What to do when a guest books non-refundable and now wants a refund

[Craig666]

I had a guest book recently, and they selected the non-refundable option to get the discount.  Now they are saying they booked the wrong day (and the day they want is not available at my property), so they are asking for a full refund.  I am not inclined to refund her, because we offer a non-refundable option and a fully flexible cancellation policy - but I assume she wanted the discount.  I am not unsympathetic, but my understanding is that the non-refundable option is there to protect the host from lost income when people cancel all willy nilly?

I am relatively new to hosting and haven't run into this scenario before.  Can the guest leave a bad review if I opt to not refund her?  

What do y'all do in these situations?

[Sarah977]

@Craig666  Has the guest cancelled? They need to do that and tell them that when they cancel, the dates that they booked will then be available on your calendar to be rebooked. Tell the guest that if you can rebook any of those dates, you will refund her for those.

You have a non-refundable policy for a reason and you should stand by it.

That said, guests almost always think they should get a full refund, no matter what cancellation policy they agreed to. And I have read posts where Airbnb refunded guests anyway, overriding the non-refundable option, so I don't happen to think that that option is of any benefit to hosts and I would never choose to use it.

A guest can only leave a review if the cancellation is done within 24 hours of check-in.

[J-Renato0]

@Craig666 

I have always had the strict policy on. It is slightly different from your settings.

In general, I would not refund! I take very serious any Airbnb booking.  Guest´s are supposed to take it very seriouly as well.

In some cases, I would refund 50% of the amount of money that I would receive or have received. Not because I am obliged to it, but just because I am willing to do because I think I can have another booking to cover the loss.

You could alternatively say - " I can refund you only if I get another booking to replace yours. However, it is you who have to cancell"

It is not true that Airbnb will refund guests overriding the policy set. It depends on the circunstances. 

In normal situations like yours, the policy applies.

Stand for your rights! 

[Mark116]

@Craig666  I wouldn't refund. The guest had multiple choices and chose the non refundable option, that's on them.  You can offer to refund it if you can rebook, as Sarah suggested, but I wouldn't do any more than that and I would make clear that even that offer is VERY generous and is outside the scope of what they agreed to.

*this is why I will never do non refundable because guests will always think they should get a refund and Airbnb will very possibly side with them, despite that it is against the terms of the agreement.

[J-Renato0]

@Craig666 

In addition to my previous post in this thread

To help host to deal with non refundable policies options, based on my experience.

It is not true that guests will will always think they should get a refund.

I can say that because I have been using the strict policy since a long time.

They are aware of the non refundable policy. However, some guests that thinks they are very smart and try to negotiate it.

Once a guest sent me a message that goes like that: "If you refund me I will certainly give you a 5 star review".

My answer: I will take into consideration your message sent to me when writing a review in your profile. You shold have known that It is not allowed by the terms of service to blackmail....."

Everyone knows hotel bookings sites and other STR sites. Everyone are familiar with non refundable policies. Nobody's fool. Nobody is naive. 🙂

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Craig666 The advantage of following @Sarah977 's suggestion is that it encourages the guest to cancel early. Otherwise they may just keep the booking and then put in a revenge review come check out even though they haven't stayed with you.

[J-Renato0]

@Craig666  @Mike-And-Jane0  

If one are afraid of negative reviews... one will be always kneeling down before guests that wants to take advantage of others.

If the guest can write a negative review to the host, the host can reply. The host can also review the guest in a fair way, giving the guest a negative review if it deserves.

My advice. Do not be afraid of blackmail.
Do not deal with crookies. It does not pay. I have seeing reports of hosts that wrote positive reviews to bad guests and received in return a negative review.
Then they came to the forum to  cry and complain !

[J-Renato0]

*If one is afraid...*

[Brian2036]

@Craig666 

They’re not entitled to a refund.

It was their mistake, not yours.

How do you think it would go if you messaged a guest, saying, “I mistakenly accepted your booking because I was confused about the dates. Actually I have other plans that weekend so you can’t stay, but would you mind paying anyway?”

If you can persuade them to cancel immediately with the promise of a POSSIBLE refund if you can rebook that would be great.

Otherwise they have no incentive to cancel and they can write a destructive review even if they never show up.

[J-Renato0]

Exactly @Brian2036  ... you nailed it !

[Dave1074]

It depends.  If the booking and mistake are conveyed on the same day, especially if it is for a stay that is not going to start soon, one can be more flexible.  If the mistake was well after booking and you will lose money as the check-in is soon that is another story. 

[Laura2592]

@Craig666 I would say:

" Hi guest- I am so sorry to hear that your plans have changed and you won't be able to join us. As Airbnb offers the booking discount only with a non-refundable reservation, I am unable to provide you with a refund. I would be happy to offer you a courtesy discount on a future stay if you decide to book with us again. I am going to be taking off the discount option so that this doesn't happen to another guest. Thank you so much and we hope to host you soon!"

And I would do exactly as described. The discount/no refund only attracts problem guests who want a bargain. We used it in the beginning and turned it off pretty quickly. We now have a moderate cancellation policy and few issues with it.