They obviously know these laws that you are referrring and that is why they don’t technically remove it. They recover it. And you explicitly gave them permission to do so by agreeing to the TOS. What they do is give you a negative balance in your payouts so that you don’t get another payout until it’s paid off. It’s very common, unfortunately. I00% serious about not spending the money yet, I found out the hard way 
3 Likes
We still “owe” them around €200, had a negative balance since July 2020, when they overpaid us.
Ho hum, interest free I suppose.
JF
1 Like
This is just isn’t at all what I am asking about. I also get TOS, future payouts, all of that. IT IS NOT HAPPENING regarding this transaction.
I still just want to know what that line of $1741 is about ASSUMING its not coming from me because I am confident it is not in any shape or form.
I guess the most accurate answer is your first reply, so thanks!
Basic Rule of Thumb – NEVER REFUND ANY GUEST FOR ANY AMOUNT. Managing that sort of thing is why they get paid a percentage. As you discovered, a Host refunding Guests can lead to all sorts of “issues”. I serious hope they are not going to take money from your future earnings, but it is possible.
2 Likes
Sadly, unlike BDC and VRBO Airbnb is often less than transparent when issues like this arise, and I do hope you get to keep the payout.
If it was me, I wouldn’t be so confident but maybe that’s just the old cynic in me coming through 
JF
1 Like
Let’s just assume that if Airbnb tried to withhold funds from future payouts, I wouldn’t be on this forum asking hosts how to handle. I would be very vigilant with Airbnb in getting my money back. So I want to just ignore that situation for the purpose of my question especially since I have no indication that will happen and many items in writing stating otherwise…
Good luck with this, and as others have said keep a close eye on your payouts going forward.
Food for thought, they were not due a refund and yet you offered one. Now it seems they cried and got a refund from air, and you may have to fight to keep the money.
No good deed goes unpunished it seems.
This just reaffirms for me that my policy is spot on. Stick to the cancellation policy that was agreed upon when the guest booked. There is no point (for me) in having a contract then not abiding by it.
Hopefully they do not try and claw back the money, but I am not sure that this is settled yet.
Please keep us updated!
RR
3 Likes
The problem is you won’t know until you get the payout notification. There’s no indication on your account that your next payout will be reduced. The day after your next guest checks in, you’ll get a payout notification and see a reduced payout (or no payout) and you’ll wonder what is going on. You’ll contact Airbnb. They might tell you it’s because of a past refund, or they might just be “stumped” again.
Going back to your original question:
The answer is that it’s really unlikely that they refunded the guest with their own funds, although it’s not completely unheard of, so I do hope it works out in your favor.
I’m optimistic that the guest didn’t lie about cleanliness/safety/missing amenities/etc. to get a refund because you haven’t heard anything from Airbnb. There are a too many guest refund scenarios that end badly for the host.
love to run a book on this… 
3 Likes
Well, as the OP said, if future payouts get docked, she won’t be posting about it here, so we’ll never know.
2 Likes
Pity, I always like to know the end of the story!
3 Likes
You mean you would go through arbitration with Airbnb since that is all they allow for in the TOS that you agreed to.
1 Like