How in the world do you cancel a reservation?

[Pete117]

Apparently, someone booked my guest house, and I received absolutely no notification from Airbnb. I guess it went to spam or something. Long story short, they showed up today, and the house was not ready.  My son was home from college and staying in the home, so we offered to clean it and have it ready for them in a few hours, but they elected to get a hotel. I totally understand, and thankfully, the guests were very understanding as well. 

The problem is I can't find a way to cancel this reservation and refund their money.  I have never cancelled anyone before, but I do remember seeing the button in a very obvious place many times. Now I can't find it to save my life. Can anyone help? The chat AI bot has been zero help, and apparently there is no way to talk to a real person anymore either. 

[Frances3408]

@Pete117 . I'm a bit confused. There is only one listing on your profile, Quiet Country Home and it hasnt had a booking review since 2020 and your calendar has all its dates blocked out.

You cant cancel a reservation after its started unless you contact Airbnb Support. Are you sure it was through Airbnb and not another accommodation provider?

You really need to contact Airbnb Support via messages on your host profile to confirm there was an actual booking (if genuine they will have a reference number for you to locate the booking) . Do not offer a refund as the money would have to come from Airbnb, and may be subject to penalties etc. OR its a fraud.

Check with them that your profile is up to date as well ie bank account, email notifications etc is all correct. Maybe change your password as well.

[Helen3]

Yes Airbnb can help you . Give them a call - you can't cancel once it's underway. @Pete117 

Is the booking showing in your calendar? If so  I'm not sure how you would have missed it, even if you didn't get a notification . 

[Pete117]

I only do long-term bookings... My place does not get booked very much so I never log on to check the calendar. In the past, I would always get an email. Thats how I missed it. Thanks for your reply. 

[Shelley159]

@Pete117 once you have this situation resolved and under control, you should check the notification settings so it can't happen again.

I receive 3 notifications of every booking: email, SMS and a push notification from the app. If you set it up that way, it helps in case you miss one of them.