How do I refund a booking for a long term reservation?

Tom-and-Amy0
Level 1
Sayulita, MX

How do I refund a booking for a long term reservation?

My guest canceled their reservation for a long term booking that was to take place in late March-April.

Apparently AIRBNB has a long term cancelation policy that overrides our own cancelation policy. I have no idea how to issue a refund under this long term AIRBNB policy which has no information available... Now I've received an email from AIRBNB that the guest is requesting within the airbnb system for a full refund (including the service fees airbnb takes out).  the email also tells me I have 48 hrs to reply.  Fun times! My concern is that if I do issue a refund 1. Am I paying this out of pocket and then being reimbursed 24 hr after the cancelled arrival date? If so that is incredibly **bleep**ty for hosts. and 2. If I do issue a refund now I want it to be for the full amount less the service fee. Not sure how I do that given the AIRBNB email request to refund her the full amount (no option on my screen to change the amount).

 

I'd be grateful for any insight before I throw my laptop across the room.

 

Thank you!

2 Replies 2
Linda108
Level 10
La Quinta, CA

Air BNB does the refuning, not you.  You don't have the money.  You just want the dates opened so you can get a new booking.  Service fees are refunded to the guest only if the cancellation happens within 48 hours of the booking.  I don't think you need to do anything.

@Tom-and-Amy0  When a current or past guest is granted a refund, the amount is deducted from your next upcoming payouts, rather than debited directly from your payment method. In this case, the booking is in the future, and therefore you haven't been paid for it yet. If you agree to it, what should happen is that you simply don't receive any of the payout that the long-term cancellation policy entitles you to. (BTW, I strongly recommend paying attention to the details of this policy if you're going to continue to take bookings of one month or longer - a "Superhost" is naturally expected to be up to date on essential facts of the platform that have been in place for several years).

 

The booking is cancelled anyway, so you are by all means free to decline the guest's refund request. If you'd like to make a counter-offer, you may use the Resolutions tool at airbnb.com/resolutions , at your own leisure. But there's no reason for you to feel backed into a corner by someone who is already in breach of contract.