Guest wants a full refund, I want to refund if I get another booking. Can I do that?

[Han24]

This reservation will be my second one with airbnb. She messaged me in the system that her boyfriend just broke up with her and asked if she could have a full refund (so not a qualifying extenuating circumstance I don't think?) My policy is set to strict and it's just over two weeks out so she's due 50%. 

What I would like to offer her is a full refund if I can rebook the property. That seems like a win-win for both of us. I would need to guarantee her payment and free my calendar. Is there any way to do that?

I can't make a special offer since she's already booked. If she paid me the 50% and cancelled the reservation (not sure that's even possible) then she would just have to hope I honor the deal and give it back IF I book. Is that ok with airbnb? How would I collect and refund in this scenario?

[Han24]

I realized I could change her reservation to midweek and then send a request for money for the 50% she would have to pay anyway. Then I could refund IF I book and IF she cancels the reservation. Thoughts?

[Emiel1]

hello @Han24 ,

She has to cancel the reservation (NOT you, be carefull). She will not be refunded the Airbnb service fee. She will be automatically refunded what is calculated by the cancellation policy (you say it is 50%). You are not obliged to refund her the other 50%. You are willing to do so if full (or partial, then pro rata) rebooked. You can make this appointment with her through Airbnb message system (so it can be looked up later by all parties).

Best regards, Emiel

[Han24]

Thanks for the response @Emiel0 

The drawback for me is that she got quite a deal and I might get lucky and rebook but only if she cancels and frees up the dates. If it's like Homeaway she may not cancel ever and then be able to write me a bad review. Is that true of airbnb as well? If she doesn't cancel she could theoretically decide to come after all which could create havoc, esp if I rebook it outside airbnb. 

Also, since she messaged her cancellation through the site do you think I could get airbnb to cancel it so I can rebook?

[Rebecca181]

@Han24 You have a great opportunity right now to begin thinking like a 'Professional Host'. It is great that you are wanting to make things easier for your guest after she suffered a break-up, but it is not required of you, and it is not necessarily the best thing for you to do, from a business perspective. No matter what you do, do NOT cancel her - Call Airbnb and explain the situation - that the guest wants to cancel - and let them help you make this happen. Either they will do the cancellation for you, or they will call her to help her through it. You will not make Super Host if you cancel her, it will skew your ratings and stats for a long time to come. You can then discuss with ABB what sort of refund you are willing to give her, if you choose to adjust your refund policy.

You can also offer her a discounted stay if she chooses to book in the future - But you are not obligated to. Have her use the 'Contact Host' feature and you can send her a Special Offer for her chosen dates. 

Lastly, I strongly encourage you not to let fears of a bad review from a guest who cancelled control your decisions - Now, or in the future. You are given an opportunity to do a public response (which should be brief, factual, and non-defensive) and people here in the Community will help you if you need help writing such a response, should she give you a poor review. In some cases, ABB may even remove the review, if it is obviously malicious and retaliatory. 

So this is why I say it's a good time to think and act like a Professional Host: Professional Hosts are aware of the bottom line, including the costs of operating / maintaining a short term rental; the need for Cancellation Policies (you may or may not be able to re-book the room, and if you can't, that is a financial loss to you, and a cut into your profits); and the importance of not letting fears of bad reviews influence your professional / business decisions. Hope this helps, and best of luck!

[Lisa723]

@Han24 tell her to cancel and that you will refund her any amount you are able to recoup. When she cancels your calendar will open. (As others have said, *never* cancel on a guest's behalf.) Then if you do rebook you can send her money through the resolution center.

[Valerie177]

Hi i have the same problem yesterday. The guy make reservation for like 2 day later.  In the evening cancel his reservation because his job send him somewhere else. Since he cancel i receive message from airbnb that i will receive part of the money because of my moderate policy and my calendar come open. Until there everything was find. After that the guy ask me money by resolution center for the money he lost. I write to airbnb and the guy was very gentil and tell me its was at my choice to give him back money or not since he accept the moderate cancellation when he book. If your guest cancel, its possible for you to send her money after and your calendar will come open. Finaly i accept to give him 50% of the money since he have good comment from other guest and was a very responsive guest.

