Guest wants to cancel

[Vince-And-Donna0]

Guest sent a message on Sunday saying she wants to cancel her reservation starting this Friday .  I told her to feel free to do so . We have full refund up to 5 days prior . She hasn’t cancelled so far .  When does the 5 days start ? I’m thinking 5  full days which is today but if she waits till tomorrow then that’s 4 days til arrival .  I’ve sent Airbnb a message asking for them to cancel but haven’t heard back  . 

[Rebecca]

Hey @Vince-And-Donna0, and congratulations on your first Community Center post! It's great to have you here and joining in the chat, and asking questions! Did you get Superhost status this year? 

The 5-day cancellation policy starts counting from the day the guest sent the message requesting the cancellation. In your case, if the guest sent the message on Sunday, then the 5-day period starts from Sunday. This means that if the guest waits until tomorrow (Tuesday) to cancel, it would indeed be 4 days until arrival.

As for Airbnb canceling the reservation, it is recommended to follow up with them if you haven't received a response yet. You can reach out to Airbnb support through their messaging system or contact their customer service for assistance. It might be helpful to refer to the reservation details and explain the situation clearly.

I hope this helps. 😊

[Alex1485]

Hello! Is it possible you can add clarity to your response regarding the cancellation question referenced with @Vince-And-Donna0? 

I thought the guest had to officially “cancel” the reservation vs. email “ I want to cancel” for the reservation to be considered cancelled.    Thanks for your input,  want to make sure we are on top of any changes to the cancellation policy that we may have missed in updates… . 

In this example of  @Vince-And-Donna0?; the guest needs to cancel their reservation 5 days for a full refund, if they email “ i want to cancel” 5 days before their arrival, does this mean they are considered cancelled by Airbnb and eligible for a full refund?  

Cheers! 

[Helen3]

As an experienced SH I am sure you know if a guest wants to cancel a booking, they need to go into the booking and hit the cancellation button. @Alex1485 

Airbnb will not cancel the booking in this situation, the guest needs to do so. Rebecca has not indicated otherwise in her response to @Vince-And-Donna0 

[Alex1485]

Hello..thanks for responding. I wanted to verify I  hadn’t missed an update to the  guest cancellation policy…which put the onus on the host to cancel for a guest, even if they stated “ i have an emergency”.

Methodically reading and verifying all details regarding cancellation, host rules, host trust polices, etc due to a recent guest that  “gamed the system”,  convinced CS to give them a full refund of their stay. 

Took me 3 weeks & 20 contacts with CS to finally resolve in my favor.  Thanks for your time. 

Did you have any luck getting clarity on the “ number of guests” impacts the airbnb insurance? 

[Helen3]

Airbnb won't cancel the booking @Vince-And-Donna0  the guest needs to cancel the booking herself.

Just send the guest a  message and remind her if she delays cancelling the booking she may be liable for additional cancellation charges under the cancellation policy she booked under. (she will still be liable for the Airbnb service fee in any case).