Airbnb Booking, cancelled then rebooked

[Glenview-Guests-Properties-Ltd0]

A guest has just cancelled and then 2 hours later rebooked they made an honest mistake. How do I proceed to avoid losing money on both sides.  Will the money still come in?  I have had to book out the calander manually as it's for the next 2 nights.....

[Wendy-May0]

That is a very common situation and you are spot on to address the potential refund issue immediately. Since the dates for the next two nights were instantly rebooked as you said you booked it out manually, you have suffered no loss of income, which is the key factor here (correct me if I’m wrong). 

Here is the best advice I can give you on how to handle this quickly:
* Remove the manual block: The second booking is covering the dates, so remove your calendar block now to avoid any system confusion with your payout.

* Contact Support: You need to contact Airbnb and reference both booking IDs specifically. Tell them the guest made an honest mistake, you have rebooked the dates, and you request a full refund for the first cancelled booking to be issued to the guest under a goodwill exception, as there is no host income loss.

* The money still comes in from the second, valid booking. You should receive the payout for that one as usual.

Focusing on the fact you have no lost income is usually the most successful approach with support for this type of guest error. Do feel welcomed to ask me any questions about contacting the support team about a financial issue, what was the cancellation policy on your listing?

[Helen3]

I'm a little confused why have you had to block out the calendar manually if the guest rebooked through Airbnb @Glenview-Guests-Properties-Ltd0 ? 

1. if the guest cancelled then assuming the payment goes through you will be paid in line with the cancellation policy the guest booked under - so I wouldn't refund now but would wait to see if the payment goes through before looking at voluntarily refunding the guest 

2. how did the guest make the second booking and why did you need to block out the dates manually if this was through Airbnb??? Can you clarify how the guest rebooked? 

[Glenview-Guests-Properties-Ltd0]

Thank you ladies, I didn't ask them to rebook on Airbnb as I didn't know if I was going to have to charge them again.... Hence why I booked it out on the calander myself.  It sounds like I shouldn't have done that. What is the best way to contact Airbnb to explain the situation?

[Helen3]

So currently you have no booking through Airbnb for these guests so there is nothing to contact Airbnb about it. @Glenview-Guests-Properties-Ltd0 

if you want the guests to rebook through Airbnb unblock the dates so the guests can rebook through Airbnb.

then if the payment comes through for the first booking you can then refund the guest for it . 

[Emilie]

Hi @Glenview-Guests-Properties-Ltd0,

It's very kind of you to try and find a solution for your guests! Where does the situation stand now, do you need any more advice?

I see Wendy and Helen have already shared some suggestions with you, and in case you need to talk to Airbnb Customer Support directly, you can contact them via this page.

Let us know how you get on 🙂

Thanks, 

Emilie