What happens if guests come and decide to go away just because they don't feel comfortable?

[Kristīne0]

I had guests today booking the room for this same day. And rushing over from work to prepare the room for the evening. Then they come, stay for 15 min, pack their bags and go away. When I ask what happened, they say they just don' t feel comfortable here.

What happens, do I get the money because the still haven' t canceled?

[Alexandra316]

@Kristīne0If they never cancel, you will get to keep the money. However, if they cancel and contact Airbnb regarding their concerns, the guest may get their money back. Airbnb is kind of notorious for giving guests a full refund in these types of cases. 

Did you contact the guest through the Airbnb site to discuss this, or was it through email?

I would consider contacting Airbnb yourself to let them know what happened and seek their advice on how to proceed. They will probably contact the guest and get them to cancel. 

[Kristīne0]

Thanks. They just cancelled and it seems i'lI get the refund. Do you think I still need to contact Airbnb?

They just said that they didn't feel welcome, I dontd think it's a sufficient reason. And as a host I don't have a possibility to cancel without a penalty just because I feel tired or not in a mood. But the guest can cancel for any reason!? 

[Alexandra316]

@Kristīne0The guest should be subject to your cancellation policy, and as this was a same-day cancellation, they shouldn't be entitled to any refund. However, if the guest calls Airbnb and makes a complaint, the agents can override your policy and decide to refund the guest. I would hope they wouldn't, but you never know: again, Airbnb sometimes favours the guest. 

Bear in mind that the guest can still review you because they cancelled on the check in day. Offering a refund may or may not save you from a bad review, but just keep it in mind. 

As they've cancelled, I wouldn't bother calling Airbnb at this point. 

[Shirley147]

Hi I totally agree - ABB does everything to help guests but not hosts. We had a rotten experience of a guest could not find our signposted lane off a main road. Signposts were on both sides of the lane and actually, going by the GPS maps they sent me, drove past at least once and stayed up until 2.30 am to try and talk them in. To cut a long story short they continued on their journey and later posted a bad review which affected our ratings - being a super host that didn't please. How can a guest leave a bad rating if they in fact never stayed.  Thinking that ABB has got too big for its boots. May try another

[Kristīne0]

Thanks, Alexandra, for the detailed answer!!! I refunded them half.

[Robert1121]

I booked three accommodations on Airbnb in Febraury for a June vaction trip to Hawaii. Two of the residences we selected far exceeded our expectations, one however was so deplorable and unsafe that I feared for my family's safety and departed immediately for a local hotel for the three nights we were on Oahu. After our departure I did some research and found the pictures posted on the host's page were taken in 2011 when he purchased the property and did not in anyway represent what we found upon our arrival. I immediately engaged the owner and Airbnb, filed a dispute,  requested a full refund, supplied pictures to Airbnb showing the deplorable conditions and they elected to side with the owner stating I did not give any specifics and did not allow the owner to remedy any issues. Needless to say, Airbnb refused to supply a full refund, if you ever had a sense of being robbed, well that's how I feel.