Guest mistakenly cancelled the reservation on strict cancellation policy.

[Guilherme73]

Hello Community!
I am a new host and I have published my apartment on a strict cancellation policy. My guest has cancelled his reservation and later sent me a message telling me that he made a mistake and didn't actually wish to cancel the reservation and want to continue with it. 
In case he really decides to continue with his reservation, I obviously have no intention to keep the cancellation fee, but how can I be sure that if I fully refund him he will make a new reservation? Is there an alternative way that he can reverse his decision?

Thank you everyone for the help.

[Linda108]

Refer the guest to deal with Air BNB for this issue.  Only an Air BNB rep can override the automated system.  Do not agree to any cancellation or it will be seen by the auto system as a host cancellation and you will be penalized.  Just agree to the new booking.  Much time is wasted by hosts who try to solve guest issues related to their mistakes.  Both guests and hosts pay Air BNB fees so it is best to let Air BNB earn the fees.  Good luck and I hope this helps.

[Maeve9]

Linda you have cleared something up for me, also a new host since end of October. My guest asked me to cancel it from my end as a favor so I did! And yes I was penalized. I had no idea guest cancellations can negatively impact us. Can hosts earn back their good reputation?

[Marko17]

Sometimes the guest will act "dumb". I recently received a message from the guest if I can cancel the booking, because they didn't "know" how to do it (they were under the strict cancelation). I've told them that this must be done from the guest side and if they have some difficulties regarding this, they should contact AirBnB to help them. Then they canceled (at least they tried), but I did make a full refund, because they've canceled quite early. 
Maeve guest cancellations does not impact us negatively, but the hosts that cancel their bookings does. 
Sure they can.. When I was accepting first bookings I was also penalised, because I wasn't aware, but now I am a superhost, so nothing to worry about.

[Helen3]

Hi @Maeve9

You should call Airbnb as soon as you can.

Tell them a guest asked you to cancel (they will be able to see your messages on Airbnb to confirm this). And see if they will remove the cancellation noticee from your listing,

Also head down to Airbnb Help Centre and read the community guides on this forum.

This will help you better understand how airbnb works so you don't get caught out by this sort of situation.