Guest refund

[Kim-Ho0]

Dear community,

Today an Airbnb guest accidentally made a booking for our guest house from Feb 1 - March 4. He immediately cancelled this booking saying it was a mistake. The booking was for a sum of €447. 

He apologized for his error. On my dashboard I could see €447 - €13 (service fee Airbnb) -€14 (refund guest) = €420. So, this was a new situation for me and I wanted to help this man by refunding €420 myself, which I did through the 'Refund' option. I was confused whether Airbnb or I had to do the refund, so I decided to do it myself.

The man was very thankful I offered him this refund, which of course is absolutely logical, because he cancelled his booking. Then I got a message from Airbnb that this €420 will be deducted from my next payout. So then, I realized I made an error. I contacted the Spanish speaking man to share my mistake and asked him to retun the €420. That was a couple of hours ago and I haven't heard from him since.

I'd like to know, in case of a cancellation long before the actual check-in date (in my case February 1) does Airbnb automatically refund the guest who cancelled the booking? When does the guest reveive his refund?

Later I saw this on my dashboard:

Accomodation €447
Subtotal            €447
Service fee       €0
Guest Refund -€434

--------------------------
You earn €13

I'd like to have my €420 back. How can I contact Airbnb directly and talk about this issue?

Thank you.

Warm wishes,
Kim Ho

[Helen3 · Accepted solution]

Oh dear @Kim-Ho0

If you had read the information BNB provides for hosts you would have seen that Airbnb takes host cancellation seriously and you will incur penalties for doing so. The guest should have called BNB explained that they had made a mistake and asked BNB to cancel.

I would suggest you call BNB straightaway and point out that you are a new host (I am presuming you are or you would be more familiar with the site). See they will be flexible and cancel the booking so you are not penalised.

Do read through the Community Guides on this forum.

[Kim-Ho0]

Dear Helen,

Thank you for your response.

I've already contacted Airbnb directly so I have faith this issue will be solved. I'm going to read the Airbnb guidelines.
Best wishes,
Kim Ho

[Karen-and-Brian0]

Hi @Kim-Ho0  Contact Airbnb straight away - all ways to contact Airbnb are HERE. Twitter seems to get the fastest results, I believe.

You can ask for & recieve money from guests using the Resolution Centre, and that might be worth a try, but the guest can just say no. I think in this case, it would be best to let Airbnb handle it. You made a big mistake but I'm confident Airbnb will come through for you.

It can really be overwhelming in the beginning as there is A LOT a new host should know - so to avoid making similar mistakes in the future, it is well worth the time to read all the information in the Help Centre and to browse these forums as much as you can. Airbnb handles all the money when it comes to booking payments and cancellation refunds - that is something you should have  known before you started accepting bookings. There is likely more you don't know & don't realize you don't know - educate yourself as much as you can & you'll avoid some very common pitfalls that other hosts have had the misfortune to experience. We were all new hosts at one point & know how easy it is to make a mistake.

Best of luck! - Karen

[Kim-Ho0]

Dear @Karen-and-Brian0,

Thank you for your message.
I've already contacted Airbnb directly and have good faith my issue will be solved smoothly.

Thanks for your recommendations. I'll do that!

Best wishes,
Kim Ho

[Susan528]

This same scenario happened to me.  I refunded a guest by approving the 242.00 which  would have come to me.  I thought Airbnb would send me the 242.00 the day after she was due to arrive, but there was not a credit for this amount.  I just contacted Airbnb via email and I am awaiting a response.  

In the future, how do I refund the guest money if they cancel?

Thanks!

Susan

[Kim-Ho0]

Hi Susan,

Thank you for posting.
It was a learningful experience for me and at the end Airbnb handled everything. So, they refunded the guest who cancelled the trip and there was no further decuctions from my future payouts. I've talked with an Airbnb case manager and she made this clear to me.

If this happens again in the future, let Airbnb handle this and never authorize a payout to the guest yourself.

I think the best thing for you right now is to wait for the response. Did you call them directly? I believe in this thread there's a link to phone numbers.

Good luck!

[Susan528]

Dear Kim Ho,  thank u for your response.  I emailed Airbnb and I am awaiting a response.  You previously stated that Airbnb took out the money from your next payout, did they refund that money back to u?  Thanks! Susan

[Chooi-Fun0]

Hi Susan, may i know what is the email address? have been searching for their email up and down. I have sent money to guest as refund but till now she has not received it.

need to check with airbnb !

Thanks

[Susan528]

Hi Chooi,

After logging onto the community site, go to "Discuss" it is on the top toolbar on the left side.  Hit discuss and then hit community help.  This will tell you three ways to contact Airbnb.

Hopr this helps,

Susan

[Muhiddin0]

Hi guys, 

a couple of guest made a payment without my prior approval. I have not included any account details for payment and I do not know where their payment went through. Now they ask for refunding, but I do not know how to do it. I would highly appreciate if somebody could help me and let me know how to contact Airbnb directly to resolve this issue.

Thanks,

Muhiddin