Only in business things, as for his … 
never mind. 
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Boy your soft side really is shining through!! 
I understand where you’re coming from to see if their reason is considered an emergency or just an inconvenience. However, I never ever divulge to the guest that they may qualify for an extenuating circumstance. It’s a policy we all signed up for but it is completely unfair to the hosts. I just allow a guest to figure it out for themselves and hope they never do!
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Let’s hope our guests don’t rebook then 
it could turn into easy money earned.
Or easy money lost 
if they do rebook.
Well never a mistake, always a lesson !
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Do yo want to read the message I wrote him? 
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Another point: we are enabling these guests to not protect themselves. There is travel insurance for a reason. If I had an emergency and couldn’t make a planned trip I understand that it’s not the place I was planning to go’s fault. They should still make their money. I would contact my credit card though to see what kind of travel insurance protections are in place, that’s what all their % mark-ups on vendors are for! But when Air and hosts keep giving in, then people aren’t taking personal responsibility.
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This is what I wrote to our guest… Ok, have your laughs 
! Sometimes I am just too gay for my own good .
_"Hi Julian, I’m sorry to hear that you won’t be able to make it.
_We can’t cancel ourself, because for this MisterBnB could penalize us severely. But feel free to cancel the booking. I don’t know how much you will be refunded because of the last minute character of your cancelation. To get a full refund you will probably have to contact MisterBnB and give proof of the reasons why you want to cancel. If they approve I guess you will get an almost 100% refund. _
If they don’t approve, I am willing to give you a 70% credit for the amount that ends up with us. This credit can be used for future bookings. At the moment of booking I will give you this credit as a discount.
I hope you understand that I can’t give you a full refund. We are on a strict cancelation policy, we only rent two rooms, and other people weren’t able to book for 2 weeks. In reality refunding should be something for your travel insurance. I hope you understand my reasoning.
Anyway, I do hope that everything turns out well with whatever problem you are facing right now. All the best, and we sincerely hope to see you in the future !
Kind regards"
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Well that is pretty good email after all! At least he knows the 70% is only for what you were given.
Keep us posted if he comes back and says he was approved for extenuating circumstances.
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Your cancellation policy should be based on what feels right to you not on someone else’s idea of right or wrong. If you do this and you feel cross or taken advantage of then it probably wasn’t the right choice for you. If you keep all their money and think “great! Money for nothing!” and find that to be worth celebrating then that’s the right choice. It’s great to get advice here but much of it would make me unhappy if I followed it. Do your thing.
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I like it. And it doesn’t sound too gay and it’s pretty much exactly how I write to my guests, though I’m female, lol. When my husband responds to our guests he sounds so gruff to me, haha.
I agree with @KKC regarding how to set your cancellation policy. Even though I could easily get away with a strict policy, it doesn’t feel right to me. I have it set to moderate, but I usually refund everything I’m able to rebook because I treat others how I want to be treated even though if I cancelled last minute they would deserve to keep my money!
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I’ve had three cancellations for bookings this week and next week. And one dimwit didn’t cancel until the next morning (morning of checkout), precluding any chance of re-booking. It’s the most I’ve ever had in such a short period. It makes me cranky. But then I get notice of another two night stay for next week and the woman tells me it’s because she’s suffered a miscarriage. It just puts things in perspective.
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I just booked a guest for October on TripAdvisor (Has the FlopKey brand just gone away?) and a godsend setting they allow you to have is “Super Strict.” So I suggested she get Travel Insurance just in case. She agreed. I also think I passed the magic 24 hour Buyer’s Remorse policy. These sites… what will they think of next?
I used to refund on Air if the guest made an honest mistake, such as booking the wrong island (has happened more than you think!) and even if I feel like they have a good reason, I have done it. But now with the new Air policy of taking any voluntary refund out of your NEXT payout, no way, no how!!! They will have to wait until the time of their reservation to get refunded. Needless to say that has not gone over well with guests. And I have no idea why you can’t just push a button to refund and get rid of the problem. The way it was before. Now you have to wait until the guest reservation payout to give any refund. Why should I front money for a guest who canceled?
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Are you on flexible?
Yes. And most same day cancellation people get their money back as well.
Maybe you are having a bad run of them? I notice bad Air stuff seems to come in multiples. Maybe it’s mercury retrograde.
It’s Spring Break time. It’s fine because I have a lot of dogs here so enough going one. I’m going to use the day off to have an electrical circuit added for the window AC. Now that the mini fridge and microwave is in there I need more juice.
I figure it all evens out. Not too sound too maudlin, I really try to follow the karma principle.
Be careful… these can be used as “wiretapp” devices! 
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Maybe I need to disclose it…in fact, I’m going to go change my caption right now.
What, what? That makes no sense, Air holds their money so doesn’t Air just return it?
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They canceled; they got half back as per my cancellation policy. When I went to refund more, Air sent me to the Resolution Center Send Money feature, which simply deducts whatever you want to send the guest from your NEXT payout! No way was I going to front money to a guest when they cancelled!
Even though the guest kept harassing me the entire month for the money I had voluntarily agreed to refund. He even opened a case! And of course he didn’t have a leg to stand on. Air wrote and said it would be really nice if I refunded early. I wrote back and said that’s not gonna happen!
I was paid for the guest and that very day I refunded…(out of the goodness of my heart–I did not have to refund anything on a cancellation!)
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