i canceled for client and now This listing is temporarily unavailable

[Sara116]

hello everybody, i need to contact airbnb. my client tried to cancel listing unsuccessfully, and requested that i do so. as it was over a month away i did so, and the refund has been issued to them i believe, however i just used my one time cancellation waiver... which i would like back... and the site has paused my listing for the month that the client was supposed to come for.... which is a big dea for me. What do i need to do to get my one time waiver back and get my listing back up and running? Thank you in advance.

[Keith0]

Sarah, 

Another reason to never, ever, ever cancel a booking. You may also be charged a cancellation fee. 

I hope you have a message trail showing that it was the guest who wanted to cancel, not you. try 1 415 800 5959. But you will need to be patient and persistent. 

If you use twitter I am told that is a very good way to reach Airbnb:

Step 1: Log into Twitter

Step 2: Search for @Airbnbhelp and choose "Follow" them

Step 3: Send a Direct Message (DM) explaining your issue and wait for their response.  They may ask for information such as your listing but always provide it over DM so it is not public.

[Clare0]

@Sara116 If a guest has trouble cancelling (which I doubt they did) you should never cancel on their behalf.  When a host cancels a reservation, the guest receives an email offering full refund PLUS 10% for the inconvenience.  Airbnb has no idea why the host cancelled. So this guest came out ahead at your expense, I'm afraid.  Savvy guests know how to do this when they want to cancel. They know that if they cancel, the Airbnb service fees are not refundable.  In the future, tell the guest they have to get assistance from Airbnb if they are having trouble cancelling.  

Here's Airbnb's policy on host cancellations: 

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/990/how-do-host-cancellation-penalties-work

I'm not aware of a one time waiver. 

You might contact Airbnb and try to convince them to waive the penalties but I can't guarantee they will.  Hopefully the conversation between you and the guest (especially the message from the guest that they couldn't cancel) is in your Airbnb messages.  That would help Airbnb in their decision. 

Learn from experience!