Refunding guest cancellation

[Stephanie257]

Hi,

Could someone advise please. 

A guest has cancelled their booking and, as I have a “strict” policy, they are entitled to a 50% refund. As they have cancelled with plenty of notice, I am prepared to give them a full refund but, when I started the process I realised that Airbnb would debit the money from my account right now even though I won’t receive any money from them until after the check in date (end of July). How can I give my guest a refund without having this amount debited before I get any money to cover it? I don’t think guests realise that, although they pay out as soon as they make a reservation, the hosts do not receive it at the same time.

Thanks for any help on this. Stephanie

[Jeff158]

@Stephanie257 

Your guest might have only paid a 50% deposit with the balance later, if you send a full refund YOU are giving the guest more than they have paid.

Contact customer service and ask them to do the refund.

Click the link for airbnb contact info

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Contact-Airbnb-A-Community-Help-Guide-UPDATED/m-p/413245#M5...

[Stephanie257]

Hello Jeff, Thanks for that information. I have just been looking again at the cancellation notification and can’t work out what is going on. Airbnb say they have refunded the guest €528 and that I will receive €472 (24 hours after the check in date) but that comes to considerably more than the original amount for the booking. If I click on “issue full refund” there is a little box saying “ You can send up to €490, the amount your received for this reservation”. I have no idea what that means - I haven’t received anything yet as they weren’t coming until July and how come I can refund 490, when the notification says I will get 472??? I am so confused and really worried that I am going to lose a lot of money.

[Stephanie257]

Hi,

Back again I’m afraid. I have followed the link above and sent a message to the help centre but have not had any response. Does anyone know where I go from here please? I am so worried - I have promised my guest a refund but, as my season has to yet start, I do not have the funds to do this “out of my own pocket”. I had assumed Airbnb would refund the whole amount once I authorised it. Can anyone help please?

[Marit-Anne0]

@Stephanie257 

airbnb cannot do much for you in this matter.  If you want to give the guests a full refund now, you will have to do it through the site and the refund will be debited against future payouts.  

If this is not ok for you - you would need to explain to the guests how the payouts work and how the strict cancellation policy works and that you are willing to refund them, but that you are not obliged to refund them more than the 50% already refunded through airbnb after their cancellation.  

Perhaps you can convince the guests to wait for the refund till you have received the payout for this reservation ?

Why have a strict cancellation policy at all when you do not intend to stick to it ? Does not make any sense to me.