Guest Who Wants to Cancel a 3wk reservation but still hasn't canceled

[Stacy3]

I have a guest who booked for 3 weeks in August - she msged me on Saturday saying that she has had a change of plans and needs to cancel. She told me she wants a full refund and to let me know when it's gone through. I responded by saying that since the cancelation was coming from her end, she would need to cancel herself, and I went on to explain how to do it. She has not responded, nor done anything about it. I have msged her again today kindly explaining that it'd be helpful if she canceled it soon. I'd really like to get those dates available again for booking since it's a big chunk of my busiest time of the year, but I don't want to cancel the reservation as it will reflect poorly on my host account. I don't know what to do.. Any suggestions?

[David126]

I would contact them through all the means you have available and say you had noticed that they had not cancelled and were concerened they would leave it too late to obtain a refund.

I guess it is possible that they have changed their mond and are intending staying.

[Marcus0]

@Stacy3 she wants you to cancel so she gets her service fee back, however you will be penalised. 

If you cancel a reservation you booked as a guest, the service fee is non-refundable. If your reservation is canceled by the host and you choose to be refunded, the service fee is refunded in full.

https://www.airbnb.com.au/help/article/384/what-are-the-service-fees

Under your current cancellation policy she can cancel up to 5 days prior without any further penalty.

I can only suggest you contact Airbnb direct under your help section.  If your guest has written her intention to cancel and you have written back asking for it to happen, Airbnb may possibly be able to intervene on your behalf. 

That is what i can suggest (other than moving to a strict policy), maybe other hosts have dealt with this specific situation.

[Stacy3]

@Marcus0 @David126

Thank you for your response! I didn't realize that she wouldn't get her fees refunded.. that explains it.

I think you may be right about potentially having to change to Strict. In the meantime, I will try to contact airbnb because, as you mentioned, it is all documented in our messaging.

UPDATE: I contacted airbnb as suggested and she was super helpful. She said that she would contact the guest for me (in more ways than one if a response is not received from the first), and make sure that I wouldn't have to be the one to cancel the reservation. Thanks!!!