Guest refund incorrect

Michelle349
Level 1
South Africa

Guest refund incorrect

I partially refunded a guest but mistakenly it seems, did it directly from my Paypal account, not through the Airbnb site. The Paypal refund is sent to Airbnb, not the guest. The guest has not received the refund ( it's been about a week now). What do I do next?

7 Replies 7
Cynthia-and-Chris1
Level 10
Vancouver, WA

@Michelle349  You've done it correctly.  Never pay a guest directly outside the Airbnb system.  Airbnb will always be the middle man to handle the money between guest and host.  Refunds do take a little while to process.  The only thing you can do at this point is direct the guest so Contact Airbnb directly to inquire the status and when they can anticipate receiving it.

Cynthia, my guest shortened their trip by one day. When will they receive the refund? 24 hours after the original check-in date?

Also, I have a 50% refund policy but when airbnb calculated the costs for the one night that was cancelled- Airbnb offered a 100% refund (not 50% as per my policy). 

 

I am also struggling to contact Airbnb directly about this. How do I contact Airbnb directly? There used to be a way but now I can't talk directly to Airbnb. 

 

Thanks for your input. 

 

Amy

@Amy228  You have 4 different listings - most with Strict cancellation policies, but one with a Moderate cancellation policy.  If it was the one with the Moderate cancellation policy and the guest shortened their stay at least 5 days prior, they are entitled to 100% refund for that night. 

 

You can visit this helpful guide on how to Contact Airbnb directly.

Thanks but I did already check and I re-checked now- the cancellation policy is strict. 

Which listing is the one in question?

I thought it would be good to clear this up. If a guest changes their reservation and shortens it, the 50% cancellation fee doesn't apply.  For a host a change in dates is pretty much equivalent to a cancellation. 

 

Airbnb has told me if I do not want to refund the guest for the nights they have changed, then I need to change the reservation from my side and add in the 50% penalty. 

 

I hope this make sense. 

 

Thanks,

Amy

Takeyha0
Level 2
Washington, DC

I’ve seen so many reviews on guest not getting their refunds and it’s kinda making me scared that I won’t get mine