Looking for some advice please

[Mandie3]

What do you do if you have guests who book your property for a week or so and then once they have had a few days there decide to cut it short for one reason or other and want the money back for the days they will no longer use?  This is a tough one for me as I want to be fare but understand that if it was an hotel they wouldn’t be given a refund for days not used. What should I do?  Thanks in advance 🙂 

[Emiel1]

@Mandie3 

You have set "strict" as the actual cancellation policy on your listing. So if they want to shorten their stay, they can cancel the reservation, but there will be no refund. "want the money back for the days they will no longer use" is simply not part of the deal.

Best regards,

Emiel

[Mandie3]

Thank you for your help.

[Kaylee18]

@Mandie3  I would agree with @Emiel1 . If you have a strict cancellation policy, the guests would have been aware of this when they booked. Unfortunately they are trying to take advantage of you by even requesting a refund for days they do not want to stay. That is why we have cancellation policies to protect us from these type of scenarios. 

I don't think there is anything wrong with you not giving them a refund. 

Best of luck! 🐵

[Sarah977]

@Mandie3  Don't be surprised if you get a call from Airbnb pressuring you to refund. There have been a disturbing amount of reports here lately of such. Don't give in, stand firm, tell them you chose your cancellation policy from among the options that Airbnb offers, you didn't just make it up yourself, and that you expect it to be honored.

[Rowena29]

HI @Mandie3 

I absolutey agree with everything everyone has said so far.

One more thing - if you refuse to refund, prepare yourself for a negative review that is fairly likely to follow. I

In this instance I would hold off reviewing them until 13 days and 23 hours so that they do not recieve even more reminders from airbnb to review you.

If they DO review you,  and it's negative, but sure to respond, and keep your response very brief very professional and detached, It's highly unlikely these guests will even see your response - they're not the ones you are worried about at this point.  It's FUTURE guests who will see your response and you need to come across as very reasonable and if possible, the injured party.   Guests aren't stupid, They will "see through"  a negative review if you respond appropriately.

Good luck!

[Romana19]

Nic nevracejte,zrušení je jejich rozhodnutí a musí za něj nést veškeré následky.Držím palce!

[Rachel177]

@Mandie3 I've had guests in the same situation & I tell them that if I get another booking then I can refund them for the days that I have managed to re-book (and if I need to drop my prices to get a last minute booking they will only get refunded what I have been able to charge the next guest).

I explain to them that they need to cancel to free up my calendar, and the sooner they do that the more likely I will be able to get another booking. I haven't been able to re-book all of the cancellations, but I haven't had a problem with poor reviews or the guests harassing me for a refund.