Question to hosts about your thoughts/views/positions on "additional refunds"

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

So........ I am curious to know about how other hosts feel about "additional refunds" ....especially if you have a strict cancellation policy and the reservation & cancellation are all more than several months away (but past the grace period for full refund).

In this case hosts will still get 50% of the original payout amount - if my understanding of the strict cancellation is correct. And for long-term reservations, hosts are still paid the 1st month's payout even if it is cancelled. 

I do know that many hosts provide additional/full refunds if they are able to get new bookings for the cancelled dates....... and while I think I understand why hosts provide refunds in such cases, technically speaking.......should we?? Is this really the "right" thing to do? 

I guess one of the reasons I keep questioning this is...........didn't we all agree to the terms and policies when all 3 parties entered into a contract - based on the guest confirming a reservation? Fair or not, rules are rules.....aren't they???? I mean...... hosts also have to accept very unfair "extenuating circumstance" cancellations and we have no say whatsoever on these types of refunds! And I don't think ABB calls the guests and asks them to give up any part of their extenuating circumstance refunds because the host already spent money getting the place ready and the "fair" thing to do would be to pay the host for the 1st night at least. 

I can see why ABB pressures hosts to provide additional refunds - they want to satisfy the guest customer at the expense of the host. ABB will still get their cut so why wouldn't they try to get the host to give money to the guest....and ABB will take all the credit.

Without this kind of pressure from ABB, would you still think providing an additional/full refund for nights rebooked is the right thing to do? 

And does not issuing a refund in such cases make that person (host) bad? unethical? unfairly taking money from guests that they don't deserve because technically they are getting double payment for re-booked nights? 

I'm rambling.......but anyhoo~~~ I'd appreciate your thoughts! Thanks~~~

[Paul154]

Legally and technically, you have the right to the money. The guests were properly warned and they are adults.

Obviously though, you are uncomfortable with that outcome as would I be.

Depending on how timely cancellation was, how much  good faith was presented, how confident you are in getting a future, perhaps higher rate, I would consider giving back what I rebook, minus some service fee for the annoyance. The truth is, the additional revenue is miniscule compared to ongoing business. How much do you value karma?

But you should make this decision independent of airbnb's manipulation. You pay them 2% extra for this guarantee. Instead of paying money to employees to harrass you, they could be applying that extra 2% to guest goodwill.  Remind airbnb that they have that option. Tit-for-Tat

[Linda108]

I act according to my own system of ethics with respect to refunds and Air BNB does not affect those decisions.  

I always try to find a way to provide a refund if the space is rebooked.  Just feels right to me.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

Thank you Paul and Linda 🙂

I do feel that especially with a re-book situation, an additional refund can be provided at the host's discretion. At the same time, my position is that the cancelling guest doesn't deserve a "full" refund for a "change of heart" cancellation even if hosts are able to fully re-book the dates. Regardless of whether the dates are re-booked, guests need to be held responsible for their own actions and decision - not awarded because the host was lucky enough to get the dates re-booked. I especially don't want to set such a precedent and feed guest expectations that they can expect full/additional refunds despite the strict or long-term policy. But then there is karma.... like Paul mentioned and I do want to be "fair" and do what's right.... or at least feels right to me.

[Ute42]

Hi Jessica and Henry,

let's forget about airbnb for a moment and look at the general legal situation in Germany. When I have a rental contract with a tenant and the tenant wants to cancel 5 months before arrival, he still has to pay 100% of the rent. I, on the other side, am obliged to try and rebook my place, I cannot cash in the rentalprice twice. So if I can rebook, I have to return money to the original tenant either in full or partially. This is not in my discretion, I have to.

If a guest books through airbnb he has, different to our general law, the advantage that he doesn't have to pay 100% of the rental but only 50%, so he saves 50% already. In the german airbnb rules for cancellation it also says, I as a host have to return money to the guest if I can rebook. That's ok and this is in compliance with our general law.

What kind of regulations airbnb has stipulated for other areas of the world, I don't know.

Now if a guest cancels on me, I of course do not offer any refund unless I can rebook, time will tell. I would never refund money out of my own pocket. We have a contract, just keep it. One important rule in our legislation says: „Contracts have to be kept“. Very simple.

I work for one of the big carmanufacturers in Germany and I'm in the budget departement. I handle contracts with suppliers every day and all day. There is no way for a supplier to tell me: My plans have changed, can I pls get out of the contract. If we allow this all the time, we would not be able to get one single car out of our production line.

All these considerations have nothing to do with ethics, it is just that everyone has to live up to what agreement he has signed. No ethics involved at all. Also, my company did not hired me to give away money to our suppliers but to work for the best interest of the company and their best interest is profit.

Ethics come into play when we talk about scam. You know that some people are scamming others if they can, and there are other people who refuse to scam their businesspartners for ethical reasons, even if they could.

But, as I sayed, to keep a contract is not an ethical category. If someone doesn't want to live up to the terms of an agreement, he should not sign it in the first place. This person should simply not book a place with strict cancellation policies.

Therefore: No refunds out of my pocket at all.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

Ute, thanks for comments about contracts vs. ethics - I think reading it re-worded and voiced by you really helped organize the jumble of thoughts in my head 🙂

[Cindy28]

So what I do is offer the guest the ability to  "bank" their stay for a year, if it's like a one night stay, they will get one night credit for up to a year,  that they can use if their plans change. If it's more than one night, I use my discretion as to how many nights I'll credit them. I've had really positive response from that.

[Nina75]

Case by case... i usually give a refund if the ask...  Once I had a group cancel 24hrs before their date the only reason why I did not give them a refund was because I asked her several time if she needed to cancel and they day of the reservation she cancelled.