Guest says they cannot cancel their booking, the system requests me to cancel

[Dave52]

My guest wants to cancel their booking for 2 months from now, my cancellation policy is moderate (full refund up to 14 days before check in).  BUT they say they are unable to cancel without penalties.  The option they are given-- Request the Host Cancel.  If I cancel, I might be assessed a penalty.  Anybody know what is going on?  Up until now, I never had this problem.

On a related note, airbnb's Help says refundable booking fees are a Coupon.  Has it always been this way, or is this something new?

[Helen3]

Why is the guest cancelling? @Dave52 

Of course the guest can cancel the booking themselves. All they do is go into the booking and hit the cancellation button.

They will absolutely get the host cost back if they cancel two months in advance. They probably don't want to as they will lose the airbnb booking fee. But that is the cancellation policy they signed up to.

Do not on any account accept their request to make the cancellation your liability. You will be penalised financially and have the dates blocked.

Refuse their request to have the booking cancelled as a host cancellation and explain it is the guest not you that wants to cancel.

Write back to the guest to that end and explain the process again and confirm it is not you but them that wants to cancel. Call Airbnb to confirm what is happening.

Tell the guest they need to cancel on their side and in line with the cancellation policy they booked under

[Mark116 · Accepted solution]

@Dave52  NEVER do this!  it will be recorded as a straight host cancellation with all related penalties.

It's up to the guest to figure out how or if they can get Airbnb to refund the fee, that's their problem, not yours and also do not send them money either. 

Airbnb instituted the coupon deal as a result of COVID as a way for them to be able to roll over their fee and not refund it directly. 

[Dave52]

@Mark116 Thanks for the advice, I'll get back to the guest about this.  I was wondering why they won't just cancel, it must be the coupon thing. 

So the coupon thing is post COVID?.  Wow super cheese-y in my opinion.  If I made a reservation with a "full refund" policy, then learned some is NOT a refund but a coupon, I would not be happy.

[Mark116]

@Dave52  I don't think airbnb ever refunded their fees after the first 48 hours.

So, to be clear, if I am clear, they only get the coupon if its a covid-related or other extenuating circumstances cancellation, if the regular cancellation policy applies then they won't get the fee back at all.  But I would guess, if Airbnb is willing to give them a coupon for the service fee if they are persistent they can get it fully refunded. But who can say.

[Dave52]

@Mark116  Let me be clear.  I don't have a strict cancellation policy.  My cancellation policy is "FULL refund if cancelled at least 14 days before check in".  It's not "full refund less the service fee".  I never had any guest tell me they didn't get the airbnb service fee refunded.  But maybe the airbnb service fee comes as a coupon now....super cheese-y if it's the case for all cancellations.

[Emilia42]

@Mark116 I was just trying to find the whole "Cancel within 48 hours of booking and get a full refund including service fees" and I cannot find it. Maybe Airbnb did away with that part of the cancelation policy?

[Mark116]

@Emilia42  I found it, but in typical airbnb fashion, the rules are confusing.  It also listed a full refund if the host says full refund on their listing...which seems quite odd.  I'll see if I can find it again and will add here:

he service fee is always refundable if:

• You cancel within 48 hours of booking
• You haven’t already cancelled 3 reservations in the last 12 months
• The reservation you’re cancelling doesn’t overlap with another reservation in your account
• The total nightly rate is fully-refundable according to your host’s cancellation policy

For some listings, the service fee is refundable up to 14 to 28 days before check-in. Check your reservation’s policy to see if you benefit from this extended grace period.

For reservations in Italy, or reservations booked by South Korean travellers, the service fee is always refundable if:

• You cancel before check-in
• You haven’t already cancelled 3 reservations in the last 12 months
• The reservation you’re cancelling doesn’t overlap with another reservation in your account

Your host’s cancellation policy still applies to the rest of your reservation. Refer to the cancellation policy on your reservation to get more details about what's refundable.

[Ann72]

@Dave52  The coupon is even more cheesy than that - it's a single-use coupon, so if they don't use the whole thing on another booking, they lose the unused portion completely.

[Emilia42]

The guest wants their Airbnb service fees back. They can cancel and then take that up with Airbnb. Explain to them that it has nothing to do with you. You are refunding them in full on your end. They can call Airbnb to claim against the Extenuating Circumstances policy if they qualify.