Can I give credit to a guest who cancelled a reservation?

[Martin-And-Rita0]

I received a message from my guest (1 day before arrival) that she will have to cancel her stay due to her son having had an accident the previous stay and having had to stay at the hospital. She asked for a refund on top of what the moderate policy would have entitled her to. She said if I did that she will book with me again in the future (I felt kinda blackmailed haha). Although I felt very understanding about her son being sick and all, I was a bit annoyed by the fact that she did not immediately cancel her reservation, therefore unblocking the dates and giving me a chance to get booked again. So instead of a refund o offered her to give her a credit in the equivalent of what she had to pay, towards her next booking. (I would've done that by doing a special offer. But now she asked for a reference number she can use when making a booking with me next. I dont even know if there is such a thing?? Any tips on how to deal with it? Or is she just gonna have to take my word for it?

[Lisa40]

If her story is true, she would probably qualify for extenuating circumstances. It would be best to refer her to Airbnb customer service, so they can verify her story. She would then get a full refund reqardless of your moderate policy. It is less messy that way.

[Annette33]

Let her do her cancellation all on her own. She needs to work it out with Airbnb, not with you. I would just stay out of it all together.

And be careful not to agree in case  you get a request by her via Airbnb, such as "are you okay with guest so and so cancelling her stay" ? 

By saying yes, you might think you are only following the guests wishes, but it will get turned around on you by Airbnb such as that you are the one that cancelled... That way, the guest gets refunded her Airbnb fees, but you get penalized. So you must decline that kind of request.

Any promises of future bookings, etc.. are iffy at best, it gets messy before you know it.  At this point, Airbnb has the money, not you, so it's not a refund situation yet from your angle. so I wouldn't go there.