Airbnb tells guests that are cancelling that the host can choose to give them a full refund

[Julie732]

Recently I ran into an issue with Airbnb support telling a guest that was cancelling the same day that they were supposed to be checking in, that they couldn’t give them a full refund, but that I could if I wanted to. There were no extenuating circumstances, they just found a free place to stay. I found this incredibly inappropriate and off-putting.

In my view, Airbnb has three cancellation policies that hosts can choose from and if a guest cancels, Airbnb support should not be doing anything more than reiterating the designated policy to the guest. When they say things like, “well, I can’t but if you reach out to your host maybe they will be understanding and let you cancel without a penalty,” it just puts the host in a bad position. After checking with my local community it seems that Airbnb is doing this as a common practice which is really deplorable.

Airbnb keeps the booking fee so it’s no skin off their back if a guest gets a full refund from the host since if just leads to a happy guest at the host’s expense. I am not so sure I like being a host much anymore. 

[Ann72]

@Keith312 That is so annoying!  They did that without discussing it with you?  I would write to customer support and say No, No, No, No, No, that is not what you and the guest agreed.  

[Adela59]

airbnb cancela entonces así nadamás????? sin que usted haya cancelado???? de que se trata entonces ?

[Adela59]

causa desilusión de que en todos lados te encuentres detalles como éste que acabo de leer, de ahí surge el antiguo dicho que nos recuerda, era demasiado lindo para ser verdad. gracias x compartir esas experiencias. 

[Alexandra--Alex-0]

This is the last bullet point listed under all the "cancellation policy details":

• Cancellation policies may be superseded by the Guest Refund Policy, extenuating circumstances, or cancellations by Airbnb for any other reason permitted under the Terms of Service. Please review these exceptions.

I'm trying to find the list of exceptions because there's no link from this statement, nor is there a link to the Guest Refund Policy which, apparently, I also need to read. 

It's this kind of weasle-wording that allows the "customer service" people to take the types of actions that have been described in this thread. Make no mistake, as long as this is in here, we hosts have no recourse other than standing our ground and fighting back when the company decides to arbitrarily decide how to handle our guests and our money.

[Helen427]

Thanks for raising this.

I've  a guest who has msgd me 3 days after he checked in to say he's "going to stay at a friends place"  and would be moving out prior to his agreed contractual check out date with no mention to me he was intending to "cancel or amend booking" and within 1 minute I received an eml from ABB to say Guest has "Cancelled" their reservation.

I have not agreed to, nor been contacted to ask if I agree to any refund from the guest himself.

The guest has not mentioned to me in his msg that he was "cancelling" the rest of his reservation in any of his own msgs, nor made any request to me to "alter" it.

It appears an automated msg from ABB is sent out if a Guest 'Cancels' DURING an existing and current reservation & is refunding the rest of his payments without any discussion.

I've msgd Customer Services who are overriding the part of Terms of Service @Alexandra--Alex-0  has quoted, as I did myself and pointed out the word is 'MAY' not will.

There are no extentuating circumstances.

C/S are using the terms of "Flexible Cancellation"  in the box below that part of page which in my opinion is not within those agreed parts Terms of Service.

It does not state "WILL" be refunding and the Host WILL NOT get paid.

Whilst my policy is Flexible, that's for prior to and within time limits of booking and stay not days down the track.

I've msgd the guest asking why he didn't use the "Amend/ Alter reservation" rather than cancel which I would have expected a Guest in such circumstances would be expected to do, or not get a refund without good reason.

@Laura_C  would you please be able to clarify or provide direction on this?

Perhaps it's an area where both Guests and Customer Services could both be better informed as to where a "cancellation" or "amendment of booking" would apply.

It's an area where there needs to be fair and reasonable balance of all factors rather than a standard 'non payment ' to Hosts who have not even been fairly contacted or involved in decision making processes.
Thanks in advance

Thoughts??

