Urgent : when do guests receive an alteration refund?

Does anyone know when do guests actually receive their refund (chargeback) when there is an alteration?
They initially paid $1600 to Airbnb for an upcoming stay with us. This was charged to their credit card. However, we both later agreed on an alteration. The new amount is $1200. They would get $400 back.
Question is, when?
The guests are upset that, two weeks before their stay, they still have not received their refund (they expected it immediately after the alteration was made). When is it normally paid?

I believe it can take up to 5 days and that’s not acceptable or justfiable, in my opinion. Two weeks is an absolute joke - advise your guests to phone Air and DEMAND their refund. As guests they will have more affect than you doing it.

(holding back a rant about the disgusting abuse of power by banks and large companies when they pull this crap)

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Thanks - the alteration was submitted and agreed late last month. Strange that Airbnb hasn’t paid them their refund yet. They are a first time user and are very jittery about the whole thing. We’re getting blamed for this…

I could be wrong, but I believe it is all settled when they stay.

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In that case, I would call Airbnb and ask them to get in touch with the guest to reassure them.

You getting blamed is not fair. Tell them again you have nothing to do with how,this is being handled.

I would urge the guests to call. Give them the appropriate number (there’s a list at the top of the forum), explaining that you have no control over this situation. Tell them to be firm. There’s no valid reason that the transfer has not already been made.

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I agree with @Magwitch I don’t think you as the host should call. It was the guest who amended the booking and is owed the refund.

You can express sympathy but make it clear that it is Airbnb not hosts who deal with refunds and they will need to talk to them directly about what might be holding up the payment.

It’s amazing to me that guests do not know who holds their money and has the power. My second guest from AirBnB wanted to change the credit card he used for the fee, and he asked me four times to bill his new card and refund the prior one. When it finally got through to him (after we talked on the phone) that AirBnB has the money and we don’t get anything, he got so frustrated trying to find the AirBnB phone number he asked me again to just cancel and then he would rebook. Finally, he found their number and they took care of it quickly.

@hypertokyo - It might help to give your guests AirBnB’s number. Then both of you can call, if you want.

Isn’t the reason people use AirBnB so they DO have an intermediary that manages everything between the parties in case something goes wrong?

I recently used the “send money” feature to a guest. There had been a problem while she was staying and they dealt with it semi-rationally. About 10 days after doing this, the guest contacted me to say that she didn’t get have the refund. I called ABB, they said it would be between 5 and 15 business days. When the 15th day rolled around, ABB said that they couldn’t process it because they couldn’t take money from me. Which was odd. I just paypal’d her the money and she got it nearly instantly.

Resolution found. It seems the guest did not click on Accept the modification. Once they clicked it, they received a notice that the transfer would be done within five days.