Guest wants refund on firm cancellation policy after 48hrs

[Sophia528]

Hi Everyone,

I recently had a guest cancellation on a long term firm cancellation policy after the 48hrs passed. Would have been a 36 day stay.  That would normally mean I would be able to keep 100% of the reservation amount minus certain fees per AirBnB.

However, Airbnb did contact me and said the situation was escalated in resolution center and if I would consider refunding the entire amount to the guest. A different Airbnb rep the day before said that due to the long term firm policy, the guest would only receive a partial refund back (Airbnb service fee, any cleaning fee, and any fee over 30 days). He said I was not obligated to refund but can consider it. 

i believe this booking was made by someone else on behalf of the guest so likely the individual did not read the fine details or was unaware of the firm cancellation policy and did not relay it to the guest until it was too late. 

I have a couple superhost friends who say business is business so don’t let my empathy rule my decision but to stick to my policy. And although Airbnb was reaching out likely on behalf of the guest, it is a bit ironic that they do not stick/enforce their own polices on behalf of the host?  

If anyone has been in this situation, what would you do? Although I am aware it’s not the guest's fault if the person who booked didn’t pay attention to the details, I would like it to be in a win win situation since it is slow season and my area is competitive with other airbnbs so I’m not confident about getting enough bookings yet for the time period.

I did offer the guests a couple options including 

1) rebook in the future for the same amount of  stay (equivalent worth of current booking original) if this time was not convenient 2), to get some refund back if I get any booking(s) during the period they cancelled (assuming the stay is completed). 3)  suggest they get trip insurance (which if done timely, guests can recuperate with cancel for any reason or and 4) may be open to partial refund still. 

I shortened the post a bit since it was long .I feel it is fair but curious what other hosts would do.  Would love to hear what other hosts think and have done in similar position and how you would respond to Airbnb being pro guest. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Sophia528 I would offer a 50% refund AND additional money if they cancel ASAP and you get rebooked. That way they can't review you.

When this happened to us we fully refunded and then promptly got no replacement bookings!

[Sophia528]

I did offer 50% as well and told them if they cancel that would open the calendar for rebooking. I actually don’t mind giving them money back if another booking happens but not confident that will happen with slow season. They didn’t take that offer either 

[Sophia528]

I didn’t know they are allowed to review if they cancel on their end before a stay? Isn’t that only if they completed a  stay that they can review? 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Sophia528 correct - they can't review hence the importance of them cancelling with the carrot of a partial refund upon rebooking.

[Sophia528]

Thank you for your feedback!

[Zheng49]

If they check in then they can leave a review. It's your call, but if you don't comply and they do eventually checkin, then I'd expect a bad review. 

[Sophia528]

They cancelled and didn’t check in because the date was still far out. Thanks for your feedback.