This forum is dedicated to connecting hosts with other hosts. Sign up to get the latest updates and news just for AirBnb hosts! Note that we are not affiliated with Airbnb - we are just passionate hosts!
The guest we have currently is brand new to Abnb. He booked for 14 days but tells me today that he thought he booked for 7??? He received a 10% discount based on the length of stay. Would you refund him since he is leaving early, refund if you could rent out some of the days? Not quite sure how to handle this. He has not asked for a refund.
I want to add that he checked in last Tuesday and is leaving tomorrow. If it had been an honest mistake the would have booked through Sunday the 28th, not Tuesday the 30th.
I would not initiate a refund. If he asks for a refund (DON’T offer one), he should contact Airbnb. Airbnb should honor your cancellation policy. They may cave in and ask you to refund him, but whatever your cancellation policy is, I don’t believe he is due any refund, since his stay has already begun. Even if Airbnb asks you to refund him, I would refuse.
And definitely don’t ever refund any money to anyone until after Airbnb has paid you.
Granted I’m a home share host and my rates are low, but I’d let him entertain the hope of my re-booking a few days to create good will- as long as I got paid, one way or another!
Sounds like whatever amount he paid for 14 days is what he was willing to pay for 7 days, so I hope he’s not asking for a refund.
Did he ask for a refund? You didn’t say. If he’s not asking then don’t worry about it. If he is asking then I think he’s trying to pull a fast one on you.
But as @rubychix mentioned, you could tell him you will refund if you rebook and it should be minus a fee for your time because rebooking is work too. However, I am tempted to file this under “not your problem”.
This sounds reasonable and as noted by others, only after you get paid. You have not done anything wrong or made any errors so you should not bear the lost income.
I generally don’t give refunds for guests checking out early. Honestly, I’m not incline to believe his error. He either wanted to get the discount and planned on cancelling or had planned on the two weeks and something came up. Either way, something is off.
Very occasionally I might offer to refund if the dates got rebooked but…
a) It’s important that you make clear that they will get the amount that you are getting from the new guest AFTER you receive payment from Airbnb. Never refund before you are paid. (The new guest could end up cancelling).
b) Also make clear that he got the 14 days discount and that discount is no longer valid so from the amount that you get from the new guest, the discount that the revised that he didn’t earned would come out of the amount you got from the guest.
c) Make sure he understands that Airbnb charges a fee that you have no control over and that you will also have to pay a fee on the new booking.
Overall, huge amount of work on your part. I’d probably just say no and if he cancelled, you will get a message from airbnb about refunding him, just decline.
Because we discount for longer stays if someone leaves early we don’t offer a refund. Often they booked the longer stay (maybe a week) because it was the same price as a shorter stay (5 days) so why not book a week in case they stay and extra day or two.
I don’t refund and I don’t put the idea into the guests’ minds.
I don’t quite get this. Do you mean that the guest is cutting short his stay by only two nights? I definitely wouldn’t refund. If people can’t make plans in an intelligent manner, then I’m not their travel insurance.
I never refund directly as a first step, I always tell the guest to contact AirBnB and then we’ll take it from there.
In my location, a hot tourist town, I am fully booked all the time and cancellations are filled usually within 24 hours. So I could refund someone like that and end up making more money without them because my rates keep going up (I have Smart Pricing turned on).
If that weren’t true I would be less likely to offer a refund, that’s for sure.
