is a tough price for a guest to pay. On the other hand, several threads state that AirBnb makes the cancellation policy abundantly clear at time of booking; shouldn't partners check with each other before booking a home with a 50% cancellation policy?  This is a lot of unecessary stress waking me up at 4am trying to figure out how to "waive" my policy without ending up out of pocket $300--all for a guest crowing about their proactivity...  I wish there was a cancellation policy "$100 cancellation fee for all reservations.  If cancellation is made within [##] days of reserved dates, additional fee of 50% of booking applies."  In other words, SOME deterrent for guests booking multiple properties just to get the physical addresses, then asking for their money back, but not the full 50% cancellation fee when canceling three months out.

It is stressful they now have my full name and address.

I am very grateful for help here, as I want to avoid the aggravation of attempting to contact AirBnb directly for help.

[David1157]

Did the guest book for a stay that was 3 months in advance of the dates and then cancelled an hour later after booking?

If so you could give a full refund if your discretion felt it was warranted. I don't think you lose any money if they cancel beyond the fee you would normally charge.

If the cancelled closer to the date of their stay I would totally insist on the enforcement of the strict cancellation wording but theres a big difference between cancelling one week before arrival and 9 weeks before arrival. There's also a difference between cancelling within an hour and within a week

If the booking was for 90 days in the future I can't see why you would want to take 50% as a cancellation fee...unless you were inconvenienced in some way. I could understand refusing any refund if they booked and then cancelled a week or a month or two months later but it's probably good customer service to be fair with guests who have to cancel.

If I was a host who recieved a booking on January first for a vacation that was happening in April I wouldn't have a problem refunding everything if the guest told me right away. As time goes on I would adjust any refund consideration based on my calendar and how much inconvenience was induced.

Had you responded to the guest when you first recieved the booking, before she cancelled?