Refunding in full

[Alison1118]

Hi Community

Looking for a bit of guidance and clarification if i may?

We have a booking in for June this year for 3 nights but unfortunately the guest has to cancel due to their flights from the States being suddenly cancelled by the airline. Although we have a strict cancellation policy, given the lead time and circumstance, I am happy to give the full refund.

When the guest cancelled, my understanding is that they receive 50% back. I have then into the booking to offer the remaining 50%. A message then appears that says that this will be deducted on our next payout.

Just looking for clarity that I will still receive the 50% of the cancelled booking on / after their initial arrival dates? If not, my fear is that with not receiving any money for the bookings but also deducting ca £500 for the remaining 50% of the refund that I will then be out of pocket.

Can you please advise?

Best for now.

Alison…!

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Alison1118 Far better to go through Airbnb on this one. We always message the guest and ask them to 'request a full refund from Airbnb and that we will then agree to it'. Airbnb then rings us to check we are happy to refund and it all gets sorted out with none of the timing nonsense you describe. Also doing it this way the guest gets the Airbnb service fees back as well. Hopefully you can get them to sort out your situation retrospectively.

[Alison1118]

Many thanks @Mike-And-Jane0. Very much appreciate the response. Yes, we advised the guest to 'request a full refund from Airbnb' but when going through the steps, the same message appears saying the amount will be deducted from your next payment? I've searched everywhere for a contact email for AirBnB but without any success. You wouldn't have one you could share do you as keen to resolve with the guest asap? Thanks again. Alison....!

[Helen3]

Hi @Alison1118 

Tell the guest that airbnb holds their money until the day after the booking starts .

that if they want to cancel they will get refunded in line with the cancellation policy they booked under 

as a gesture of goodwill on your part you are willing to return the rest of the host fee after you receive it.

in this way you won't be out of pocket

it does seem though rather strange that they can't get alternative flights  between the US and Canada to reach you 

[Alison1118]

Dear @Helen3 - many thanks for your guidance. Much appreciated. best. Alison.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Alison1118 I don't think Airbnb operate by email. we just call their UK number and talk to the nice folks in some far flung country. I don't know the US number I am afraid.

[Lorina14]

Hi @Alison1118 

Just reach out to Airbnb through your host support via the app or platform and they can handle this all for you. Explain the situation and they likely can refund everything on their end. 

When I’ve had questions, I call or message airbnb support snd they call back quickly and I handle it directly. It’s always best to ask the agent to handle the request completely as sometimes if it is unresolved, you may call back to check on a status and they open a new ticket. I don’t have them close a ticket until it is completely resolved (in your case the reservation is gone and no payouts are shown on your end).

[John5097]

Hi @Alison1118 

Have the guest cancel on their end. You the host will then receive a payout by Airbnb after they cancel. You will see that the guest canceled, and the payout information in the reservation details. In your case it would be 50%. 

To issue full refund of your payout simply click on resolution center to send guest money. You should see the option to issue full refund because of cancellation. The guest will get full refund including all fees and taxes from Airbnb. This may have changed slightly with the recent update but in 2023 this worked perfectly. I recall need to click on resolution center or send guest money then saw the option to issue full refund. 

It sounds like the guest hasn't canceled yet. I would instruct them to cancel and let them know you will issue full refund from your end. The first time I did this I phrased it that I couldn't guarantee refunding the Airbnb fees that they collect.

Here is a help article. I would do this, have guest cancel on their end, and not contact CS. Just put it in writing you will issue a full refund and assure them that it's in writing in the messages.

Hope that helps! I have to deal with this quite often every hurricane season. 

It's really easy. When you select the option to issue full refund it automatically calculates and shows the exact payout you received. Very straightforward. 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/165 
 

[Alison1118]

Thank you @John5097