Question about cancellation fees

[Bethel12]

I let a guest cancel a date so I could change his reservation dates...I told him I could refund his cancellation fees but how does that work? I haven't received any money from the booking yet but this is what he said:

"We were refunded 211.81 of the 656.13"

How does that work? Is the platform holding money when guests book? Has he even been charged yet? Totally confused. 

[Marie8425]

@Bethel12 

Even though a cancel Airbnb doesn't pay the Host until reservation date.  You can confirm your payment amount by looking at your pending Airbnb Payments.

By accident, you create the wrong situation though.  Airbnb Fees are charged Guest if a cancellation without extenuating reasons.   If you need to change reservation dates either a Host or Guest can submit a reservation date change that the other party agrees to the change.

[Bethel12]

The app blocked me from changing the dates the way they wanted because the dates were back to back with a day in between.

[Joan2709]

@Bethel12 

Then you can turn OFF Instant Book (if using). Then change whatever availability settings are preventing changing the dates (did you have restrictions set for advance notice/prep time or one day not available between bookings?).

Then you can send the reservation alteration and advise the guest to accept it right away. After they accept, you can reset your Availabiity restrictions back to what you had and turn instant book back on (if using instant book).

[Bethel12]

Got it! will try that if it ever happens again.

[Joan2709]

@Bethel12 

As @Marie8425 mentions, if a guest wants to change dates on a reservation, you can simply alter the reservation dates; you don't need to have the guest cancel and rebook:

Alter a Reservation - Guest

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/913

Modify a Reservation as a Host

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/50

If you have a question about anything on the platform, visit the Help Center:

[Bethel12]

Ok thanks everyone. I did already know how to modify the reservation, but the app blocked me from doing it because he basically wanted to connect 2 back to back dates with a day in between. So the dates I wanted to change to were unavailable.

Next time, I will ignore airbnb's prompt to have the guest cancel the reservation instead of me. 

@Marie8425 thanks for the info that they don't charge cancellation fees until check in. As I understand it, I can refund the cancellation fee after it comes to me first(?)

[Marie8425]

@Bethel12 

Have to confirm with Airbnb but I think if you send your customer money through the Resolution Center.  The usual process is your Airbnb Account then displays a negative balance  The negative balance Airbnb deducts from any Airbnb Payment that you are scheduled to receive next.  There is no way to tie a refund to a particular payment.  So if you have an approved reservation prior to his reservation dates and you have authorized a payment, it would be deducted from that but you would get the cancellation money when expected.  Make sense?  You won't loose any money just managed differently.

[Emilie]

Hi @Bethel12, 

Great to see that the advice from Marie and Joan has already been helpful to you! I wanted to check in and see if you'd managed to find a solution for this guest and booking over the weekend, or if you need any further advice perhaps?

Let us know how you get on 🙂

Emilie