 @Anonymous @Julie732 @Jane1007 @Rebecca181 & others

[Anonymous]

@Helen427  The Flexible cancellation policy is spelled out pretty clearly:

If the guest arrives and decides to leave early, the nightly rate for the nights not spent 24 hours after cancellation are fully refunded.

Is this not what occurred? 

The guest always has the right to unilaterally cancel a booking at any point during the stay. If they choose to request a change to the booking instead, it's usually because they want more of  a refund than the cancellation policy entitles them to. 

[Sandra856]

Hi @Helen427 🙂

A guest has the right to cancel whenever he/she wants to and will then get his/her money back according to the cancellation policy you chose. I got the strict cancellation policy and if a guest cancels after check-in the guest won't get any refund. You can change your cancellation policy in order to avoid situations where you are out of money if a guest cancels. 

[Helen427]

 @Anonymous

I don't have an issue with a Guest cancelling if need be for whatever reason.

It's the way that the refund has been done without factoring into account other parts as Alexandra (Alex) has raised.

It was also calculated without including the Guests loss of 7 day discount as they didn't stay 7 days to be entitled to it.

However in the page

Alexandra (Alex)

has quoted it says otherwise in regards to Terms of Service... so is a Grey area....and it doesn't specify that it's the Host who's pocket it's coming out of or ABB itself that is doing the refunding!!

As stated it's not Travel or extenuating circumstances...nor has the guest mentioned in his coms he was cancelling...he simply said he was "moving to his friends place."

BTW, Without any consultation he brought all his belongings bar a kitchen sink  with him for his stay so posed a 'safety' issue in my home as the place he usually lives is currently been renovated..

Nice enough person but should have asked prior to booking about his need for "storage"...I did mention it verbally about how he has no room in the bedroom because of it..

I have reason to believe that's the real reason he has decided to move.

https://www.airbnb.co.nz/home/cancellation_policies

https://www.airbnb.co.nz/terms/guest_refund_policy

[Anonymous]

@Helen427  I'm not understanding what the problem is here. The guest is not entitled to a refund for the dates he already stayed, nor for the date of his cancellation, but he does get a refund for however many unused nights there are after that. That's not any kind of ambiguity in the TOS - it's just how the Flexible cancellation policy works. The refund will be deducted from your next payout.

If you don't feel that's fair, you can choose a different cancellation policy for your future bookings.

[Helen427]

@Sandra856 @Anonymous  There has been no mention of a Travel Issue as per ABB Terms of Service

[Sandra856]

@Helen427 Any guest has the right to cancel whenever he wants to. The guest does not have to tell you or airbnb why. No travel issue needed as the guest can cancel for whatever reason 🙂 

[Helen427]

@Sandra856see my post below re "Modification of booking" rather than "Cancellation".

Thanks, hope that clarifies my concern

[Anonymous]

@Helen427  None of this has anything to do with Travel Issues or Extenuating Circumstances.

It does appear that shortening the stay does not cause the rate for the used nights to revert to the pre-discount price. Another good reason to change to the Moderate or Strict cancellation policy.

[Helen427]

@Anonymous @Sandra856 

As mentioned and agree @Anonymous  one would reasonably expect better Professional standards and care in regards to payment processes, especially with cross referencing of payment details.

It appears as if it was automatically adjusted without including the correct calculation requirements.

It's unknown if it would make any difference if changing to another Policy would make any difference @Anonymous  with the calculation of payments where a weekly discount is in place as one would reasonably expect it to be all done by the same Payments Division/

Thanks for feedback

[Anonymous]

@Helen427 

Strict policy - If the guest cancels less than 7 days in advance or decides to leave early after check-in, the nights not spent are not refunded.

With a Strict policy, there would have been no automatically generated refund, so you would have had the liberty to use your own calculations if you'd wished to offer a partial refund via the resolutions tool.

I don't find that a Strict policy is a deterrent to serious bookings.