Guests booked for 2 weeks stayed 2 days decided they wanted to be on the beach - request refund

[Patrick1797]

We had two guests check into our Suite who booked the suite for two weeks during the holiday season.  They stayed for two days and complained that the room was damp.  We had just had our first rain in a year...so dampness was in the air, and we offered them a heater which they accepted.  On the second day, they came up and said that they wanted to leave.  We offered them another room which overlooked the pool but they said they had already booked another place on the beach and paid for it.  As they arrived by taxi with no car, even though we encourage our guests to rent a car, we believe that despite our post being very clear as to our location, they decided that they wanted to be on the beach instead and thus wanted to cancel the room they had booked a month earlier.  This, of course, left us with no rental for those two weeks and when we had several other inquiries on the roo,  The question is what is the Airbnb policy in this kind of situation where the hosts lose a rental during the holiday period?  Are we required to give them a full refund for the 2 weeks?   Or are we allowed to give them a partial refund as in 50% of the rental for the two week period?  Reading some of these posts on this forum, it appears the hosts bare the burden of capricious guests, which would not be accepted in a hotel.  Has anyone had a similar situation and how was it resolved?  It was for a substantial sum and a loss to us for the Christmas holidays, which was from the 7th December to the 21st.  Thank you...

[Luana130]

Well, I would never offer the refund in a case like that. They can request that from aribnb, but it will dependo on what they say and the cancelation policy to get a refund. But if they booked another accommodation with airbnb before cancelling your reservation they just lost their claim. Doble booking is not permited. Have you contacted airbnb, I would contact airbnb to discuss this before the guest requests a refund, if they booked the other place before cancelling their reservation with you make sure to let them know that, and say that you will not be making any refunds.

Airbnb has the final say, but I think in a situation like this they will side with you. They did cancel the reservation on the plataform, right? 

[Alexandra316]

@Patrick1797 Your cancellation policy is set to flexible, so when the guest cancels, they will be refunded for all remaining nights after 24 hours after cancellation. See the details at https://www.airbnb.ca/home/cancellation_policies.

[Helen3]

Hello @Patrick1797 

Personally I would never use a flexible cancellation policy as it is much too risk if a guest cancels at the last minute as you have found.

Sadly,  it does sounds like you haven't familiarised yourself with Airbnb's host cancellation policies before choosing which one to use. The policy you choose means they will get almost a full refund of any remaining days.

All you can do is advise the guests that if they want to cancel they need to do so through Airbnb. Obviously the sooner the guests cancel the sooner you are likely to get a replacement booking.

[Anna8386]

I would never give a refund in that case. That's the guest's choice to leave, and not your responsibility or fault. I had a guest only complete half his 1-week stay recently because his plans changed. He asked for a refund of nights not used, and I said no.  People need to understand that we lose revenue this way! Most listings can't rebook with so little notice, so the money is lost.

[Alexandra316]

@Anna8386 Once your cancellation policy is selected, you don't have a choice: with the flexible cancellation policy, your guest would be refunded automatically.