Strict Cancellation Policy - Full Refund

[Zoe516]

Hi, I have a guest who wishes to cancel a 2 night ‘add on’ stay that she booked - she still has an 11 night booking prior to that, however her Dads operation has been cancelled so they don’t need to stay for the 2nd booking of 2 days. I’m happy to issue a full refund for the 2 days cancellation as she’s staying with me for 11 days prior - my question is, what’s the best way to do this? Should she cancel, and then I start a manual refund? Thanks, Zoe

[Shelley159]

Hi @Zoe516 

Yes she should cancel on her side. If it's a seperate 2-day booking with its own reservation number, she should cancel that booking. If it's one booking that was extended for 2 days, she should request a change of end date (which you will approve).

If you have not yet received a payout, you don't have to do anything more, Airbnb will correct the payment.

If she's your current guest and you already have the money, your refund will likely be deducted from your nexr Airbnb booking.

[Bhumika]

Hi @Zoe516 , Have you considered @Shelley159 's comment and requested the guest to cancel the booking from their end? How is it progressing with the refund request?

[Zoe516]

Thanks Bhumika, I’ve just picked up your kind responses - and have updated the query as I didn’t mention that I have a strict cancellation policy set. How does this affect the guest cancelling - if she cancels, is this where I can give a full manual refund? 

[Bhumika]

Hi @Zoe516 , thank you for sharing your follow up question with Shelley! I'd request some of our experienced members to chime in for support as well and help us with your question : @Greystone0 @Nash-Cottages-LLC0 . 

Have you also reached out to the Customer Support team to know more about it? 

I managed to find a help article : Cancellation policies for your listing , and seems like your scenario is a bit unique with what is allowed under strict cancellation policy. I look forward to the guidance shared by seasoned Hosts in the Community!

[Zoe516]

Thank you @Shelley159 …however it’s a strict cancellation policy. Would the above still apply? Thanks

[Greystone0]

Hi @Zoe516 ,

It is my general understanding that even if you have a set of circumstances where a guest wishes to cancel BUT it is outside of the cancellation period, you, as the host, still have the option to 'accept' the cancellation request. In this case it would be the two days for a full refund (for the two days). In other words, you control the opportunity to cancel. The guest would need to initiate and then you can 'accept', broadly speaking. The feedback from Shelly is my general understanding of the best way to approach this. This is a good place to start. This also sounds like instead of viewing this as a cancelation it may be just adjusting dates. If this is one continuous reservation (11days, increased to 13, now needing to decrease to 11), then you would just update the check out date. My experience with this is that the AIRBNB platform will decrease the amount charged by the corresponding calendar rates for those two dates removed from the reservation. So it isn't really a cancelation in that sense. Hopefully that helps a bit. Wishing you much success. An 11 day reservation is great.

[Nash-Cottages-LLC0]

@Zoe516 Our understanding is the same as @Greystone0. Ask them to submit a change request (back to the original dates) so that you can approve it. @Shelley159 offered you great advice as well. @Bhumika Thanks for the tag!

[Bhumika]

Thank you for the support @Nash-Cottages-LLC0  @Greystone0 , appreciate your help so much! 🌻