[Han24]

@Rebecca181 I am sure you are just trying to help and I appreciate it I really do, but your response comes across as borderline didactic. It's pretty hard on my fragile male ego. Moving forward just assume I'm a super-genius. Ok, I feel better now. 

I understand that I will be penalized for canceling that's the reason for this post. If I could just cancel her with no penalty I would've already done that and be happily re-booking the property. 

My problem, thinking like a "professional host" here, is that I can't rebook the house unless she cancels and she has no incentive to cancel. Since I might be able to book it for more money it would be nice to have that option, that is the only reason I am trying to incentivize her to cancel, that and her poor broken heart of course. Also, I am only getting half of her reservation (per cancellation policy), so really taking a financial hit here. 

Although I understand the hazards of making decisions based on fear, in this case fear of a bad review, my question is, is she really going to be able to write a review at all since she's never been here? I would think I could get ABB to pull that down in a heartbeat?

It sounds like I could call and try to get ABB to cancel it behind her back based on her "private" message to me about her boyfriend, but that feels icky. Honestly, I'd be surprised if they would even do that?

So there is no way to guarantee her a full refund IF I book except to promise it in the message thread. I guess she could check on the property for her dates and see if it's rented. 

Thanks again all! 

[Rebecca181]

@Han24 Forgive me, I misread your original post. I thought your guest wanted to cancel, but wanted you to do it. Erase, erase.

[Kelly149]

@Han24 as of now, reservations cancelled within 24 hours of checkin (before or after) DO have the right of review (there are several decent threads about the rationale, but essentially ABB was forced to offer this concession bc people found it disengenuous for there to be no reviews of cancellation when guests showed up at a listing and found it appalling and then cancelled. Not your situation but there it is.)

So:

You want the reservation cancelled quickly so that it can rebook, so that she can't review

She wants it cancelled quickly bc she at least gets some refund and possibly more.

Theoretically you have more to gain from an immediate cancellation than she does so you may have to encourage her along.

However, keep in mind that if you call CS to get them to cancel for you (her) they will happily do so but they likely will refund her the entire amount. My personal experience anyway. Good luck.

[Sandra856]

Hi @Han24 🙂

I don't understand a thing? The guest tells you she won't be able to make it - she won't cancel the reservation which means your calender is blocked so noone else can book and still you consider to give her a full refund?

A decent guest would cancel and should be happy that you even consider to give her a full refund if rebooked?

Have you found a solution? 🙂

[Fred13]

@Han24 It is all very straight forward and I think I get your reasoning.

    When a Guest tells me they want to cancel, for whatever reason, I immediately tell them - 'Go ahead' and also add - 'Oh, the faster YOU cancel the more chance I will be able to re-book your slot and then I will refund you the other 50%'.  They usually get the flic right there. 

    If they take their sweet time to do so, the less chance they have to get their 50%. Of course, most ask for a full refund, doesn't hurt to ask I guess. LoL

[Han24]

So thankful for all the replies.

update.

I sent her an email saying I could only refund 50%  and also encouraging her to cancel right away to ensure she gets her refund. It was nicer than this but you get the idea. She declined to cancel saying Maybe I'll get a friend to come. So she's going to block out the time for another week, which she can do before she loses her 50%, and then maybe cancel, leaving me even less time to re-book. I have the strictest cancellation policy offered and it is not as strict as I would like it. 

my options are:  offer her a full refund if she cancels or be happy with 50% of a very low rate. I know I can get more for the place I just don't know if I can fill it in two weeks. My gut says throw her the refund and gamble on a rebooking. 

[Kevin-And-Crystal0]

What about trying to encourage her to come with the friend or even alone.  Let her know of all the things she can do and see.  She's vulnerable and confided the breakup to you, offer her a dinner on you (not with you) or a movie pass.  Maybe its a hard sell, but you do get to keep the booking and $.  Just a thought.

[Fred13]

Either way, give us an update in a week. My bet is that she will finally cancel just before loosing the 'other' 50%. 

   BTW, I just had one case somewhat similar; they split, she waited a full 2 months to cancel after many urgings by me, by then entered the totally 100% non-refundable timetable (2 month in my case) and then was shocked she was entitled to zero. Calls Airbnb, tried the 'Extenuating Circumtances' angle (broken heart?), which failed. I am giving her 50% because I was thrilled to get the days available to build something on the place. Still asked for the other 50%! Gutsy. 🙂