Guest canceled

[Cynthia393]

Hello, I have questions and I've is, have  a guest that canceled about 2 1/2 hours before check in time to say his girlfriend needed him to stay in town and so he canceled and asked for a refund. How do I know if he hadn't just book somewhere else? Anyway what would you do, I have a strict cancelation in place only bc it takes money to start out in this Airbnb to get what guest will need and breakfast etc., so I wanted to make sure what I put into it I get back. It's a five star guest and I don't want to cause any conflict with guest but he's asking for a refund if not all then some. What would you do? I was thinking refund all but I'm considering the expenses I put into this reservation only to be canceled. I live alone and I don't keep my breakfast items stocked just to have to throw it away bc I can't eat it all myself, therefore I'm losing money if I give a full refund. I also consider giving part of it since I had a confirmed book for one night (cancel was book for 2 nights), which also I have to consider they might cancel and ask for a refund. What should I do and how would you handle it if it were you? Considering my strict cancel policy even if you don't have one yourself in place. And do you actually make a profit doing this Airbnb? Thx in advance for any feed back.

[Mel101]

Hi Cynthia.

Since we  only get paid 24 hrs after the guest checks in, do not offer money yourself, or Airbnb will issue it to the guest AND they'll take it from you, meaning the guest gets a double refund, and you pay twice. Instead, tell the guest this must go through Airbnb customer service.

As to the question of the refund, I know that Airbnb will put pressure on you to agree to a refund. Many other hosts have reported it in the CC. It is still up to you to decide what you want to push for if anything. I suppose if you are reasonable and agree to keep costs incurred rather than the whole amount you may have more success. 

Good luck, whatever you decide

[Cynthia393]

Thank you for your feedback, yes I did inform guest IF there will be a refund it will have to be after Oct. 6th. Being that he is a 5 star guest, was very kind in his request as well as understanding, I will give the guest a one night refund.  Just hope he is okay with it and still books me in the future. 

[Gordon0]

I’d be tempted to offer a one night refund under these circumstances.

[Cynthia393]

Yes it's what I was thinking also and thank you for your reply. 

[Victoria567]

Hi@Cynthia

Dont waste more time and phone up your local air bnb number, explain the situation.

Tell air bnb you want your cancellation policy adhered to.

If it's not strict now then change it to strict for later on as a result of this present learning curve!

Any agreement for refunds if any do this directly with air bnb and let air bnb deal with it.

Have no further direct communication with the guest and let air bnb take care of the communication on your behalf.

Either stick to your own cancellation rules or you could be generous as @Gordon0 has suggested but do this ONLY through air bnb by phone asking them to communicate directly with the guest on your behalf after making your preferred outcome perfectly clear to air bnb

[Cynthia393]

Well thank you  so much for your response. However Airbnb does give the option to refund guest on the app. I thought it'd be good to get advice from here without having to make calls and explaining it all over. I think since I have a confirm guest coming in for one of the days canceled I'll give the one night refund. Would like for the guest to book me in the future and really prefer not to get a bad rating even though he's the one who canceled his trip. Again thank you for your feedback.

[Sarah977]

@Cynthia393  The guest agreed to your cancellation policy when he booked. Refunding him one night, as others have suggested, sounds reasonable. He can't give you a bad rating just because you choose to adhere to your cancellation policy. If he does, contact Airbnb to remove the review. He didn't stay, therefore he can't rate your place and can't speak to anything in a review apart from communication, as it wouldn't reflect his actual experience.