Request for Cancelation (from the Guest)

[Marianna85]

hello!
A few days ago i was contacted by a Guest (who was supposed to check in a few days later) and they asked me kindly to cancel their reservation for some personal last minute reason without being charged. So, i changed my cancelation policy to flexible, and they send me a cancelation request which i accepted. Then, i received one email / notification from AirBnb about the consequences if canceling a reservation more than once etc. Could you please assist on this? It was not me that i canceled the reservation, i just respond to the client's wish, making their life easier. Looking forward to feedback, also from AirBnB staff. Thank you!

[Gillian19]

@Marianna85 by accepting their request, you have, in effect, cancelled their booking. Unfortunately Airbnb want the host to do the cancellation so they can keep the guests happy. That is their number one priority. Hosts aren't. There are numerous posts on this site about cancellations and why, as a host you should NEVER cancel. If the guest cancels themselves, you do not actually have to do anything. You could try contacting Airbnb to see if they will change it to a guest cancellation but I wouldn't be too optimistic about a positive result. Also, changing your cancellation policy wouldn't have helped as you cannot change a policy on an existing booking.

[Marianna85]

thank Gllian for your answer, this is very helpful!

---

@Gillian19 wrote:

@Marianna85 by accepting their request, you have, in effect, cancelled their booking. Unfortunately Airbnb want the host to do the cancellation so they can keep the guests happy. That is their number one priority. Hosts aren't. There are numerous posts on this site about cancellations and why, as a host you should NEVER cancel. If the guest cancels themselves, you do not actually have to do anything. You could try contacting Airbnb to see if they will change it to a guest cancellation but I wouldn't be too optimistic about a positive result. Also, changing your cancellation policy wouldn't have helped as you cannot change a policy on an existing booking.

---

[Matthew285]

@Marianna85, while it is true that by accepting the host cancellation, you (the host) did the cancellation, I strongly disagree with @Gillian19's thought that Airbnb wants the host to do the cancellation.

Airbnb wants the person who wants to cancel the trip to do the cancellation. If the guest wants to cancel, then Airbnb wants the guest to cancel. If the host wants to cancel, then Airbnb wants the host to cancel.

It makes absolutely no sense that Airbnb wants the host to do all the cancellations. If that were true, then why would Airbnb have such heavy penalties for the host when the host cancels? If Airbnb wants the host to cancel all the time, why would they threaten to kick the host off the system if the host cancels too often?

Marianna, you should contact Airbnb support and explain that you did not know what you were doing when you cancelled. Airbnb support may or may not allow you to have a penalty-free cancellation, but it does not hurt to ask.

And in the future, if the guest wants to cancel, make the guest cancel.

[Marianna85]

thank you for this! I am getting a bit confused. Thje guest could not cancel  because i had a strict cancelation policy. So i changed the policy to flexible for a while, and then i received a cancelation request from them, i followed the link and it made me cancel the reservation. so it was not me initiating the process. It is getting very confusing.

Also, could you please let me know how to contact Airbnb Support? It does not seem easy to find a direct contact for them. Thank you very much!

[Matthew285]

@Marianna85 to reach Airbnb support:

On your Help page, near the bottom right is a "Contact us" button.
Or you can use this link: https://www.airbnb.com/help/contact_us

Once you are on the "Contact us" page, choose "Its something else"

This will give you the choice to either exchange messages with AirBnB or to speak to someone on the phone.
(Using the "Contact us" by phone gives you the option to have them call you, so you don't have to wait on hold.)

If you don't mind waiting on the phone, here are many contact numbers:
United States +1-415-800-5959 +1-855-424-7262 (toll-free)

Argentina: +54 11 53 52 78 88

Australia: +61 2 8520 3333

Austria / Österreich: +43 72 08 83 800

Brazil / Brasil: +55 21 3958-5800

Canada: +1-855-424-7262 (toll-free)

Chile: +56 229380777

China / Zhongguo - 中國 / 中国: +86-40-0120-9157 or 400-716-0164 (shared-cost)

Denmark / Danmark: +45 89 88 20 00

France: +33 1 84 88 40 00

Germany / Deutschland: +49 30 30 80 83 80

Greece / ελλάδα: +30 211 1989888

Hong Kong / Xianggang - 香港: +852 5808 8888

India / इंडिया: 000 800 4405 103 (toll-free)

Ireland: +353 1 697 1831

Israel / Yisrael: +972 3 939 9977

Italy / Italia: +39 06 99366533

Japan / Nippon - 日本: +81 3 4580 0999 or +81 800 100 1008 (toll-free)

Kenya: +1-855-424-7262 (toll-free)

Malaysia: +603 7724 0164 or 1800 889 814 (toll-free)

Mexico / Méjico: +52 55 41 70 43 33

Netherlands / Nederland: +31 20 52 22 333

New Zealand / Aotearoa: +64 4 4880 888

Norway / Norge: +47 21 61 16 88

Peru: +51 1 7089777

Poland / Polska: +48 22 30 72 000

Portugal: +351 30 880 3888

Puerto Rico: +1 787 945-0222

Russia / Rossiya - Россия: +7 4954658090 or 88003017104 (toll-free)

Singapore / 新加坡: +65 6622 7306 or 1800 723 1238 (toll-free)

South Africa: +1-855-424-7262 (toll-free)

South Korea / Hanguk - 한국: +82 2 6022 2499 or +82 808 220 230 (toll-free)

Spain / España: +34 91 123 45 67

Sweden / Sverige: +46 844 68 12 34

Switzerland / Schweiz / Suisse: +41 43 50 84 900

Taiwan +886 2 7743 2436 or 0800 868 313 (toll-free)

United Kingdom: +44 203 318 1111

[Marianna85]

thanks a million!