refund

[Nino15]

someone booked my apartment. he wrote me a m essage ,i am not at my town and i didnt accept request. but he booked. how did it happen? and he calls me and asks his money back. how can i cancel the reservation? i clicked on "cancel" but they say that its too late. but on calendarthe date which he booked isnt green. its grey. help me 

[Victoria57]

@Nino15, the guest was able to book because you have Instant Booking turned on. If you are a new host this is likely to be because Airbnb are running a trial where Instant Booking is turned on by default and you can't turn it off. It's a terrible idea and goes against the whole ethos of hosts being able to ingterract with guests before they book to make sure there is a good fit.

But don't cancel the booking unless you really really have to. Airbnb hates guests cancelling and imposes penalties. The dates will be blocked out so other guests cannot book and you might incur a financial penalty as well. If the guest called you and asked for is money back that indicates that HE wants to cancel, so let him do so through Airbnb and he will get a refund based on your cancellation policy.

[JT-On-Behalf-Of0]

Nino,

Be careful not to cancel without being aware of the penalties you will receive.  If the other party wants to cancel, they ought to.  Think of it as a blessing that the cancel button didn't work for you for some reason.

JT