Guest wants to cancel, less than 24 hours and wants a FULL REFUND

[Nicky110]

Hi

I have 2 quite mature guests arriving tomorrow for 2 nights.  However, our building over the last month has had scaffolding outside it with building works being done on it (I won’t lie and say it didn’t disrupt our own family summer holiday over 2 weeks but it was planned over the last year and completely out of our control).

Works were finished last week however our management company have rejected the finish on the front of the building and so works are now continuing, which means that I’ve had to contact 2 guests last week (who were ok with it), and the 2 guests arriving tomorrow, who are not ok with potential disruption (as builders cannot say what days they will be working).

Tomorrow’s guests are now asking for me to cancel (which I won’t do as I’ve had to cancel 3 bookings already this year and incurred multiple penalties, all were beyond my control which I’m separately upset about 🥺) and give them a FULL REFUND despite the fact that it is them who wants to cancel and I have a strict cancellation policy.

My question is if they cancel their trip, I’m happy to refund them the extra only minus any fees I would incur.  Is this something anyone has encountered before and how did you deal with this type of situation?

thanks, Nicky

[Helen3]

Hello @Nicky110 

You can't ask the guests to cancel. It is not the guests fault that you already have three host cancellations or that the building works have overrun.  

Guests are completely within their rights to not want to stay for a reason which is outside their control, i.e. the building works at your apartment over running. Under these circumstances, if the guests contact Airbnb, Airbnb will let them cancel penalty free.

There is no reason why you can't ask Airbnb if you can cancel under the exceptional circumstances policy for hosts because you didn't know the building works would overrun.

[Anonymous]

@Nicky110  If you're not able to deliver the property in its advertised state (including "potential for noise" disclosures) it's best to give the guest a full refund now, while you still have a chance to recoup some of the losses if you re-book at a discount with the noise disclosure active on your listing. If the guests agree to cancel from their end in exchange for the refund delivered through the Resolution Center, you won't face any penalties.

The problem that remains is that the guests won't receive a refund of the substantial Guest Fee that they paid to Airbnb unless you as the host initiate the cancellation and accept the penalties.